r/XboxSeriesX • u/AutoModerator • May 19 '24

Looking Back in Xbox History - "The Kinect is officially dead, as Microsoft stops manufacturing the accessory" Historical Post Archive

/r/xboxone/comments/78nfa8/the_kinect_is_officially_dead_as_microsoft_stops/
689 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

95% Upvoted

178 comments sorted by

View all comments

235

u/Shadow_Strike99 May 19 '24 edited May 19 '24

Super hot take to some, but I think Xbox swung the pendulum way too much the other way in their course correction with the kinect.

I get why they did it, because the kinect left a huge stink on Xbox from the late 360 era and Xbox one reveal, but canning it entirely I feel was too much. They really should have made it a niche optional accessory for those who wanted it, because it was decent for what it did. They should have done what Playstation does with the ps4 and ps5 camera or vr just make it a optional accessory for enthusiasts to use, without shoving it down everyone's throats who didn't want it.

I remember when they launched the Xbox one s, you had to order this adapter for the kinect but going about that was so cumbersome and clunky for those who had a kinect so they didn't do it at all.

6

u/QuinSanguine May 19 '24

They should have worked to find a middle ground because they were close to gaining a share of that market Nintendo captured with Wii. I bet sales would be better today if Kinect still existed in some form and there were still some motion controlled games aimed at casuals and elderly people.

1

u/moreexclamationmarks May 31 '24

Even on the Wii it really only was a good idea when it fit with the game from teh ground up, like Wii Sports or Boom Blox or something.

But the Wii just forced it into everything, same with the Wii U's tablet. I didn't mind using the Wiimote to grab gems in Mario Galaxy, for example, but having actual moves tied to shaking the Wiimote was a terrible decision and the game suffered for it. You should be able to play that game with a classic/Pro controller, no motion element was necessary.

So with Xbox, in a way I'm kind of glad it didn't take off because I didn't want to see forced motion elements into games where it didn't belong and wasn't made optional.