So I got an xbox one

[Aerozord]

Figured I'd do a running log of my experiences with it.

SET UP
Physical set up was rather painless. You need an HDMI in to hook up you cable/satellite to it. Since I have basic cable I cant even try that stuff. Kinect was the only other issue, mostly I just didn't have a good place to put it more than a failure of the device.

Were a few hiccups setting up the console itself. Initial boot up took so long I thought it froze. Needed to retry connecting the internet, and had to reboot when it froze on initializing the console update. However I easily fixed these issues so while it wasn't smooth it also wasn't a big deal.

INITIAL THOUGHTS
First on the topic of installing games, takes forever. Atleast by my standard of at most one or two minutes.

Now the voice controls. Not perfect but I had little trouble getting the right intonations and timing to control it. I think this is more me than the system. My natural speaking voice is measured and monotone. My nephew tried it and it wasn't as responsive. Upside to this is I never once turned it on by accident. I was shocked with where and when I used it actually.

For example I found myself often using voice commands to navigate the options menu in Deadrising. There was no logical reason for it, I needed to press a button to get into the menu and the controller is in my hand, still I was using voice controls for it. I think this will be most people and personally this is the kind of interface I prefer.

I compare it to writing things down for myself. I often switch between cursive and typed letters just on what my mental flow finds most natural at the time. There is no method to it, one word I write out but later will write in cursive. I think most people will use it like this, not purely voice or controller but jumping from one to another.

It was decent using it when others were talking. Atleast initially, but they were attempting to not talk while I was trying to control it. I mostly wanted to get used to using it so it was not a natural state of game play as I was aiming for as clinical as possible.

As for snapping, again not something I have used much beyond testing it. But it was able to handle netflix and a twitch stream both running (with audio) at the same time with no problems at all. Since it was an extreme example I dont think I'd ever do it was a good indication of its ability to multitask.

The only game I played was deadrising 3. Controller took a moment to get used to. My thumb naturally rested on the B button instead of A, and the other thumb pulled the character slightly to the right. But once I started playing a bit this wasn't an issue. I vaguely recall having this issue with previous generations. Its been so long since the last one I forgot it takes a few minutes to get a feel for a new controller.

Those are my first thoughts. I'll be sure to post more when I get some real gameplay under my belt and start using it normally instead of experimenting.

[Bells]

How does the left Analog feels for you? When i experimented it, that curved-in design didn't feel as comfortable as the 360's. In fact, after playing COD ghosts and KI in it, i was pretty sure i would end up with a sore thumb if i had a big gaming night or something like that.

But i didn't have that much time with it, so maybe it was just me adapting to a new controller? Dunno.

[shiney]

I've heard that people have been getting banned from XBL and stuff for swearing in front of their Kinect even when they aren't using the system. Have you encountered any issues like this?

[Aerozord]

How does the left Analog feels for you? When i experimented it, that curved-in design didn't feel as comfortable as the 360's. In fact, after playing COD ghosts and KI in it, i was pretty sure i would end up with a sore thumb if i had a big gaming night or something like that.

But i didn't have that much time with it, so maybe it was just me adapting to a new controller? Dunno.
I think that has alot to do with each individual hand. My only issue was that what I felt was forward was slightly to the right of forward. My right thumb I did need to adjust abit though. Once I did some actual gaming for abit I stopped noticing it though
I've heard that people have been getting banned from XBL and stuff for swearing in front of their Kinect even when they aren't using the system. Have you encountered any issues like this?

I have heard these rumors, but well I dont swear so its not something that affects me. The rumors I heard were limited to sports games for some reason. If true they probably figure if you have an M rated game hearing swear words won't be something new to you.

The system for the kinect in game and for the xbox are not the same system. The xbox controls require you to say "xbox" before it starts recognizing what you are saying. In game it will activate from simply mentioning a word. So I believe if its just doing it from casual swearing its probably something intentionally placed in the game than something universal for the system.

Of course its technologically possible for the core system to still detect swearing while otherwise being inactive but that would be a console killer considering their intention to make it a media center. No one will buy it if casually swearing while in a room or watching a movie gets your account banned especially since it might be picking up swearing from the movie or game itself and not you.

