Microsoft Unveils Xbox One 782
Today at a press conference leading up to E3, Microsoft unveiled its next-gen games/entertainment console, the Xbox One. Their stated goal for the Xbox One is to have a single device provide "all of your entertainment." One of the big changes is increased support for voice and and gesture input. You can turn the console on by voice, and it will recognize you and automatically login. Swiping to the side with your hand will browse through menu pages, and saying "Watch TV" will bring up the TV app very quickly. The same with music, internet, and movies. The new console also supports multitasking — for example, while watching a movie, you can bring up your web browser in a side panel and surf the web at the same time. There is also a built-in TV listings app that responds to channel names — saying "Watch CBS" will switch to CBS without giving it an actual channel number. By this point, you're probably asking: does it play games? Yes. Hardware specs: 8-core CPU/GPU, 8GB RAM, a Blu-ray drive, a 500GB HDD, USB 3.0, and Wi-fi Direct. (They didn't provide the CPU frequency, instead saying it had 5 billion transistors.) The Kinect sensor got an upgrade: 2Gbps of data capture has finer skeletal visibility, can detect minor orientation changes in hands and fingers, and can even calculate your balance and weight distribution. The new controller looks slightly bigger, and is designed to play well with Kinect. They've also updated Smartglass, the remote control software that runs on mobile devices, but they didn't explain much about it. The new Xbox Live will have 300,000 servers powering it, up from 15,000 this year — though, of course, no details were provided about server specs. The console will have native game capture and editing tools — essentially, a game DVR. Saved games will be stored in the cloud, and they have new matchmaking capabilities that operate in the background. Update: 05/21 17:50 GMT by S : Halo is getting its own live-action TV show, for some reason. They'll be collaborating with Steven Spielberg. Microsoft is also partnering with the NFL for live broadcasts and interactive experiences, such as split-screen Skype chats and fantasy league updates. Xbox One will be out "later this year." No price information. it will not be backward-compatible with Xbox 360 games.
Where are the games? (Score:3, Insightful)
Microsoft's attempt at a do-everything box (Score:5, Insightful)
Looks like the Xbox One is a home-entertainment center for which gaming is mostly an afterthought.
That's not necessarily a bad thing (hardcore gamers aren't nearly as important of a demographic as they think), but a lack of focus could be a real problem. We already have general-purpose machines that are versatile enough to do what we want them to. Microsoft needs to make the case why this is better than a laptop or a tablet or a smartphone – especially as it is certain to be loaded down with DRM.
Re:Depends, but will probably get it (Score:5, Insightful)
I will consider it when I can play netflix on it without any sort of subscription.
Re:Where are the games? (Score:2, Insightful)
everyone knows its going to let you shoot and kill people and monsters with lots of blood and gore in HD
the TV part is going to sell it to the wife and the ESPN features are the knife in sony's back
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:5, Insightful)
Easy, they will sell it at below cost, like console manufacturers always do at first. Both Sony and Microsoft lost money on every console they ever released until well into their lifecycles.
That is one reason why Microsoft encrypted the controller protocol on the 360. They claw back money on expensive accessories and didn't want any unlicensed hardware on the market.
Re:Looks like a cross between (Score:4, Insightful)
Those goofy vent things on the top will be a dusty wreck in about a month.
It's freeaking me out (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:4, Insightful)
Always on, always listening.
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:4, Insightful)
Could be compatible with games for the xbox 1... I mean original xbox... Ugh. This is going to be a problem isn't it?
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:4, Insightful)
Do they have deals with ATT UVerse, Cox/Charter/You Name it Cable channels, Dish/Direct TV Satellite companies to hook into their systems? That would actually be some coup if they were to be able to integrate into all these systems...will it also act as a DVR? I mean, if they want to be a 1 box fits all, that would be one big requirement I'd guess.
Sure it can play games....but how well does it do the other stuff ?
Re:What? What happened to 359? (Score:4, Insightful)
What the hell is wrong with their numbering conventions? They went from Xbox 360 to Xbox 1? Are they starting all over again from version 1?
No, they just switched to a mod 360 versioning system.
Offline multiplayer (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm firmly in the single-player, offline-only game-play camp
So what you're saying is that you're prefer masturbation, over getting involved with other people
There's the offline single-player camp. There's the online multiplayer camp. Do we already forget the offline multiplayer camp? I thought that was console games' one big advantage over PC games.
Re:Wait for it.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:5, Insightful)
Xbox customers are extremely loyal, to the point of sycophancy.
Not this one. I've been an Xbox owner since the Xbox 1. But I've grown tired of having to pay $50/year for basic stuff like using the Netflix and Hulu apps. I'm also sick of the ad-heavy new home UI, the shitty new Netflix UI, and the fact that MS has spent years dropping all their best first-party developers.
I was vastly underwhelmed by today's unveiling (seriously, a Halo TV show, wtf?!?!?). The fact that the didn't even address the "always on" requirement for single-player titles rumors tells me all I need to know. Combine that with a bunch of "cloud" shit, no interesting exclusives, a new cable interface that probably won't even work with my cable system, and hardware that's no better than the PS4--and it all adds up to a great big cup of who-gives-a-fuck.
This Xbox fanboy is probably going PS4 this time around. At least it will save me $50 a year.
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it too much (Score:4, Insightful)
to ask for a classic-style game console built with modern tech/processing power?
Yes, I'd like to be able to play online with friends. That is the only other thing that I really want out of my console. I don't care if plays music or movies. I don't want it to be the center of my entertainment center. I sure as hell don't want it always on and spying on me.
I just want to play games, and that includes used ones.
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, according to the live stream on GiantBomb, Microsoft's console will implement a "used fee". When you play a game, you will have to install it completely to the hard drive and it will be locked to that user account. If you want someone else to play it, they will have to pay a fee of an unknown amount.
This now only fucks over the used market, but fucks over people lending games to their friends... worse, even their most loyal customers. If you pre-order games for full price so you can play them on launch day and never sell your games back to the used market and never buy used games, you are still fucked if you, say, have a family of four and not only you, but your kids and wife enjoy playing games. Figure ten bucks per account per game? Now that $65 (with tax) game is suddenly $95 or more. And that's before you've bought the $40 worth of DLC.
I'd like to be optimistic and say this all sounds like an incredible boon for the future of PC gaming, but the vast majority of consumers don't give a fuck, don't know a fuck, and will just let themselves get rolled.
Re: I look forward to hearing about why this will (Score:5, Insightful)
The courts and politicians were not nearly as corrupt in the 70s as they are today. You can read every case on US-DOJ regarding Microsoft being found guilty of predatory monopolistic practices, and see what their punishments (or lack thereof) were.
This is in addition to numerous states that have found them guilty of predatory monopolistic practices, and receiving no punishment.