Finally after months of the not-so-die-hard Xbox fans complaining about having to purchase the Kinect in their Xbox One bundle, it is being removed. That's right. Starting June 9th there will be an Xbox One bundle that doesn't have the Kinect packaged in which will bring the overall price down to match that of the launch day PS4. That would be $399 plus tax here in the states. Of course the option to purchase a Kinect to "upgrade" to the "best experience ever" will still be an option just no longer required.
If only that would have been the option from day one I might have truly had a conundrum when choosing which path to go down for the next gen. At least now it will seem more likely that I will be joining the complete next gen as consoles are concerned in a shorter time. That extra $150 really did make a difference to me and I for one am glad to have the option to get the Xbox One bundle that I would have wanted from the start. Just about eight months late to the game I guess.
But wait, there's more.
It also looks like Microsoft is also doing away with one of the other huge gripes I have also had about the system too. That being the fact that you had to pay for an Xbox Gold account to use apps like Netflix and Hulu on the system. Looks like that "pay-wall" is dropping for both the Xbox One and Xbox 360. All that will be required is an Xbox Live account to be able to access this content online. No longer will you be required to pay to use another service you have to pay for on the Xbox. That always boggled my mind. Why was that required before?
Not to sound all "fanboy" here, but doesn't it seem that Microsoft is now joining the realm of the PSN and PlayStation? They will no longer require you to purchase add-ons you don't want and you will only have to pay for a subscription to play games online or get access to the free games that the companies are so graciously giving to those who have a Gold of PS+ account. Uniformity at its finest to appease the consumer here. I am kind of surprised by it all but it is a very pleasant surprise none the less. Time to start getting the funds together now.