[Azisien]

Man, our whole city is still sold out.

[Glabrezu]

I've heard that people have been getting banned from XBL and stuff for swearing in front of their Kinect even when they aren't using the system. Have you encountered any issues like this?

Ah ah, now Kinect can finally stand on its own as a 1984 wall device.

[Aerozord]

So abit more play with it. I was told the reason it didn't respond well to my nephew is it identifies a 'user' and attempts to single out their commands.

Tried running youtube, which was abit of a pain but thats normal when not on a computer. Voice commands didn't go as well as I hoped. Still not horrible but not at the point I'd consider it reliable during gameplay.

They changed how you add friends. Now you 'search' for them and then 'follow' them.

Load times are horrible even with the game installed. The whole idea is that the world is loaded all at once. It is smooth in game, so if you dont mind front loading its not a big deal.

[synkr0nized]

They changed how you add friends. Now you 'search' for them and then 'follow' them.

I've noticed this trend in various services, perhaps originating more prominently in Twitter and followed by Google+.

Steam, GW2 friends lists, and Live have all embraced the idea of folks just following one another in one-way connections, escalating them to friendship status once it becomes two-way.

I think I prefer having to confirm, but I'd be lucky to get one or two followers anyway.

[Aerozord]

Voice command in game seems to be more spotty than voice command for the console itself, not to mention very little indication of what those commands are. Sure that will vary between games but its worth noting.

I also think I forgot to mention the power brick, while relatively quiet is still a fan going constantly so if its in your bedroom that might be annoying.

I have now run into the first thing I can say I hate. The achievements. The interface is bulky, hideous, and difficult to navigate. Gone are the simple tiles with a nice summary, instead its a giant screen shot with only about 6 on the screen. Worst of all to get a summary of what that achievement is for you have to select the "summary" option FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Geez I just want to know what the achievement was for and since I'm the type to get several and look them over all at once this is a huge inconvenience of what should be a simple pleasure

[Aerozord]

One more of these, unless something major crops up or people have questions I'll leave it at this.

Final Verdicts

Controller
Once I adjusted to it, its an x-box controller. Love it or hate it despite some minor dimension changes that will mess with your muscle memory for abit its essentially the same so dont expect it to change your opinion from the last one.

A

Kinect
So far the camera has had zero issues the few times I used it. I had to put it under the TV and because of specific furniture I did need to prop it abit to get it at the level I wanted but no big deal. The camera could also detect me just fine even though I usually sit only a few feet from it. Though I wont even try to use it for commands. Controller or voice command do this stuff better. Its functional nearest I can tell but that might have more to do with me finding little use for it.

C

Voice Command
As I said before, not perfect but better than I would have guessed. It seems to have more issues with some commands than others. Turning the system on has worked 100% of the time while the only way I can get it to boot the game is to go through a contextual voice command first. In case you are curious its "select" which labels all the icons on the UI then "play disc" or "<game name>". It works well enough that I still find myself using it despite the occasional issue. Its alot like early search engines. Ultimately I'm glad I have it, I just wish it worked better.

B-

UI
Remember when I said I'm glad I have voice command? This is why, not because I find the UI hard to manage. It is basically the 360 UI if you gave it the best qualities of windows 8. Not saying windows 8 is great, but it has its advantages and those are all thats been ported over. What I am saying is I never use the UI. I navigate the console almost purely by voice commands. I just tell it to load netflix, or youtube, or whatever. Only thing I really use the interface for is my friends list because thats one of the problem commands I mentioned.

NA

Console Apps
This is for all things that come on the system. The 'following' thing for friends is odd to me. Maybe I'm getting old but I'd rather just add a friend then have him accept a request than either having to add each other or have one person stalking the other. Most other systems are same and rather lack luster. What kills it is the horrible achievement UI. Its so bad I dont even bother looking at my achievements anymore. Everything else might balance me to indifferent but that tanks it

F-

Games
Ok look I only have deadrising. Take that for what its worth. Graphics for this game are hard to judge. Its not especially pretty, but the sheer amount of crap it can render at a time is insane. Especially since it has a dismemberment mechanic so there can be individual parts flying everywhere. And of course as advertised once the game is loaded that is it, it does not load again. However that initial load is really really long. It even loads exiting the game.

