Is the Kinect 2 worth it?

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brncao

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
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Title self-explanatory. Xbox One is going for $349.99 w/o Kinect, and $449.99 w/ Kinect. I don't want to regret it later on because the standalone kinect costs $150.
 
I use it to yell at my Xbox to turn on and off...and you can yell at it to tell your Xbox to record your exploits. Other than that, it hasn't been getting much use.
I'll forever look at the Kinect as something that could have been much cooler than it actually is. When they unbundled the Xbox One from it, they might as well have just killed it off. No serious games are ever going to require it now, so it's reduced to being a gimmick.
 
Its hard to say, for some its worth to others its not. If the voice commands and playing kinect games interest you then it probably worth it.

I got the xbox one with kinect when it was $499 and I don't use it much. I personally even if I had to do it all over again, I would still purchase it a kinect. For me I'm in a financial situation where the $100 isn't a huge deal.
 
Honestly the only thing my kinect gets used for is to automagically sign me in when I turn on the Xbone. It also gets used when my roommate decides its funny to fuck with my game by yelling random commands. Other then that it doesn't seem to like my voice so I never use it.
 
The only useful thing I've used Kinect for is controller syncing. I've got two X1 controllers, and I use them for both X1 and PC. Since using it on PC (wired) unsyncs it from the X1, it's convenient to be able to resync to the Xbox without having to hit a button on the console.

Other than that... I can see the automatic sign in being useful for people with multiple users (but doesn't apply to me).

In regards you games... you probably would know already if your into gimmicky motion control games. If you have kids, maybe they will enjoy some of the Kinect games. If you aren't going to be using it for gaming, save the $100, and you probably won't regret it.
 
The Kinect is actually a pretty amazing microphone if you don't want to wear headsets (I know they can get irritating). It does a great job of canceling out the game's volume, and if you have a friend/sibling who wants to chat with the xbox live party, the Kinect will also pick them up.

Voice commands are decent.

Sign in feature doesn't really work well for desktop users. When using the Kinect to sign in, I have to roll back in my chair (how lazy) even though I clearly see myself in its display.
 
Yep but not at full retail just buy a used one for $50-70 they are all still under warranty for a few more months.
 
Not worth it for games as once again Microsoft failed to lead the way with decent games that make use of it. I swear the are about 3 cheasy games that use it...

Having said that, I use the voice commands quite frequently and unfortunately you have to have the connect for that functionality. The auto sign in is also a cool feature.

One of my friends uses it with Skype to let his child visit with her grandparents which I think could be compelling for some. Having video conference capability in your living room has been a long time coming and I think this is pretty darn cool.

I'd probably just get the bundle that includes it.
 
I just got the system with it a week ago and while it is neat, it is hard to justify its price. I like the voice commands, especially for playing/pausing Plex, but the gestures don't really do it for me. Whenever I try to rewind the video it flakes out and shoots all the way back to the beginning. Just not accurate enough. If the thing was $50 like the PS4 camera I'd say get it for fun but if I was buying a new bundle I would skip the Kinect.
 
Just buy the $350 bundle and if you really want the Kinect buy one second hand for $50-60. There are tons for sale on kijiji where I live.
 
Outside of gaming, the kinect is pretty much worth it. It turns your console into a system which requires no remote. Turning on and off is by command and usually works about 75% of the time. Also switching between channels, powering everything on and off, and volume control makes this worth it, oh and i cant forget snapping apps and recording gameplay by voice. My wife cannot live without it. She dont game at all, but just controlling the entertainment center is worth the price as far as she is concern.
There are a few drawbacks. The kinect can become intrusive at times. When you are gaming and someone stands in between you and the kinect, the kinect sometime assumes that person is holding the controller. Meaning that some games pauses and waits to see who is holding the controller, logs that profile in, or just ignore this dilemma. The first two are frustrating. I think developers now are making games which disables the kinect from looking for the users if its not necessary
Also there are times when the kinect becomes unresponsive at all. You can be literally screaming at it, and it does nothing. Many times when you say, "xbox on" and it works. There are times when it takes 5-6 times, by then you can just press the button to power it on. Also yesterday, i whispered the command, and to my surprise, it worked.
 
