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Xbox Project Scorpio: Phil Spencer not interested in bringing VR to Xbox

Xie Enwei, general manager of management and operations of Microsoft in China, speaks during the presentation of the Xbox One by Microsoft as part of ChinaJoy 2014 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference in Shanghai July 30, 2014. | REUTERS/Carlos Barria

With Sony launching the Playstation VR last October, fans were wondering when Microsoft was going to integrate Virtual Reality (VR) into their console, but it looks like it might take awhile. Microsoft boss Phil Spencer recently said that he is currently on the fence about putting VR on the Xbox.

In an interview with Stevivor, Spencer likened VR tech to the Kinect games that were developed for the Xbox. He said, "Kinect turned into the 'Dance Central' box... It was a great franchise... It didn't map to controller in any way... We'd actually call some Kinect games 'mimic games' because of what they would do... If I put my hand out here, that's the A button, this is the X button. Really, they were just turning your body into a kind of pass-through to the controls. Those didn't work."

He then said that Kinect didn't properly integrate with controller-based games, and that's what could possibly happen if Xbox decided to introduce VR to their system.

Spencer also added that he doesn't really like how the VR headset is "tethered" to the system and that consumers aren't too willing to buy something that leaves them connected to a box. He then compared the technology to the Hololens and their achievement with making it wireless, but some fans have pointed out that the Hololens is more of an "Augmented Reality" simulator than a fully virtual one.

The same users have said, however, that Spencer has been known to say one thing and do the opposite, so perhaps VR may be coming to the Xbox eventually. Maybe Spencer is just waiting for the development of an entirely wireless VR headset.

With the trend of wireless technology today, it only makes sense that a step forward in VR would be to have a completely wireless device. It may only be a matter of time before gamers can get their hands on that kind of tech.

No official release date has been announced for the Xbox Project Scorpio, but fans should expect it to come out sometime next year.