# The Xbox One



## Lenny (Jun 10, 2013)

With the Microsoft E3 Press Conference starting soon, I figured it was time for an Xbox One thread (I'm amazed that no-one else started one, to be honest!).

Microsoft's reveal event was... different. Whilst Sony showed off what they envision for their future gaming system (hint: games, and social) without showing a console, Microsoft decided to show a console, dedicate twenty minutes to demoing live television, and not a single second of gameplay footage (instead, we got pre-rendered trailers). Oh, and they waxed lyrical about a dog.

Here is their reveal event in under two minutes:






The Xbox One (which the Internet very quickly began to refer to as the "Xbone") has the look of a box that lives under the TV, much like set-top boxes and Blu-ray players. It's also being marketed as such, with a lot being made of its media capabilities (you can watch live TV!! Because that's the next big thing, you know).

Spec-wise, it's similar to the PS4 - eight-core CPU from AMD, 8gb RAM, Blu-ray, and a (non-removable) 500gb hard drive.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4350322/xbox-one-specs

It's reportedly region-locked.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/27/4369252/xbox-one-will-be-region-locked

And it requires the new Kinect to be plugged in all the time for the console to function...

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4352732/xbox-one-requires-kinect

As someone who wants to go into academia, with research interests in image processing and computer vision, the new Kinect is just as awesome (if not more so) as it's predecessor - a cheap, but highly accurate device that can achieve the same as a rig you'd usually pay tens of thousands of pounds.

I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on a new Kinect (for the PC). But that's about all that excites me about the Xbone.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4341770/xbox-one-kinect

So, games and the like.

First off, indie devs cannot self-publish games for the Xbone, something that Sony is allowing indie devs to do for the PS4. It may be slight bias talking, but in this age of gaming, where indie games are ever increasing in quality and concept, I can't help but think this is a stupid move by Microsoft.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/22/4355306/indie-developers-cannot-self-publish-on-xbox-one

Next up, like Sony's PS4 and the DS3, you can't use a 360 pad on the Xbone. Not a huge surprise, I know, but someone is bound to ask, so I thought I'd preempt.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4353912/xbox-one-will-not-support-xbox-360-controllers

I read something interesting the other day about the Xbone pad, and how the new Kinect can recognise you and your pad, so rather than arguing with people over being player one and having pad one, you can pick up any pad and the system will allocate players accordingly. If I can find the article again, I'll link it.

Here's a look at the new controller, anyway: http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4348724/next-gen-xbox-one-controller

Backwards compatibility? Ha, fat chance. Like the PS4, the Xbone has an entirely new architecture to the current generation of consoles, and will not support Xbox 360 games at all.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4349698/xbox-one-not-backward-compatible-xbox-360

In fact, Don Mattrick, President of Microsoft's Xbox Division, says that BC is "backwards". Take from that what you will.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/22/43...compatibility-backwards-thinking-don-mattrick

Then we get to the foggy areas of used games and always online. Various Microsoft spokespeople gave various different answers to these question following the release event.

Whilst the console doesn't require an always-on internet connection for single-player gaming, it's required for multiplayer and online (well duh-doy...)... and the console needs to be connected to the internet once a day, every day, to perform authentication checks. Oh, and if the check isn't performed, then you can't continue gaming offline until it has been. Erm... huh. Apologies if you've got a dodgy connection, or live behind a heavily-controlled firewall (students in halls, for example), but screw you.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403924/xbox-one-always-on-online-requirements

The online checks, I guess, come from the ability to install every game you play onto the non-removable hard-drive (bearing in mind that these games come on Blu-ray discs, which currently exist, for games, in 25gb and 50gb flavours). You only need to use the disc once, you see, and from then on you can play the game without the disc.

Friends can also install the game on their console from your disc, but the system will charge them for the game, because they've not played it.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/...ownloads-better-than-feared-worse-than-hoped/

As for used games, the official answer is that you will not be charged a fee to play used games. By Microsoft. If publishers want to charge you, however, then they may well be able to.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/24/43...uire-regular-authentication-checks-used-games

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403930/xbox-one-used-games-license-transfers-no-fee

---

For updates on the online saga and general Xbone news, Polygon has some fantastic timelines:

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/7/4407858/xbox-one-internet-required
http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/20/43...d-all-the-news-from-microsofts-next-gen-debut

And The Verge has a useful "Everything you need to know" article:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352404/microsoft-xbox-one-everything-you-need-to-know

---

I'm off to watch a stream of Microsoft's E3 press conference now - in part as a Sony fan interested to see what kind of shovels Microsoft are using to dig their hole, and in part as a neutral interested to see if Microsoft have any interesting game announcements for their TV replacement.

