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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

#91

Post by drone »

In our house, we have a 1st-gen ATV, Roku HD (again, older gen), and an XBox 360. We've largely found them redundant in most senses, except for the following:

Can't watch Xfinity on the Roku or ATV, can't watch Netflix or unfiltered Youtube on ATV (can't get any VEVO content on the ATV), can't rent Amazon movies (prime is OK on 360) on 360 or ATV, and can't serve music from multiple computers to 360 or Roku.

We can flip that around and say that no one device gives us all of the entertainment (and gaming options) that work best for us. I like to play a few games here and there, so there should be some console. I haven't even bothered to bring in the cable box (it actually only got plugged in long enough to authorize us for XFinity) because I've run out of HDMI ports (there's a blue-ray player in there too, because I'm sure as heck not going to pay Hulu for their buggy service just so we can stream the Criterion Movies, when most are on DVD/BD)...

I like the concepts that MSFT is showing off here. I haven't reviewed the remote music service from MSFT in a while, but last time it lacked the simplicity of the ATV, especially for multiple libraries. If they've got that improved, the ATV is gone. (Having no other real value to us.) If they'd remove the restriction from paying to rent videos on Amazon, the Roku would be gone too. My partner uses all of these devices for her entertainment, and would happily switch to just an Xbox 1 if it does the job well. I'd be happy to have to maintain fewer devices (each with their own problems, let's not get down that path!).

I'm not sure about the source of much of the angst here, but it does sound just about exactly what our household has been looking for.

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

#92

Post by zanny »

Legion wrote: post #87
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 pr…

I am concerned though about the lack of any new info on the steambox in the last, what, year? They announced their intention to create a Linux distro with Steam to run on hardware to a spec, but they haven't moved forward with it at all.

I think Valve would crush the console scene if they actually had anything to show for the hype.

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

#93

Post by simba-hiiipower »

path411 wrote: post #73
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.

What more do you want them to tell you as a gamer about the new system? They released specs and talked about the cloud gaming capabilities. Having more 3rd party game makers demo games for the system doesn't really improve my appeal to the console. I already knew the new xbox would be the next gaming console. It seems like they went for the non-obvious, and wanted to talk about the other features. The games are going…

agreed. people make it sound like they removed some essential features, just because they didn't emphasize them enough (or because they emphasized others more).

from what i've seen this appears to match the ps4 in every way - even down to the architecture. the only difference is they glossed-over all that and decided to focus on the ways its differentiated..

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

#94

Post by yoster »

mtgx wrote: post #37
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.

Most of those people got one because of gaming. And then used it as a Netflix machine or blu-ray player. But why would they pay hundreds of dollars more for a "new" Netflix machine? And if they own none of them, and just want a Netflix machine, why not buy a much better (for media) $100 Roku? Or even an Apple TV?

I received an Xbox 360S 4GB for free from my company at the time. Bought another one for $150 along with some bootleg Hdd's from Ebay. I am going to wait a year for the price drop and to steer clear from any first gen issues.

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

#95

Post by reidmain »

Neither Sony or Microsoft have told me why I need to buy one of their next-gen consoles.

I own a PS3, Xbox 360 and a gaming PC. The 360 came first and combined with Xbox Live it became my default gaming device. Probably 60% of my games are for my Xbox 360. After a few years with my 360 I bought a PS3 because there were some exclusive games I wanted to play. In 2010 Battlefield 3 came out and I built a gaming PC for it because in my opinion the Battlefield series excels when played with a keyboard, mouse and servers that can accommodate large scale battles.

A strange side affect of building that gaming PC was that I started buying games for my PC instead of my consoles because the games looked and played better on my PC then my consoles.

This next console generation is going to be the most homogenous yet. Developers will be able to make a game that works on PC, Xbox One and PS4 so easily that brand loyalty will mean a lot less.

Unless Microsoft actually releases some TV features that actually work outside of the United States I don't know if I'll be buying one of these new consoles. I'll probably continue buying games for my PC until a platform exclusive game (which are becoming increasingly rare) comes out.

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

#96

Post by incision »

danielweber wrote: post #67
incision wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own both a PS3 and a 360 and had those same use cases. Then I bought a Roku on whim at Costco one day. As a result, I've used the PS3 once in the last year, I haven't used the 360 at all. I bought both of those consoles when they were new and collected a bunch of $60 games that I "don't really play". For several years now, the vast majority of gaming I do comes via games bought for a steep discount to console price…

I think it says something that a person like myself, who could previously be counted on to buy each new generation of console is unmoved by Xbox One. Maybe you just got old? It takes a lot to get me to play a video game these days.

>Maybe you just got old?

Oh, I definitely did, in a way that's the point.

The product appears to be aimed at my changed tastes, it's just arriving late.

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

#97

Post by Legion »

zanny wrote: post #92
Legion wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 pr…

I am concerned though about the lack of any new info on the steambox in the last, what, year? They announced their intention to create a Linux distro with Steam to run on hardware to a spec, but they haven't moved forward with it at all. I think Valve would crush the console scene if they actually had anything to show for the hype.

> I am concerned though about the lack of any new info on the steambox in the last, what, year?

Everything I saw about the "Steam Box" suggested to me that it would be an underpowered machine for more casual games.

But the great part about Steam is that I could build my own damn hardware and use Steam and Big Picture Mode on it. So now I have a legitimate mid-range gaming PC hooked up to my TV and launching Big Picture on startup.

As a Linux user and lover, the idea of an eventual Steam box running on Linux is an exciting idea, but in the meantime, I'm running my own box on Windows.

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

#99

Post by cyanbane »

georgemcbay wrote: post #14

As someone actually interested in playing games (and I know that may make me a minority here), this was the best commercial there will likely ever be for the Sony PlayStation 4.

As a pretty big console and PC gamer, the best thing that came out of this presentation was that Steven Spielberg will be working on a live action Halo TV series.

That should say a lot.

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

#100

Post by benbeltran »

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

The event's games presentations were oriented to what is usually called the "Bro gamer" demographic (e.g. Madden/FIFA/CoD) ... It focused on TV, for which many of the core gamers don't care. Contrast this to the PS4 announcement, which had many developers and a lot of talk about how the platform is going to be more "open" for the small guys, and it felt really passionate about the "for-gamers" features. As a gamer, I feel like the PS4 is where the real passion for games is, where someone actually cared to provide tools for the "indie" crowd (who, arguably, are doing the good games these days) ... Meanwhile, microsoft is showing a TV machine, has forgotten the indie channel and has killed XNA. If you don't understand why this was dissapointing for gamers, it's most probably because you are not a gamer yourself I guess. Honestly it felt passionless, pointless and underwhelming. It wasn't a blunder or anything, of course. It was just meh.
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