Microsoft pulls the plug on the Kinect

Microsoft's Alex Kipman, creator of the Kinect, and Matthew Lapsen, GM of Xbox Devices Marketing announced the death of Kinect.

[DirtyPete]

Well I cant say it was my favorite piece of equipment.

[threefootwang]

Very happy to see they finally eliminated this from Xbox. It's been nothing but a plague to anyone who was an Xbox fan from the original Xbox days.

[FITgamer]

Unfortunate...
http://i.imgur.com/U5DEkkl....

[DEEHULK88]

I got the Xbox when it came out Nov 15,2001 and I can say the it didn't bother me one bit. I never got one, never played one but still love Xbox, so what you said is only true for some and not all

[andrewsquall]

@threefootwang Yet if you love gaming on Xbox and never touched a Kinect, it STILL affected you, whether you want to admit it or not. https://i.imgur.com/zl10SZ0...

Here is one example. So you were perfectly happy with the full studio of Lionhead being put to work on the Kinect only title Fable The Journey? You wouldn't have preferred it handed over to some other smaller studio while the flagship developers of the Fable series were put to work on ANYTHING else?

[thekhurg]

You can't just flip the switch and get rid of Kinect. It's built into the system. It's part of everything.

Oh wait.

[darthv72]

The tech behind the kinect was pretty sound. The way they implemented it in games, not so much. about the only fun I had was gunstringer and fruit ninja.

On that note, can anyone explain why the PS4 camera is laid out like the original kinect with two lenses? Was MS onto something with that design or ?????

[threefootwang]

I'm getting at the fact that when Kinect was brought in during the 360 days, MS's focus shifted exclusively to that. For us core gamers who were enjoying authentic exclusives up until then, we got shafted pretty hard.

It took the firing of Mattrick for them to finally realize that. (I know he wasn't officially fired but you know what I mean)

If MS had kept to the original Xbox and early 360 days with its solid line up of then exclusive games, the Xbox One would've probably have been a lot more popular not to mention more successful then it currently is.

[Hairy Chewie]

The dual camera design helps with calculating depth, similar to our eyes.

[kreate]

I'm genuinely disappointed Kinect is being dropped.

[-Foxtrot]

That's not fair, it made a beautiful modern paper weight

[pinkcrocodile75]

Oi, if Kinect is a paper weight, what is PS4 Camera?. Case in point PS4 Camera can't tell the difference between a face or arse cheeks, this isn't a dig, just a fact. My fella accidentally logged into his PS4 Pro with his arse cheeks, whilst very funny, it's not the best either

[EatCrow]

Your definition of beautiful must be quite different from mine then.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

The PS4 camera has VR now so your entire comment is flawed.

[subtenko]

A rock i better paper weight, why waste your money on something you can get free? Surely you could put that money to or 2.....or a game?

[andrewsquall]

@pinkcrocodile75 EYETOY from 2002 could tell the difference between a face or an arse cheek. You do know the tech was there long before Kinect right?

[headshotfrosty]

I say scrap Kinect and release a simple device that allows for voice commands. $20

[SojournUK]

@pinkcrocodile75

My PS Camera works fine - but then again my face doesn't look like my arse ;)

[pinkcrocodile75]

@andrewsquall, of course I know, I'm not stupid lol. Still doesn't change the fact the facial recognition feature is a bit rubbish. Not that I don't get the need for it with PSVR as we finally got our PSVR sorted after a replacement.

@SolidSate Cheeky bugger!, that's my husband ya talking about lol. He's annoyingly good looking although only 5ft 10. Sexy arse mind probably why the PS4 Camera took a shine to him. :D

[Vizigoth04]

@pinkcrocodile75

While the humour is nicely welcome. The camera do this day still holds a purpose, but it still give PS Move it's life and especially PSVR. This is PS3 and PS4 technology being VR to today's console. Can't wait for what PS5 has in store.

[cbuc1125]

@pinkcrocodile75.....The PS4 camera isn't discontinued. Neither is the original PS4.

[MasterCornholio]

@pink

"Oi, if Kinect is a paper weight, what is PS4 Camera?"

A device necessary for PSVR?

[rainslacker]

I think you can still use it as that.

@pink

PS Camera can log you in, so it has facial recognition. not sure why facial skeletal recognition is that important anyways, as I can't think of a single game which uses it, or why it'd be fun in the first place. Did you know that the original kInect(not sure about the new one) couldn't even tell you had a torso if you wore something too black in a dark room?

