In the wake of the news about the release of the Xbox One without Kinect, as well as the use of applications without a Gold subscription to Xbox Live and the Games with Gold program, there is some additional, interesting information.
First of all, Microsoft is preparing some changes to the console's interface, so that those who do not own Kinect (the many in the future, that is...) will be able to access the menu more quickly and easily.
The environment was originally designed with Kinect and voice and motion controls in mind, so some tweaks will be necessary for those using the controller, Yusuf Mehdi tells Engadget. The first changes are likely to be available shortly after E3 2014, with future tweaks expected as needed.
Additionally, the company is seriously considering releasing the processing power tied up by Kinect, at least on consoles that won't use it. More specifically, it is known that at this stage, Kinect and some other applications bind 10% of the Xbox One's GPU for various functions. Thus, Microsoft executives are discussing with game publishers and developers about the possibility of releasing it and how this can benefit the titles they develop.
On a first level, it remains to be seen if this is feasible. On a second level, it is obvious, not to repeat the same thing, that Microsoft wants to hit the communication part of the "war" that is being waged between next-gen consoles, as Xbox One multiplatform titles usually have a lower resolution than PS4 ones (the most recent example, Watch Dogs), and fewer frames per second.
Of course, apart from a move that wants to gain impressions, it may actually benefit to some extent, although it is pointed out that the current architecture and resource management is ideal for development, with a clear separation between videogame and system. Thus, game rendering is not affected by what is running in parallel on the console, but MS believes that they can "reach into the reserves", probably because Kinect does not use all the resources that it binds by default. However, whatever happens, the basic functionality of the system will remain intact.
In any case, the analyst believes that the Kinect-free Xbox One and its cheaper price will lead the console to the top of the US and Canadian market in 2015, but the PS4 will remain dominant worldwide. Okay, he didn't discover America with this analysis, it is certain that Xbox One sales will receive the necessary boost after this development, especially where Microsoft is home. Perhaps that is why the company is also fighting the GPU issue we mentioned above, in order to eliminate one of the last comparative disadvantages compared to the PS4, essentially or not, since the goal is the top.
Of course, these are business issues that we are of little interest to, so let's see what happens with Games with Gold, the free games offered every month on Xbox One and Xbox 360. On its next-gen console, Microsoft follows the logic of its competitor PS Plus on PS3, PS4 and PS Vita, meaning you will only have access if you are an active member of the Xbox Live Gold subscription service.
On the other hand, on Xbox 360, nothing seems to be changing in the current "legislation." That is, once you download the free games, they remain in your possession for life, whether you are an active member of the service or your subscription has expired and you have not renewed it.
Source: tro-ma-ktiko.blogspot.gr