I'll likely switch to Apple's WWDC conference at six, though, and put on my Android-fanboy and neutral-fan-of-user-interface-design (rumour has it that Jony Ive has completely flattened the design in iOS7!) hats...


----------



## Writersblock (Jun 10, 2013)

Oh my...i can not escape this anywhere....already got a severe overdose of Xboxone from the game forum i participate in..and not much of it good.

I do not expect that much actual new and informative information about the next gen consoles during E3 myself.

Instead they will as usual try to dazzle and enchant with new titles/IPs (just a few probably) and new sequals (alot). Trailers and gameplay (which will mostly not be actual gameplay but cgi and mostly nothing to do with how the actual games will be when they are finally released) will abound; words like innovative, immersive and groundbreaking will drown the audience and the words Halo and call Of Duty will be heard every 5 seconds...

Let the show begin and may any higher power protect us all.


----------



## Lenny (Jun 10, 2013)

So far, you're pretty much on the button.

Quite an interesting video of MGS5 started the show (gameplay footage that was fast-forwarded in parts to show off different things), but from then we've had CGI trailers (including a new Crytek game that bring quicktime events to Rome! Wooww...).

The biggest news of the conference up to now is that Insomniac, once a Sony second-party studio, have created a new franchise, *Sunset Overdrive* exclusively for the Xbone, which looks like a highly-cartoonised version of Left 4 Dead with Insomniac's trademark wacky weapons.

Oh, and now Minecraft is coming to the Xbone, with bigger world limits. Surprise!

EDIT: And now they're demoing *Quantum Break*. This looked kind of interesting at the reveal event.

EDIT2: Very interesting. I'd like to see more of that.

EDIT3: *Dead Rising 3* looks pretty dull...

EDIT4: As does *The Witcher 3*, and *Battlefield 4*.

EDIT5: Quelle surprise! A CGI trailer for new Halo that tells us nothing about the new Halo.

EDIT6: *Below* looks cute.

-----

*Sunset Overdrive*
http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/10/4414836/sunset-overdrive-is-an-open-world-game-for-xbox-one
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/10/insomniac-sunset-overdrive-cloud-gaming/

*Quantum Break*
http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/10/4414630/quantum-break
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/06/10/new-quantum-break-footage/

*Below*
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/06/10/below-coming-to-xbox-one/
http://whatliesbelow.com/


----------



## Lenny (Jun 10, 2013)

In the fight against Sony, who have video recording, sharing, and livestreaming (through UStream) built into their system, Microsoft have announced video recording, sharing, and livestreaming (through Twitch) built into their system.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/10/4415174/twitch-xbox-one-gameplay-streaming
http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/10/4414916/xbox-one-smartglass-features-twitch-streaming

---

Oh, that's painful.

The Xbone will launch in November, in twenty-one countries: $499, €499, £429.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/10/44...s-november-for-499-in-us-coming-to-21-markets
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/10/microsoft-xbox-one-price-availability/
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/06/10/xbox-one-pricing-confirmed-out-this-november/
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/06/xbox-one-costs-499-and-available-this-november/

Sony is rumoured to be pricing the PS4 at closer to $399, but nothing is confirmed yet.


----------



## Writersblock (Jun 10, 2013)

The only one of those games i am looking forward to at all is witcher 3. Always been a sucker for more storybased rpg's.


----------



## Lenny (Jun 10, 2013)

And that's it from Microsoft. Here's another timeline of stories from Polygon:

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/10/4414754/xbox-one-e3-press-conference-all-the-news

A fair few new games (I've not listed them all), I'm happy to say, but to me very few of them looked particularly interesting - about half are CoD style shooters with SF-spin to make them different. Meh.

What surely can't help MS shift consoles is that they're continuing the practice of bringing some of the more interesting things they've shown (there was one game that had you create your own landscapes to do battle on, similar in style to LittleBigPlanet) to the PC.


----------



## Writersblock (Jun 10, 2013)

So...some features will only work in the US/North america, at least at the start, and Britain and Europe will have to pay alot more for the console as seen to exchange rate values.

Well, nothing new there. Europeans have had to pay alot more than the US market for many products if using online buying since online shopping sprung into being.

I wonder if Microsoft is finally going to abandon the japanese market this gen, seeing as how the 360 was almost nonexistant there in sold units.

So, Xbox still has done little to way me, the PS4 is still vauge on details and of course the WiiU is considered more of an updated 7th gen than an 8th gen and a general failure so far.

I kind of fear for a minor fiasco for the entire 8th gen at the moment but things have a tendency to change fast so we will see in a year or so how its looking and who looks to be a winner of the 8th gen.


