Xbox One Gets a $100 Price Drop, Revamping Xbox Live Gold

There's real no way to sugar coat this... so I'll just say it. Sony is definitively beating Microsoft in the early months of the 8th console generation. Part of the reason why the Xbox One is trailing behind PlayStation 4 is a hefty price tag. Both systems are pretty equal in terms of power and share many of the same games... so to pay an extra $100 for Microsoft's console has been a bit of a tougher sell (that's not say it hasn't sold incredibly well, because it has). 
 
Starting on June 9th, this price gap will no longer exist. A new Xbox One SKU will hit the market that day without a Kinect. This is a move that many industry analysts have predicted... although most didn't expect the move to happen so soon after Xbox One was released. It is telling that there was a Titanfall bundle Xbox One that included a Kinect- even though the game Titanfall did not make use of the Kinect in any way. In many ways the Kinect has failed as a gaming device, only finding use in party games like Kinect Sports Rivals. Even in the just released announcement, you'll notice that they don't even mention the Kinect for gaming uses or highlight any of the games that use Kinect. 
 

 
Also as part of the announcement there will be some big changes coming to Xbox Live. You will no longer need a gold membership to access entertainment apps like Netflix, Twitch, Hulu, etc. To compensate for the shift they will be implementing what is labeled as a "virtual VIP room" that will give Gold members access to free games, monthly deals, and other great benefits. 
 
It is pretty surprising that Microsoft did not save this announcement for the E3 press conference... I'm sure a $100 price drop would have brought in a huge round of cheers from the audience. That makes me think they have something even bigger to announce at E3... perhaps a VR headset to offset that $100 you just saved? We'll find out in less than a month.