Both cameras had their strengths and weaknesses.

As to the difference. Kinect wasn't even supported after MS threw the switch and removed it as a requirement for the system. There were almost no exclusive Kinect games, and barely any "better with Kinect" games. The PSMove actually has quite a bit of support in a lot of games, and is an essential part of PSVR. Move support is available in almost all PSVR games. The PS Camera is also a popular peripheral among the streaming crowd.

For all intents and purposes, The PS Camera is, and always was, put to more use by the overall user base and developers than Kinect 2 ever was. The difference is, Sony managed to keep the PSCamera relevant by not making it a requirement for everything, whereas MS fumbled with their own initially required peripheral out of the gate.

If your fella accidently logged into PS4 with his ass cheeks, then I'd first question why he's branding his ass cheeks around the house, and then wonder what he looks like, because never once have I had my PS4 log me in through anything other than my face, nor has it recognized my wife's backside as anything that would be on file for log in.

In any case, facial, or backside recognition is a function of software, not hardware. A camera is nothing more than a lens to connect the real world to the software which interprets the image it receives.

[Knushwood Butt]

Wait, I can log into my PS4 with butt recognition?

[YoungKingDoran]

Think I went to school with pinkcroc's "fella". He loved low fat milk. No way - just found a pic on FB

http://www.behindthevoiceac...

[pinkcrocodile75]

@YoungKingDoran HAHAHA, cheeky b@st@rd. I wasn't kidding when I said it logged him in with his arse. He came downstairs looking for underpants and socks, he had his back to the camera and it put the square with the smiley face around his arse cheeks and all of a sudden we got the dash.

I was killing myself laughing. I told his mates in his gay rugby team, they won't let him live it down.

[lxeasy]

I'm not surprised

[goken]

huh！so much for 'Xbox one equals kinect, kinect equals Xbox one'
ms owes all early Xbox one adopters (those forced to get a kinect) an apology, and possibly 100 bucks

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

I use it more than ever now lol. Cortana is fun to use

[1Victor]

http://m.ign.com/articles/2...
Another lie RIP

[Davidgr2]

Speak for yourself.. Kinect is awesome. It is the best dust collector I've ever owned.

[TheColbertinator]

Good. Kinect was such a waste of time.

[ChasterMief]

Fantasia was fun. But it wasn't worth buying a Kinect.

[Godmars290]

And money.

Lots and lots of money.

I mean they literally bought a start-up company just to say they "invented" some of the tech that went into kinect.

[mcstorm]

I do feel more could of been done with Kinect but its had little support since the xbox one came out. Be interesting to see how the tech is used in other areas.

[lxeasy]

Yeah the tech itself was cool and all lot could have been done with it outside of gaming

[jznrpg]

More could have been done in gaming it just isnt MS area of expertise

[lxeasy]

Ah I could see that VR and Kinect makes perfect sense. I always thought Milo had tons of potential

[Godmars290]

@lxeasy:
And when did MS ever reach the potential of Milo?

When did they ever live up to the potential of anything more than a party game?

[joeorc]

Yes it could, especially with VR i think Microsoft is being very short sighted in this.

[Death]

It gets chalked up with the other unsupported devices gamers have seen. I thought the potential was great for supplementing gaming, but without third or even first party support that potential was never realized.

[frostypants]

It's not nearly accurate enough to work well with VR. I guarantee you they've experimented with it.

[OldGuyStillGaming]

RIP Milo

[hamburgerhill]

What ashame! He really was a good kid and this news just confirms his death. RIP

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Completely forgot about that little liar. Screw Milo.

[rainslacker]

Thought they drowned him in that lake of his after they drew him a picture.

[chuckyj1]

Pretty sure.... everyone saw this coming... Especially after you needed an adapter for the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X...

[Veneno]

I don't understand this. Kinect is the future of gaming. Why?

[frostypants]

One day there will be a Kinect game that will truly unlock The Power of The Cloud.

[PlayableGamez-]

And that is the final nail in the coffin of the most failed accessory in gaming history.

[OldGuyStillGaming]

It failed in the hands of the consumer but probably made Microsoft plenty of $$$

[timotim]

most failed??? Actually, as accessories go...Kinect was one of the most successful...

[Rayman757]

Um....not even close.
R.O.B.
U-Force
Sega Activator
Atari Mindlink
thats just off the top of my head.

