Gaming One Step Closer (and I'm about to RROD): The Xbox One Discussion

I've seen a few videos on the XBone's disc drive errors, in all their screeching glory. Yeesh. It also seems that the Kinect sensor is rather hit and miss. I could live with the goddam non-backward compatibility and hope they correct whatever bugs are present, but is the Kinect absolutely 100% necessary to make the console work? As I've said before, I hate Kinect and all similar inprecise motion/voice activated gimmick toys that may not understand my gestures or properly discern my voice (especially if I'm not an anglo and my accent may confuse the software). If you need to operate the console, that's why you have buttons on the console and your controller.

Regardless, I'm with Zeta1127: the Xbox is above all the Halo-delivery device and the launch titles simply don't look too enticing.

 

I read that Ryse is a rushed mess but that the Killer Instinct reboot is pretty awesome. I'll probably wait till next year though. I barely have time to play my current 360 and with the One not being backwards compatible, I might as well wait to finish Arkham Origins and Assassins Creed 4 and Red Dead Redemption before I even think about upgrading.

 

So, my family decided to some of our Christmas celebrating today, as we had family coming into town, etc. We had a big dinner and opened a few presents. As it turns out, my wife got me an Xbox One.

I only just set it up maybe 20 minutes ago. Pretty straight forward set up process. The longest part was waiting for the updates to download, and even that wasn't too long. I haven't used it for games yet (she got me Dead Rising 3 and Ryse, none of which really catch my interest too much) but I have synced it to my television service box. I have to say, the integration is seamless. Pretty damn slick. Half the time I don't even realize that I'm watching TV through the X1.

My concerns so far:

• Voice commands: I'd read in reviews that once you learn what commands the X1 responds to, using it becomes nice and easy. But at this early stage, I find it's still easier to use a remote (although now I can use either my TV remote or my X1 remote). I'm hoping this will change for me, but calling out to the Xbox to change channels when my baby is finally asleep is a bit on the risky side.
• Size. Jesus Goddamn Christ. Seriously? I have a HUGE TV unit that takes up an entire wall in my living room. My 360, DirecTV DVR, Wii, and Blu-ray player all sat nice and comfortably atop the central shelf below the TV (which is mounted onto the unit a few inches above said shelf), with space for photos and other little homely decorations. The Xbox One is so big that a part of the front end hovers just over the edge of the shelf. AND there's a separate power brick! Come on now, Microsoft! I thought you'd learn from the 360-Slim that consumers want SLIMMER devices! This thing is as big as my DirecTV DVR and Blu-ray player put together!
• Touch sensitivity. I get it. It's slick to have those neat super sensitive power and disc tray buttons on the face of the console. It was slick when the 360-Slim used it too. But guess what? I had to unplug my 360-Slim after each use because my TODDLER would go button-pressing crazy and open the disc tray or power-on/power-off the console repeatedly. This wasn't really a problem on my original 360, as the buttons actually required some pressure to activate. But the X1 is now synced my DirecTV DVR, which means that it must be continuously on (unless I'm mistaken?). This could lead to some serious living room conflicts with my toddler.

Anyway, I'm sure that once I get more use of the console I'll have more positive things to say about it. But at the moment, the best I could say is that it's pretty damn slick.

 

Today marks a week of my Xbox One usage. I will now add to/amend my initial review:

• After re-calibrating the Kinect, the TV voice commands now work about 90% of the time. It definitely is handy being busy in the kitchen and telling the TV what to put on for the kids. The re-calibration also eliminated the need for me to shout commands at the TV.

• On this topic, for the first few days, I was using the snazzy "Xbox On" command to turn on my console, TV, and cable service. Similarly, "Xbox Off" would shut off all three devices. Pretty neat. However, after the first few days, "Xbox On" would continue to turn everything on, yet there'd be no TV picture in the console's TV app tile. Instead, an error code would appear. Some Googling turned up that this was not an uncommon issue and that having the Xbox One in "instant on" mode leads to the TV app crashing (requiring a console reboot to reset the app). There's no official fix yet from MS, apparently, so the Google articles suggested deactivating the "instant on" function. Having done this, I no longer experience TV hiccups, but I do wish that MS would fix the "instant on" issue, as that function was pretty boss.

• Size: Yeah, a week later and the device is still big, but no longer glaringly so. I guess you get used to it and don't even really notice it's sitting there on the unit after a while. It runs very quietly, so that helps.

• Touch-sensitive buttons: At first I thought this was going to be a problem with my kids, as it was for the 360. But it's been a week and they haven't once touched the console. Maybe because the only thing that's lit up is the Xbox insignia, so it hasn't attracted them as much as the 360's glowing ring power button or my cable box's various illuminated buttons. Also, there's no disc tray. You just insert your disc into the console, as you would into your car's CD player.

