Phil Spencer Thinks Gamers Will Buy Kinect
When Microsoft announced an Xbox One Sku for a $100 cheaper without their Kinect device included, that seemed to signal the end for Microsoft’s voice and motion device. Barely any games are being/have been developed for the Kinect, and while it has some additional cool functionality, not including with every console would seem to indicate that keeping it up to date wold not be a huge priority. Not to mention that optional peripherals rarely sell well.
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But Phil Spencer believes that the Kinect still has a future as a standalone product:
"“We see millions and millions of people using Kinect today. We’ve had over a billion voice commands used. The use of Kinect in people’s homes is incredibly high. And because people are continuing to use it, it’s an area we’re going to continue to invest, in terms of making the experience better. And I think that makes building games in that environment even better. Consumers love the device; they love the experience. They’ll buy it. They’ll either buy it at launch when they buy their console, or they’ll be able to buy it after the $400 console; they’ll pick it up and add it on later. And we’ll continue to make sure that experience is great.”"
I’m pretty sure Mr. Spencer is just towing the company line here, much like Sony has claimed for awhile now that they haven’t abandoned the Vita, but not really supported the ailing console for a long, long time. It’s not like there will be a bunch of Kinects dumped in a landfill and conveniently forgotten only to be dug up decades later, but less than a year into its existence the Kinect 2.0 has peaked and it’s all downhill from here.
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