So, as you may have heard, Microsoft revealed it’s system for the next generation of consoles earlier in the week during its long awaited press conference. If you missed it, Youtube user Darkbeatdk was kind enough to post a pretty spot-on highlight reel.
As you can see, practically NONE of the controversial questions or rumors were addressed, and aside from sports, Forza, Call of Duty, and a vague teaser trailer for a new title Quantum Break, gaming was largely ignored with the sentiment “You’ll see it at E3”.
But the news and details (though unfortunately NOT the games) outside of dashboards, Kinects and TV have slowly slipped from the tight lips of Microsoft reps over the week, and I’m sorry to report that Xbox fans probably aren’t going to like the majority of what they hear. Here’s a quick compilation of the details concerning the ONE that Microsoft happened to leave out of the conference:
XBOX ONE will:
– Not be backwards compatible with 360 games
Update: As of November 2015, the Xbox One now has Xbox 360 backwards compatibility and the library is growing everyday.
– Currently is not compatible with 360 peripherals
– Is not an ‘always online’ console, but will require a connection to the internet at a certain interval (one rep mentioning once every 24 hours).
– Require the new Kinect to be connected to the console to operate at all
Update: Microsoft has updated the Xbox One and it DOES NOT require the Kinect anymore. In fact there are new versions of the Xbox One sold without the Kinect.
– All games will be installed directly to the harddrive, and not require a disc in the tray after installation.
– As such, all installations will be tied to a single user’s account, and additional installs to other users will require a paid fee of an undisclosed amount. (as claimed by Microsoft’s Phil Harrison)
– For now, TV integration is only going to be available in the US.
– Come equipped with a 500GB, non-replacable harddrive.
Update: There are now Xbox One consoles that come with a 1TB SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive), the drive is still non-replaceable by consumers.
Microsoft is disclaiming used game fee and online connection requirement as ‘possible scenarios’. I can see why they wouldn’t want to go into this in the conference. What’s your reaction to the conference and subsequent news concerning the ONE?
Let us know in the comments!
