It looks like you really can kill what was never alive, at least as far as the Kinect is concerned.
Microsoft has finally, completely discontinued the second version of its ill-fated Xbox One motion-sensing Xbox camera, the Kinect. While the tech giant revealed that it no longer has plans to manufacture the Kinect a few weeks ago, the company has now confirmed that the adapter required to connect the console to the Xbox One S, Xbox One X or other Windows devices, is no longer available.
“After careful consideration, we decided to stop manufacturing the Xbox Kinect Adapter to focus attention on launching new, higher fan-requested gaming accessories across Xbox One and Windows 10,” said a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to Polygon.
The first version of the Kinect released part way through the Xbox 360’s life cycle, and despite technical limitation, like the fact that the motion-sensing device needed to be used in a well-lit area, the accessory was a resounding success and went on to sell millions of units. When the Xbox One first launched, Microsoft made the controversial decision to make the Kinect 2.0 a mandatory part of the console’s launch package, driving the system’s price up $100 over the competing PlayStation 4.
The motion-sensing device eventually become optional, resulting in a Xbox One price drop. The fact that the accessory was now not included with every console, meant that Kinect no longer had an install base worth developing games for.
I was a big fan of Microsoft’s Kinect and really enjoyed games like Kinect Sports 2.0 and Harmonix’s Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved. There was also a time when I used Kinect voice commands to control my entire home theatre system, though admittedly I haven’t done that in years at this point.
I even went so far as to purchase a USB 3.0 hub, in order to have enough USB ports to plug the Kinect into the Xbox One X.
That said, Kinect is totally dead, though I’ll likely leave mine connected for nostalgia’s sake — at least for the time being.
Source: Polygon
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