Voice commands are spotty but not like you need them and I do use them alot to navigate menus. Other specific pros and cons I mentioned before. It is a fun game and definitely a water cooler game. I often talk to co-workers about combos and other things we've discovered. Some reason I'm the only one thats figured out food combos.

Now purely as a game its great, but this is about the console so I'm judging it as an extension of the console and what it can do so its more technical. Having an entire open world rendered at once is really impressive and I personally think the lackluster graphics is made up for by by how much can be on the screen at a time. What kills it is that initial loading time. They really need to cut that down, these are Playstation era loading times and eventually they will make games that you cant fit all of it onto the RAM and you definitely dont want to make players go through that multiple times in a play session.

B-

Overall
B

I'd say its worth getting. What really dragged it down for me were the bells and whistles. Friend lists, achievements, ect. Voice command I honestly think has alot of promise. If microsoft can tweak that and its searching program I think it will be a solid advantage over the other consoles. Only worried developers will start trying to use it where they shouldn't. These issues can be fixed with updates so they might be temporary.

The only solid draw back is the load times. I'm not sure if its the specific game or something we will see often but if the processor just cant load next gen games fast enough this will remain a drawback of the console for its life cycle.

[Bells]

You should try out the free version of Killer instinct. Cool music, cool graphics, cool gameplay... it's a great way to see something different on your console until another game you want shows up.

I think Microsoft's biggest achievement is going with the Xbone from "Avoid it like the plague" to a "B" . That is no small feat.

Sales wise, now that the final figures have hitted the market, it appears that the PS4 landed on 1.2 million homes and the xbox to about 700k (the initial 1 million number apparently was related to sales to stores?) that being said, i would put that up much space between the two much more into the price difference than to any margin of quality...

[Aerozord]

You should try out the free version of Killer instinct. Cool music, cool graphics, cool gameplay... it's a great way to see something different on your console until another game you want shows up.

I think Microsoft's biggest achievement is going with the Xbone from "Avoid it like the plague" to a "B" . That is no small feat.

Sales wise, now that the final figures have hitted the market, it appears that the PS4 landed on 1.2 million homes and the xbox to about 700k (the initial 1 million number apparently was related to sales to stores?) that being said, i would put that up much space between the two much more into the price difference than to any margin of quality...

Is that world wide or in america? Cause that difference could also be because of more bias markets. Xbox never sold all that well in Japan.

I do find those numbers abit surprising, not because I think one system is better than the other but because around here both systems sell out immediately and it seems microsoft is shipping out more units. Of course this could still be true because distribution varies between cities. I'm just guessing since supply is nowhere near demand the sales are more of a representation of who can manufacture more units than demand.

[Azisien]

As it stands, PS4 will probably do well worldwide, while XB1 should do better in the United States. This must be what Microsoft wants, because one of the key reasons for this is that a lot of the media features of the XB1 only work in the United States.

As for the future, it's too early to say. As always, software will dictate the victor, not hardware. And there's not much software to judge on yet. The heavy hitters are mostly multiplatform, and on older-gen consoles too.

That being said, based on the benchmarks I have watched (I like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHogNolObqk) quite a bit), as well as other reviews and teardowns, the PS4 seems the superior gaming console. Or perhaps easier to develop on?

I believe it is still true neither new console can play MP3s, or do in-home streaming from a powered external or PC? Not sure if they've patched that functionality in yet, but that actually puts new console functionality behind old gen. I've never designed and launched a console before, but that just screams rushed.

[Bells]

If memory serves me right now It's Both Americas + Europe with Australia being total Xbox country right now and Brazil only enters the equation for imports since the larger customer groups are not buying locally anyway...

I for one, after hearing all the doom talk of both the PS4 and Xbone having launch issues with bricks and dead disc trays, i'm only picking one up in March, when the 2nd production lot arrives (or these defect reports die out a bit)

[greed]

Is that world wide or in america? Cause that difference could also be because of more bias markets. Xbox never sold all that well in Japan.