I currently have an xbox 360 and added on a kinect. My 3 and 6 year old kids LOVE playing Kinect Party. The other kinect games we've tried are lame but my kids will go through every single game on kinect party and then want to do it all over again.

Anything like that for Kinect 2 on XO?
 
One of my co-workers ended up buying the Assassin's Creed bundle for $325 and it included a $50 Target gift card. Seems like quite the deal to me. I'd get that bundle.
 
I use the Kinect everytime I want to watch anything media. Yeah, its easier to use the controller.. but its just handy. Though my GF yells at me to just use the controller instead of having me scream at the kinect to go "NEXT PAGE!" to find my show/movie.
 
I think Kinect was a neat little novelty, but that has quickly worn off for me. If I had kids, Kinect would really have use but now I have just turned it off. While I like the thought of being more actively engaged with my games, gaming is a relaxing thing for me which means that I would rather park myself on my recliner. I will say that I thought it worked really well for what it is capable of doing.
 
The biggest thing I use the kinect is activating the QR codes. I'm lazy and hate having input the code. With the kinect I just put the QR code in front of it and hit accept and I'm done.
 
I got one for free.... (best buy gave me the full bundle when I only wanted the basic)

I've never take the Kinect2 out of the box -- not even worth the trouble to setup for me.

What are they worth anyways? I'd have no problem parting with my (never... literately never) used one.
 
It's only worth it if its going to be on your main entertainment system with your cable/satellite service passing through it. I use the voice controls way more than i thought i would. My wife even loves it for that purpose. However, that is the ONLY use the kinect gets. As expected, it will never take off for gaming because its stupid.
 
I've read on Eurogamer, that consoles without Kinect will work better - looks like, when devs opt not to use kinect, they can unlock extra processing power for games. That's why the no Kinect version was released.

On the other hand, if I'd be buying Xbox, I'd get the Kinect, just because it's something different and unique for X1
 
We have bought the Xbox One AC bundle (no Kinect) plus a free game on Black friday. We also bought a PS4 (bundled with GTA5 & Last of Us remastered) as well. With that, we now own all 3 consoles (bought the Wii U last year)! We've never done anything like this before. It was usually one console per generation.

Anyone own all 3 consoles?
 
brncao said:
We have bought the Xbox One AC bundle (no Kinect) plus a free game on Black friday. We also bought a PS4 (bundled with GTA5 & Last of Us remastered) as well. With that, we now own all 3 consoles (bought the Wii U last year)! We've never done anything like this before. It was usually one console per generation.

Anyone own all 3 consoles?
Click to expand...

I have them all, ps4/wii-u on launch. xbox one when it went on sale kinectless back this summer.

Use the PS4 and X1 pretty equally. Wii-U is in my daughters room for us to play mario kart/world 3d, and netflix. Doesnt get used too much.
 
I've had XOne for about a year now, since August I've had my cable running through it and that is pretty cool with Kinect as well as turn off, I don't do to much else with Kinect. Picked up a free PS4 in September (best buy gift card deal after large purchase) and have been playing Destiny on that.

Workout programs on XOne are cool with Kinect, haven't used it for much outside of channel changing and off/on.
 
MorgothPl said:
I've read on Eurogamer, that consoles without Kinect will work better - looks like, when devs opt not to use kinect, they can unlock extra processing power for games. That's why the no Kinect version was released.

On the other hand, if I'd be buying Xbox, I'd get the Kinect, just because it's something different and unique for X1
Click to expand...

Devs can just use the extra resources if they choose to. If the kinect is installed or not has no effect on performance. There is no difference between the models that come with kinect versus the ones without it.
 
Since having the xb1 for a year i can honestly say that the kinect is great for non gaming purposes. Especially controlling the tv and changing channels. Its great. My wife loves it. My kids ignores the kinect for the most part. As far as gaming, the kinect only serves it purpose to me is for snapping apps like friends, game dvr, party, and recording. It makes it a lot easier to do those things.
But there are times when the kinect gets in the way while gaming.
Last weekend, while playing bf4 with a buddy of mine, we were in a party. Suddenly i couldnt hear him talk. Ten minutes later after a match, i noticed that the kinect had switched my profile to my sons since he sat right in front of me and messed up the party system. I had to switch back to my profile being active, and he thought that my mic had broke, or i muted my mic. Thats not a gaming issue, but an OS/kinect issue.
 
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