Better with Kinect? What happens when you’re without it?
Remember when the Wii U announced its unique GamePad? We spent some time worrying about whether or not Nintendo was going to sell the gamepad separately and, if not, what we would do if ours broke? Well, we have at least a couple more months of a similar situation with the Xbox One.
As you may know, the Xbox One requires a Kinect to function. That’s all well and good (except for people who really dislike the Kinect, anyway), but what happens when the Harlem Globetrotters come to visit and, while showing my fashion model husband a trick, they spook the dog sending it careening into the entertainment center and the Kinect tumbling to the ground? What then, Microsoft?
Well, in a statement to Xbox One Daily asking whether consumers could waltz into their local electronics store and buy a new Kinect or if you’ll have to send it in for repairs, Microsoft had nothing to say: “Xbox One is still in development and we are excited to share more over the coming months, but we don’t have anything further to share at this time.”
Fine, we’re still a few months out, I get that much. Still, so much of this console seems rushed, perhaps exacerbated by a messy lead to launch (DRM debacle, then reversal, and all). From the console reveal being pushed back a month, to its Xbox One E3 demos running on PCs (Windows 7, to boot) with high end graphics cards, to news that the One likely won’t work with existing headsets until the vaguely defined when/if “near future”, it just seems like things really have to come together quickly for Microsoft to have a successful launch. Maybe they’re totally on top of it, though, even as Don Mattrick heads off towards Zynga.
Kinect [Xbox One Daily]