Xbox One: The Console that "Changes Everything"

Microsoft held a special "Xbox Reveal Event" today to unveil their latest foray into the console market, marking the end of the current console cycle. Their newly announced hardware on display at a glitzy show along with a flurry of other eye catching announcements, along with tech demos that just flexed the Xbox’s muscles. The new console, called the “Xbox One” was also shown, with its reflective rectangular body, and sleek curves, it has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing consoles out there. Microsoft’s rivals, Sony, had already announced their new console, the PS4, earlier this year. Both will be looking to one up each other’s efforts and trying to establish as the ultimate gaming machine. Microsoft has gone for a slightly different approach this time around, trying to not only garner the attention of the old Xbox faithful, but also the people who want a device that can be more than just a way to play games.

The console itself, The Xbox One

The much anticipated packs in an impressive number of features and internal hardware. Featuring an 8 core processor, with 8 GB of DDR3 ram, a custom made GPU produced by AMD power this beast of a machine. Also included is a 500 GB hard drive that may raise a few eyebrows, as you can find similar capacities on current-gen consoles. The Xbox one finally has a Blu-Ray drive, allowing it to read disks with about 50 GB of storage.  The console also contains multiple 802.11n radios and a Gigabit Ethernet port. These numbers are quite impressive, and quite similar to its arch rival, the PS4.

Some of the technical highlights of the Xbox One

Included in the box when you purchase the Xbox One is a controller, the console itself along with the newer and upgraded version of Kinect. With this newest iteration, it now has a camera capable of shooting 1080p video at 30 frames per second, and motion sensing accurate enough to detect finger movement and hand gestures. This is a bold step by Microsoft by bundling the Kinect with the console from the get go, and it is also said that the Xbox One cannot function when the Kinect is not connected to it. The controller itself also got a redesign, with Microsoft citing 40 intricate changes, some highlights including improved analog sticks, a more traditional D-pad, the back becoming one solid piece and many others. One feature that did stick out was the rumbling triggers, a new innovation, but that is treading on the fine line between a marvellous innovation and a cheap gimmick.

Whats Included in the box

One of the Xbox One’s main goals is to harmonize your living room, forcing all of its vital components to collaborate with each other to create a perfectly synced, simple and easy to use home theatre system. With the help of numerous methods of input, using traditional, modern and even bizarre ways to communicate with the Xbox One, the user can easily craft their own way to use the Xbox and its advanced features. One could use a smart device such as a tablet, your smartphone or even IPods to control the Xbox. There’s always the traditional way of using it, and that’s with the provided Xbox One controller. The third and the most imaginative way is using the Kinect. You could use one of the many predetermined hand gestures to give a command or even just utter the words out loud for the Kinect to hear and grant your wish. It’s almost magical the way that it transforms your very words into action almost instantly. That’s stuff you expect to find in Sci-fi worlds such as Star Trek or Iron Man, not your living room.

The new and improved Xbox Controller

Microsoft is really jumping right into the deep end with this console, obsessed with becoming the centre of attention in your ever crowded living room. It wants to be involved in all aspects that involve you using your TV in your living room, gaming, music, movies and live TV. With the Blu-Ray drive finally included, users can enjoy crisp 1080p video with lossless audio. But it doesn’t stop there. With the help of Kinect, you can seamlessly switch between any of living room devices. Watching TV and want to get in a quick game in the commercial, one hand gesture or voice command will instantly bring you to the game you want, already loaded, roaring to go. Watching a Movie and want to take a break and listen to music, no problem. Transitioning between these mediums has been reduced to one flick of the hand or a couple of words, and it’s never been easier. This is one feature that truly separates the Xbox One from the pack.

   

All of these things sound great on paper, but like any other new device that ventures onto the consumer market, it has its drawbacks. For one, the Xbox One does not offer backwards compatibility. So all of your old games from the Xbox 360 will not work with this console; however Microsoft could choose to use its cloud services to let gamers stream their older games, but no official word has been given on this matter. It has also been said that to play a game from a disc, you have to install it into your Xbox, and this could raise more than a few eyebrows. For one, 500 GB of storage does seem a bit constricted, especially when you take all the digital content on your Xbox into consideration. It also sparks another debate as to whether you could buy and sell used games without having to pay some sort of tax or penalty. It could even make borrowing a game from your friend a hassle, one that Microsoft should surely avoid.

                                                                 Xbox reveal trailer 

As this was just revealed to the world today, naturally there is a lot of important information missing. Price point is a huge matter in which Microsoft needs to tread carefully on, pricing it too high could make it beyond the reach of many and pricing it too low could end up costing them money. The release date is also yet to be confirmed, but it is believed to be before the end of the year. Another important aspect of the console missing from today’s presentation was the presence of games. With only a handful of games even discussed, the only positive on this front that can be taken away is the promising partnership with Electronic Arts (EA). As eye catching the new feature Microsoft announced today seem to be, they must not forget their roots and the foundation of their fan base, the gamers. It’s all good to have a great all in one device in your living room, but not at the sacrifice of gaming, which after all is what the Xbox started as, a true and pure gaming machine.

Personally speaking, this appears to be a splendid, well-oiled machine, designed to just work and get the job done properly. A lot has yet to be revealed for one to make a sound judgement, but as it stands, this seems to be a more attractive proposition than the PS4, just because of how well rounded it is. Microsoft has found and pin pointed a gap in the consumer’s electronic market, and is filling it with this piece of technological marvel.

However, Microsoft could have possibly opened the floodgates to a new type of device. It can do everything that Apple TV can, most if not all of what a PS4 can and still some. Not only would this raise the bar, but also invite its competition to step their game up if they truly want to go toe to toe with this software giant. It will also raise the consumer’s expectation of products being integrated into not only their everyday lives, but also to each other, to offer one big immersive experience. It truly has the potential to be the console that “changes everything”. 

                                      Jump to the 1:28 hour mark for the full presentation