XBOX ONE: NEXT GEN CONSOLE FROM MICROSOFT[UPDATE 1.0]

After 8 long years, the next gen gaming console was finally launched by Microsoft. The highly anticipated Xbox console got different names like the Xbox 720, the Xbox Infinity etc. But keeping up with the recent naming trends, Microsoft named it's brand new console, the Xbox One. Let's find out if this is the "One" for you.


DESIGN-

The Xbox One's exterior casing consists of a two-tone "liquid black" finish, with half finished in a matte gray, and the other in a glossier black. The Xbox One is designed to evoke a more entertainment oriented and simplified design than the previous iteration of the console, noticeably the LED rings used in the Xbox 360 are replaced by a glowing white Xbox logo used to communicate the system's status to the user.

HARDWARE-

The Xbox One's APU has 8 cores based on the x86-64 architecture.

It's GPU is based on the AMD GCN architecture with 12 compute units which have a total of 768 cores. The console has 8GB of DDR3 RAM with maximum bandwidth of 68.3 Gb/s, out of which 3GB is reserved for operation system and apps, leaving 5GB which can be used for playing games. 

CONTROLLER AND KINECT-

The new Xbox One controller is improved over the highly popular Xbox 360 controller. It has become a bit more ergonomic and has a couple of noticeable changes. The directional pad has been changed to a four way design and the battery compartment is a lot slimmer. Menu and View buttons have been changed to Start and Back buttons. Each trigger will feature an independent rumble motor called "Impulse Triggers" which would give directional vibrations.

The Xbox One will ship with an updated version of the Kinect sensor; the new Kinect uses a 1080p wide-angle time-of-flight camera (in comparison to the VGA resolution of the previous version), and processes 2 gigabits of data per second to read its environment. The new Kinect has greater accuracy over its predecessor, can track up to 6 skeletons at once, perform heart rate tracking, and track gestures performed with an Xbox One controller. The Kinect microphone will remain active at all times so it can receive voice commands from the user when needed, even when the console is in sleep mode (so it can be woken back up with a command).

SOFTWARE-

The Xbox has been really beefed up by microsoft in terms of software features. There are a tone of software features, voice control, etc. Similarly to Windows 8, the Xbox One will be able to snap applications (such as music, video, Skype, and Internet Explorer) to the side of the screen as a form of multitasking. The Xbox One will also be able to serve as a pass-through for an existing television set-top box over HDMI. This functionality allows users to watch live TV from their existing provider through the console, and access features such as show recommendations, an electronic program guide, and voice commands. The set-top box is controlled by the console through either an IR blaster or the HDMI-CEC protocol. The console will feature a similar, albeit richer set of voice control abilities than those found in the first generation Kinect. This will allow users to control Xbox functions via voice command. All voice control will be coordinated through the Kinect, and with this ability Skype will also become a function of the new Xbox.

The issues are that the Xbox needs an internet connection every 24 hours to verify and you cannot play even offline games for more than 24 hours without verification. There would be fee for used games and you can lend a game to only one of your friends. The good thing is that, the console will optimise multiplayer gameplay according to your habits. By monitoring your online gaming pattern, it would put up multiplayer opponents similar to you.

UPDATE:

The issues mentioned above regarding the policy for used games and being online every 24 hours etc. have been solved. This is due to the fact that Microsoft has reverted it's most controversial policies due the immense pressure from the gaming community. Now the console requires an internet connection only once when it is first registered. After that you may continue to play the games without the need to connect to the internet. The region lock has been removed, which means that you may buy the cconsole from anywhere and it would run anywhere in the world. This is the first time in the history when a company of the magnitude of Microsoft has reversed it's policies just after a couple of weeks of announcing them.

BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY-

The Xbox One, sadly, would not be compatible with games of previous gen Xbox's. This is because of the hardware incompatibility. Microsoft had to put a separate chip in order to run previous-gen games which would increase both the cost as well as the size of the console.

CONCLUSION-

At a price tag of 500$ in the U.S., the Xbox One has got the potential to be a great device for entertainment needs and can be the single device in your living room. Now that the controversial policies have been reverted, the console war has really heated up. Time will tell, which of the two console from Microsoft and Sony would win the title of being the best!

Also see:

PS4 : A WORTHY SUCCESSOR?
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