Fans of weird and wild peripherals will want to pay attention to today’s news. That’s because Microsoft has put the kibosh on the Kinect, and Nintendo is giving a new lease on life to their uniquely-styled GameCube controllers.
Read all about both stories after the break.
Exclusive: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect [Co.Design]
After seven rocky years, Microsoft has officially pulled the plug on the Kinect. Originally released in 2010 as a Xbox 360 add-on, an upgraded version of the motion-sensing camera was bundled with the Xbox One after its launch in 2014. However, fans revolted due to the increased cost it added to the console, and Microsoft had been de-emphasizing the Kinect ever since:
Manufacturing of the Kinect has shut down. Originally created for the Xbox 360, Microsoft’s watershed depth camera and voice recognition microphone sold ~35 million units since its debut in 2010, but Microsoft will no longer produce it when retailers sell off their existing stock. The company will continue to support Kinect for customers on Xbox, but ongoing developer tools remain unclear. Microsoft shared the news with Co.Design in exclusive interviews with Alex Kipman, creator of the Kinect, and Matthew Lapsen, GM of Xbox Devices Marketing.
Nintendo Switch Now Supports GameCube Controllers [Den of Geek]
Now this is bizarre… A secret feature in the latest Nintendo Switch system update has added support for GameCube controllers to the console. It’s unknown why Nintendo has decided to add support for the legacy controllers on the Switch (is a Super Smash Bros. announcement imminent?), but it’s certainly interesting:
To take advantage of this somewhat strange function, you’ll need a Wii U GameCube adapter and a GameCube controller. From there, you simply hook the adapter up to the Switch, connect the controller to the adapter, and you should be good to go.
Nintendo made no reference to this feature leading up to the release of the patch nor did they mention it in the update notes.
