The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsExcellent compilation of Xbox One issues, as seen on facebook.
Alright, if youre a consumer and youre considering picking up the new Xbox One console, then please, take a moment to listen to me. Before we begin, no, I am not a fanboy or a hater. I have no console Bias. I have a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and a Gaming PC. Each has their pros and cons but now onto business.
DO NOT BUY AN XBOX ONE. Why? See the reasons below:
Xbox Requires an internet connection. Heres how it works: Every 24 hours your Xbox will try to connect to Microsofts servers for verification. If it is unable to connect, sucks to be you. Youre blocked from playing even single player games until it can connect.
Source: http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109
Do you like renting games, lending them to a friend, or even borrowing them from a friend? No longer possible. Every Xbox One game you get must be registered to your Xbox live account to be played. After that point it will only work for you. No one else can use it unless they pay a fee. Essentially it works like this. You pick up a used Xbox One game from somewhere or someone, pop it into your console. The system verifies its been registered to your account. Uh-oh, it isnt! In order to play it, you have to pay Microsoft a fee, which is currently slated to be full retail price. Doesnt matter how scratched up it is or how cheap you got it at gamestop or from a friend. You arent just buying the physical copies anymore. Youre paying Microsoft for a LICENSE to be allowed to play that game.
It is worth mentioning Microsoft is exploring ways for you to trade in and resell your used games. This is rumored to mean that you can sell your digital license to play the game (registration) back to microsoft, likely for microsoft points. You can then trade in the game at gamespot for some cash if you like. Either way, as it currently stands, the new owner would still have to pay a fee on top of the price of actually buying the physical copy.
Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-fee-for-buying-used-games-full-retail-price/
Is it worth mentioning that Microsoft if shafting Indie Developers as well? Where as on Playstation Network or (whatever the Wii has) Indie Developers can self publish their content easily. Playstation even encourages this. Microsoft however forces these Indie Devs to enter publishing deals with them to be allowed to market their content. You dont go through them, you dont get to sell what you developed.
Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/indie-devs-cant-self-publish-on-xbox-one
Im not quite done yet! Now, Im sure you heard a lot about TV TV TV TV SPORTS TV TV SPORTS SPORTS TV. Yes, the Xbox is slated to be able to stream live tv, live sports, etc. So let me ask you this. You obviously already have something like cable or DirecTV. Do you really want to shell out hundreds of dollars more and pay a monthly subscription fee to have another television provider? Yes, I said hundreds of dollars, and I dont mean the cost of the console. To view live TV from the Xbox you are required to purchase ANOTHER separate device for it to work. Why would you even consider shelling out more money for something you already have anyway? Even if you didnt, DirecTV is cheaper. Or you could even subscribe you Hulu.com and watch live tv on your computer. FOR MUCH CHEAPER. You essentially have to buy another cable box if you dont have one. And if you do
what do you need the Xbox One for?
Source: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-in-us-only-at-launch-requires-separate-device/
So far weve discovered that the Xbox One is not really a gaming console, at least
not a consumer friendly gaming console. Its being marketed as an all-in-one home entertainment system. Something to replace all of the other devices in your house. But there are drawbacks even to that. Put on your tin foil hats for this part folks. Take from it what you will, all Ill say is
possibilities
The Xbox Ones features will not function unless the Kinect is plugged in and active. This is not an optional piece anymore.
Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/21/xbox-one-will-not-function-without-kinect-attached
So imagine your Kinect piece breaks? Tough luck, no more Xbox for you. But you know whats worse?
Pay attention, because this is important. The Kinect is always watching. Always listening. Even when the system is off.
Yes. One of the ways to turn the system on is to audibly say: Xbox On while the system is off. The Kinect, which is always on, hears you and turns it on. Now this might seem like a cool feature, but did you know Microsoft patented a feature that would allow the Kinects camera (Its no longer just a sensor, but a camera) to spy on you for the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America?) While they may not actually do this, it is actually possible for them to do this now. It has a camera, and a microphone. The Kinect is always on. It is ALWAYS listening, ALWAYS watching.
