Pre-E3 positioning: Microsoft dis-Kinects, but what are the implications?

Tuesday, 26 November 2024

Pre-E3 positioning: Microsoft dis-Kinects, but what are the implications?

Added: 15.05.2014 14:14 | 16 views | 0 comments

In what is becoming a relatively common strategy of news control for consumer electronics and technology companies before major trade events, Microsoft has confirmed it will sell a standalone version of the Xbox One without Kinect at a MSRP of $399/£349 starting from June 9th, the day of its press event at E3. The company has also confirmed it will be increasing value of the free Xbox Live service by bringing entertainment apps out from behind the Gold paywall. Lastly, Microsoft has confirmed that Games With Gold will be coming to Xbox One in June and has confirmed the inclusion of Halo: Spartan Assault and Max: The Curse of Brotherhood for free. Microsoft has made a bold but sensible decision to compete on a level playing field with Sonys PS4 as the companys come head-to-head at E3. Ultimately the company has decided to sacrifice the necessity of Kinect to reduce purchasing friction and collapse the price differential between the two consoles. There is now a much more gamer fo...