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Xbox One Voice Commands Will Only Work In Five Countries At Launch

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by Matt Helgeson on August 29, 2013 at 08:26 PM
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Most of the 13 regions that will get the Xbox One in November won't be able to experience the system's vaunted Kinect voice commands at launch.

The news was revealed in an update to the Xbox One official product page, hidden in a footnote at the bottom which reads: "Xbox voice commands will not be available in all markets on the product release date. Voice commands will be available at launch in US, UK, CA, FR, and DE."

So, unless you live in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, or Germany, you'll have to wait for voice commands. The remaining countries where the Xbox One is launching in November are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and New Zealand.

[Source: Gamespot]

Our Take:
While a lack of voice commands isn't a dealbreaker by any means, it's odd that a feature that was so hyped in Microsoft's initial Xbox One reveal event is going to be missing for millions of gamers at launch. It's disappointing news. Let's hope that Microsoft gets a patch out for the remaining launch countries sooner rather than later.

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Comments
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  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:37 PM

    At least the voice commands aren't necessary for the console to work. It's unfortunate that the other countries can't use the voice commands but at least they'll be able to use them soon.

  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:38 PM
    Sorta expected this but voice commands is something that takes time to program in to get them working correctly so pretty sure we will be seeing alot of patches for kentic to adress the issues of the other regions. Isn't gonna make or break sales in anyway since i'm sure mostly everyone will not be using it since its not required anyway to have plugged in.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:38 PM
    Even though I know all the hate on the feature, I like it, and I feel like that sort of defeats the purpose if it's only available in five countries
  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:41 PM
    This might very well have been the reason for the move to allow a disconnected Kinect. I'm surprised that the Kinect is unable to understand Australians.
  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:41 PM
    Nobody's going to use them anyways, so no loss really.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:43 PM
    xbox sucks plan and simple.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:43 PM
    Microsoft needs to slow down and release the Xbone when its ready EVEN if it's after the PS4 launch. They need to stop rushing things.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:43 PM
    And another major blow to the Xbox One. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were trolling us.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:44 PM

    Because people will use them over a controller.

  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:47 PM
    So, Microsoft's trying to rush the console before it's even ready. That's no bueno, XBOX ONE. Very no bueno.
  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:47 PM
    As long as one of those five at launch is the U.S. I'm good. I wonder what goes into getting it up and running for regional dialects and accents. Australian English is a thick accent, but I wouldn't have thought it was that thick.
  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:48 PM
    first it was: "kinect is an integral part of what we're doing with xbox one". Then it was "the xbox one will work without the kinect plugged in"... And now, it's "only 5 countries will get voice features of kinect"... Next it will be: "pay us an extra 100 bucks, and we'll throw the kinect into the trash for you."
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:49 PM
    Why Microsoft didnt think about these things at first...that just means less people are going to buy an Xbox
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:50 PM
    I think the voice command feature of the Xbox One is cool.
  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:51 PM
    Next headline:


    Xbox one will only turn on in Tacoma, WA at launch.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:53 PM
    It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want people to like them.
  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:53 PM

    Voice commands were the selling point for me, without them I would be very upset. Fortunately, I live in the US so I don't have to worry about it. It sucks for everyone else though.

  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:57 PM
    ...Does anyone actually care about this, though?
  • by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 08:59 PM

    Really sounds like they are having a lot more trouble with them than they where expecting.  Hardly a dealbreaker for me, but considering they have been making a big deal of it in their marketing, that's not good.

  •
    by Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 09:09 PM
    I'm finding it hard to understand why anyone in most other countries would buy this thing. It has so many limitations, even though they've fixed many of them. Other than the fact that this is not going to work, and the delayed release dates, it's still a decent console. Personally, I have no use for the other uses for the Xbox One, so I'll be going with PS3. Anyone who uses their current console for other entertainment purposes, this thing is great! For me, not so much.
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