Microsoft will be offering the Xbox One for a lower price of $400 without the Kinect peripheral starting June 9.

PS4 is currently ahead of Xbox One in terms of sales. Microsoft wants to change that, and hopes the price drop will make it possible.

Leveling the Competition

The release of Titanfall, the Xbox exclusive sci-fi shooter game, gave the Xbox One a boost in sales in the spring, though not enough surpass sales of the PS4 which is leading in sales with a 4:3 ratio. The Xbox One console regularly sells for $500 with the Kinect peripheral, plus an optional $60 for extra features, thus it is $560 in total; while PS4 is priced at $400 without the camera accessory.

Come June 9, Microsoft will drop the price of its console, to level the competition, with the Xbox Live Gold package to level the annual $50 fee for Sony's PS Plus subscription.

Xbox Without Kinect

With the $100 savings for Microsoft's console, the owner also loses the Kinect box, the high-resolution peripheral which provides unique features to the Xbox One. This will be available to purchase separately later this year.

Without the Kinect, one cannot play games that require it, which are not so many, thus, making the lack of a Kinect not a big deal.

However, the Kinect box is with Xbox One's media-control and TV features because it doubles the IR blaster and microphone. Without it, the user cannot do the following - voice control, motion-control input, adjust the TV volume and change the channel on the cable box. Furthermore, the One Media Remote will lose some functionality such as controlling the TV's volume.

The user will not be able to login through face recognition. Also, for those who are excited for the enhanced DVR controls Microsoft may release this year, they cannot work without Kinect.