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Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

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Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#81

Post by geuis »

commandar wrote: post #56
untog wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly? I don't really know why anyone bothers to do launch events like this any more. Post a bunch of images, videos and some bullet points about the product somewhere. Done.

Well, the Sony PS4 event was actually fairly well done, especially in comparison. There was a lot of noise about them holding off on showing the actual box, but they talked extensively about games, about the things you could do with the console like screen sharing with friends, and about what the new hardware meant for developers and the kinds of doors it'd open for games. It certainly wasn't without flaw, but it did…

Go back and re-watch the PS4 talk. It was mostly empty and mostly vapid. There were less details given than the Xbox presentation. They showed a controller and that vibrator-looking glowing thing you see in porn. The most interesting bit technology-wise was the old man head. I'll admit that was very cool but I wanted more info.

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#83

Post by ryusage »

jellicle wrote: post #47
potatolicious wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I'm against do-everything devices, but IMO this is a stroke of genius. Everything about operating a TV today is pure pain . The centerpiece here is an obtuse, 100-button remote that no one fully knows how to use. You use this remote to get at the "mode switcher", which changes you from TV watching mode, to bluray watching mode, to gaming mode, to whatever else you do with your TV. It's painful, not to mentio…

You're still going have a layer of terrible user interface where you're picking through all the kitchen-junk-drawer full of items that Microsoft has packed into this device. It won't be labeled "Video 1, Aux 1", true, but you'll still have to pick through every time you want to use the system. Probably end up being more of an interface problem, actually. Power on, wait, skip special offers from Microsoft, no I don't…

I don't know, it looked to me like you literally just walk in the room, say "Xbox, turn on. Go to Netflix." and you're good to go.

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#84

Post by jlgreco »

ebbv wrote: post #78
jlgreco wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be stunned if it was. It seems entirely unjustifiable unless it is just an artifact of the 360 software being designed with only with online services that use Microsoft servers in mind. They clearly know that isn't the case anymore though, it would be pretty damn shitty of them to keep ripping people off like that.

Netflix on the 360 requiring Xbox Live is not an artifact. It's just a cash grab. The 360 was the first console to offer Netflix and they had exclusivity for a while so they could do it. Once the exclusivity ended they didn't make it free because they felt no need to because lots of people continued to pay up.

Ugh, that is awful. I wonder if they think they will be able to keep that up with a new console. Probably so I guess.

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#85

Post by GVIrish »

Caskman wrote: post #74
Irregardless wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? They just alienated gamers while showing non-gamers that they've been overpaying for a glorified Netflix machine. I've been a diehard Xbox fan since I first got my hands on the original, but this makes me want to switch back to Playstation.

How did they alienate gamers? Gamers know first and foremost that XBox is a gaming console. They should especially know that after being shown the demo of CoD Ghost. This really is a great move for them, as gamers see the benefit of additional functionality and non-gamers see an intriguing entertainment platform. I'm a diehard PC fan though so I probably won't get a console anyways

Well, they announced that games would require an install to the HDD, and Wired got a confirmation from MSFT that one would have to pay a fee to install the game to another Xbox. So now people who sell their games will have their resale value reduced and people who take games to their friends' house will have to pay for the privilege.

Not exactly gamer friendly.

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#86

Post by [deleted] »

geuis wrote: post #29
criley wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything was stable, I streamed the entire event from Verge pre-show to the end screen without a single hiccup or drop. I also had far less criticism than you did for the presentation, I found it similar to what Sony and Nintendo do on stage and definitely par the course for a console release. I mean, think about it: Sony hasn't even shown off it's hardware yet, and they announced months ago . Now Sony is telling u…

Yeah I can't criticize too much on streaming, other than that it worked fine until half way through and then wouldn't reconnect after that. There's a lot of factors that can affect that. Considering it happened from both my phone over LTE and laptop via wifi at home, 2 data points can triangulate in a certain direction. Your bar is too low. Expect more from product releases. Was this launch better than the PS4 launch…

[deleted]

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#87

Post by Legion »

simonsarris wrote: post #8

Most people I know who own a PS3 consider it essentially a blu-ray player. Most people I know who own an Xbox consider it essentially a Netflix player. These people bought games, but they don't really play them. I've got naught but my anecdata, but I think attempting to bill this new console as an entertainment system that happens to also play some great games is a very, very good idea.

At least on the Xbox side, it has a lot to do with their systematic dismantlement of the machine's GUI, which was originally a joy to use, and geared towards being, you know, a game playing machine. Now it's like webTV for the 2010s.

I used to rave about the old Blades interface and how, OMG, Microsoft made a great user experience, and how weird it was for me to feel so strongly positive about a Microsoft consumer product. So of course they destroyed everything about that interface that was so great.

When Steam put Big Picture mode in beta, I knew I was done with consoles. I got a cube-shaped PC case that was big enough for a full-size video card, put said video card with a nice Ivy Bridge i5 CPU in it, and my consoles got the permanent shut-down.

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#89

Post by geuis »

loganfrederick wrote: post #66
geuis wrote: post #9

I'd like to be impressed, but it's really hard. I have friends that work at Microsoft and have worked on various bits of this platform. I know personally the incredible amount of hard work that gets put into this product. This presentation just feels... empty. It's largely middle-aged men (and a woman who worked at tv companies) dryly reciting a badly written script with significant intentional pauses intended for ap…

Microsoft said ahead of time that all software-related discussion would be saved for E3. This was a features and hardware-only event. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/20/4347614/microsoft-reveals-i...

They should have said that at the beginning of the presentation, not announced before the event and/or somewhere else.

That being said, there was almost no hardware talk today. I know there's some good hardware and engineering in that black slanty box. That's all I've heard hinted about for months, about how impressed we'd be with the hardware, etc. Next to nothing was said about it.

Re: Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

#90

Post by Tiktaalik »

Will the Xbox continue to be the "America-box?" A huge amount of this conference focused on services that are irrelevant to those outside the US (even irrelevant to Canadians). This all looks great if you have a stellar cable package and live in the USA where you get ESPN, but what about everyone else?
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