[PlayableGamez-]

Kinect gimped the OG xbox one and single handling almost killed the Xbox brand alone
I have never witness an accessory do such damage to a huge brand..

[ApocalypseShadow]

No.

Microsoft's original Xbox one policies almost killed the Xbox brand. Kinect would have only made sales slower because of the cost of the bundle. The policies they wanted were the devastating blow they took.

[PlayableGamez-]

Apocalypse Shadow
True that also did some damage, but the Kinect did more damage in the long run.
Kinect made the Xbox One weaker and made the price 100 dollars more than the PS4 (initially).
MS had a huge opportunity, but decided to set an underwhelming path of the Xbox One by forcing this accessory that nobody wanted on the consumer.

[ApocalypseShadow]

I agree. That's what I meant on the bundle slowing sales. Forcing that bundle was a mistake. But if there was a game to justify that bundle, they could have eased the pain. But they didn't. And it's dead.

[rainslacker]

Think the most failed accessory would be the Power Glove....or maybe that Robot thing from Nintendo.:)

Realistically, the first Kinect was far from a failure. MS caused the Kinect 2 to fail because they tried to force it, instead of giving people a reason to actually want to own it. Granted, I think a lot of that audience that made it successful on 360 wasn't likely there for the X1 release either way, and I think MS overestimated just how well it would go over based on using metrics from a casual crowd which doesn't generally partake in $500 consoles.

A bigger reason for it's failure though was MS didn't even support the damn thing with X1. Especially after they stopped shipping it with every system. It had terrible support after that. Next to none really. What's the last Kinect game MS actually promoted? Kinect Sports? It failed pretty hard didn't it?

[DaDrunkenJester]

I still use my frequently for voice commands. The last time I used it for a game was Kinect Sports Rivals.

[andrewsquall]

A mic from 2001 can support voice commands also.

[DaDrunkenJester]

But that would require me to have the headset on at all times...

[andrewsquall]

I can't imagine what you must think of Microsoft's mixed reality "headset" then.

[yeahokwhatever]

That's one of MS's biggest lies. That Kinect was necessary for voice functionality, when voice functionality outside of a microphone is 100% software. It's why we have voice on literally everything now. Weird how my Amazon Echo doesn't need a Kinect. Odd how my PS4 doesn't need a Kinect either. I wonder where they hid the Kinect in my phone?

[DaDrunkenJester]

Huh? The system itself doesn't have a mic so yes it needed kinect or some other device to pick up voice commands.

[yeahokwhatever]

You mean the device that comes packaged with every XBOX? The headset that plugs into the controller? That's how it works with Playstation. You can use the PS Camera or any mic plugged into your controller. Microsoft specifically was telling people that the Kinect was special and needed for voice control. Also, Milo.

[Sam Fisher]

100% i remember ms selling kinect and one of the sale points that xbox needed a kinect for voice command, something that can be implemented by software, the controllers couldve had a mic designed in it and wouldve came out cheaper for ms and sold it for a good price to ppl without breaking their pockets

[DaDrunkenJester]

@Yeah & Sam

Oh okay I get what you're saying. I forgot they did say that and then patched in headset enabled voice commands later. Totally stupid for them to say. That being said I do like being able to do voice commands without having to need a headset on.

[InTheZoneAC]

2 down 1 to go

[timotim]

Microsoft just released there Mixed Reality platform on Windows 10 devices...for them, its the future...Kinect is no longer needed. For those wanting a 1080p Skype cam for there Xbox...the console now supports 3rd party webcams...just plug and play...

[joeorc]

Now picture kinect in conjunction with AR & VR..in my opinion this is a big mistake.

[Eonjay]

Seriously, I hope they learned from Kinect and that their next venture has more life because the last thing we need if for you to tell the consumers how Microsoft had to dumb support for the $1000 headset because they now longer need it and now we have to buy into Microsoft's new future.

[timotim]

I think that comes with demand. Obviously, Kinect shipped with Xbox One and was a integrated part of the experience. Had consumers valued it, it would still come with it today. This is how technology work...something new is always around the corner. Kinect will continue to work for those that currently own it, but the future is evolving...and what they learned from Kinect will help shape it.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

I bet of I go through your comments I can find one where your praising the importance of Kinect.