I do find those numbers abit surprising, not because I think one system is better than the other but because around here both systems sell out immediately and it seems microsoft is shipping out more units. Of course this could still be true because distribution varies between cities. I'm just guessing since supply is nowhere near demand the sales are more of a representation of who can manufacture more units than demand.

That's America, global sales for the PS4 are about 2.4 mil to Xbone's roughly 1.1 to 1.2 million(no solid numbers Microsoft has been cagey, which says not good things). So The Bone sold about 500k outside the States to the PS4's 1.2 despite the Bone having a fortnight's lead. That is really bad. These numbers a re about a week old so they've probably closed up a bit if just because of PS4 supply issues.

It's, yeah not looking good for the Bone. Still early days though. But I got my money on the PS4. Literally, cause I bought one. But it seems to have a lot of strengths the Bone doesn't. It's technically considerably better, is easy to program on (the Bone is too but they're both pretty easy so neither has the 360's advantage last gen of being much easier to program for than the PS3, and with the PS4's technical advantage and early sales advantage this is bad for the Bone), has much better word of mouth, is better supported globally which is an increasingly important market and Microsoft has kinda shit it's bed as far as exclusives go with the aggravating DLC setup in it's flagship games, the encrappening of Rare, the decay of Halo etc. Comparatively Sony has Naughty Dog still being incredibly popular, GT, GoW has decayed a fair bit admittedly, and all the Japanese stuff that are defacto exclusives cause the Bone is not going to do better than the 360 in Japan. I'm actually kinda torn here, on the one hand in general I dislike monopolies cause they usually cause big problems. OTOH the last two generations where one console was utterly dominant (the SNES era and the PS2 era) both times it worked out really well. So not sure if I want the Bone to catch up and hold a strong second or not.

Also I dispute Australia being Xbox country, we may have been last gen but Bones aren't moving well here and PS4's are sold out til February.



Oh I suppose I should probably give PS4 impressions?
It's been really fun, the controller is excellent probably the best I've used, it has better netcoding than the 360 and PS3 which with how wobbly my connection can get is really excellent and makes playing online games like Warframe doable, PS+ is still excellent value, the games look and sound fucking gorgeous, it setup easily and I'm looking forward to the coming exclusives. I don't really have any issues, it's one of the better launches I remember. Oh the big thing, no region lockout which is what got me buying day one, I vote with my wallet on that issue.

[Arcanum]

MS is saying global sales have topped 2 Mil. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-microsoft-xbox-idUSBRE9BA0LB20131211)

The U.S. software giant on Wednesday said it took 18 days for Xbox One's global sales to surpass 2 million - a new company record. Japan's Sony last week said it took 15 days for PS4 sales to cross 2.1 million.

---------- Post added at 12:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 AM ----------

And while I'm here I figure I'll share my thoughts on both controllers, having gotten played a friend's PS4 and another friend's Xbone over the past two weeks.

The xbox controller's grips have been angled outward more, making it feel really weird in my hand. The triggers also have more surface area, which was weird at first but I got used to it (overall the new triggers are probably more ergonomic). The analog sticks are also smaller, which I didn't like. The d-pad feels slightly better, but I didn't get a chance to use it in a game so I don't know if it actually performs better. Overall the controller felt like a step down compared to the 360, but maybe it's just a controller that you need to get used to.

The PS4 controller felt much better right off the bat. The grips feel more ergonomic, and L2 and R2 triggers are now slightly concave, which is nice. The analog sticks are smaller than the PS3 sticks, but still larger than the Xbone sticks. Didn't have a chance to use the touch pad with anything, but it can click down like a button so you don't have to rely on tapping the pad to select something. D-Pad and face button remain basically the same. Overall the controller is an improvement over the PS3 controller, and I was comfortable with it right from the start.

PS4 controller gets my vote over the Xbone controller.

[greed]

Ah okay. Though the fact that the PS4 was only available in America for 14 of those 15 days says something as well.

Also we're all neglecting the console with the actual best Xmas lineup. The WiiU. Super Mario 3D World is the best game this year fucking hell.

