Monday, June 3, 2013
As I sat and watched Microsoft unveiling the Xbox One, I was suddenly overcome with the feeling of being deflated. Up to that moment I’d literally counted down the seconds leading up to the big reveal, but when it hit I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was a bit... off? Afterward, I did a bit of soul searching to try and figure out what had gone wrong. Was the fault with Microsoft? Was it with me? Or was it with the industry as a whole? Am I simply getting too old or jaded to truly feel excited by the release of a new console? (Hint: It probably isn’t the last one. I hope) Follow me as I break down a few things that stood out to me at this press conference, and please, I’d love to know your opinions on the matter, Reader.
1. THE BIG REVEAL
First and foremost, I’ll say Microsoft surely started off the show with a bang. No beating around the bush, they simply came out and said “Xbox One,” and bang, there it was. It’s a beautiful system, and from a visual standpoint I would absolutely love to have one sitting in my entertainment center. It just looks like the future. At this point in the show, I was feeling optimistic. Sure, the name was a bit wonky, but so was TurboGrafx-16, and that’s still one of my favorite consoles of all time (Bonk’s Adventure for the 3DS, please and thank you.)
2. THE FEATURES
With every new generation of consoles, we’ve seen some sort of technological leap that begs to be showed off in some facet. The Sega CD was a fantastic CD player for the time. The Playstation 2 was my first DVD player. The Xbox 360 was my first online console. The Playstation 3 was my first (and only) Blu-Ray player. As time has gone on, the ability to update the hardware of our current generation of consoles via the internet has drastically changed their capabilities without requiring the purchase of another expensive piece of hardware (Looking at you again, Sega CD.) The Xbox 360 that we use today is a significantly different machine than the Xbox 360 that launched nearly a decade ago in terms of functionality. With these changes, my Xbox has morphed into my Netflix machine, my Hulu machine, my Amazon Prime machine and my Youtube machine. Unfortunately for the next generation of consoles, this has left Microsoft and Sony with far fewer features to roll out with their new consoles, and this is where I hit my first roadblock with the Microsoft conference.
2A - TV THROUGH XBOX
Microsoft spent nearly a third of the conference showing off the Xbox One’s new TV App. At this point, I’m still trying to figure out who exactly this function is made for. At this current phase in my life, my fiancee and I have voted to go without cable, as the costs are far too high. I know that in the world of 20-somethings struggling to make ends meet, cutting corners wherever one can is a grim reality. Sorry Comcast, but I’d rather be able to eat this month than pay for Xfinity. It’s for this reason that Hulu exists. I can’t afford cable, but I can surely afford the 7.99 a month to catch up on any new shows that I may have missed. I’m assuming here, but I can’t imagine Microsoft intends to drop Hulu functionality. So why does this need to exist? If I’m already going to be paying for cable, the only real benefit here is condensing everything into one box, and sure, that’s neat, but is it really going to be the focal point of the console reveal?
2B - WINDOWS OS
Now, this one is probably just me being paranoid, but the idea of the new Xbox running multiples OS, and one of them being based on the Windows Kernel just has me a bit worried. We’ve all hung around Microsoft long enough to know that a stable operating system is never a guarantee right out of the box. Admittedly, the idea of being able to switch instantly between different processes has me intrigued, but it also makes me wonder how much processing power is going to be set aside for each side of the Xbox One. Will things really be as seamless as they look? Frankly, this is just speculation on my part, so I’ll have to wait and see.
2C - KINECT 2.0
As a general rule, for the last few E3s, I’ve kept my fingers crossed and prayed to the “No Motion Controls Gods,” and every time they’ve disappointed me. I owned a Kinect for a short period of time, and quickly grew tired when I realized it was simply being used as a shovelware device. For the majority of the conference, Microsoft showed off the new abilities of the Kinect 2.0, and all I felt was a pang of disappointment. The Xbox 360 has, hands down, the best modern controller, and is in my opinion only second to the Legendarily Spectacular Sega Saturn Controller. So why do they so desperately want me not to use it? And on that topic...
