I think it's a good idea they're pushing the Kinect this way. It will be better for the platform in the long run.
It wouldn't make sense to make it mandatory, then not.

theire not backtracking on Kinect being included, they plan to backtrack on it being mandatory in light of all the prism and nsa stuff that has leaked as of late.

Considering how seemingly easy it was to take away all the DRM, mandatory Kinect, and other such negative features, who's to say MS won't add them back later? I'm not saying they will, but I wouldn't be at all surprised it happened regardless.

Kinect was always useful. I think people use it most for the mic feature. But this attracts gamers that play exercise games and it also gets some Nintendo Wii exercise gamers into Microsoft's gaming.

If they added those features back, they'd loose all trust with the video game community and wouldn't be able to sell their products to a large group of people anymore. That would mean they're not making money. I doubt Microsoft would want to be in that position.

In regards to the mandatory Kinect stuff, I'm with @SCAR392 on this one. By making it so that every owner of an XBOX One has it, developers can integrate Kinect into their games in a meaningful way because they don't have to worry about how few people have it. That's basically why Move didn't take off, and why Kinect was very limited in its game selection and implementation.
Now, I don't know if developers will find many uses for Kinect, but at the very least it means that they won't be afraid to implement it purely because they have to worry about how much of the user base has it.
Plus, by having Kinect be a part of the package, it allows for Microsoft to differentiate themselves from their direct competition in a big way. That's pretty nice from a marketing standpoint, as what made the machine unique from the PS4 largely went away after that big fiasco post-E3. Additionally, to completely abandon something that Microsoft undoubtedly spent lots of money on in R&D would be pretty bad for them.

If this is true, Microsoft just dealt a big blow in the christmas sales war

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-19-xbox-one-to-laun...

Almost cancels out the price difference.

I wish they would just sell the Xbone one for £54.99 less instead of bundling in FIFA. I'd be more inclined to buy that way.

They probably have a deal where FIFA costs (i.e.)$15 per console to pre-install on the HDD paid by Microsoft and EA.
The $60 software being included doesn't automatically mean the Xbox One costs that much less than they are selling it for.

Obviously, no one has official data on this subject, but it's more likely the cheaper price they(Microsoft) pay for a FIFA bundle will sell more consoles vs. no game included, and buying FIFA separately.
In otherwords, Microsoft is losing money with this deal, but it will sell more consoles initially which means more software sales later.

EDIT: Also, EA makes fast money. After the deal has run its course, EA will try to cater to those buyers on Xbox One.

This is a rumor anyway...

Confirmed at Gamescom

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-20-pre-order-xbox-o...

The next Fable also got announced along with a Ubisoft Kinnect beat em up.

They probably won over Europe as a whole with this move. Isn't Fifa 13 a top 5 seller sincs its launch in the UK?

Keep in mind that the Xbox one isn't launching throughout all of Europe at the same time. A lot of people from the "tier 2" countries will have no choice but to get either a current gen version, or the PS4 version.

Also noteworthy, it's still cheaper to buy a PS4 + Fifa than a Xbone one with a free copy of Fifa.

Edit: I will say, this will definitely give them a big boost in the UK at least.

So the offical launch games list is out. Here's the ones that are exclusive or have exclusive content.

Killer Insticnt
Ryse: Son of Rome
Dead Rising 3
Forza 5:
Crimson Dragon
Lococycle
Powerstar Golf
Zoo Tycoon
Peggle 2
Fighter within
Battlefield 4
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Fifa 14

Great start for MS. The company has really turned things around tremendously since E3. I wonder how much has to do with the change in leadership from Don Mattrick.

If you guys want to catch up on all of the Xbox One news from Gamescom, don't forget about Nintendo Life's sister site, Pure Xbox

We've really been posting away over there today!

What do you make of Steve Ballmer leaving Microsoft?

Mixed. Ballmer was a money maker but at the same time felt like someone who lacked innovative quallites. Its also rumored that he was the big push behind always online.

Microsoft is having audtions to be apaprt of the Xbox One upload community .
http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/uploadoutreach

Going to send in submission about one of the Fable Games. so wish me luck.

I always liked Balmer, but he certainly made some mistakes along the road.

The real winners right now are MS stockholders, as shares jumped 8% after the announcement that he was leaving.

Its weird people hate him when he makes the company alot of money. Even with his misteps like Vista or 8 (I personally like eight) are profitable. The only real mistep I would say he has had has been

Some new shots of the Xbox One UI from Gamescom.

What the Forza 5 UI looks like.

Metro metro everywhere.

A video of the upload studio.

I'm calling it were going to get the release date next month and the full OS show off in October.

I've got to say Xbox One has indeed come a long way from that first May announcement that felt absolutely terrible, and some of the E3 conference as well ($499.99 and no addressing the issues that certainly made Sony's conference seem much more impressive in comparison despite the fact Microsoft announced more in the long run). The announcement of a number of major exclusives and the reversal of the biggest problems with the system itself have certainly made me much more willing to look into it and perhaps invest into the console.

But the problem is that I'm also a big Nintendo fan who has been looking at these late year titles with bright eyes in anticipation of what is coming out soon. I'm already getting a PS4 because well mainly Sucker Punch and Naughty Dog exist and Sony did such a good job with PS3 exclusives that I'm hoping that they can replicate that success with PS4. I've already got my PS4 situation figured out financially so that I can start off with a couple of games and plus. That leaves me with some more money I have to spend on my hobbies. To be honest my Wii U hasn't exactly gotten a lot of attention over the past few months and I've yet to buy a non-launch game for the system. Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, DKC:TF, and Super Mario 3D World all look like great titles I could buy alongside finishing off last generations games that I've wanted. OR I can purchase an Xbox One with only some interest in the launch titles like Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, and COD: Ghosts (Just because a close friend of mine is investing in the Xbox One and he lives across the country and this was what he planned to buy his console with).

I figured here I could get the most varied responses since it is you know a Nintendo website with a lively Other Gaming crowd. The Xbox One is something I want eventually of course, but with that friend of mine getting it early on plus just the general interest in owning all 3 major consoles early on I would like to be an early adopter of the console (Titanfall certainly sweetens the deal significantly), but on the other hand I'm very interested in what the Wii U and last gen still have to offer. I'm more of looking for just general comments on this than I am than a definitive do this or that.