I agree with you on that one. I wouldn't say it's them not sticking to their guns, more them listening to what their customers are saying. I personally am not a fan of Xbox, but know a lot of people that are and a lot of them did not like a lot of things about the new Xbox. I think it shows they care about what their customers think and are trying to make them happy. As for me, I'll happily stick to Playstation. ;3

seems like they are listening to their fans. They tried changing things too abruptly and ended up getting nearly everyone pissed off and now they are saying sorry by listening to what their fans want. They might have just made it where the x-box 1 doesn't need to use the kinect to operate but it still comes with one which makes me think they will try to push more kinect games. Also there are going to be games that can be used with both kinect and controller (I myself prefer using kinect for voice commands over flailing my arms around).

I just really think someone up in the head office for X-box said "okay we screwed ourselves somehow here and how can we fix it?"

That aside though I do think one day in the future we will have microsoft making a system that needs the kinect to operate, but they tried pushing it too fast here and that bit them in the ass and now they are just possibly ease into it over 1 or 2 more system life spans

This can be a good thing to the consumer. I was one of the people who got Kinect 1, and I found it average at best. The voice command feature was excellent, and I kinda liked the menu navigation. The games that were focused on Kinect however, were poorly done. Only one set managed to get it right, and that was the Dance Central series. The other game companies failed to get their products working and didn't take the time to perfect the tech. Now I know it was a software problem because I've seen what hackers have done with Kinect and it was very impressive, personal favorite was the guy who made Skyrim 100% one to one compatible with Kinect.

The fact the Microsoft is removing it as a requirement can be good for these reasons, not to mention those who do not have the physical room to use a Kinect. The average game console is in a bedroom and more often then not the TV is on a dresser or desk and the bed is not far away.

However on the opposite side of the coin, this is a bad move by Microsoft. Yet another piece in the list of what has been labeled "X-Box 180". With the change of Kinect, Microsoft has now reversed ever major piece that was listed or talked about when the X-Box One was first announced, with the exception of the price tag. So now the buyer can asked "Why should I get this system when the main thing that made it unique is no longer needed, its almost the same as the other one in power and graphics, and its more expensive?" If Kinect is no longer required, why even force people to buy it? Why not remove Kinect 2 from the package, and lower the price? With the bad press Microsoft got from this whole event so far, its needs something in order to compete with Sony, and pull buyers back to X-Box, especially if the rumors about Sony planning a PS4/Vita bundle for the exact price of the X-Box One turn out to be true.

This might be good for the buyers, but at this point it makes Microsoft look desperate for sales.