[timotim]

Well...coming from some who still has and uses his Kinect...its possible. I also bought the original on 360 and enjoyed games like Dance Central, Fruit Ninja and Kinect Adventure. However, im not talkimng about my personal feelings here. Notice the same person who made Kinect also made Microsoft's new Mixed Reality and Hololens hardware. This is simply the new replacing the old. At least Kinect continues to work for those that have it, but technology moves at a crazy pace. Just look at what Sony did with PSVR...it hasnt even been a year and already they discontinued the original model for a newer one...its just how it goes. My Kinects will continue to work for me and if something better comes out in the future my Xbox will be compatible with it.

[rainslacker]

MS seems to have a lot of visions for the future. All that matters is if they can get the consumer on board.

I'm not upset they're leaving the Kinect behind, but I'm not going to start praising an unproven technology from MS, because they all too often get it into their heads that everything they do is going to be insanely popular, and somehow be the future(cellphones). Then more often than not, they leave said market, allow others to get a foothold(cell phones, netbooks), sometimes doing it worse than they initially did(zune), but those other companies actually making it successful(apple ipod). Only for MS to come back trying to make something of it again(cellphones, tablets), while somehow changing the name to try and appear innovative(mixed reality, Halolens...which is similar to google glass), and eventually failing in the market(cellphones), or at least struggling to gain significant market share(tablets which they had to rebrand into a hybrid notebook to gain relevance).

Edit: Decided to add in examples so people don't just think I'm speaking hyperbolicly.

[timotim]

Ummmm...OK? If thats how you feel. We like what we like I guess. I didnt praise anything here though...im just given you Microsoft's take on the situation. How I personally feel about Kinect has nothing to do with my comments. What you spend your money on is your business, but Microsoft has moved on with Mixed Reality and Kinect is history...facts.

[rainslacker]

I don't really fault MS for dropping it given it's reception and lack of support. But MS has a bad habit of pushing something, dropping it, then coming back to things later.

It's a common thing with them that most people don't really think about, or at least mention when talking about how MS brings new things to the market.

The only reason I really brought it up was because you mentioned mixed reality, and while it seems like a thing for MS now, I'm not really on board with thinking it will amount to anything, particularly for gaming in the foreseeable future, because they are now pushing it. It's a market that is going to struggle more than VR I think, because it has a broader scope, and the cost of entry is high. Because MS tends to look at success on such things with a short sighted view, and readily drops things that don't show an immediate success and don't play into a bigger long term goal they may have, it makes it hard for me to really take their efforts here seriously. Particularly when they have flip flopped twice now on VR itself, and only seem to want to leverage that to push DX more.

I wasn't disagreeing with you MS is now on the MR push, or even calling you out for being overly excited for MR, because I didn't get that feeling you felt that from your comment. I was just pointing out that MS has a history with new tech, and how it's often been left behind to only come back and bite them in the ass when others go on to make it more successful.

[KingTrash]

I still use it. I got the free adapter from Microsoft when I got the One S. I like the voice commands for blu rays.

[Goukira]

there could have been great potential for games with kinect...but microsoft just threw it out back when the wii came out and they needed something to compete with motion controls. And after they saw that it wasn't that successful they just forgot their device. there is no game with major support for kinect...they just didn't care about it anymore. I think it's a shame they didn't utilize it more. Headtracking in Forza 7 for example would be nice. I use headtracking with my cheap ass webcam for racing games on PC and it works really well. And what about that projection feature they presented at E3 where your game expands outside the boundaries of your TV...wasn't Kinect to be utilized with that? They just present stuff and don't stand behind their products and don't invest in them....

[C-H-E-F]

But, the PS Camera is still alive though.

[EatCrow]

Is it?

[joeorc]

Yes it is VR is one of the reasons why. Kinect would be Quite useful with AR& VR. I just think microsoft is being very short sighted in this decision.

[Eonjay]

Yup. It has gaming applications namely VR. I always though the Kinect sensor would be even better for VR but Microsoft never went in that direction.

[frostypants]

It's pretty mundane and common, actually. That's why you don't hear about it. It's fairly useful.

@Eonjay: Kinect's precision issues kinda hurt it on the VR potential front.

[thesoftware730]

As much as I like my Xone, I say good riddance.

