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Xbox One voice commands only supported in 5 countries at launch

The small print on the Xbox One website has revealed that voice commands won’t be supported in all countries at launch.

In fact, only five of the thirteen countries getting the Xbox One on the November release date will actually be able to use the voice commands using Kinect.

Microsoft has already delayed the Xbox One release date in eight countries across the world due to localisation and language support for the dashboard and Kinect, but now it seems that those countries that will be getting the next-generation console this November won’t be able to unleash its full capabilities straight away.

In the small print of the official Xbox One website’s “Get the Facts” page, it 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.”

This means only the US, UK, Canada, France and Germany will have access to the Xbox One voice commands.

Gamers in Australia, Austria,  Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and New Zealand will lack access to Xbox One voice commands.

Failing to give any reason as to why the above countries will miss out on the feature, it seems strange that Microsoft would delay a functionality it made such a feature of during the Xbox One unveiling back in May.

Usually, gamers would be able to instantly change channels, access menus, start games and more on the Xbox One. However, it seems that Xbox One gamers in the majority of launch countries will have to do all of that using the Xbox One Wireless Controller.

Of course, the Xbox One can function completely without Kinect, and now doesn’t require the peripheral to plugged in all the time. However, Microsoft has always reiterated the importance of Kinect to complete the Xbox One experience.

“We have no plans to introduce an Xbox One without Kinect,” said a Microsoft spokeperson. “We believe in Kinect and the value it brings to both games and entertainment, and believe $499 (£429 in the UK) is a great value for what consumers receive with their Xbox One.”

Next, read 7 reasons why the Xbox One is better than the PS4.

Via: Videogamer

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