Everything you need to know.
Today we saw the reveal of the XBOX One, the “next” generation of gaming. Or rather, the next generation of media in our living rooms. Because let’s face it, the XBOX One is designed with that in mind first.
To give you a bit of history, I’ve always been a gamer. I played the classics on cocktail tables, bought the Atari 2600 when it launched, owned a Sega Master System, Turbo Grafx 16, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Genesis, PS1. I stood in line, only to be denied a reserved Playstation 2 at launch. Bit on the original XBOX(Halo baby!) when it launched and scooped up a Gamecube. Even owned the quirky N-Gage. I’ve owned a Playstation 3 and four XBOX 360’s. Oh, and Wii’s? Three. In other words, I know gaming.
Nothing about the XBOX One speaks of gaming to me. Nothing. It feels like more of the same with more restrictions this time around. Not hating on the company, just expressing my opinion. The new system will play media, just like the one I currently own. The new system isn’t compatible with previous XBOX games, while my XBOX 360 is(though it is like pulling teeth). You don’t need to stay connected to the internet, but you DO need an internet connection somewhere along the way. It works with a newer version of Kinect(which is nice, because nobody over the age of eight really cares about the original Kinect). Oh, and buy pre-owned games and get slapped with a fee before you can actually play them. The more I read up on this “new” system, the more I found myself feeling bad for the people at Microsoft. I truly do. Because this system has so many shades of fail on it that it’s laughable.
We still await Sony’s big announcement next month on the PS4, and I’ll update the blog accordingly as that happens.
As of right now, however, I think history should serve as a reminder. The original XBOX dealt with power issues inside of the unit, and the XBOX 360…well, as I said before, I’ve owned four. Red ring, red ring…red ring. I still remember buying the first installment of Madden Football for the 360, only to discover there was NO franchise mode to be found? What I’ve learned along my decades of gaming is to stay away from new systems, and that goes for ANY brand. Most will deal with bugs, and sometimes even bring the heartache of complete hardware failure. Red ring, red ring…red ring. If you are lucky enough to snatch a properly working system during the launch day frenzy, chances are VERY good that the software will be watered down to the point of no return. The interface is just too new for programmers.
Give it a year. I’m serious here people, a year will deliver the truth. Even though it appears that XBOX has completely abandoned the hardcore gamer(or core customer, as I like to call us), they may shock everyone with a solid lineup of games. Doubtful, seeing that the announcement conference opened with a presentation on the media abilities of the XBOX One…but possible. You’ll avoid the hell of malfunctioning systems, unreal software patch downloads and the Black Friday-like frenzy at your local game store. Give it a year. Sit back and watch both systems in action, then make a calculated decision. One based on facts, not hype. By that time we’ll all know which system will dominate the industry in the year 2015 and beyond. As for 2014, HERE IS YOUR ANSWER(With my personal discount applied! My way of saying thank you for checking out this blog).
bookcommander.wordpress.com 
I really hope they don’t restrict the usage of preowned games. It’d sink any intention I have of purchasing either on release. 😦
I read that when you purchase a game, you’ll be forced to go online and activate it(which requires an internet connection, obviously). With preowned games, you’ll have to pay a fee to re-register it, similar to EA’s Online Pass system. Which I hate.
I think what happens is the Xbox One only needs to connect to the internet once a dy to “check in” so it can see what games you have as each game will have a unique code. You can trade them in but you will need to buy a new code in order to play it.
Think of it a bit like some PC games where you have to use a keycode to install, once it is used on one computer it can not be used again but there is no way to buy a new one. I hope that this has a knock on effect with PC gaming and they start doing the same as it will have a knock on effect and open up pre-owned PC games.
the-digital-bites.blogspot.co.uk
I think you’re spot on. It does remind me of PC gaming a great deal, and I do think it may appeal to that crowd. But, assuming the hardware does work out of the box(I’m still upset over this red ring of death fiasco), I think it will will turn away the hardcore console gaming crowd. That is unless Sony completely drops the ball.
Personally, the XBOX One didn’t really offer anything that the PS3 doesn’t already offer, and I’m guessing it will be priced higher than the $200’s at launch. I’m actually a XBOX 360 fan(when they work), and was seriously let down when I saw the reveal. I expected something new, aside from the shiny Direct-TV style box.
I really don’t get who they are aiming the Eggbox One at. Mind you I never understood who was buying the 360, apart from Halo fans.
the One (stupid name by the way m$— sack that marketeer) seems to be mostly being sold as a media player, although anyone that wants a media player already has one, its hardly going to rock my world when I have a PC with a HDMI output, and a PS3.
With regard to The 2nd hand games market, it is the only thing keeping small game stores afloat, so I can’t see any specialised game stores wanting to stock this One. It may sell in Walmart and on Amazon, but not if they make the same mistakes Nintendo have with WiiU.
Besides people who buy new games generally want some resale value to offset the ridiculous prices they claim are so high because of the resale market and those dreaded Pirates (Personally I think it has to do with having more managers and lawyers than programmers and designers). So do you think the games will be cheaper for this console with these features? Of course not.
The console companies are all getting greedy, and it’s really the wrong time to be doing it.
I can’t see any PC gamers buying it, as they own PCs, which already have more power, more games, cheaper games and have a back catalog that cannot be equaled (even by Ninty!).
So I guess they are planning on selling to 360 owners, who they hope the minor improvements will equal sales in the same way as all the WiiU improvements over Wii have… oh wait.
It’s beginning to look like console gaming has had it’s time, although this could just be the equivalent of that mid-nineties lull that almost killed Sega (and Nintendo), perhaps we are just seeing M$ decide that they’d rather sell phones than consoles.
You make a lot of good points! It seems to me like Microsoft is trying to find a honey hole between console gaming and the world of PC. What they fail to realize, in my opinion, is that there is no honey hole. There is PC gaming(which rocks) and there is console gaming(which rocks), but they are very different. It’s as though Microsoft has no real identity anymore. There is a console gaming system coming out called they Ouya…let’s hope it’s the answer!
Both PC gaming and console gaming rock but building a good PC cost more money to have a good gaming PC, so is it really cheaper or just in the long run?