Microsoft: Xbox One Price, Kinect Requirements, And The Cloud Are Unchanged

With Microsoft’s surprising Xbox One Eighty on the next-gen console’s used game DRM and online requirements yesterday afternoon, many have started to wondered if there will be similar wiggle room with the Xbox One‘s other questionable features. Microsoft has since commented on some of these issues, saying the Kinect requirements, cloud features, and $500 price tag are here to stay.

Speaking to Joystiq, Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten explained that the new Kinect sensor is “a core part of the [Xbox One] architecture,” and Microsoft can not just remove it from the package.

“We still absolutely believe in Kinect. It’s a core part of the architecture. Frankly, it’s really critical that you build it as something that’s always there, always part of the platform. So that game creators, experience creators can know they can rely on it. And you, the user, that there’s always a consistent experience. That it’s not just an accessory.”

With the Xbox One’s brand new forever offline mode enabled, questions about the console’s much touted “power of the cloud” feature have also popped up. Specifically, many games are said to use the cloud heavily for added processing power, now that the hardware can be offline will those cloud features be scaled back to accommodate the change? According to Whitten, they are still going full force with the cloud and Xbox Live services.

“Our vision around Xbox One and what you can do because of the power of both the architecture of the console, and also the cloud and the Xbox Live service, remains unchanged… We’re going to continue to really invest in how those experiences work,”

Finally, Whitten restated Microsoft’s belief that the Xbox One delivers a great value at $500, and they have no plans to lower the price point.

“We really believe deeply in the value that we’re delivering. Not just for the first day of launch, which we think is going to be amazing, with amazing games and entertainment experiences, but what this architecture can deliver over the long term. We feel good about our price.”

Let us know what you think of the recent Xbox One changes down in the comments. Has Microsoft done enough to turn things around, or is their still room for improvement on the console’s price and Kinect requirements?