White Xbox One Gears of War bundle and Kinect bundle announced

By John Callaham
published

Microsoft has revealed not one but two more Xbox One bundles that are coming for the holiday season. One is a white version of the console bundled with Gears of War Ultimate Edition, while a second bundle is the regular black version console with the Kinect sensor and three free games.

The Xbox One Special Edition Gears of War Bundle will include the white 500GB version of the console and controller, along with a free download of the recent Gears of War Ultimate Edition. It will also have a special Superstar Cole multiplayer skin and a code to access the beta test for the upcoming Gears 4 game when it is available in 2016.

Keep in mind that owners of the Gears of War Ultimate Edition will also be able to download all of the Gears of War games for the Xbox 360 for free, which can be played on the Xbox One later via its upcoming backwards compatibility feature. The Xbox One Special Edition Gears of War Bundle is exclusive to Walmart and will launch in November for $349.

Pre-order the Xbox One Special Edition Gears of War Bundle at Walmart for $349 (opens in new tab)

Xbox One with Kinect bundle

Fans of Microsoft's Kinect sensor will be happy that the company is launching a new Xbox One with Kinect bundle this holiday season. It will include the regular black 500GB version of the console, the Kinect hardware, and three free games (Central Spotlight, Kinect Sports Rivals and Zoo Tycoon). It will be available later this month from many retailers for $499.

Pre-order the Xbox One with Kinect bundle from the Microsoft Store for $499 (opens in new tab)

Source: Xbox Wire (opens in new tab)

