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XBox (Games) Microsoft Games

Xbox One Released 310

Microsoft released the Xbox One today, putting the next-gen console war into full swing. A common theme throughout most of the reviews is that properly evaluating the system is going to take time. Not only are updates for the console continuing to roll out, but the usefulness of some of its technology will depend on what game-makers and other content producers can do with it. Digital Foundry says, "It is willing to make the trades on gaming power in order to potentially revolutionize the way we interact with entertainment in the living room." The Penny Arcade Report calls the hardware and UI a "confusing mess" — until you learn to use it, at which point the hands-free navigation is fast and convenient. Polygon's review is once again visually-oriented, providing a good look at the UI, comparing the controller with the Xbox 360's controller, and giving a demonstration of how Kinect recognizes users. Their conclusion is that while "Kinect isn't a fully realized product yet," "the Xbox One feels like it's from the future." iFixit has a full teardown of the Xbox One, giving it a repairability score of 8/10 (the Kinect sensor gets 6/10). HotHardware has more details about the console's internals, including power consumption and temperature readings. Eurogamer has a compilation of launch coverage, including launch title reviews.
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Xbox One Released

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  • AMD (Score:5, Insightful)

    by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:33AM (#45490583) Journal

    Well, I hope this means good things for AMD.

    The PS4 and XBone shouls really provide a nice steady revenue stream.

    Be interesting once they've been out for a bit to get better details on the CPU.

    • Re:AMD (Score:5, Insightful)

      by binarylarry ( 1338699 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:41AM (#45490695)

      It would be awesome if they reinvested some (read: ALOT) of that money into better driver developers or perhaps more driver developers if they are understaffed.

      I would love to see a more competitive AMD, who builds great products I can rely on working out of the box.

    • Re:AMD (Score:4, Informative)

      by Narishma ( 822073 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @10:56AM (#45491539)

      The only thing we don't know about the CPU is the clock speed at which it runs on the PS4 (it's 1.75 GHz on the Xbox One). Otherwise, it's just 2 quad core Jaguars [wikipedia.org] duct taped together.

    • by 0123456 ( 636235 )

      The PS4 and XBone shouls really provide a nice steady revenue stream.

      Revenue, yes. But the margins are probably dismal compared to their existing CPUs and GPUs.

    • Well I see this as good news for ATI really :), the GPU arm of AMD. With games becoming more and more multi-platform, being ported from PC, xbox, PS, having a consistent GPU will be a boon for developers. It also means that games designed with this in mind will likely have an advantage with AMD that nVIDIA will not have.

      That said, GPU competition has been fierce for a long time (at least between the two big rivals). What we really need is a bounce back from AMD CPU division, as Intel has had it too easy for

      • by 0123456 ( 636235 )

        ATI could be a great company if it wasn't lumbered with a poorly-performing CPU division. They should really sell it off and go GPU-only.

    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Well, I hope this means good things for AMD.

      The PS4 and XBone shouls really provide a nice steady revenue stream.

      Be interesting once they've been out for a bit to get better details on the CPU.

      And Intel. Remember, Intel having AMD barely alive means they are spared much anti-trust scrutiny. I'm fairly certain Intel pawned Microsoft and Sony off to AMD for that purpose - gives AMD a few more years of life.

      (And Intel and AMD cross license so many patents, you can bet if AMD fails, those patents will be force

  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:39AM (#45490661)

    "depend on what game-makers and other content producers can do with it"

    Similar to the ps3 reviews. So basically there is no reason to buy it until someone releases some actual good games? That is similar to the last generation for the few months after launch. I was playing old titles on my next gen console for the first year. I personally plan to wait, play some steam games and finish last gen games, and get the console midway into next year when something I want comes out.

    • by stewsters ( 1406737 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:40AM (#45490685)
      At least this generation can play last gen games... Oh wait. Perhaps we can use them as media pc's until games come out... no streaming? Yeah, your right. Wait for games.
      • At least Xbox One has CD playback functionality, which PS4 doesn't... :P
        • by the_skywise ( 189793 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:54AM (#45490845)

          That's like saying your Camaro is better than your neighbors Mustang because it has an 8-track player... ;)

        • by ausekilis ( 1513635 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:59AM (#45490909)

          At least Xbox One has CD playback functionality, which PS4 doesn't... :P

          You know, I was in the market for a $500 cd player that I could talk to. Somehow pushing buttons on devices I already have just felt so impersonal.