[wenaldy]

RIP

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[chrisoadamson]

I use it for voice commands and Skype

[Yohshida]

It really is sad that we never saw the full potential of this tech because the media never wanted it to succeed. I still use it to turn on and off my console but nothing really more. It got more useless with every update they rolled out. What once was the center of the box now is just a piece of junk.
I still remember how freaking good Xbox Fitness was and how much fun I had working out, beating your friends and getting achievements for doing so. A lot of great party games came with the Kinect but sadly not enough content to justify it.

[jznrpg]

MS didnt support it , that is why it failed. You sound like

[Yohshida]

Have you seen the articles back in 2013/4? Of course they didnt support it

[Enter_Gaming]

Nobody wanted that NSA spy box because of Snowden. Have you read the actual articles back in 2013/14?
Let me refresh your memory with some keywords.

Snowden
PRISM
NSA
Microsoft

[rainslacker]

Most gamers didn't want it to succeed either. In fact, most gamers didn't want any motion control device to succeed. It wasn't like people were directing all their ire at only MS, but the concept of motion controls in general.

If the media didn't want it to succeed, and most gamers didn't, or were indifferent, then maybe there is something to that which transcends some conspiracy of the media to try and bring down a company, and it may be more representative that no one wanted the technology to begin with.

This concept of gamers not wanting motion controls was there long before the X1 was revealed, and extends back to the reveal of the Wii itself. PSMove got the same criticisms, and Kinect did as well. Ms just saw that it was a commercial success with the 360, and decided to integrate it into their system because I guess they thought casuals would be buying $500 systems.

They also had the added benefit of being able to see how many people were in a room so they could potentially charge a per person charge for viewing a movie, or collect reaction data to commercials by measuring people's reactions and engagement, which could in turn be used to focus advetising on the customer.

This last bit is what should have been a big red flag. It's easy enough to dismiss the conspiracy theories about they're going to spy on you that cropped up during the X1 reveal, but it's hard to dismiss the things listed above when MS actually used it as a selling point for the technology, and console itself. If MS actually said they thought this was a great idea, and that it was beneficial to the consumer....which they did at the damn reveal....then why in God's name would anyone give any support to the device....particularly when there were only 3 games actually shown for it. One being Fighter within, the other 2 being half decent uses of the device itself, but with lackluster promotion overall.

In 2013/4 the criticisms lobbed at Kinect were just one more thing to criticize MS over due to the piss poor way they handled the early Xbox pre-launch. I feel that criticism for Kinect was justified based on the motion controls of prior years, MS including it in every box, the fact it raised the price of the system while sacrificing more important aspects like power to drive games, MS own belief that consumers wanted to be watched and have data collected on them to have ads targeted at them, and MS own idiocy to even be able to recognize the problems that people had with the Kinect being required.

Why anyone would support it is beyond me...and it's no big mystery why the media, and gamers in general were against the peripheral. It wasn't a targeted conspiracy on the media's part....it was MS own stated purpose for the device coupled with how it affected the console itself.

[Enter_Gaming]

I remember that Microsoft patent. They literally wanted to charge every person sitting on the couch to watch their movies. Ridiculous

[MetroidFREAK21]

What took you so long Microsoft?

[cfc83]

Pretty sure you can use microphone for voice commands. I guess it's an end to 'xbox on' command, and scanning voucher codes. I guess some people used them for streaming, but someone said you can use 3rd party cams for skype, so i'd assume they can be used for streaming games and VRgaming if it arrives on xbox ?

[Xenophon_York]

Would had thought it would remain in the game (for those initial millions of XBOX One purchasers forced to have one) until the next generation console cycle.

[jznrpg]

Kinect could have been made into something decent but MS is not very good at making games or planning for their hardware in general so it didnt have a good chance

[Artemidorus]

Wish they never forced me to buy it day one total picece of garbage.

[datriax]

Goodbye Kinect, you only overstayed your welcome by....... by........ , just how long was the Kinect around again? Well, it overstayed its welcome the entire time regardless.

[BIGBOSS08]

What took them so long? They should have killed it years ago. I'll never forget that E3 kinect reveal. One of the worst E3's ever thanks to kinect.

[Many-hat5]

Great technology, with lots of potential, but implementation was poor. I never used it for privacy reasons, but it will return in another form as V.R becomes standard.

[subtenko]

Another area to not trust xbox in, the peripherals...never again!

[XStation4pio_Pro]

given the history, reliability, cost and controversy.... probably for the best. this is a new xbox one going into next year.

