The Xbox One is Revealed

As we barrel towards what promises to be a very interesting summer in the world of gaming, Microsoft gave us the first look at the Xbox One.  Thankfully Microsoft was a bit more forthcoming with information than the  Sony Playstation 4 announcement several weeks prior.  That wasn't terribly hard due to the fact that Sony couldn't even produce a system to show during their system announcement.

Microsoft has seemed to build a bit of a juggernaut as far as power is concerned.  With 8GB of RAM, a Blu-Ray drive, and the Kinect peripheral now standard the Xbox One will certainly provide a considerable performance from the 360.  While big numbers and fancy interfaces are great, I do have some concerns.

Before I go much further I must explain one thing.  I have owned every system made by both Sony and Microsoft.  Currently I have a working Playstation, PS2, and PS3 all hooked up to my television.  Only my PS2 is not the original system that I bought.  I purchased a slimline PS2 and bartered away my old original PS2.  To this day that system still is in good, working order.  My Xbox, and Xbox 360 are in pieces in a box in my attic due to system failures after a couple years of use.

The Xbox One

Outside of durability issues, I have always have taken exception to the Xbox Live subscription service.  I don't care how many people try to convince me how much better quality the Live service is compared to the Playstation Network, you can't beat free in my eyes.  Xbox Live's concept of paying for access to your own internet is almost criminal.  I liken it to being expected to pay your toilet manufacturer for the water you use in it.

While I am trying to ignore some of my preconceived notions about the next run of systems, I can't help but to notice a few more concerns.  My main concern about this system was that it wasn't promoted heavily as a gaming console, but rather a media hub.  While Sony failed to show a system, they did an ample job of reminding us that they were preparing to release a video game console.

Yusef Mehdi from Microsoft seems to have channeled is inner karate kid for the menu navigation demonstration

Nearly all of the actual system demonstration was featuring the home menu navigation.  Since the system promotes a one input system, now moving from games to television, to media control is nearly seamless.  Controlling your television will be as easy as barking orders and doing Mr. Miyagi impersonations with your arms.  Since the Kinect will actually come standard with the system they are finding ways to implement that into the experience.

I will say that I was impressed with the demo for the new 1080p wide angle camera the Xbox One version of the Kinect will have.  It showcased many of the different ways that the Kinect has been improved to capture very accurate motions.

Either way the new console wars have begun.  Within the next month we should be getting more information including the price points.  It will be also interesting to see some of the more concerning rumors addressed, including the rumor about programming in blocks to disallow games from being used in multiple Xbox systems without paying for the game again.  Until then I will keep my opinions on these rumors to myself.