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.
Xbox One? (Score:5, Interesting)
Cable integration? (Score:5, Interesting)
XBMC (Score:5, Interesting)
So basically all the features I have been using for the last 3 years on XBMC + Steam, except for Voice and motion input(which i think are silly and I don't want).
Always on internet? (Score:4, Interesting)
So far I've not seen anything about the always-on requirement for the internet connection.
That feature is make or break for me, because if it *needs* an internet connection to be always enabled, I can tell you now I won't buy this -- they had their chance, and they put ads into both my home screen and my games.
Did anyone who actually watched the event see anything about this? I've checked several articles so far, and none of them have mentioned that part.
Re:Cable integration? (Score:5, Interesting)
If each household with a subscription buys $150 worth of Comcast stock every month for the next three years we could own them and fire them,
Re:Microsoft's attempt at a do-everything box (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder what all the TV stuff is getting replaced with in countries that aren't the US.
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:4, Interesting)
Not backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games?
Re:Does it work in other languages than English? (Score:5, Interesting)
I prefer Japanese. No-one else around me can eavesdrop, it doesn't sound as dorky and it actually works better. In Japanese sounds don't run together nearly as much as in English and so the voice recognition is considerably more reliable. Plus Japanese sat-navs are super-polite.
Having said that Google seem to have got English recognition more or less perfect now, even if you are Scottish.
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:5, Interesting)
Xbox customers are extremely loyal, to the point of sycophancy. Of all the Xbox owners I know, zero of them have just bought one Xbox 360. After they got RROD'd, they ALL went out and bought another at full price. One of my friends is now on his 13th one.
Plus there are legions of people who buy the special edition Xbox 360's, and just toss their old working one in a closet and forget about it or repurpose it for another room.
Re:I look forward to hearing about why this will f (Score:5, Interesting)
Nah. This thing will come out for $300-$400 and will be drastically underpowered compared to even a moderate range gaming PC, just like the PS4
Backwards Compatible? (Score:5, Interesting)
Any news on if it can play Xbox 360 games? The thing is if MS drops 360 Xbox Live support the 360 becomes an expensive boat anchor. Everything on the 360 revolves around Live including your profiles, Important game patches, Video content like renting movies and HBO GO, etc.
I guess I can live without being able to play 360 games on the One but then Microsoft HAS to keep Live going on the 360 for as long as people are willing to pay for Live service. People have a ton of money invested in these systems and If MS says "Sorry buy the new one and all new games" that would be a big Fuck You to all of us. There is definitely something to be said for old cartridge and cdrom based gaming systems that were pre-internet. They all work now and will all work 15 years from now. The 360 probably won't.