Xbox One Controller PC Drivers Released; Kinect for Windows v2 on Pre-Order

Good news for PC gaming enthusiasts - Microsoft has made Kinect for Windows v2 available for pre-order and released new PC drivers for the Xbox One controller. The drivers for the x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) are already available for download, while the Kinect for Windows v2 can now be pre-orderd for $199 from Microsoft Store.

Microsoft promises early access to the public beta of the SDK in July to developers who pre-order the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor. This means that they would be able to start building apps before the general public can.

The new iteration of Kinect features the core capabilities of the Kinect for Xbox One sensor including the ultra wide-angle 1080p HD depth camera.

The Kinect for Windows v2 sensor is available in 22 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.

As for the Xbox One controller PC drivers, which would probably excite gamers more, Lawrence "Larry" Hryb a.k.a Major Nelson states in his blog, "The new PC drivers will enable the Xbox One controller to be used with any game that featured gamepad support for the Xbox 360 controller. Simply download the drivers, connect your Xbox One controller to your computer through a Micro-USB cable and you'll be gaming in no time."

Recently, in order to promote the Xbox One, Microsoft gave access to broader GPU bandwidth along with some new tools for game developers. It is expected to bring Xbox One closer to the level of the Sony PS4 which already plays some games like Watch Dogs and Call of Duty: Ghosts at higher frame rate and resolution than Microsoft's console.