With the release of the Wii U and the announcement of the PlayStation 4, it should not be too surprising that Microsoft recently announced their successor to the Xbox 360, the Xbox One. The eight-year-old console best known for its extensive online network and reputation for first-person shooters has had a successful period representing Microsoft’s best efforts in living room consumer electronics, and the Xbox One aims to focus on extending those legacies.
Implementing living room functionality appears to be a guiding design element in the Xbox One. Utilizing voice commands, users can instantly switch between games, television and applications. Digital television boxes can be plugged into the Xbox One through an HDMI pass-through feature, which allows for use of the Xbox One’s input on the TV as a cable or satellite input as well, and users can use channels or TV show names as voice commands to switch to each channel through the console. Applications, such as Skype, can be installed, and these applications have the ability to be snapped to the side of the screen, much like in Windows 8.
Extending the instant switching aspect of the console, games can be saved and restarted whenever a player wishes, a feature Sony announced as well for the PlayStation 4 and is somewhat emulated in mobile operating systems. Nintendo’s systems only do this for their Virtual Console service, but in full console games, this is an intriguing feature. Developers have the option of putting other save points in as well, but without having to worry about losing a player’s progress when a player switches between applications. This is probably facilitated by the storage capacity of the 500 GB hard drive in the console, which is expandable for three USB-connected drives. Games can be played as they install, reducing time spent waiting for a progress bar to finish before getting into games.
The Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360, which was a midway upgrade to the console, is now not only an included feature in the Xbox One, but has been upgraded and must be connected for the console to operate. The sensor makes use of photon return measurements that track how long it takes for a photon to travel from the sensor, to the player, and back again, allowing for usage in low-light situations. Kinect can also now read balance, how weight is shifted, and heartbeats. This is all possible partly because the sensor can now transmit up to 2 GB of data per second to the console, allowing for a wide range of applications that may have been too work-intensive before. The constant connection to the console has raised privacy concerns in some individuals, primarily because the system is always able to listen for the “Xbox on” command, but Microsoft has stated that some of these features are able to be turned off, if it makes users uncomfortable using them.
Achievements have been updated to include Challenges, which are goals developers can set that players must complete within a short time frame. Developers can update Achievements as they wish without forcing users to download content, and can have Achievements span multiple games. Patent filings show Microsoft has been considering applying Achievements to TV shows as well, with the likely end goal of having sponsored content dictate where these Achievements go.
One downside is that Xbox 360 games are not playable on the system, which is unfortunate given that the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii all have rather extensive libraries that gamers may want to bring to their new consoles, instead of maintaining two separate ones. The Wii U has the ability to directly play Wii games as well as emulate a few older console games, and the PlayStation 4 will emulate some games from all the previous PlayStation consoles, but it remains to be seen if Microsoft has a solution for the Xbox One. The emulated Xbox games playable on the Xbox 360 varied in quality. Having the option to directly play Xbox 360 games using the discs would have been a nice feature, but if there is a digital solution, it might make the system more appealing to future users. Because of the lack of Xbox 360 support, the system will also not support the use of Xbox 360 controllers.
The online connectivity features of the Xbox One have also raised concerns, since it is required that the system connect to the Internet every 24 hours to verify ownership of games. Otherwise, the user can no longer play games until the system has been able to contact the server again. However, the user will be able to watch TV and disc-based movies. It also requires a connection every hour if the user is logged into a secondary console to access their library. Those who bring their consoles to places without an Internet connection, or one that has many restrictions on it, will find it frustrating that they can only play for a day before having to connect to the Internet again. If there is ever an issue with Microsoft’s servers as well, for a period longer than a day, then everyone with an Xbox One will be unable to play games until the issue is rectified. Assuming it sells over 75 million units like the Xbox 360 did, that is 75 million players who can’t use a primary feature of the console. Many have countered that it’s not a big deal to be connected all the time, but if gamers have been able to play games of comparable quality for the last few years, why should they submit to a worse solution that could potentially end their ability to play properly?
Xbox 360 compatibility and constant connectivity problems will likely be ironed out in future updates, but based on the original announcement, these are two points of concern that could impact the console’s success in the market. Certainly, at the time you are reading this, more issues may have been revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, but otherwise, the end of the year will show how successful Microsoft’s new strategy really is.
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