----------



## Brian G Turner (Jun 10, 2013)

I think both Sony and Microsoft have dropped the ball with consoles. They are both making the classic corporate mistake of dictating what users should want, rather than using proper audience feedback.

Region locked, no BC, and must have a Kinnect (remember the snooping stories about _that_?)

Why not keep the old console and simply buy more RAM for your PC?

I'm such a cynic.


----------



## Culhwch (Jun 11, 2013)

As a fairly casual gamer, I can't say either Sony or Microsoft have blown me away with their upcoming consoles. I think I'll give both a miss at launch, and instead look to build or buy a good quality HTPC, and game via Steam and the like. I was intending to do this anyway, but had put it off to wait and see what the new Xbox offered. I do most of my gaming on the PC anyway, with my Xbox only used really for the yearly Madden update, and elsewise only console exclusives like _Red Dead Redemption_. I'll probably get a Xbox One sometime down the track, when the price drops significantly.


----------



## thaddeus6th (Jun 11, 2013)

Whilst not an Xbox gamer I am disappointed, because I don't want Sony to have a monopoly. But the way Microsoft has gone means if it fails *or* succeeds or I won't be happy. If it bombs then we might be heading for a single major console provider, which would be a bad thing. If it succeeds then we've got an appalling approach to 'buying' games, 24 hour check-in with Skynet, and an always-on camera.


----------



## Lenny (Jun 11, 2013)

An update regarding the Asian markets (including Japan): Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and India around late 2014. The Xbone will be released in Japan, but all MS are saying is that they "look forward to confirming timing and other details at a later stage".

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/xbox-one-launch-asia-2014/


----------



## Cayal (Jun 14, 2013)

The Xbox itself with it's DRM and used game policies wouldn't bug me so much (used games maybe) but their arrogance is absolutely astounding.

Did anyone see Mattrick and his whole "Get a 360" comment? Disgraceful.

A sure fire way of getting people to go to the other side.

I was never getting a XB1, but jesus, that wouldn't sit well with me.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 14, 2013)

As someone who has loved the 360 (RRoD aside), I have to say I'm disappointed. This may be where the industry is headed long-term, but consumers aren't ready for a lot of this stuff and will likely punish Microsoft for it--unless, that is, pressure from publishers pushes Sony to adopt a similar position vis-a-vis used games, etc.


----------



## Warren_Paul (Jun 14, 2013)

Cayal said:


> Did anyone see Mattrick and his whole "Get a 360" comment? Disgraceful.
> 
> A sure fire way of getting people to go to the other side.


 
Yeah, he really put his foot in his mouth. Seriously, he gave all the US military the finger, even quoted a navy officer's complaint about living on a sub where the only entertainment was his Xbox360. Don told him to deal with it and keep playing his last gen console. Wow... just... wow...

Microsoft needs to fire that guy now, because that cost them the loyalty of quite a few people that were willing to put up with the restrictions.


Fortunately we have a product for those people with connectivity issues... it's called the PS4.


----------



## Cayal (Jun 14, 2013)

I said:


> I think both Sony and Microsoft have dropped the ball with consoles. They are both making the classic corporate mistake of dictating what users should want, rather than using proper audience feedback.
> 
> Region locked, no BC, and must have a Kinnect (remember the snooping stories about _that_?)



Not sure what any of those have to do with Sony. The BC thing was never going to happen due to the massive differences in the PS3 vs PS4, but they're going to try with Gaikai.

PS4 is region free and they're not forcing their PS Eye thing since it's an add-on. Other than that, they gave people exactly what they wanted. No DRM and no Used Game restrictions (It's the reason why it was cheered so loudly when announced).


----------



## nubins (Jun 18, 2013)

I preferred the 360 to the ps3, but will be pre-ordering a ps4 and waiting for the One to come down a lot in price. I dont like what they are doing, but i know i WILL like a lot of their exclusive games.

The price difference between US and UK isnt quite that simple as quoted, the US figure doesnt include sales tax as every state has different tax levels but the UK one does. There are also exchange rate securities they need to build into prices. The rest of the price difference is them fleecing us though.


----------



## biodroid (Jun 18, 2013)

I think i will stick to the PS4, more power for less money, and it wont brick on me like my 360 did.


----------



## nubins (Jun 19, 2013)

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update 

MS have reversed the new DRM system and scrubbed the online requirement.


