Consumers liked Kinect, but it never lived up to its full potential, in part because it spawned no blockbuster games. Microsoft failed to persuade top gaming studios to invest seriously in Kinect, developers say, and by 2014 it was no longer being included with Xbox consoles.That's a lovely story. Just one problem... that's not what happened.
Critics and reviewers liked the Kinect, yes. Some of them even liked the XBox One version, which was on all the time and reporting what it saw and heard back to Microsoft even when your XBOne was "off," praising it's camera quality and fast response time, among other things. But consumers didn't take to the Kinect, either on the XB360 or the XBOne. That's why the AAA studios weren't making games for the thing... there were no users to whom they could've sold those games, even if they'd made some.
That may have been partly why Microsoft were so keen to bundle the Kinect with the XBOne, back when they were still selling XBOne as the device which was going to take over your living room, and control all your devices, while downplaying games as the main use of the device... a disastrous marketing strategy which Sony capitalised on, allowing them to clean XBox's clock in this console generation, outselling them two to one.
It certainly didn't help, though, that Kinect on XBOne had other issues besides a near-total lack of games that made use of the thing:
Prior to Xbox One's launch, privacy concerns were raised over the new Kinect; critics showed concerns the device could be used for surveillance, stemming from the originally announced requirements that Xbox One's Kinect be plugged in at all times, plus the initial always-on DRM system that required the console to be connected to the internet to ensure continued functionality. Privacy advocates contended that the increased amount of data which could be collected with the new Kinect (such as a person's eye movements, heart rate, and mood) could be used for targeted advertising.
Reports also surfaced regarding recent Microsoft patents involving Kinect, such as a DRM system based on detecting the number of viewers in a room, and tracking viewing habits by awarding achievements for watching television programs and advertising. While Microsoft stated that its privacy policy "prohibit[s] the collection, storage, or use of Kinect data for the purpose of advertising", critics did not rule out the possibility that these policies could be changed prior to the release of the console.
Concerns were also raised that the device could also record conversations, as its microphone remains active at all times. In response to the criticism, a Microsoft spokesperson stated that users are "in control of when Kinect sensing is On, Off or Paused", will be provided with key privacy information and settings during the console's initial setup, and that user-generated content such as photos and videos "will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission."[19][20][21][22] Microsoft ultimately decided to reverse its decision to require Kinect usage on Xbox One, but the console still shipped with the device upon its launch in November 2013.[9]The decision to still ship XBOne with Kinect added $150 to the price tag, for a device that consumers had never taken to, and which now came with a freight of Orwellian PR, a combination which sunk the platform; Microsoft would eventually backtrack on their claim that Kinect was "essential" to the XBOne experience, and ship a SKU with no Kinect in the box, but the damage was done: PlayStation 4 was already well ahead, and Microsoft would never get close to Sony again in console unit sales.
And yet, Reuters is still claiming that consumers "liked Kinect," in spite of the fact that Microsoft has released it twice, only to have consumers refuse, en masse, to buy the thing. No. Just.... no.