The story of Xbox One’s introduction and release is legendary, but in the bad way. Forgetting that they were selling a games console and focusing on TV functionality at E3 2013 hurt Xbox One before it had even launched. Their always-online plan was poorly received. As was Don Mattrick telling folk without reliable internet to stick with Xbox 360 in an interview after that fateful show. Xbox One was unquestionably underpowered next to its main competitor at a time when people had TVs where you could tell the difference.
But the most impactful amongst the poor decisions was betting the brand’s future on Kinect.
Kintext, Please
The Xbox gaming brand hit its peak around mid-way through the seventh generation. In 2009, PlayStation 3 had only started to hit its stride while Xbox was in the middle of a string of critical and commercial hits.
Read more: The Enduring Legacy of the Original Xbox
Their flagship Halo series was coming to a peak of its own, breaking entertainment records and helping establish gaming as the media-topping force it is today.
Yet, Xbox weren’t satisfied with their core demographic of older teens and young adults who already dabbled in gaming. Nintendo had taken a different approach and their innovative Wii had flown off shelves. More importantly, it was making gamers of everyone and opening a huge new market.
Wii All Play
Accessibility was at the heart of what made Nintendo Wii a success. The intuitive motion-sensing ‘Wii Remote’ was a stroke of genius. Onlookers who had never gamed before were intrigued at the weird waves and waggles of players. There was no scary controller with its long list of commands and demands for precision. No disconnect between the player and the character.
The most notable games had a carefully crafted multiplayer aspect and an inviting simplicity. A lack of depth mattered little when you were having fun with friends or family.
Read more: The Enduring Legacy of Nintendo 64
Microsoft wanted in and seemed to pivot their console brand entirely to what they thought was the future. They were wrong and their timing was monumentally bad.
Timing is Everything
In hindsight, that vision of the future in 2009/10 is laughable but this was before the Wii ran out of steam and it became clear that many Wiis had never played more than the pack-in Wii Sports. Before smartphone gaming hoovered up Wii’s casual crowd.
In the early stages of planning Xbox 360 Kinect, motion controls were at the height of a seemingly all-consuming popularity. It seems unfair to slate their decisions during the development and rollout of their first Kinect given that albeit fleeting ubiquity.
Despite motion controls peaking before its launch, Kinect for 360 sold well at first. Microsoft had promised a lot and seeing Xbox 360’s reputation and success at the time, the public seemed to believe them. But opinion soured quickly.
Read more: The Enduring Legacy of Xbox Live 1.0
The device didn’t work that well and when it did the games were terrible. Kinect 360 wasn’t dead on arrival but it collapsed shortly after getting in the door.
Betting the Farm (and the Good Will)
The failure of Kinect for Xbox 360 hurt the Xbox brand in more ways than the obvious one. Despite Microsoft’s huge resources and their full backing of Xbox, Kinect clearly diverted attention away from first-party blockbusters.
Microsoft’s stable studios and sympathisers were working on selling Kinect and its motion controls when Xbox 360 needed games most. 360 simply stagnated when Kinect loomed.
While PS3 was getting iconic titles that cemented its legacy, Xbox 360 had Kinectimals. The commanding lead that Xbox 360 had built withered away and eventually Sony would sell more seventh gen. consoles.
However, Kinect would go on to do so much worse and this is where we come to our pivotal decision. Attaching the expensive mandatory peripheral to the Xbox One did far more damage than its 360 iteration.
Doubling Down on Damage
Kinect drove the price of Xbox One beyond PS4 while soaking up system resources in a design with significantly less power than its rival. Xbox One gave off a terrible impression to the ‘hardcore’ gamer at E3 2013.
Read more: PS1 Modding – A History of PlayStation Piracy, Part I
Microsoft really should have seen this coming. Kinect 360 had already repelled ‘real’ gamers even when it was just an optional add-on. It had also failed to gain traction with a public who had moved on from motion controls.
Microsoft insisted that Kinect was integral to the Xbox One’s function and dug in. For six months after launch they toyed with the prospect of upsetting early adopters greatly or continuing to damage their sales and their brand and then upsetting a larger number of early adopters to a lesser degree. In May 2014, they relented.
Dis-Kinect
The decision to commit to Kinect and continually reject the growing consensus that motion controls were a fad was baffling at the time. At worst, Xbox seemed arrogant. At best, they seemed disconnected from the very gamers that had made 360 such a hit.
The consequences of going all-in with Kinect were almost immediate and continue to be felt to this day. Xbox One tanked and never recovered. Big names left or were pushed from the company as Xbox scrambled to right the ship. Trust in the company was shattered.
As hard as they have tried, Xbox hasn’t been anywhere near as relevant to the industry or the public since.
