When it was discovered that Microsoft would not be bundling a headset with the Xbox One, it gave their potential customers a reason to cry foul. It wouldn’t be so bad if the old Xbox 360 headsets worked on the new console, but they won’t, at least not without some sort of special adapter.
Microsoft’s initial response was that the Kinect 2.0 could be used as a microphone, and therefore, every Xbox One came standard with the ability to communicate online. While it may be true, the Kinect will work as a microphone, it’s not exactly the optimal setup for online gaming.
Apparently Microsoft is still mulling this over, and they claim to have heard the vocal community complaints. When recently asked about the possibility of bundling a headset with the Xbox One, Albert Penello, a product planning manager for Xbox One told fans that “We’ve heard the feedback. Looking into it.”
Until Microsoft announces something officially, we’ll just have to assume that if we want the traditional Xbox Live experience, we’ll need to pick up the $25 wired headset. It’s still unclear whether current generation third party headsets will work on the new console. Companies like Astro Gaming and Turtle Beach have said that they are working on solutions for to get current gen models to work on the next-gen hardware, but it’s still unknown whether that will pan out or not.
Published: Jul 30, 2013 09:13 am