Yesterday saw quite a few new things announced for the Xbox One.
Firstly, we finally saw the announcement of Games with Gold for the Xbox One which will be starting in June. The first games on offer will be Max: Curse of the Brotherhood and Halo: Spartan Assault. For me this is good news, I’ve not picked up Spartan Assault yet, mainly because I thought it would be one of the first games to be in this promo, and I was right. Seeing as Max is free, I will probably pick that up too, although I’m not really that bothered by it.
Secondly there was the announcement that the Xbox One will go on sale with a Kinect-less bundle from 9th June 2014. The console has an official price of £349.99, but seeing as some places are selling bundles with a Kinect for that low, I can see it going cheaper than that pretty quickly. Which could in turn make it cheaper than a PS4.
I completely understand why they have done this, and it will no doubt boost the sales. I know of a few people that have said they don’t want an XB1 because of the Kinect, so this may sway them. In all honesty though, I couldn’t really imagine using the console without it now. I wouldn’t know how to snap an app without voice commands, recording gameplay will be much harder, and there is still no auto sign in without Kinect.
Lastly we will see the pay wall removed from gaining access to apps. So no more Xbox Live Gold membership required for apps like Netflix.
“Xbox 360 has been a leader in delivering entertainment experiences for years, with over 170 global entertainment apps and experiences available today. We’re constantly adding new partners and experiences to the growing catalogue on Xbox One,” reads the Microsoft announcement. “Coming in June, anyone with an Xbox will be able to access popular entertainment experiences – whether or not you have an Xbox Live Gold membership.”
This makes no difference to me as I’ve always has a Gold membership, but its a good move, and should have been done a long time ago. I know this will certainly make all the silver members very happy!
So with E3 just around the corner Microsoft are really rolling out the new stuff and getting some pretty positive PR. I think things are looking quite bright for the Xbox One.
– Will
I was one of the numerous people to say that a Kinnectless bundle would be a much more appealing sale to me. And that remains true I’m a lot more interested in this now. But fanboys gunna fanboy… And I’ve got my next excuse ready 😉 Drop the price a little more.
It’s amusing how this console which was best experienced with Kinnect has had to make another 180, but this one is definitely going to help.
I can see this bundle doing incredibly well over the winter holidays when the annual franchises such as COD and FIFA release.
I must say though a surprise to see them release this info prior to E3. This could have been one of those megatons at E3 which they then say directly after “launching right after this conference”. I assume this can only mean big things are in line for Microsofts conference!
Like I said, I think it will quickly become cheaper. You can already get bundles for £350 in places. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it for £320 soon.