[Aerozord]

To be honest I got the xbox mostly because we had pre-orders and I knew it would be a nightmare to get. Ps4 had zero games I was interested in, so thats why I went with xbox. The WiiU is the console I have been wanting the most what with pikmin and wonderful 101.

Just tossing this out there, even though I know this is more likely to fan the flames than douse them I want to atleast make the attempt. Please stop calling it the xbone when attempting to compare the consoles. It makes it very hard to take your analysis seriously when you use such clearly bias and condescending terms. It also gives me personally irritating flashbacks to the internets immature snickering at "wii". Which I know is kind of an apples and oranges thing but still if you are trying to appear to be unbias than dont resort to funny nicknames.
[edit]or do it for both, thats fine too.

[greed]

To be honest I got the xbox mostly because we had pre-orders and I knew it would be a nightmare to get. Ps4 had zero games I was interested in, so thats why I went with xbox. The WiiU is the console I have been wanting the most what with pikmin and wonderful 101.

Just tossing this out there, even though I know this is more likely to fan the flames than douse them I want to atleast make the attempt. Please stop calling it the xbone when attempting to compare the consoles. It makes it very hard to take your analysis seriously when you use such clearly bias and condescending terms. It also gives me personally irritating flashbacks to the internets immature snickering at "wii". Which I know is kind of an apples and oranges thing but still if you are trying to appear to be unbias than dont resort to funny nicknames.


Sorry dude, the name's just too funny. I mean calling your third console the One is really worthy of derision. I really thought we'd never see a console with a worse name than the Wii. But then we got the WiiU and now the Xbox One (the 3rd Xbox). So yeah sticking with calling it the Bone.

I'm not fully against it or anything though a number of decisions regarding the console have seriously soured me against it (the focus on TV stuff that is utterly irrelevant outside of the US cause it doesn't work, the DLC crap, the initial DRM attempt, they backflipped but they still attempted it), and the hemorrhaging of Microsoft's exclusive IPs has removed a lot of my enthusiasm. That said I hope it comes together like the PS3 did eventually (holy shit was that terrible at launch).

Edit: Unbiased means without prejudice, not counting everything equal after judgement. I mock the Bone, not because of blind fanboyism but cause it has a silly name, it has stuff I find distasteful (the obvious America centric focus, with tons fo features being useless out of the States), the DRM shit it tried, the always on Kinect and the stuff I've heard about DLc in soem games like Ryse and Forza are worrying.

[Arcanum]

Ah okay. Though the fact that the PS4 was only available in America for 14 of those 15 days says something as well.

Although on that note I believe the Xbone is only out in 13 markets, while the PS4 is out in many more (or is now? I forget when they would be fully launched worldwide)

Ps4 had zero games I was interested in, so thats why I went with xbox.

This is exactly why I'm holding off on any new console purchase. There are currently no games for them (or out in the near future) that I'm dying to play.

Though I am keeping my eye on the WiiU...

Just tossing this out there, even though I know this is more likely to fan the flames than douse them I want to atleast make the attempt. Please stop calling it the xbone when attempting to compare the consoles. It makes it very hard to take your analysis seriously when you use such clearly bias and condescending terms. It also gives me personally irritating flashbacks to the internets immature snickering at "wii". Which I know is kind of an apples and oranges thing but still if you are trying to appear to be unbias than dont resort to funny nicknames.
[edit]or do it for both, thats fine too.

Sorry, "Xbone" has just been my go-to abbreviation for the system ever since they announced the name. It also doesn't help that when I think of "Xbox 1" I think of the original. Plus everything that greed said.

I might get around to calling the new Xbox the X1. We'll see.

[rpgdemon]

This is something that bothers me constantly: It's biased. Not bias.

Bias is a noun meaning the thing the makes you feel more favorably for one thing over another. You cannot BE bias or "unbias", and "unbias" is not a real word.

Biased is what a person with bias is, when they favor one thing over another. You can be biased or unbiased.

[Aerozord]

I dont want to sound like I dont get it, cause the name is really stupid and confusing and ect. Nor do I have issue with calling it that really, just when in the context of trying to do a fair comparison. Because it doesn't come off as fair when you mock one side and only one side.