----------



## Lenny (Jun 20, 2013)

Well that's disappointing. From a neutral perspective, I expected a big company like MS to stick to their guns, particularly when it's something they seem to really believe in. The gaming industry has grown too huge too fast, and is likely going to implode within a matter of years, so anything that forces change (even if people hate it) could help, if only by virtue of bringing a new idea to the table that sparks discussion.


----------



## Cayal (Jun 20, 2013)

Consumer backlash must have been huge for them to reverse it.


----------



## Lenny (Jun 20, 2013)

Something that must have really thrown them is that Jimmy Fallon announced on live television** that the PS4 is the only next-gen console on which you can play used games (although Mark Cerny did at least agree, with correct facts), to much applause. If the average joe believes that they can't play used games on your console, then you've done something wrong.



**He's doing a video games week on his chat show. Monday had a demo of the Xbone, and Tuesday had the PS4.


----------



## Cayal (Jun 20, 2013)

It's also not region-locked anymore.


----------



## thaddeus6th (Jun 20, 2013)

Whilst I'm glad that they seem to have stepped away from the precipice, I do wonder what the sales figures would've been like had the insanity remained in place.


----------



## Cayal (Jun 21, 2013)

Another new bit of information:

(according to someone from neogaf in the know (whatever that means)) the whole Game sharing/family circle thing was only allowing a person to share for 60 minutes. Basically a demo\trial.


----------



## thaddeus6th (Jun 21, 2013)

That's unimpressive. They were either omitting a detail which completely changes the nature of sharing with family/friends, or they're making it up now to make it seem as if its loss is less important.

It'll be interesting to see how the Xbox One sells now. They've taken away the very worst stuff (well, apart from the camera), but everyone knows they wanted to force players to log-in at least once every 24 hours to play their own games.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 21, 2013)

nubins said:


> http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update
> 
> MS have reversed the new DRM system and scrubbed the online requirement.



Great news!



Cayal said:


> Consumer backlash must have been huge for them to reverse it.



The only explanation...they must have done some marketing research that showed a serious problem.


----------



## thaddeus6th (Jun 21, 2013)

Apparently Amazon pulled a console poll after it showed the PS4 winning by about 95% to 5%.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 21, 2013)

thaddeus6th said:


> That's unimpressive. They were either omitting a detail which completely changes the nature of sharing with family/friends, or they're making it up now to make it seem as if its loss is less important.
> 
> It'll be interesting to see how the Xbox One sells now. They've taken away the very worst stuff (well, apart from the camera), but everyone knows they wanted to force players to log-in at least once every 24 hours to play their own games.



The family/friends sharing thing really isn't important. 

Regardless of what they say the purpose was, Microsoft almost certainly wanted DRM as a way to incentivize their digital download store. Plus publishers have been clamoring for it for years...they HATE used game sales, and even though I support used game sales, I see why: development and marketing budgets for games are growing at a time when revenue from game sales is declining. Very few games actually turn a profit, and publishers get exactly nothing from used game sales. Microsoft was also responding to pressure from publishers when they decided to implement DRM.

Unfortunately for them, Sony didn't follow suit. I guess they reached the point where potential loss of market share outweighed the perceived benefits of the digital strategy. Some poor decisions at the corporate level to push ahead despite the outcry, but that will be forgotten.


----------



## Warren_Paul (Jun 22, 2013)

thaddeus6th said:


> Apparently Amazon pulled a console poll after it showed the PS4 winning by about 95% to 5%.


 
Yeah, after seeing that and the pre-order sales for PS4 compared to Xbone, Microsoft knew they were in trouble. If they hadn't removed it, the xbone would have been the worst console failure in the history of console failures. It would have made the Sega Saturn look like a success.





Lenny said:


> Well that's disappointing. From a neutral perspective, I expected a big company like MS to stick to their guns, particularly when it's something they seem to really believe in. The gaming industry has grown too huge too fast, and is likely going to implode within a matter of years, so anything that forces change (even if people hate it) could help, if only by virtue of bringing a new idea to the table that sparks discussion.


 
And this is the interesting thing about it, even though this is considered great news for the consumer, you're not the only one who is disappointed with Microsoft for not keeping their belief in the system they built. Looking at polls that had gone up in light of this announcement, there is still 50-65% in favour of getting a PS4 over Xbone, with a further quarter not sure, and only 13-25% saying they would get an Xbone now.

I think unfortunately for Microsoft, the damage is already done, and any backpedalling is only going to make them look worse to the majority of consumers. They lost the consumers trust, and that is going to be something really hard to gain back. Sega know well the effect that has on sales -- just see the negative reception for the dreamcast based solely on people's bias over the failure of the Saturn. "Saturn failed so Dreamcast will fail too"


Saying that, this reversal will save their console, it will get some of their customers back -- but not all.