[andrewsquall]

What do you do with a Kinect? Or Windows 8? https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[galmi]

about time

[KickSpinFilter]

Class Action in...3,2,1

[ziggurcat]

why would there be? the kinects that are already out there won't suddenly stop working.

[meka2611]

The way I look at microsoft peripherals is that they make great technology and revolutionize things, just not for gaming. The kinect is used in a ton of places outside of gaming because of how well the tech is, it just isn't for gaming. Same with the hololens, that thing will incredible for businesses to do presentations and meetings, but for gaming, not so much.

[from the beach]

Well that's a shame, though they clearly haven't been behind it for many years now.

[shadowT]

Sad.

[deividpaulo]

Microsoft must pull the Xbox one's plug..shame

[Profchaos]

Guess Microsoft VR won't need it for head tracking

[sk8ofmnd]

Kinnect has basically been doa since 2013 when the xb1 was announced to see it was being crammed down gamers throats whether they wanted it or not and was gimped further saying things like "xb1 wont even work without kinnect" 😳

[headshotfrosty]

Honestly, each system from here on out should have voice commands. I love telling Cortana to turn off and on my xbox, especially when napping on the couch. I mean we live in the world of Siri, Alexa, etc. We don't need a stupid Kinect..Just voice recognition software/device. Would be a cheap accessory I'd pay $20 for

[rainslacker]

Meh, leaving MS out of it, I don't like talking to my devices.:)

But to each their own. I do like voice commands in the car to select music from my USB drive, but that's an exception.:)

I would never pay for anything to be able to talk to my stuff. I know it's included in some things I own though.

[lolosgolos]

If only the cost of this went to the GPU.

[dcbronco]

Microsoft has a ton of money and a willingness to spend it on R&D. But once engineers come up with something the company seems to lack people with the imagination to properly utilize it. Kinect had potential if any of the in-house developers had the creativity to use it. Well I guess they'll get something done with Hololens, but past history says be cautiously optimistic.

[Knightofelemia]

About time

[Sexius Maximus]

Not sure this is big news. It's been pretty dead for a couple of years. Tech dies all the time. I`ll put it in the same drawer as my NES Power Glove, Move controllers, and Wonderbook.

[headshotfrosty]

Zune, Turbo Grafix 16, etc....

[DeadManMMX]

I’d like to announce the death of George Washington. I still use my Kinect everyday though.

[headshotfrosty]

Me too. But only for voice commands

[PhoenixUp]

Sucks for people who use it for non gaming applications, as well as people who livestream on XO and would like to have their face present

[PizzaSteve]

You can still use your Kinect for those things. MS is gonna end production of Kinect that's all.

[PhoenixUp]

I mean people who'd want a Kinect for those features but will have increasing problem finding one because of the diminished stock, not for the people who already have Kinect

[rainslacker]

I highly doubt there will be a shortage of them should one really care to look. They are quite easy to find now, and you can get them really cheap from many places. new ones may not be as prevelent at the retailers once they run out, but I don't think there is really a huge demand for them overall anyhow....otherwise MS wouldn't be ending production.

[PizzaSteve]

Not surprise. VR is headed down the same road. I haven't heard much from it lately.

[Puertorock77]

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Almost killed the brand.

[Vizigoth04]

Xbox, On. Oh nevermind, where's my controller.

[PGRfox]

I submitted this story first, but it was denied? Nice job N4G

[DaGreatOne]

I actually liked the the kinect for what it was worth. It is light years better than the ps camera and now I see it going for nearly the same price currently on Amazon. Could have perhaps been something great, missed opportunity. But you live and you learn I guess.

[quent]

One less distraction to focus on what's important

[Father__Merrin]

Microsoft pulled the plug 🔌 on Xbox OG
Microsoft pulled the plug 🔌 on HDVD
Microsoft pulled the plug 🔌 on 360 software support
Microsoft pulled the plug 🔌 on always online & no used games policy
Microsoft pulled the plug 🔌 on kinect
Microsoft are now over promoting Xbox one X, which leads me to believe that they might pull the plug 🔌 on xbox-one Base, if the X gets popular? Yea/no

[ziggurcat]

they *might* stop producing base Xbox Ones at some point, but that's a guess, and in no way a proven fact.

[Gwiz]

There's very little reason to keep the OG Xbox One around with the S and X.

