Kinect is one of those Microsoft devices that is hard to get nostalgic about, it simply inspires indifference. Interestingly, Kinect is very much still a thing, even if most gamers have abandoned it. According to a new Fast Co Design, Microsoft is ready to the same and will be discontinuing the device.
The report suggests Microsoft will stop manufacturing the Kinect but will continue to support the device on Xbox. Manufacturing will cease, and Kinect will not be sold once current inventory has been exhausted.
In terms of raw numbers, Kinect has been a success. Since 2010, the motion capture sensor has sold 35 million users, which is impressive. However, it is worth noting that many of these shipments came as part of the Kindle bundled with an Xbox.
The device was launched in 2010 for the Xbox 360 as an optional extra. When Microsoft introduced the Xbox One, the company bundled the Kinect in with the console and tried to completely integrate it into the experience.
As well as adding $100 to the price, gamers did not like being tied to sensors and rejected it. The decision was one of many that irked gamers during the Xbox One launch, which ended in disaster. Microsoft solved all of those problems and got back on track, including removing Kinect as part of the package.
The Xbox One S took this avoidance further as Kinect only works with the console via an adapter.
Goodbye Kinect
Kinect was such a poorly received device that a Microsoft ally slammed it this year. Peter Molyneux, he of Fable and Theme Park fame, and a Microsoft Studios collaborator, described Kinect as a “trainwreck”.
Speaking to IGN, Molyneux said “you know, Kinect… I’ll be honest with you. It was a disaster.”
“It was a trainwreck,” he continued. “It started as this device which kind of could do everything itself. It didn’t take up any processor power, the field of view could encompass the whole room. The audio on it, which no one really talks about, was originally supposed to be multi-sensing, it could sense where you were.”
