Whitten: Xbox One will not require Kinect to operate

Xbox One will not require Kinect to function, according to a Q&A session conducted earlier today with Xbox corporate VP Marc Whitten.

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Xbox corporate VP Marc Whitten has revealed that the Xbox One will not require the Kinect sensor in order to function. While the Xbox One will come with the Kinect packed in and is designed to perform optimally with the peripheral attached, players will be able to use their console without attaching the Kinect.

Whitten revealed this in a Q&A session with IGN earlier today. "Games use Kinect in a variety of amazing ways from adding voice to control your squad mates to adding lean and other simple controls beyond the controller to full immersive gameplay," he said. "That said, like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor."

This answer appears to indicate another policy change for Microsoft's new console, after a report from earlier this year stated that Kinect "must be plugged in and calibrated for the console to even function."

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Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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  • reply
    August 12, 2013 6:36 PM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Whitten: Xbox One will not require Kinect to operate.

    Xbox One will not require Kinect to function, according to a Q&A session conducted earlier today with Xbox corporate VP Marc Whitten.

    • reply
      August 12, 2013 6:38 PM

      maybe not the xbox one, but the games themselves? :P

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      August 12, 2013 6:45 PM

      All aboard the Xbox One train, here we go!
      <immediately heads back to the station>

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      August 12, 2013 6:55 PM

      I really hope this means Microsoft and third-party developers don't feel the need to invest into Kinect-added functionality into titles.

      I'd pull a jingletard for a horror game that would read in facial expressions to affect enemy placement and environmental hazards - things like that.

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      August 12, 2013 7:21 PM

      Now all they need is a $400 model without Kinect 2.0 and a lot more people will be back on board.

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        August 13, 2013 4:08 AM

        Agreed.

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        August 13, 2013 10:51 AM

        I hope not. Call me crazy, but it's the potential of the Kinect for Xbox One that has me most excited for it and a fan from day one. To be honest I never bought the first Kinect because I sit just a few feet from my gaming TV, so maybe I'm naive, but from my understanding the technology is greatly improved and there are many more potential applications for it. I'm especially looking forward to things like face mapping on characters and a bigger and better application of voice chat.

        Even if everyone is not required to use the Kinect, it would be necessary for it to come with every system for developers to really take advantage of it and innovate. It's unfortunate they backed down on the always online requirement for the same reason. It's not about being a fanboy here, it's about getting older and not wanting to wait another five to ten years for the next leap in gaming technology even if it means leaving behind a small percentage of gamers who can't keep up with the tech. It's bad enough I'll be long dead before humans will be living and traveling in personal spacecraft, but I really don't want to be in my 70s or 80s when true Virtual Reality Gaming rolls around.

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      August 12, 2013 7:26 PM

      Yay; bedroom gamers are safe now. I remember Jeff Gerstmann saying he would just turn the Kinect around or put a bag over it if it had to remain powered on all the time.

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        August 12, 2013 9:17 PM

        that only works if the games don't require it

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      August 12, 2013 7:26 PM

      Haha what, they're reversing on this too? wow, this is crazy.

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        August 12, 2013 7:30 PM

        [deleted]

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          August 12, 2013 7:48 PM

          It's a huge 180 on this previous statement: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/privacy

          When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded... If you don’t want the Kinect sensor on while playing games or enjoying your entertainment, you can pause Kinect. To turn off your Xbox One, just say “Xbox Off.” When the system is off, it’s only listening for the single voice command -- “Xbox On,” and you can even turn that feature off too.

          They must have finally caved to privacy concerns about that being enough (as well as countries like Germany and Australia classifying Kinect as a "surveillance device", and the pending "We Are Watching You" act in the United States Congress: http://www.shacknews.com/article/79823/xbox-one-kinect-could-be-impacted-by-proposed-privacy-bill ).

          It's basically more post-Mattrick cleanup for Marc Whitten.

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            August 12, 2013 10:43 PM

            [deleted]

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              August 13, 2013 4:53 AM

              The most secure technology device is one that has 0 volts running through its power supply. That's why it's a huge 180: Microsoft previously said, "Oh, you can turn it off in software", and various people cried out, "BULLSHIT! The camera still has power and is still digitizing the scene in front of it; the only way I feel secure is by ripping the Kinect out of its USB port and putting it in a dark box!" And yesterday, Microsoft finally caved into that demand.