        • by DrXym ( 126579 )
          A pretty lame reason to drop $400-500. Both systems will obviously support CD playback and ripping eventually and stuff like DLNA. I expect both companies just took the pragmatic view that such features take a long time to develop and test and are not critical at a hard product launch so best to bring them in later.
          • by tepples ( 727027 )

            Both systems will obviously support CD playback

            Not if the drive doesn't support Compact Disc format. As I understand it, the optics have to be designed for CD, DVD, and BD, and optics not designed for CD can't read a CD. In addition, the optical drive's firmware also has to support each format. It's possible that Sony cut out Compact Disc support in order to support the extra copy protection for game discs.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:45AM (#45490731)

      Exactly. One of my coworkers was ecstatic that Amazon had delivered his system yesterday afternoon, and was planning to call in sick today for some one-on-one time with it. I asked him which launch exclusives he was so stoked about; he couldn't name one. He's at work today looking a little bummed... /csb

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      And wait and see how the network issues work out. Not a good sign the virtually all of MS was out yesterday.

      Actually did get a Xbox 360 eventually for a couple hundred dollars. It is a good home media machine, and has some good games. Have to see how the monetize the One though.

    • by DrXym ( 126579 )
      That more or less summarises it for me. None of the 1st party or exclusives are much cop for either system and the 3rd party games are just the current gen's engine with some tweaks to lighting and resolution. Eventually they'll get there, but not just yet. I also expect that 6 months down the line and both platforms will roll out better firmwares and cloud services to go with it. They might even release consoles through retail which can be played out of the box without lengthy firmware downloads.

      I really

  • Sweet (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @09:45AM (#45490735) Journal

    So I should be able to pick up a used Xbox and PS3 for cheap sometime after Christmas. Why spend $500 when I can spend $100 on a console that's been thoroughly hacked?

    • So I should be able to pick up a used Xbox and PS3 for cheap sometime after Christmas. Why spend $500 when I can spend $100 on a console that's been thoroughly hacked?

      I'm with you there.

      Always wanted to try Halo 3 and the Gears of War series, but never wanted to spend retail on an Adbox 360. Now I won't have to!

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Why spend money when you can die with a large bank account?

    • Re:Sweet (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anubis IV ( 1279820 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @10:18AM (#45491095)

      With the lack of backwards compatibility and lack of games for both of the new consoles, demand for the old ones isn't likely to drop off as quickly as it did with the last generation. And with roughly 80M PS3s and 80M 360s in homes, developers still have lots of incentive to target those platforms for the next few years, meaning that demand is even less likely to drop off.

      So, maybe a bit cheaper, but if you were expecting the price to plummet, I wouldn't count on it.

      • And with roughly 80M PS3s and 80M 360s in homes, developers still have lots of incentive to target those platforms for the next few years

        Provided that Sony and Microsoft continue to allow developers to develop for those platforms rather than forcing them onto the new platforms. I'll exaggerate for a moment so that we can argue inward: There are probably still tens of millions of NES consoles out there, yet Nintendo no longer licenses development of new NES games.

        • Quite true, and something I glossed over entirely.

          Even so, Sony licensed PS2 games for a number of years after the release of the PS3, so we can probably expect the same here (though the initial PS3s offered backwards compatibility, which may have played into that decision). Microsoft didn't do that with the original Xbox when the 360 was released, but that behavior was to be expected after a first revision of a product line that didn't fare nearly as well as its eagerly-anticipated successor, since they'd

          • Even so, Sony licensed PS2 games for a number of years after the release of the PS3

            Number of years in this case equals seven. The last PS2 games came out this year...September in the US.

        • There are probably still tens of millions of NES consoles out there, yet Nintendo no longer licenses development of new NES games.

          Which doesn't mean that there aren't new NES games being released. [nintendoage.com]

    • Do you know who is going to win the console wars? Netflix.

      Not only is it available on both, and is a big salable feature, it is now (and has been for a bit now) available on other dedicated devices.

      Couple that with the fact that BOTH the release of PS4 and Xbox One will prompt a GLUT of used PS3 and Xbox360 to become available on the used market for super cheap. While they can be used for gaming still, many may be used simply as a content streamer for Netflix.

      Netflix is basically run with subscriptions. If

      • This is silly. Netflix already comes standard with most TVs for the past few years, and pretty much every Blu Ray Player. It already comes with the PS3 and the Wii and the XBox. I doubt this will make any difference at all to Netflix.

    • by Jiro ( 131519 )

      PS3 has not been thoroughly hacked unless you use a hardware flasher.

