Dumping Kinect means better Xbox One graphics performance, Microsoft confirms
Microsoft has confirmed to developers that the processing power previously used for handling Kinect is being opened up to provide additional graphics processing power in the Xbox One. In other words: Xbox One games are going to look slightly better.
A few weeks ago we had the shock news that Microsoft are dropping mandatory Kinect bundling for the Xbox One – essentially ending motion controls for this console generation.
According to Eurogamer, the freed up GPU power will give developers an “extra 10%” of GPU resources to play with.
This could mean that more games will be able to run at the gold-standard of 60fps at 1080p – and crucially, it will reduce the disparity between the PS4 and Xbox One’s performance. For example, with Watch Dogs it runs at 900p (still not quite full HD) on PS4 and only 792p on Xbox One. (Yes, people notice these things).
Of course, the other benefit is that it means we won’t have to wave our arms around to control what happens on screen.