[LastCenturyRob]

I thought MS already released a statement a few weeks ago that the OG X1 will be discontinued and completely replaced by the S

[NeoGamer232]

MS pulled the plug on old consoles just like every other vendor does... But unlike the other vendors Microsoft is offering backwards compatibility to play OG and 360 XB games on their latest console without having to re-buy them.

They pulled the plug on HD DVD after the entertainment industry decided to go with Blu-ray. It would've been ridiculous to continue with HD DVD. Even though it was a technically superior spec.

Microsoft has not pulled support of 360 software. First, they have continued to update the 360 OS even years after Xbox One release. And they offer backwards compatibility to a lot of titles from 360.

Microsoft pulled the plug to always online and no used games. But look at the reality of games today. Although it is "optional" the biggest selling games are more and more becoming online only experiences and purchase of physical games is declining rapidly. So, how wrong were they really with that? It is more gamers were whining then MS doing the wrong thing. Destiny, Overwatch, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Gears, Halo, etc. are games that either are totally online or have years of replayability because of online.

Microsoft is not at all over promoting Xbox One X. They have been crystal clear that this is a 4K premium experience. Xbox One S is still highly available and Microsoft's own public documentation on financials say they expect S to outsell X because of price point.

You may want to check your facts next time.

[Smokingunz]

It sold 35 million and made it to the guninies world record, tell that to a sony fan and see what their response will be.

[Skankinruby]

That Microsoft is very good at hyping their products, nothing to gloat about

[rainslacker]

I'd imagine it'd be the same response people had over Wii, as most of the success of Kinect resided primarily in the same audience the Wii appealed to(casuals, not the regular Nintendo fans).

Something can be successful in one segment of a market, and have very little demand or be completely hated in another segment of the same market. Motion controls in general seem to be a prime example. Wii was mostly disregarded by the hardcore gamer(outside Nintendo fans) due to motion controls. Move was the same. Kinect too, although it had some support from the more veracious Xbox fans out there.

[Pancit_Canton]

It was force on the consumers that nobody wants. They lie about it that it was mandatory equipment to keep the xbone working.

[LastCenturyRob]

Can't say I didn't see this coming but it is also too bad. I liked the Kinect. Had potential that was never fully tapped though.

[frostypants]

If was fun for like 2 or 3 games. It truly was Microsoft's answer to R.O.B. in terms of software support flops.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

[SuicidalTendencies]

That piece of shit gimmick killed all the momentum of the Xbox 360. Who knows what games could have been released if it wasn't for that waste of time & money. Glad it's dead, officially.

[LastCenturyRob]

All the aspiring ghost hunters better get one before they are hard to find. (For those who are scratching their head at my comment the Kinect is also used by paranormal investigators to try and map out phantom forms from the grave. Check out those ghost shows on the TV.)

[ziggurcat]

Ghost Adventures (or as I affectionately call it: Ghost Bros) hahaha

[LastCenturyRob]

There is an actual show called Ghost Brothers...All black paranormal investigation team. I like it as well, but ghost Adventures is still the best on the block.

[ziggurcat]

yeah, I saw that once! I think I yelled out, "holy crap there's an actual ghost bros show!"

zak bagans is such a mimbo, though.

[TardcoreGamer]

the only time i used the kinect was to show a little boy with one arm the dodge ball game. True story.

[LastCenturyRob]

You didn't teach him how to "Dodge a Kinect" did ya?

[x_BlackRose]

I thought the Kinect was awesome. Never played it much (PS and Nintendo guy) but it always looked fun to me. I wonder what gripes Xbox owners had with it?

[Gwiz]

Pretty much it being mandatory at some point lol.

[LastCenturyRob]

Not too many gripes...The second Kinect worked much better than the one for the 360. The biggest complaint would be they never brought out enough games for it and it never reached its fill potential.

[joeorc]

That's mainly because Microsoft did not combine kinect with a motion control device from the get go to work directly with kinect as a platform.

Notice in VR/AR a camera that's external combined with a VR / AR headset. If you add in VR gloves as focused tracking points with a VR focused suit VR real tracking boxing would be Quite exciting I would say.

Kinect 3D depth sense camera was designed by prime sense, DR. Richard marks the creator of the eye toy looked at this very technology of prime senses kinect back in 2002 and talked about at SIGGRAPH how such 3D depth sense camera technology works very well in conjunction with VR / AR

Kinect is such technology..

