Okay guys, first off, I just want to say that I am not trying to get everyone to buy an Xbox One because it's necessarily better, I'm just trying to show people that all of this hype on the internet is wrong, sometimes completely unfounded, and is hiding the potential of future gaming. The phrase that keeps running through my head, courtesy of Jesse, is "People want change because it's new, but hate it because it's different." Xbox One is really offering some amazing new technology and concepts that have been spit upon by the mass and social media because they think Microsoft is only out for money or is only out to screw the consumer. How does that even make sense? Of course Microsoft wants to make money but keep their fan base wanting more, so here it is, the true next generation console, explained by refuting common fallacies surrounding its existence.
1. Xbox One is the next Big Brother because it's always online, always on, and the Kinect will be watching everything I do and reporting it for financial gain of big companies.
Okay, I think these type of ideas came about before the console was really revealed and Microsoft took a bit of time to answer these questions clearly without muddying the waters. I would like to say that all of the above is completely wrong. Here's a(nother) list to explain.
A. The Xbox One does not need to be contiually connected to the internet 24/7. It does need to connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours, but I don't know why this is an issue. Our Xbox 360 is always connected to the internet anyway, so this is not a big difference. But guys, here's the kicker, leaving the Xbox One always connected to the internet means that games can be continually updated and patched without you having to wait for it when you want to play the game. So it's a time saver! And now many games include things like real-time weather patterns and dynamic worlds that continually change and require periodic internet connection to stay up to date. But I'm sure there will be many more new and innovative elements that can take advantage of periodic updates to make gaming even more fun. So for anyone worried about a crappy connection that will interrupt gameplay when it disconnects, I don't think that will happen since games only have to update every so often. Anyone with that bad of internet connection probably has a hard time playing games like CoD or Halo online anyway. Hopefully Google Fiber gets internet companies playing by their rules soon so we can have internet comparable to the rest of the world! Also, playing DVD/Blu-rays discs and watching live TV don't require internet and can play offline, so there's that.
B. The Xbox One can be turned completely off! The Kinect can stay on and will only respond to the phrase "Xbox On" to turn the console back on, but that is a setting that can be turned off. The console has been designed to benefit from continually being on, but it by no means needs to remain on. Forza 5 gives players a reason to stay connected online because of their "drivatar" which is an AI tuned to your driving style that "plays for you while you're not playing," and I believe you get the credits that your drivatar wins. Or you at least get to see how your AI played against others. This give the AI cars in the game a more realistic feel because they imitate the driving styles of real people. I think it's cool because then you can see how well you compare to other people that play the game without having to actually play them, or while you're not even playing. When racing, you will have the option of choosing the difficulty of drivatars that you'll face, but this is still an early development in the game and the developers at Turn 10 are always looking for new ways to incorporate cloud computing (which I'll talk more on in a bit) to make gaming better. The app Word Lens gives us an idea what cameras can do for augmented reality that may make its way into more games.
C. As I said earlier, the Xbox One can be turned completely off, and this goes for the Kinect as well. While it does need to remain plugged in, you can pause or turn off the Kinect. The reason it needs to always be plugged in is so that it can always be able to take user's commands and be available for games. If this bothers you, then never have the Kinect turned on, and if you're still scared, put some cloth over it. But really, the Kinect has a lot to offer users, like being able to take both audio and visual commands for going through menus as well as really cool integration with games. Microsoft has explained that "you can play games or enjoy applications that use data, such as videos, photos, facial expressions, heart rate and more, but this data will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission." This is not the beginning of Big Brother, but instead Microsoft and other companies' attempt to make gaming, believe it or not, better for the buyers.
tl;dr Point 1: Xbox One doesn't have to be continually connected to the internet (though that's how must people have it anyway and it really streamlines gaming), it can fully turn off, and the Kinect is not an eye that is used to spy on gamers as it can be turned off and is really just to make gaming new, different, and better.
2. Xbox One is going to kill the used game market and crush my ability to share games with my friends.
I would just like to say that Microsoft is still allowing used games to be sold, but Microsoft left it up to the game publishers to allow people to trade in used games at participating retailers. On top of that, Microsoft is not requiring any fee for anyone to resell their games, so it's up to third party places and companies to come up with pricing. This is just an example of the misdirected hate at Microsoft because it's not their decision on whether games can be resold or not. Now here's where it gets interesting. You can now have up to ten "family members" hooked up to your account that can play any of your games ON ANY XBOX ONE that can connect to the internet at least once an hour, and I think all ten accounts can play at once, provided there are enough Xbox Ones to go around. How's that for sharing games, eh? You can still give the disc version of your games to a friend, but it is restricted to Xbox live friends you've had for at least thirty days and it can only be given away once. I know this is pretty limiting, but honestly, it's not that bad considering you can just log on to someone's account you've got a connection to and play their games. So whatever happens to the used game market is not on Microsoft's back and I think game sharing is still pretty viable, just not in the traditional way. Honestly, this way seems much easier and cooler. And as proof that Microsoft listens to their consumers, they've said that they're looking at different ways to allow lending games. There is still room to improve the console and Microsoft will try to fix what they can once they get more real feedback from people that have played and not just followed the bandwagon.