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                August 13, 2013 6:04 AM

                No.

                MS never said that the Kinect would have to be plugged in for the console to work. All that was based on a false leak.

                All MS said was something like "You get a Kinect in the box - why wouldn't you plug it in?"

              • reply
                August 13, 2013 5:34 PM

                [deleted]

          • reply
            August 13, 2013 1:26 AM

            Wait for the 360...

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        August 12, 2013 8:38 PM

        Wasn't this thing suppose to have the sensor bar for the controllers thereby making mandatory to have it?

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          August 12, 2013 9:35 PM

          It could be used to do controller position detection, but that's hardly mandatory. Without it, splitscreen will simply work like it does now (fix screens on left/right for players 1/2), instead of adjusting to match where the controllers are.

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      August 12, 2013 9:30 PM

      Thank God!!! I might actually pick one up after xmas. Loved my two original x-boxes.

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      August 12, 2013 11:03 PM

      Seriously shacknews, seriously, you need a way to "import" discussions as the primary reply under a new news topic since we've discussed this already hours and hours ago.

      Alternatively mods could flag comment posts as potential news articles for the site or something?
      I don't want user submitted news like Reddit because fuck that shit but yeah, this has been well discussed elsewhere already :/
      Surely this would be good for the site? At least the appearance of significantly more replies.

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      August 13, 2013 12:19 AM

      Still not buying it. Why would i want an under powered console that has nothing over the competitor?

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        August 13, 2013 12:55 AM

        If it has games you want to play and you have the spare cash. Doesn't look like xb1 will be the best choice for cross-platform titles, but they might have some compelling exclusives.

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          August 13, 2013 5:54 AM

          It may not be the best choice for cross-platform games, but I'm still picking it over the PS4 for the exclusives. Pretty much the only PS4 exclusive I care about is the Assassin's Creed bonus missions, which isn't quite enough to get me to buy two consoles instead of one. ;)

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      August 13, 2013 12:56 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 13, 2013 3:24 AM

      The neckbeard backlash over the xbox one's kinect has been pretty embarassing.

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        August 13, 2013 3:31 AM

        I'd guess it's the neckbeards that want it. It's not like the majority favors it.

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          August 13, 2013 12:36 PM

          Actually, they've sold tons of first-gen Kinects. It's very popular.

          It is indeed the neckbeards who fear and despise any form of game control besides a gamepad or kb+m. The public as a whole is much more open minded. Just look at the Wii, same situation.

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        August 13, 2013 6:14 AM

        I heard everyone at work talk about it, except neckbeards.

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        August 13, 2013 12:45 PM

        Its not worse than the pissing and moaning about Windows 8.

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      August 13, 2013 4:07 AM

      That's a good news.
      Because I couldn't care less about Kinect.

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      August 13, 2013 6:10 AM

      I think it is really hard to sell the Kinect without showing what it is capable of. There really hasn't been an OMG WANT moment that has ever been demonstrated with this new device. Just a lot of potential without a killer app.

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        August 13, 2013 12:40 PM

        The tech demo vids were really impressive I thought, but that was the problem. They were just tech demos. They showed how powerful the device was, but not how it would actually be used in games.

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      August 13, 2013 7:54 AM

      I don't think they can back peddle on any other decisions

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        August 13, 2013 8:27 AM

        XBox now a PC running Windows 7

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      August 13, 2013 8:41 AM

      i don't give a flying shit about gaming news prior to release, things can change i only actually care about final product, sans DLC.

      that said i still don't care about the XBONE, not that i'm a sony fan boy or anything, while i do have a certain sense of brand loyalty to sony, i'm also a PC gamer. i pretty much have all my bases covered.

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      August 13, 2013 9:48 AM

      I'm starting to think that all of these moves that no one liked and are now backpedaling on,are all calculated moves from day one.

      I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the endgame for them doing things that way is,but if it wasn't calculated,then the heads at MS are pretty clueless as to what the gaming community really wants,and if you are a MS fan,that should be cause for some serious concern.

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      August 13, 2013 11:45 AM

      I don't even read any articles regarding Xbox or PS4 anymore. I know what I'm getting and the other one I might pick up later on.

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