  • by gameboyhippo ( 827141 ) on Friday November 22, 2013 @10:04AM (#45490951) Journal

    When the Wii U came out, everyone declared it was crap and that Nintendo was doomed. But when XBOX One and PS4 come out people say to wait and see? Really? Excuse me while I go play "Super Mario 3D World" on my console that actually has games.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22, 2013 @10:20AM (#45491119)

      Console reviewers have raged against Nintendo since the Wii had only slightly more GPU power than the Gamecube. They have insisted that failure to properly render armpit hair under a fully body-concealing military uniform (that wrinkles naturally) is a sign of failure or at least an insult to "serious gamers." Nintendo, in contrast, decided that they want to make games that are actually fun, rather than just "Mud-coated soldier simulator 2014" which is exactly the same as the 2013 version except for the real-time blistering and life-like exit wound rendering.

      • by alen ( 225700 )

        nintendo games are the same as they have always done
        run, jump over crap, jump to get coins

      • by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

        I have a Wii and I still rage about the lack of HD. Indeed the games are fun and that's why I rage instead of just forgetting about this crap piece of hardware. Good graphics won't turn a bad game into a good game but it certainly make things more enjoyable.
        The WiiU is OK though, it may not be able to show scenes as complex as the competition (Xbox one, PS4, PC) but at least, it is not an aliased mess.

        • by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot&worf,net> on Friday November 22, 2013 @11:40AM (#45492063)

          I have a Wii and I still rage about the lack of HD. Indeed the games are fun and that's why I rage instead of just forgetting about this crap piece of hardware. Good graphics won't turn a bad game into a good game but it certainly make things more enjoyable.
          The WiiU is OK though, it may not be able to show scenes as complex as the competition (Xbox one, PS4, PC) but at least, it is not an aliased mess.

          And yet, HD on the Wii would've added costs that were completely unnecessary at the time.

          Remember, back in 2006/7, HDTVs were pretty much limited to the family room, if the house had an HDTV. Almost certainly the main users of the Wii won't have an HDTV (well, I'm sure there were a few rich families who bought a HDTV for their kids back then).

          These days it's inexcusable, but back then HDTVs were at the verge of exploding. In fact, it was so bad that Xbox360 and PS3 games were routinely marked down when they were unplayable on SDTVs - either because details essential to gameplay were too small to be seen (or blurry), or stuff like text is unreadable. And that was because Xbox360 and PS3 supported HDTV and many developers assumed players would be gaming on HDTVs, which wasn't true for a few years yet. The PS3 had it worse as it lacked a scaler chip, so if a TV couldn't handle the resolution it needed, it got downscaled to 480i. (e.g., if your TV didn't support 1080i/p and the game was 1080i/p, instead of going to 720p, it would go to 480i).

          Of course these days HDTVs are wildly cheap and 1080p sets are common that even the old set in the basement that's unused is probably an HDTV since the SDTVs ended up scrapped.

          • by tepples ( 727027 )

            Of course these days HDTVs are wildly cheap

            I still see only SDTVs in Salvation Army Family Stores and Goodwill stores.

      • Wii is a fantastic platform to develop for. If you're Nintendo [wikipedia.org].

    • Super Mario 3D World
      So yeah, technically the Nintendo has games. However 98% of gamers don't feel a need to get this month's edition of Mario.

      • However 98% of gamers don't feel a need to get this month's edition of Mario.

        They're too busy getting this month's edition of Madden!

    • by Junta ( 36770 )

      Well, the general state of affairs with Wii long term was that aside from the fun controller gimmick exploited to good effect in actually precious few first party games, Wii didn't have a lot of good gaming experience from third-party titles.

      The problem with Wii-U was the perception that the same factors contributing to lackluster third party support compared to Sony and MS offerings was going to continue. Wii U didn't change that much from Wii and the new 'gimmick' (second screen) doesn't as obviously tra

    • Excuse me while I go play "Super Mario 3D World" on my console that actually has games.

      You're excused.

      The reason why many have declared the Wii U dead, but are giving the other two systems a chance is that the Wii U didn't improve upon what the Wii did well (Wii U's motion control is not better than Wii's). Plus we know that Nintendo is going to try it's best to justify the heavy, expensive Game Pad by making games make use it, and thus far most games aren't better for it. So we're not too excited about a future with the Wii U and constantly bending our necks down from our big screens to look

    • Right. You can play Mario. Or Zelda. Or Metroid-- oh wait Other M killed off Metroid for the time-being. Great selection.

      But wait! You can also play Rayman Legends! ... if you ignore the fact that you can play Rayman Legends on literally every gaming device known to man. So that's a real draw to the Wii-U.

  • Personally, Google glass integration would be an awesome feature in either next gen console. I wonder if this is in the pipeline for either...

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