[Bells]

One thing i liked but didn't like on the X1 (there we go!) was the region locking on the voice commands.

So, if i got myself a X1 purchased in Brazil, all my voice commands would be in Portuguese. And if i spoke English, the console would not respond. If i purchase the US console, it would be the other way around.

So it's not a big issue... actually it would likely affect perhaps a handful of people... But i would prefer if i could do something like adjust the language settings per profile. I've been gaming in english my whole life, i'm actually more comfortable with English prompts (Even my Steam is in English), and i would prefer to say "Xbox turn off" than "Xbox Desligar".

If i imported a US xbox tha would solve it, could even be cheaper (actually very likely) but i would have no Customer support... and could maybe be locked out from some regional online content... so it's iffy.

[Aerozord]

is it just voice commands? From how you are describing it sounds like the voice commands are region locked but the interface isn't

[Bells]

i wasn't able to confirm about the interface. I know for sure about the voice command because i have a few other youtuber friends who made videos displaying and testing the commands, but i forgot to actually ask them if they could change menu language and such...

[Azisien]

Sweet I found one. Zoo Tycoon here I come!!

[Magus]

While I'm confused why anyone would buy either one at this juncture, what made you pick the XBOX over the PS4?

[Aerozord]

While I'm confused why anyone would buy either one at this juncture, what made you pick the XBOX over the PS4?

two reasons, first was just capitalizing on an opportunity. Truth is WiiU is the console I wanted the most, but I was in no rush to get it. I knew if I wanted one in a month or two I could easily get it. However the new consoles I knew would be a nightmare to get until early next year or later. So when the chance to pre-order came up I took it. Plus I get 25% off one purchase this time of year so it made sense to get one of them.

That leads to why I choose the xbox specifically. Because it was the only one with games I wanted. PS4 had war shooters and sports games, both I have zero interest in. The only thing that I had any interest in was Knack, but not so much so that I was going to pay 60 bucks for it. Ryse fell into the same category as Knack, might be good but no rush to get it. Xbox did however have Dead Rising 3, a series I absolutely love and wanted to get.

I figure xbox will get some more decent games and keep me busy until the PS4 price drops and it gets a better line-up itself. If not Nintendo is always available.

To be honest if not for the rare opportunity to not only get a xbox one but also to get one at my leisure once it was out I wouldn't have bothered. I definitely do not consider it worth camping out in front of a store for hours. My choice was based entirely on circumstances. While after playing around with it I like the direction they are going with and in retrospect the console itself appeals more to me now than the PS4, I was indifferent between the two originally and just went with the one that had more games I wanted to play.

---------- Post added 12-17-2013 at 02:30 AM ---------- Previous post was 12-16-2013 at 03:53 PM ----------

one more small update, turning on your console with your voice is cool and all (and one command that seems to have a 100% success rate) but its the most superfluous command. I still use it because it takes time to boot up so it lets me multitask but it doesn't turn on the TV or controller so I still need to turn those things on and since the controller has a button to turn it on I'm not even saving myself a trip to the console.

Nothing wrong with it, but I dont think microsoft thought it all the way through. While I can do alot with voice commands most of the time what I want is to play a game and that means I need a controller. Would be great if I could turn on all three at once, but sadly that seems a long ways off

[Yumil]

one more small update, turning on your console with your voice is cool and all (and one command that seems to have a 100% success rate) but its the most superfluous command. I still use it because it takes time to boot up so it lets me multitask but it doesn't turn on the TV

Depends on the TV. The kinect can actually emit an IR signal to switch your TV,reciever, and cable box on and off with it:o

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/live-tv/troubleshoot-oneguide

May help with that. It's probably not doing it since you haven't run the tv app once(Sucks that they don't set that up automatically). Just run through the tv app setup and it should be good to go on turning it on/off with xbox on/off.

Anywho, it still doesn't turn on the controller>.<

[akaSM]

Wat...an IR signal? Doesn't the xbone use an HDMI cable? My phone canturn my TV/switch to whatever input I connect my phone to automagtically; why can't it do the same thing?

OTOH, my PC cannot turn my TV like my phone does so yeah .-.