Since last year, Sony and Microsoft have been waging a mini war to conquer homes worldwide. With more than 7 million PlayStation 4's bought to the beginning of the second quarter, Sony surpasses by far the 4 million Xbox One's sold to date. In this area, even Nintendo announces 5.86 million Wii U's sold to the end of last year. So Microsoft has just launched a lighter version of its console, in both equipment and price. Announced at £349.99 instead of £429, the new version is aligned with the price of its main competitor. However, it loses the Kinect system - controversial within the gaming community, but the most-widely sold accessory worldwide in 2011, and in the Guinness Book of Records. On the US brand site, Phil Spencer, Director of the Microsoft Studios branch, explains:
"There are lots of things I really like about Kinect, but we have also had feedback from players simply wanting to play with a hand controller and in multiplayer on Xbox Live. We wanted to ensure that there was an Xbox One version that exactly meets their needs".
On sale from 9 June in the usual retail outlets and on the Microsoft e-shop, the model will continue to offer access to the blockbusters already available for the previous version. Players can be reassured, the brand insists on its site, that titles such as "Titanfall", "Call of Duty", "Ghosts", "Destiny", "Dead Rising 3" and "Watch Dogs" will still be present. In addition, the company gives customers the possibility of changing their mind, with Kinect sold separately. The latter will, however, only be sold until the end of the year.
*Photo from the Xbox US website: http://www.xbox.com/en-US
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