Xbox One Stand-alone or Kinect?

So I'm getting myself an Xbox One soon, most likely in a few weeks. (Master Chief Collection is just too much to pass on :P) The kinect games don't really appeal to me, to be honest, so I decided to save same cash and just buy the console stand-alone. A friend of mine said that he would not buy the Xbox without Kinect because it adds "so much" to the console.... which is... what exactly? A voice recognition feature that I can never seem to get working? (No fault of Microsoft, Siri can't understand me either :P) Awkward motion controls tacked onto Battlefield 4? (the whole leaning over thing). I don't know. I don't see the point.

Does anyone think they can convince me otherwise?

Standalone now and buy a used kinect addon later?

Kinect was a gimmick. Get the stand alone version and save yourself $100.

Stand alone Xbox one is all you need. The Kinect is not worthwhile unless you are into voice commands. Just save yourself the extra 100 dollars and Get Master Chief collection.

The Kinect has not proven worthwhile for games beyond Dance Central.

That's the question of the year, isn't it? I would agree with your friend TC, it adds a lot to the Xbox One experience, but I probably am in the minority. I hardly use Kinect for the gestures, in fact the only time I use them is for that Dance Central & D4 game that recently came out, but since you are not really interested in Kinect games, that doesn't matter.

It's been used here and there on a few non-Kinect games, but it's nothing really worth talking about too much because it is something you could probably easily do without. For instance in Dead Rising 3, if you sream "Hey over here", the zombies in the game can here you and come towards you. Minor implementations so far, nothing amazing , perhaps in the future they could expand on that, but I'm not holding my breath.

However, Kinect is a must if you plan on broadcasting on twitch and want people to see you. Also, it is awesome if you plan on using Skype, it shows the entire room to the other person and can even track and zoom in on your face, works pretty well. Furthermore, it can act as a wireless mic, though you have to be careful if there are other noises in your room, other players could hear those, but I sometimes use this feature because the Xbox One does not have a Wireless mic yet.

What I do use Kinect the most for is the UI navigation(voice commands), and I would hate not having Kinect for that. Many actions are quicker with Kinect compared to the controller, and except for the "Xbox On" command, the majority work over 90% of the time with me, so I dont have any issues with that. Instant switching is only possible with Kinect, but it works much better if you buy digital games, not so much if you have to swap out discs. This feature allows you to go from one game/app to another instantly, and I just love it.

For example, if you are in a game, you just say "Xbox go to Youtube", and it will instatly load Youtube. WIth the controller, you would need to go to the dashboard, then assuming you have it in your pins, select the Youtube app. I'm sure this may sound trivial to many people, but for someone like me who use the Xbox One every day almost, this affects the overall experince and can make a difference if you like switching to stuff a lot.

So, that's my 2 cents, for now I would recommend you get the Xbox without Kinect, and then depending on your usage, if you go digital or not, future features, etc. , you can decide to get it later on as a standalone purchase.

@simuseb2: I have a launch Xbone at $500. I remember wishing I didn't have to pay for Kinect.

I find Kinect useless a year later. With my 7.1 surround sound, it can't hear me anyways, and it's easier just to navigate with the controller like I did on 360, Wii, PS3, PS4, PC, etc. Just as useless as the Kinect was on 360. They tried to make it useful by making the UI more cumbersome, but it doesn't add to anything. That's my opinion.

Kinect was always a gimmick. Is it worth $100 for you to say, "Xbox On"?

I ended up buying the Xbox One + Kinect, I rarely use it in terms of gaming functionality it isn't vital plus the October update will make it more convenient and easier for Xbox One owners without Kinect to navigate their way around the UI. I never picked up the Kinect for the 360, but I think overtime or if you are a heavy media user the Kinect will be worth it on the One.

I bought mine with Kinect when it was the only option. After reading people's comments online I may not have chosen it had I had the choice. To be honest, I've been totally surprised by how good the voice recognition (for me) is. It misses rarely enough that the convenience of using voice activation isn't outweighed by the annoyance factor when it misses. So, for me it's been great, and I find myself wanting to talk to my PS4 and being annoyed that it can't. I've quickly integrated voice activation into my usage, and wouldn't go back now. Just my two cents.

I bought the Xbox One without the kinect and I do not regret my purchase.

I really like my X1 with Kinect, IMO the extra features are great! It sure in hell isn't a gimmick.

Actually the PS4 can. You can either use the PS Camera or the free headset that came in the PS4 box. Check it out sometime.

I'm not into voice technology for either machine, but there you go.

Yeah this. Kinect has a few cool features but it's still not worth it.

What kind of setup do you have? The Kinect is the IR blaster, voice control, and of course anything that needs a camera like video chat. I use it all the time to control my home theater system.

I have the kinect, and I got everything brand new sealed for 300 so why not buy it.

You won't be missing anything.

The best thing about it is how convenient it is to turn off the console with your voice.

Or when you don't have the remote and listening to music, you can just swipe you hand.

It can definitely be easier to navigate.

You're not missing out on anything.

I have the Kinect with my Day One X1 and I barely ever use it. I found switching weapons in Tomb Raider with voice commands okay, it was nice to not have to pause for a moment to switch weapons so everything was seamless, but at the same time, how hard is it to press up on the d pad and switch weapons? what else did it do for the game? what does it do for other games? not much. That is the problem I have with it, you create something for $100 there should be tons of ways to use it for each game, and switching weapons in TR or saying "Anna" for new routes in FH2 is just not enough. I messed with the Minority Report hand gestures and found them to be pretty wonky also. Sure it's nice to say "XBOX on" and then "XBOX go to Netflix" when you're lazy and don't want to grab the controller, but after you open up what app or game you want to play, you have to use the controller anyway to start what it is you want to do, so it defeats the entire purpose in the first place. Is that worth $100? hell no. As much as I like my XBOX ONE, I find the Kinect pretty useless like the majority of those who have it.

I am veyr happy with the XBox One without a Kinect, but to be honest, it sounds like the Kinect 2.0 does add quite a bit to the system in terms of system navigation and whatnot. If you want a mic and camera, then it is also the best possible option for online chat. If you want to record footage, it is a lot quicker than remembering to hit a specific set of buttons really fast, too. And if you want to take advantage of the TV features of the system, you pretty much need a Kinect. Also bear in mind, Microsoft is likely to one day make something - a program or feature or game or something, that makes good use of the Kinect 2.0.

If you wait and decide to get one later, also keep in mind that the Kinect 2.0 will cost $50 extra to get stand-alone. It does come with like a free $10 downloadable game, but still.

Well Xbox announced the availability of a new Xbox One console, this company is very excited to get the response from its fans. Xbox One stand alone is better then Kinect. Most of the person's are able to buy the xbox one stand alone, it comes with latest technology and series.

Games using Kinect are of no interest to me but I enjoy being able to switch from game to app or whatever without having to move. Unfortunately the peripheral is extremely inconsistent and needs to be reset every day or so in order for it to work. t's frustrating as all hell knowing this system was pushed as Kinect being some great piece of technology yet it is extremely finicky.