Xbox One Kinect reportedly to be launched for PC

In case you somehow missed the hoopla, Microsoft's next-generation Xbox One gaming console was officially unveiled today, and it turns out that Kinect will be a big part of the system – so big, in fact, that it is a required piece of hardware. The Kinect for Xbox One won't be limited to just use with the gaming console, however, according to the device's program manager Scott Evans.

The information comes from the folks over at Shack News, which says it was told by Evans himself that Microsoft plans to launch the Kinect on PC as well. "We will bring this to PC. We will have more information soon." This isn't terribly surprising, considering that the currently available Kinect is also available on PCs as of last year.

Unfortunately, no other information was provided except confirmation that it will happen. There's no word on whether the PC availability will be there when the gaming console hits shelves, or whether consumers will have to wait awhile to see the option. If the last Kinect is anything to go by (and there's a good chance it is), buyers will likely have to wait at least a few months before Kinect for PC surfaces.

As we reported earlier today, the Xbox One will require the Kinect in order to function, something that is part of Microsoft's goal to make the next-gen gaming console a full entertainment setup. Developers are being encouraged by Microsoft to develop for the device, and users will need to keep it synced up with the console. Some users consider this a good thing or regard it indifferently, but some feel it is unnecessarily restrictive and that it isn't the right course to take.

In other Xbox One news, speculation has abounded about whether users will need to pay a fee in order to play used games or games shared with them by friends or other users. The belief has been "yes," but ealier this evening a tweet was spotted on one of Microsoft's Xbox support Twitter accounts saying that such a rumor is false. The excitement from that was short-lived, however, with a different tech support employee expounding on that and saying that all previous tweets regarded specific situations, but that such information isn't available, instead pointing them to a generic post on Major Nelson.

SOURCE: Shack News