2D - MICROSOFT SMARTGLASS
Microsoft also spent a bit of time talking about using Microsoft Smartglass to control your console. With it, you can use your mobile device as a second screen, or to control your console. Maybe I’m finally getting a bit too old to keep up, but I can’t for the life of me understand any time this would be practical. Microsoft touted the abilities of the Kinect 2.0, controlling the console from a completely hands-free standpoint for the entire conference. If I can do that, why would I spend the time syncing my iPhone up to use while watching a movie? Is there such a thing as too many options?
3. THOUGHTS
When Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360, they showed us Kameo, Gears of War, Ghost Recon, Project Gotham Racing 3, NBA 2k6, Quake 4, The Darkness, Saints Row, Call of Duty 2 and Perfect Dark Zero. With the Xbox One reveal, Microsoft showed us ten minutes of Call of Duty: Ghosts, nearly ten minutes dedicated to the new EA Sports engine, and a brief snippet of Forza 5. Remedy brought a live-action trailer for Quantum Break, and honestly, that’s the only part of the conference that left me feeling excited.
When I was younger, Sega and Nintendo and even Sony, to a small degree, were all about one-upmanship. They wanted you to know that their games were bigger and badder than anything the competition had to offer. Now, most consoles can only be told apart by the four or five yearly exclusives. Microsoft claims that they’re saving the big game reveals for E3, but why? Is it simply damage control? Or is there a new demographic out there that Microsoft is marketing to?
On May 11, 1995 at Sega’s E3 press conference, Sega of America president Tom Kalinske dropped a bomb. The initial date that Sega had set out for the release of the Sega Saturn was a fake. The system was launching immediately. Ultimately, the move proved to be disastrous, but I think I understand where Tom was coming from. A press conference is a chance to wow the world. A chance to say whatever you want about a product that we’ve all been waiting years for. If, ultimately, all you can say is “Xbox is about to become the next water cooler,” is it time to give up the ghost? Has the industry forgotten what Tom Kalinske was trying to do? Or do they simply not care anymore?
I think the Xbox reveal was a smart move on Microsoft's part. The reveal was close to E3 and to show everything at the conferance would leave no surprises to be revealed at the biggest video game event of the year. Microsoft decided to show the system and what the systems new interface would accomplish and how it would further all your entertainment needs through the technology. With the passthrough technology for HDMI you could be watching TV and get a game invite or Skype with your friends while watching TV. You could also get a game invite while watching TV and instantly switch to the game and start playing without having to hit menu, HDMI2, and OK. You may think that this seems like a small step, but for me it is a huge logical step that no one else thought about up untill now. I am glad to see that my Xbox will now co exist with my cable and TV and finally make it all seem like one seemless interface. This was exactly what Microsoft wanted us to see at the conferance. There is no dought in my mind that Microsoft will have games on the Xbox One. These will be seen at E3 and I will be more exited for this system after I see these games.
ReplyDeleteKinect 2.0 is the next logical step for this add on. I thought that this device seemed like a gimmick at first, but if it is done correctly I think it could be a really good addition to the Xbox One experience. I love the voice controls for one. I am playing Forza Horizon and I like the fact that I can say "GPS" "Next Event" and the GPS is set for the next event. I think that the gesture controls will change a lot in the games and give the creators a lot more ideas on how to take advntage of the system. Bringing this to the next level will be interesting and bring a whole new level of entertainment to your home.
Playstation announced thier new system and said "Games we can do games." Of course they can that was already assumed. Sony always shows off great games for the next generation of hardware, but some of them never come out or are very early in development. Sony didn't say how they improved the OS or how they were going to set up the Sony Network to rival Xbox Live with better online service. Microsoft also mentioned that they were constantly improving Xbox Live to support the loyal customers and continue making Xbox Live the best online gaming service available.
I think it will be a very interesting E3 at the least.
Bill Sheehan