• TV connectivity: I've read of some people complaining that using the Xbox One to feed your cable service to your TV has resulted in poor picture quality. I actually believe I'm seeing the opposite. My TV picture has never looked better (and yes, it was already calibrated). I had a friend over the other day who was similarly impressed with the quality of my TV picture versus his brand new TV.

• Gaming. Admittedly, I haven't done much gaming on the X1 as yet (the console's multimedia abilities were what actually drew me in) and I still have a backlog of 360 games to finish. But the controller is essentially a more comfortable 360-slim controller. It fits my hand like a glove. Perfectly shaped and light to handle. Also, for those of you pissed about the X1 not being backwards compatible, a cheap way around this is to connect your 360 to the X1 via HDMI. Then you can effectively control your Xbox 360 (and its games) via the X1 through the TV app.

• Kinect gestures: I can't seem to execute gesture commands as easily as I did on the 360. The gesture commands are different from the 360, so there's a bit of a learning curve. I've figured out how to select things, but when a command requires the use of both hands...forget it. For whatever reason, the Kinect hasn't noticed that I have a second hand, so I'm unable to do things like go to the Home screen via gesturing. But honestly, voice commands get things done much faster anyway--and at least that has significantly improved since the 360.

All in all, I'm happy with it. Definitely don't feel like my household is lacking anything with the absence of a PS4.

 

That'd be why.

Seriously though, a nice review. I think the One is undoubtedly the best all-around media box for a decent price.

 

Touche.

Back to regarding the X1's size: I should note that half the machine is all fan. It would seem that Microsoft was trying to overcompensate for the original 360's overheating issues by attaching the X1 to this gigantic fan rig. The fan is silent, though. Makes even less noise than the already impressive 360-slim.

 

I'm starting to think that I'm the only one who has an X1 here so far... :/

 

Lol youre probably not wrong. I bought a 360 at launch and had a disc tray error, took it back, then red lights, took it back, then another disc error that wouldn't read it. So I learned my lesson and im not going to buy a new console at launch again. Plus, when the newer versions come out everything is streamlined better.

It doesn't help that really no games are out either.

 

I don't have one as I'm broke. I now have a job so I'll be getting one soon.

 

Yes.

A good review, though. However, I am still truly not motivated at all to buy the bloody thing.

 

I like being able to tell it to turn on, but there aren't enough games out yet for it to warrant purchase.

 

PS4 for me, once X1 gets some good exclusives that entice me perhaps then I will buy the console. Halo isn't enough anymore unfortunately, now if they somehow made a TRUE Banjo-Kazooie sequel....I'd grab one instantly.

 

I'm confident that Microsoft will eventually buy Nintendo

 

I'm more expecting Disney to buy Nintendo before that happens . Actually, that might not be entirely impossible, since it seems like Disney likes to just buy a big company to enter a market (and Disney's own studios weren't doing that great, though I think Infinity might be an exception). Although even with the Wii U floundering, the 3DS probably still keeps Nintendo in decent shape at least (if not better).

If I were a fan of shooters, Titanfall might be incentive, but I'm not, and anyway, I think Titanfall is going to be on 360 too? Still not really any next-gen games that have convinced to get either a XB1 or PS4... well, Infamous might, based on the early previews, but this isn't the right thread for that.

 

Titan Fall will be on the 360.

 

Which has been getting better reviews? PS4 or X1?

 

I think reviewing systems is pointless. The 360 and PS3 changed so much over their eight year lifespans that if you'd reviewed them at launch, the halfway point, and the end, you'd have wildly different scores, not to mention the fact you'd be reviewing for wildly different things.

 

The PS4 has sold 4.2 million whilst the Xbox One has sold 3.0 million, so Sony is ahead in terms of installed user base. Still, consoles are always either sold at a loss or make very little profit. It's the games that make money.

How each console's 2014 exclusives fare is incredibly important. They have to be system sellers.

 

I wouldn't take an Xbox One, even if someone paid me. I had the Xbox and the Xbox 360, but the required Kinect was an absolute deal-breaker, and all the other negative aspects only added to my dislike for the console. I bought the PS4 and I'm loving it so far, even though I haven't the good games don't come out for a while(That means you, Destiny)

 

Since Kinect is no longer required, is the deal unbroken?

 

No, because I already bought a PS4 and I've vowed to not give Microsoft another chance until the next generation. If they impress me, I will buy the Xbox 4.

 

Well, I'm impressed and pleased with my Xbox One

 

Someone could walk in at any moment and shout "Xbox turn off! Yes!" and your console would shut down.

 

You don't have to use Kinect anymore or even have it plugged in due to updates i think...for me it would be a good paperweight.

 

A 200 dollar paperweight? No thanks.