The Xbox One launch was delayed to 2014 in eight territories – Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland – but it wasn't because of a "volume issue," Microsoft Senior Director of Product Management and Planning Albert Penello told OXM. The delay came down to localization with the new Kinect, the site reported.

"People assume there's a volume issue which in fact there isn't," Penello said. "You're actually seeing pre-orders pop back up now because we're able allocate the countries' volumes back in. It's there; the problem is localization. And once people see the system and how integral it is – it's not just text integration."

The new Kinect doesn't work like the Xbox 360 Kinect, and its new features make localization more difficult, Penello said.

"I think people are using the way [voice] works on Xbox 360, which was an accessory we built five years after release, as how it's going to work here," he said. "But it's so much more elegant and so much more integrated, and in many ways it's a lot faster and more convenient, whereas on Xbox 360 it's a lesser version of doing the thing you're used to doing on your controller."

The Xbox One will launch as scheduled this November in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the UK, the US and New Zealand.

Posted: Aug 27, 2013 8:40 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/27/report-xbox-one-regional-delays-due-to-kinect-localization-issu/