A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft announced it would be scaling back on its initial launch, cutting down on the number of territories it will be releasing the Xbox One in on day one.
While many assume the delay has something to do with supply issues, Microsoft head of product development Albert Penello has made it clear that this is in fact no the case. Speaking to OXM, Penello explained why the company had to scale back, placing the bulk of the blame on voice-control localization.
I think people are using the way [voice] works on Xbox 360, which was an accessory we built five years after release, as how it's going to work here. But it's so much more elegant and so much more integrated, and in many ways it's a lot faster and more convenient. Whereas on Xbox 360 it's a lesser version of doing the thing you're used to doing on your controller.
This is the part of the internet that's frustrating, because everybody wants to assume there's a [units volume] issue. And yet I'm showing real hardware here at Gamescom – a real, final, retail kit. Which I have yet to see my friends show me.
People assume there's a volume issue which in fact there isn't. You're actually seeing pre-orders pop back up now because we're able allocate the countries' volumes back in. It's there, the problem is localization. And once people see the system and how integral it is, it's not just text integration.
Do you find voice control to be an appealing feature of the Xbox One? Might it win some gamers over who were unimpressed with the Xbox 360's Kinect? Might the device prove to be more trouble than it is worth? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[OXM]