----------



## biodroid (Jun 22, 2013)

As much as i like Microsoft products and work with Visual Studio everyday, I do not like that they want to play big brother while i play games.


----------



## Cayal (Jun 24, 2013)

Nerds_feather said:


> The only explanation...they must have done some marketing research that showed a serious problem.



Makes me wonder why they didn't do any market research pre-reveal. Would have revealed the same thing.

Part of it makes me wonder if Microsoft ever were sold on what they were doing. They were very vague on a lot of details and there was some contradiction as well.


----------



## Warren_Paul (Jun 24, 2013)

I think it was arrogance on their part, Cayal. They knew that there would be people who didn't like it, but they believed that once people got their hands on the xbone and started using it, that they would start to like it. At least that's what that Dan guy they interviewed said.

The problem is, 95% of people switched camps. Their idea of, "they will appreciate it once they get to use it" won't work if nobody buys the console.


----------



## thaddeus6th (Jun 24, 2013)

They may have believed that Sony would either do the same or do a lighter but similar sort of thing which would've given them cover and (for this generation) gamers the choice of either swallowing it or going without.

It was still intensely stupid. If the whole world had reliable broadband it'd be one thing, but not even the US or Europe has that.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 25, 2013)

Warren_Paul said:


> I think unfortunately for Microsoft, the damage is already done, and any backpedalling is only going to make them look worse to the majority of consumers.



I think you overestimate how much early news in the cycle affects sales. Most people won't give a **** about June perceptions come November.

Microsoft's bigger problem, going forward, is convincing casual customers (who make up the bulk of console buyers) to pay $100 extra. Sony made that mistake with the PS3 and paid for it (though they did make up a lot of lost ground over time).


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 25, 2013)

Cayal said:


> Makes me wonder why they didn't do any market research pre-reveal. Would have revealed the same thing.
> 
> Part of it makes me wonder if Microsoft ever were sold on what they were doing. They were very vague on a lot of details and there was some contradiction as well.



You'd think, but it seems every generation one console manufacturer makes hubristic assumptions about their position in the market and brand loyalty (which isn't really that high outside a hardcore vanguard). Sony last time, Nintendo with the N64, etc.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 25, 2013)

thaddeus6th said:


> They may have believed that Sony would either do the same



There were rumors that Sony initially planned to do so, then changed course when they read the market's tea leaves. If that's true, then they did the smart thing. 

However, it's often difficult for large corporations to change direction like that. I think you need to have the mentality of the up-and-coming underdog, the one that hungers to dethrone the top dog. 

(Whether that accurately describes the Xbox/PS relationship isn't that important, just that Sony seems to have that "hungry #2" attitude.)


----------



## nubins (Jun 25, 2013)

Gamers, on the whole, are fickle - you can search on google for a screenshot of the "boycott left4dead 2" Steam user group, with half the online members playing Left4Dead2 and I think there was a similar one for the boycott of one of the COD's after activision set a much higher price point for it than normal. 

Now that the policy is reversed, when they see great games (assuming there are some and their appears to be a few great looking exclusives) most will forget their opposition and buy away.

Dont forget that the PS3 launched much more expensive than the 360 and with staggering arrogance from Sony ("next gen starts when we say it does!") but they still recovered after a slow start and the same thing will happen with the One.

I personally quite liked the system MS came up with for the One, just not the fact you had to be online regularly to use it and activate games etc. Partly because noone seems to be able to make that go smoothly at launch but also because its just an unnecassary pain in the arse. 

But the digital ownership stuff.. well thats the same as Steam and I use that for 95% of my PC gaming and really like it. Its simple, convenient and if i want to play an old game i just load up my catalogue and click install and a little later the game is ready to play again. No fiddling with discs, no having to dig out the old pc i had back when i bought that game 6 years ago.. it just works.

I hope they reintroduce the digital ownership as an optional thing for the One.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jun 25, 2013)

Digital ownership will still be an option for the Xbox One. That hasn't changed. It's just not "this way or no way" anymore.

That was the stupid thing--when Steam launched you could still buy disc-based games and use them the way you always had. MS should have taken a gradual approach.


----------



## Cayal (Jul 5, 2013)

nubins said:


> but they still recovered after a slow start and the same thing will happen with the One.



Except the PS3 didn't start recovering until the exclusives came out and reverse for 360. Microsoft don't own a whole lot of studios, and with most games likely going to go multi-plat it's going to be a hard sell.


----------



## Nerds_feather (Jul 5, 2013)

They also gained ground when they started dropping the price of the console. 

I think this is the big hurdle Microsoft faces out of the box.


----------

