Xbox One voice commands at launch clarified – somewhat
Albert Penello, director of Product Planning at Microsoft, has taken to NeoGAF in an attempt to try and clarify some inconsistencies regarding the extent to which voice features on the Xbox One are supported when the console launches in November.
The thread stems from someone spotting some fine print on the official Xbox site as follows:
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.
As the OP noted quite rightly, given the Xbox One is launching in 13 countries initially, what’s the deal? That’s where Penello comes in and tries to clarify what’s happening:
- Xbox One will launch in 13 countries in November
- Ten of those countries will support some voice features
- Eight languages will be supported on launch as follows: English – US, English – GB (WW), French, Spanish – MX, Spanish – ES, Italian, German and Portuguese
The kicker (and reason for the initial confusion) is that upon the console launching not all of the voice features will be immediately available in all of the countries. Penello notes that the “Xbox On” command, for example, will only be available in five. For such a heavily promoted/basic feature that seems pretty weird… Anyway, there you have it. Expect more clarification from Microsoft.