An idea has been tossed around that by using this feature, it will allows game developers and movie produces to set a limited amount of how many people can be allowed to view the entertainment. So as a hypothetical example, you and three friends are watching a movie, which is the maximum allowed. A fourth friend enters the room and the Kinects sensor registers the fourth individual. The movie stops and you a prompted to pay a fee so that the extra individual may also view the film. Again, that is NOT currently the case, but these are the ideas currently being tossed around with the systems current capabilities.
Source for listening: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352596/the-xbox-one-is-always-listening
Source of spying: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/139706-microsofts-new-kinect-patent-goes-big-brother-will-spy-on-you-for-the-mpaa
Now, just two more things and Ill be done here!
This isnt really a good or bad thing, but its annoying. It also explains how they can prevent you from playing a used game if you didnt pay their fee. Xbox one no longer plays games off the discs, you HAVE to install them to the hard-drive in order to play them. I believe PS3 also has you do this (on a number of games but not always it seems), except that PS3 isnt trying to Nickle and Dime you at every corner. It also seems according to this article there is something related to the Online portion at the beginning of this post. The option is there for Developers to require the Xbox to always be online to play their particular game. Well, it seems PC gamers and console gamers have one thing in common now
DRM.
(At least pirates on PC can bypass DRM easily. Not an option for Consoles.)
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4352314/xbox-one-hard-drive-game-installs
And last but not least, another annoyance
Xbox One will not be compatible with any and all current headsets. Nope, companies will either have to make new headsets altogether specifically for the Xbox One, and they have to adhere to what Microsoft wants. Look forward to price gouging.
Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/xbox-one-incompatible-with-current-gaming-headsets
Oh, one more thing
If you have an Xbox 360, dont get rid of it. Why? Well if you want to keep playing your old 360 games youll need it. The Xbox One isnt backwards compatible. At all. Not only that, but President of Microsofts Xbox Division Don Mattrick insults the very notion of backwards compatibility! He calls it: Backwards thinking.
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4350662/new-xbox-has-no-backwards-compatibilty
Source of insult: http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/22/4355984/xbox-one-backward-compatibility-backwards-thinking-don-mattrick
That is all I have to say currently folks, and I hope you took the time to read this far. Ill conclude with the following
please
PLEASE do not buy this console. Paying for this supports greedy and anti-consumer business practices. Speak with your wallet, and pass up the Xbox One. No matter what games it might have that you want, even if they are exclusive. Do the right thing and make a statement. Refuse to be nickle and dimed like this. Refuse to be seen as a mindless consumer who will buy anything tossed to them.
We wont know much else until after E3, but as it stands now, the PS4 or a decent gaming PC is the best way to go.
If you are willing to do so, please spread this post around. Liking is not even remotely necessary, but do please share it if you agree with and acknowledge what youve read here. The more people know, the fewer of them waste their money.
Thank you, kindly.
~Dylan Jordan
arcane1
(38,613 posts)hedgehog
(36,286 posts)hunter
(38,303 posts)I'm much happier that way.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)This is from Microsoft VP Phil Harrison on Wired's website. Link: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/05/phil-harrison-xbox-one/
Wired: Whats going on with used games? What about borrowed games? Theres a lot of speculation today. Can you clear some of that up? For example, we have multiple Xboxes in my house and trade games all the time. If we have multiple Xbox One consoles, can we still do that?
Harrison: Absolutely, just like you can today. You take the disc, install the bits on every machine you have in your house from the same disc, and anybody in your household can play that game. You have exactly the same restrictions that you have today, as in only one of you can play that game at a time because you only have one disc. But anybody in that house
well, the Xbox Live account
it goes for both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One, and any user inside that house.
Wired: So as another example, if I took my disc and went to a friends house, would I be able to play that game on his machine?
Harrison: Yes, you can. You can take your game around to your friends house just as you would today thats assuming you have a physical disc and what were doing with the new Live technology is that
with the disc, its just a repository for the bits. You can put that disc into his drive, you can play the game while youre there, and then you go home and take that disc with you. But actually, the bits are still on his drive. If your friend decides that he really likes to play that game, then he can go buy it instantly, and it doesnt need to download again. Its already there. Once hes paid for it, its immediately there.
jmowreader
(50,530 posts)Will Microsoft put Office on this, so you can review a work document at home in the middle of a Halo marathon?