Minecraft will launch on Xbox without Kinect
Functionality will be patched in at a later date.
The Xbox Live Arcade version of Minecraft will launch without Kinect functionality, it emerged at Microsoft's recent Spring Showcase.
The Xbox 360's own version of Minecraft, the phenomenally successful indie title from Swedish developer Mojang, was announced at last year's E3, and was originally slated for release late last year.
The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft will also be base on version 1.6.6, which released on PC last May. It's the intention of 4J, who is working together with Microsoft Games Studios and Mojang on the port, to bring the game up to speed with its PC counterpart through a series of patches - one of which will introduce Kinect support.
"1.6.6 is the level playing ground that Microsoft, 4J and Mojang agreed on at the start," lead producer Roger Carpenter told Eurogamer, "At some point we'll announce how the updates are going to come about - we will slowly but surely bring the Xbox version up through the versions."
The Xbox 360 version introduces an in-game wiki, as well as tutorials that run through the foundations of Minecraft. It remains unclear how exactly Kinect will be integrated within the game.
"The one thing we were at great pains to do when we took on the project was, for want of a better phrase, not mess it up," said Carpenter. "Minecraft's so dear to so many people that we had to nail it on a controller, and on Xbox."