[SpineSaw]

I said a long time ago that I'd get a Xbox One if they released Ghost Recon Summit Strike or GH First Assault with the 360 BC program or now with the OG Xbox program. Servers will also need to be reopened but I no doubt, gladly would get a OG Xbox One used off EBay for either of those 2 games but till then I'll stay with the current gen games on another platform. And for those that are into the BC games...do enjoy but remember the more BC games you play, the more time you spend in those titles will be less time you spend in current gen games and with this it forces Microsoft and Phil Spencer to beg and plead with Sony for Cross-play that will never happen. And let's be honest Microsoft and Phil Spencer begging every other week is not a good look or good for anyone that owns Microsoft products or anyone else for that matter.. Maybe think of your Xbox brothers sitting in empty multiplayer lobbies waiting for you. C'on and step into the current gen you already got the console.

[DOOMZ]

Thank the lord!!!

[Skankinruby]

Like I said before it released, great technology but useless for gaming. It sold great initially as people were so aroused by the concept that they didn't stop to think about how the hell you'd ever play most games with it. I hope tv's use it in the future though that would be awesome for channel browsing or simple things of that nature.

[gamer7804]

my family still enjoys using it, it was great with the fitness apps and family games. Sure it was never a replacement for a regular controller, but it was a fun add-on . I wish they would have supported it more during the xbox one era.

halo lens is never going to catch on right now in the consumer market. The tech isn't there yet and market isn't ready for it .

[Godmars290]

Here you go:
https://youtu.be/JD9d0ZrBnL...

[OffRoadKing]

We've all known its been dead for a long time, they're just finally getting around to admitting it.

[welly300]

Kinect with psvr cos that cam sony use is shockin.

[Captain_Tom]

MS really should have just had the courage to call the XBX the "XBOX 2".

Kinect was the entire backbone of the X1, and the XBX is about 6 times stronger than the X1. It should and needs to be a new generation. Otherwise people will just think it's a deluxe version of something from 4 years ago... Just like the Wii U.....

[memots]

It never actually lived .. #dealwithit

[zerocarnage]

I had a Kinect and still have one, I tried to become an active gamer and the fitness games were great on it, it just so happens that I'm a controller guy at heart and went back to it. Now the Kinect is used by my son for the voice com's because he don't look after his headsets.

[TheOttomatic91]

well its about goddamn time

[iistuii]

If they had dropped it for the Xbox One release they would have kept a lot of their 360 customers from going to Playstation. A few guys I know who mostly play FIFA COD etc just bought the console which played them for £100 cheaper, that went for a lot of people iIf imagine.

[ocelot07]

This thing ruined Xbox for me. Loved Xbox 360 from 2005 to 2011. Had plenty of first party and exclusive 3rd party games. Then this thing came along as Microsoft just put there attention on this rubbish. The exclusives dried up and the 360 era was over for me once the original kinect released.

I honestly believe if kinect didn't happen and Microsoft just kept doing what they where doing. Me and my friends would of been all in on the Xbox right now and the PS4 would of been solely for exclusives only. Not because I preferred Xbox live or anything. It's just that we had been on Xbox for 6 years at that point and where comfortable until Kinect came along and ruined everything.

[mafiahajeri]

Still remember when people were afraid that it would be spying on them 😂 good times.

[Tazzy]

They tried to bring it out to compete with the Wii and it didn't take off like the Wii did nobody was interested in it and rightfully so glad they killed it off.

[FernDiggidy]

Gamers have spoken....we won't support shit gimmicks.

[Elda]

Smh.

[bahabeast]

I think they gave up too quick. Kinect is not that good foe gaming but its still nice technology if used properly. I actually don't know why I am even defending them I have a Kinect 2.0 rite now that dont work at all. Smft.

[ccgr]

I'll miss telling my Xbox to power off but I won't miss it interrupting our movies

[About30Ninjas]

I forgot the Kinect even excited, I remember trying the Kinect when it first came out for the x360 I had fun but I also felt stupid for jumping around like dumbass

[Jamaicangmr]

Saw this coming the moment they release new hardware without the port.

[hiawa23]

I still use mine for tv, general moving around from app to app, voice and the games that utilize voice, but this should be no surprise to anyone. The camera should have never been a requirement. I like using it instead of the headset for MP. XBOX ON, XBOX OFF, TAKE A SCREENSHOT, RECORD THAT. XBOX go to this or that, so I am fine with the camera. Will use it with the X1X.

[Hyperstrada]

Mine broke. 2 times