3. DRM is going to be the end of gaming and I hate DRM because everyone else hates DRM.
With the future of gaming being based on games stored in the cloud (Sony will have this option available in 2014), DRM is going to be important to gaming companies because it will keep people from simply getting copies of games from pirates or friends. If you pay for the games, it's not going to affect you at all. Basically, the Xbox One is going to be a gaming computer for the livingroom, with all your games stored on the cloud for faster gaming (no having to wait for the slow CD read speeds) and DRM will just make sure it's a legit copy so all of the game extensions work correctly, game information is patched and updated, and you can have a worry-free gaming experience. And if you try to say only Microsoft is allowing DRM, you are very wrong. Both Microsoft AND SONY are leaving DRM up to the gaming publishers. Get mad at the right people, guys.
4. The Xbox One is way more expensive than the Playstation 4 and will probably fail miserably in sales.
For reference, this is what was said of the Playstation 3 when it came out, and look what happened. The PS3 was $500 at launch, a full $200 more than the $300 Xbox 360, and yet the PS3 completely sold out on it's first day, with 40% of presales not even appearing for the launch because so many people pre-ordered them. The PS4 is premiering at $399 and the Xbox is $499. I just don't think that is too much of a price difference to try and base the future sales of these consoles on. That extra $100 is, in my opinion, completely worth it, because if any of these new consoles are truly "next gen" consoles, it's got to be the Xbox One for it's use of cloud computing. Also, Xbox live gold is only $10 more per year than the PS Plus ($50 compared to $60), and Xbox live, contrary to popular belief, or at least this video, does have free membership in the form of Xbox live silver. So while the PS4 looks much cooler than the PS3, but when I look at it, I just see a better PS3, not a new take on gaming. This is only the beginning of cloud computing and I can't wait to see what game developers do with it in the new future.
So now that I've commented on the most common issues I've seen, let me geek out a bit on cloud computing. I've already mentioned the drivatar from Forza 5, but there are so many more applications that can make games so much cooler. I think my favorite point so far is that cloud computing will allow the Xbox One to focus its computing power on making your game look good and play well while the cloud takes care of physics for everything else in the game, including other players. This makes multiplayer games run seamlessly, lag much less, and generally play much better. Without having to concentrate on every piece of information you see on the screen, cloud computing will make gaming so much crazier.
It also allows for multiplayer games have as many as 128 people playing at once! I don't know if that affects how many people can play on one console, but can you imagine playing in a game that big and not lagging or watching other people lag out when pulling amazing feats of physics that would tax the processor of the console? Such a cool upgrade. And because all this cloud computing needs more space, Xbox live will be upgraded from their current 15,000 servers, to 300,000! That's a crap ton! Haha. So that is going to improve playability A LOT.
I think this is where Microsoft has created the true next generation console because it has taken the chance to try a new way of gaming that could, and I think will, revolutionize the way games are played and created. “It’s not like on day one, everyone will have figured out how to take advantage of that power,” Microsoft interactive entertainment CMO Marc Whitten told Wired. “It’s just one of those stakes we’re placing.” I love that quote because they're leaving it up to others to find new ways to make cloud computing even better, but they've opened the doors for amazing things to happen.
So give the Xbox One a chance instead of writing it off like everyone else.
Now for homework. Read this article, or really any article, blog, or meme about Microsoft/E3/Xbox One and exercise what you've learned to see from this post and how no one else has seemed to pick up on the potential. And remember, question everything!
PS: No more having to deal with Microsoft points now. :D
Sources:
- Great breakdown of Always Online, Used Games and Giving Games to Friends, Game Installations and Digital Downloads, and Kinect Requirements.
- Another good breakdown
- Good overall article and a bit on Cloud Computing
- Cloud Computing and Forza 5
- A little more on the Kinect
- PS4 Cloud info
- Xbox 360 info
- PS3 info
I'm glad I read this and my view on the Xbone has improved.. but Kingdom Hearts 3.
ReplyDelete..Is not a Sony exclusive anymore! You can play it on the Xbox One. :P
DeleteThanks for reading it! I'm glad it helped a little bit.
"internet comparable to the rest of the world": like where?
ReplyDelete"So whatever happens to the used game market is not on Microsoft's back": Whether they're outsourcing or doing it themselves, it's still on their back, and it's a big enough problem to people like me that I will never own one.
I plan on moving somewhere with shoddy internet, and that alone discredits most of these sweet new features that the One is toting.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/america-land-of-the-slow/?ref=technology
DeleteInternet in the US is slow and expensive. This article was from 2011 and we were 26th in the world. Internet companies are holding us hostage and making us pay way too much compared to the world.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/06/microsoft-defends-the-xbox-ones-licensing-used-game-policies/
Why is it Microsoft's fault? Game developers and publishers have been pushing for all digital games. Microsoft tried to compromise by still having discs available, but that means a new way of doing trading. Really, this is just the beginning and new ways will pop up to buy/sell/play games because of digital management. Things will get better, gaming is evolving, but people always hate change in the beginning before they see where it's going. You can still do used games and such, Microsoft didn't get rid of that, they just made it harder for people to trade in bad copies and such. They even left the pricing up to gaming companies/stores since there is no fee from Microsoft.
Could you play normal xbox where you're going? If so, you'll be fine. It's not like you need 24/7 continuous access like people think. People are freaking out way too much over this.