A Closer Look at The Xbox ONE

A Closer look at the Xbox One

It really has been a wild ride for the Xbox fanboys & haters alike when it comes to Microsoft’s upcoming system, the Xbox ONE. This is due to the fact that Microsoft themselves were confusing everybody with the announcements of features and then recalling them, or saying that certain things aren’t possible and then reneging on that. In a way it was like they were polling the public with features to get feedback and then molding the Xbox ONE into a system that every ”ONE” can enjoy.

                
                       

Specs & Features:

·         Optical Drive – The Xbox One will play both DVDs and Blu-ray disks.

·         RAM – The Xbox One will have 8GB of DDR3. (There are currently rumors going around that it will have more and (or) receive an upgrade to DDR5.)

Xbox ONE Gamepad

·         CPU / GPU – Microsoft like Sony and Nintendo went with the AMD based chipsets. The Xbox ONE will feature an 8 Core APU (2 Quad-Core Jaguar Modules).

·         Storage – The Xbox ONE will have Cloud Storage as well as an onboard 500GB HDD

·         Connectivity – The Xbox ONE will have your standard 802.11 b/g/n and Ethernet, and supports Bluetooth 2.1. It also has 3 USB 3.0 ports…

·         I/O – HDMI w/ 4K support (it comes with a 4k compatible HDMI cable), Xbox ONE controller, Kinect 2 Sensor, Head set (all included with every console purchase) … As well as Smart Glass

·         Game DVR – The Xbox ONE will have a built in game DVR so you can record gameplay videos.

·         Motion Controls – The Xbox ONE comes with a Kinect Sensor 2 which is bigger and more powerful than the original.

·         Subscription Service – Like the Xbox and the Xbox 360, the Xbox one will continue its subscription service that has grown on us over the years. This isn’t a bad thing either because it is (arguably) the best one out there.

·         Price – The Xbox one will come in at $499.99.

Cons / Fine Print

Kinect 2

This list used to be a lot bigger but Microsoft has been hard at work to correct these issues….
-          Xbox Live - Okay so this is not only issue with the Xbox ONE but an issue with the Xbox Live service. You have to have a Gold Membership (this is the paid one) to use your 3^rd party services like Netflix, Hulu+, YouTube, TwitchTV, ESPN, etc. So in many cases you will have to pay to use normally free services….

-          Mandatory Game installs…. (I don’t mind having to install games but it shouldn’t be required…)

-          No Backwards Compatibility – It’s not a deal breaker but they also stated that the games you purchased on the marketplace won’t work either.

-          Price – Though the price at $499.99 is justifiable being that it comes with the Kinect 2, I still see undecided buyers leaning towards the more powerful, less expensive PS4….

List of changes since E3 in June…

-          No longer has the 24 hour death clock (Xbox stops working after not being connected to the internet for 24 hours)

-          No longer requires Kinect to be connected to operate…

-          Used games can now be used (well like Sony console still supports DRM but it up to the publishers to implement it.)

Xbox One Gaming Console

My Thoughts:

Overall I have to hand it to Microsoft; they had made huge strides to make people happy with the Xbox ONE. I for the most part was pretty content with it but now I’m (dare I say) looking forward to eventually acquire one. Still picking up the PS4 first but will get an Xbox One eventually

Sources: +The Review Pre & Polygon