John Callaham
John Callaham
40 Comments
  • Kinect bundle is a bit of a missed opportunity to highlight upcoming Windows 10 features (Cortana, etc).
  • How is it a missed opportunity?
  • They could have waited a month and plastered Windows 10 all over it. Keep the games in the bundle, but have the box highlight all of the Window 10 features you would enjoy with Kinect. Right now it is just the regular Kinect box with three free games.
  • Who knows maybe their not at target to releasing the fall update on time so they chose to play it safe. I remember seeing Nintendo list eshop in the 3ds manual before it was ready with launch vc titles shown in picture
  • Those games are whack! They could of at least put something like evolve in there
  • What does evolve have to do with kinnect?
  • Gears of War? It's a really great game with great story and multiplayer. Kinect Bundle? Does Evolve have any useful Kinect functionality?
  • Evolve uses Kinect how?
  • Evolve is a shitty game.
  • If you live in Us then yea! But for me as a Swede the Kinect is totally unnecessary! Both now and in the future
  • They should release a standalone white Xbox One. That thing is nice. A matching white Kinect would be cool too.
  • Give this man a freaking STAR!!!! I've been hopping for this also!!!
  • People have been asking for a matching white Kinect since the Sunset Overdrive bundle a year ago. It's unlikely Microsoft will ever do it given how they've thrown Kinect fans under the bus already.
  • Standalone White Xbox One? It's already standalone, it includes GoW for free, you don't pay a premium
  • They should sell a kinect+3 Kinect Games Bundle for all people that want to buy it because 150$ for Kinect with only dance central is too much.
  • I know three would be best, but it comes with two Kinect games, not one. It has Dance Central and Kinect Sports Rivals.
  • He's talking about the standalone Kinect unit, which costs $150 and comes with one game: Dance Central Spotlight. You're talking about the bundle announced above, which comes with a Kinect, an Xbox One, and three games: Dance Central Spotlight, Zoo Tycoon, and Kinect Sports Rivals
  • 500GB STILL???
  • There are 1TB bundles if you prefer. But you can do external HDDs, and unlike the PS4 you can install changes to external HDDs. There's the potential to realize performance boosts by leaving the OS on the internal drive and putting games on external drives.
  • 500GB is a much better option as it's cheaper.  Never buy harddrive space from the manufacturer when you can buy it on your own. It's wiser to pay less for the 500 GB Xbox One and then use the savings--$50 here--to buy an external hard drive at twice the difference. For $400 you can buy a 1TB Xbox One, or you can buy a 500GB Xbox One + a 1TB external hard drive, totally 1.5 TB of total space + more flexibility.
  • Are there any speed pros/cons to using an external?
  • I think the three biggest pros to using an external hard drive with Xbox One are 1. faster performance (load times are faster) 2. portability (you can easily bring your entire game and app library to other Xbox consoles without having to redownload stuff; my brother and I do this all the time when we visit each other). 3. backup (if you have to full reset your Xbox One for whatever reason, you can easily do so without having to redownload all your apps and games)
  • These bundles leave a lot to be desired unless you were specifically looking for a white Xbox One.
  • I am.
  • That marks 13/14 Xbox One bundles in the past 14 months that have not had a Kinect option. That marks 13/15 Xbox One bundles in the past 14 months that have not had a Kinect option. Wow, good job Microsoft, you finally offered another Kinect bundle. (slow golf clap).
  • And a shitty Kinect bundle at that. A few crappy Kinect games and still at launch price?! #KinectFail
  • Exactly--it's like they're trying to convince people not to buy a Kinect. I mean, the Titanfall bundle came out four months after launch and had an Xbox One, Titanfall, and a Kinect for $450. Now, two years after launch, they're still selling it at it's launch price of $500 with three bargain-bin games. It's very frustrating.
  • Yeah, you complain up and down, they finally do something different, and you complain again. What the hell would make you NOT complain? You want them to give away the Kinect for free and throw in a bunch of games that don't even make use of it? The only complaint to really be made here is that they probably should have included the 1-TB model.
  • Are you saying you disagree with what I wrote? If so, why? You think that selling the Xbox One with Kinect at the same exact price they sold it at 2 years ago with three measly bargain-bin games tossed in is worthy of praise, especially as they've release 13 other, much more enticing non-Kinect bundles in the past year? I think that's a pretty fair analysis and complaint that I had. You just like to be contentious for the sake of being contentious. I already told you what would make me not complain, but here it is again: every single one of their non-Kinect bundles had a Kinect bundle option at a $100 premium (they've done this before so clearly they can swing it), and is equally promoted along side the non-Kinect versions. Then, and here is the real kicker, Microsoft Studios releases more than the ZERO Kinect games they've released in the past year. That would be a start. I think that's a pretty fair demand from someone who only bought Xbox One on Day One because Microsoft promised us that "Xbox One is Kinect".
  • You want to talk about doing something for the sake of doing it? Every time there's a hardware post, you go on an wail about your precious Kinect. I mean, who cares how many holes you put in your own logic on the way as well, right? "every single one of their non-Kinect bundles had a Kinect bundle option" "they've release 13 other, much more enticing non-Kinect bundles" So they always do Kinect and non-Kinect options, yet there are never Kinect options for the non-Kinect bundles, right? They were Kinect-ONLY bundles until last June. There was no non-Kinect option. After that, the only non-Kinect bundle I recall seeing with a Kinect version was Assassin's Creed. So, that's exactly ONE TIME in almost 2 years that they had both a Kinect and non-Kinect iteration of a bundle. Maybe there were a couple I can't recall right now, but even if that's the case, you're talking about fewer than 5 in 2 years, where we have had probably a couple dozen bundles right now. You said it yourself--the choice isn't there, and it barely has been, yet you claim it was always there... Then, after the third-party developers, the media, and the consumers rejected the Kinect, you want them to piss more pointless money intom ore games no on wants? The last one they did was Rivals, and not only was it mediocre, but it showed off how inconsistent the Kinect's tracking was. Oh, and remember what happened when that game came out? It was panned, and everyone continued to complain that Rare's talents were being wasted on Kinect games no on wanted. So, because just about everyone said it, they stopped supporting the Kinect--it's what the masses asked for. Yet you want them to pull another dev team off of a project people want to force out another mediocre game held back, in part, by how the Kinect fails at precise tracking. Oh, and what has the Xbox One's price looked like over its life span? It's been discounted $50 in the 2 years it launched. The Kinect bundle STARTS with the discount, as the price difference between Kinect and non-Kinect bundles is only $100, despite the fact that the standalone Kinect runs $150. IT's been discounted since it launched. Oh, and you complain about the bundle's software quality? Well, THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WITH KINECT. Be it Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Zoo Tycoon, the quality is basically always lacking. Maybe it's the Kinect, not the developers, which causes the quality to drop. But let's review: The Kinect was forced upon uninterested parties, so Microsoft made it optional. Kinect games have constantly been mediocre, if not worse. The Kinect's inclusion in bundles was a discount from he get-go. Just abotu everyone rejected the thing. Yet, your REASONABLE demands are that Microsoft start making bundles (even though you previously said bundling wasn't necessary, just a price drop), and even though no one's really asking for it, Microsoft should just force out more unwanted, mediocre titles and waste moeny on franchises that have flopped already (like Kinect Sports), or even worse, develop brand new concepts (even more work), all to support a device that struggles to read a steady hand.
  • The Xbox is better off without Kinect. Look at how well the PS4 doing.
  • That really doesn't make sense. If that logic held, the Xbox One would be neck-and-neck with the PS4, now that the Kinect is unbundled. Don't ignore that the PS4 has more raw hardware power and is more friendly towards users, thanks to the swappable drive bay.
  • Well, those are tyhe Kinect games. What do you want them to do, pull a new Kinect game that isn't a giant disappointment out of their butt for this?
  • I read that as white xbox one with kinect and GoW... I almost shat my pantaloons.
  • Why are they still releasing 500 GB models? Overstock? 1TB should be a minimum.
  • Forza 6 bundle!!!
  • The $150 premium for that Kinect bundle is $100 too much.
  • White is back! :-D
  • I think this white console should of been 1tb what a disappointment I wish they had made the elite bundle white :( or blk/gold something different white/gold like the lunar controller would of been nice. Gow should of had a red/black console like the 360 version come on Microsoft!
  • Still wish for more Games to support Kinect similiar to how Alien: Isolation did it. I wasn't even aware of that when I started playing the Game and when I was having my first encounters with the Alien I was hiding in a Closet I suddenly noticed Amanda ( Ellen Ripleys Daughter you're playing ) doing my head movements inside that Closet. Freaky as fuck I tell ya and incredibly immersive. Really a bummer for MS creeping down and not selling every Xbox One with it... Few Developers saw the need for such gimmicks to be added witout every Console having the Hardware.