Xbox One Console - Day One Edition..
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214 of 249 people found the following review helpful.
A great start for the next gen.
By Throwdown918
I have been playing my Xbox One Day One Edition non-stop this weekend and felt comfortable giving a first impression review. The first thing you notice out of the box is that the design is nothing that is going to blow you away. They made it big and when it was opened up by those sites that take these boxes apart a large part of it is a fan. I don't really mind at all to be honest. Too much has been made of how it looks. I have it in an entertainment center that has nothing but large black boxes in it. Well here's another one. Not really a big deal.
I plugged it in and went through the initial set up in around 20 minutes. I will start by saying I have a small child who also uses this television, so I will not be reviewing anything regarding the TV features. I decided not to use them, as I don't want my son to have to use the Xbox. The user interface is very nice and simple to use once you get going. I had an Xbox 360 and PS3 last generation and always liked the 360 interface better. I feel the same way about this one. You can still pin your favorite apps and games and navigating is fairly easy. The Kinect in my household with a small child (lots of noise) works well. I have had no problem with the commands and have found that they add quite a bit of easy navigation to the system. I will say it helps to learn what the commands are that the Kinect understands. Microsoft has released a sheet of all those commands since release. I will note that this would not have been a bad sheet to put in the box with the console, but I'll print it out on my own I guess. There is nothing better than saying Xbox On and Xbox Turn Off, or Xbox Go To Forza Motorsport 5 and it just goes! So in that sense I'm very pleased. I wouldn't say these are lazy features either as some may think. It's just a convenience that they have decided to give you. If you don't want to use it you can unplug it. I also really like the auto sign in when it sees me. The biggest thing that the Kinect brings to the table for non- gaming is the ability to scan in QR Codes. The last generation brought us all that dreaded DLC and 25 digit code entry. Nothing worse than entering all 25 digits and then trying to figure out which one was wrong. Well the Day One Achievement and a 7 day Xbox live pass come with the system on a QR code sheet. Ask the Xbox to use a code and the Kinect will ask you to hold it up to the screen. Here the beep and you are all done. Thank you so much for this. Now if everyone can just start including these rather than the typed in codes with the games it would be appreciated. So you must be wondering how Kinect is for games. Well it is really a huge improvement. Kinect Sports has a free demo on Xbox live right now and the interactions were read well and precise. I really can't complain about how well the new Kinect works. All in all the Kinect and UI have really been integrated into the new system well. I really think Microsoft really sees how we interact with a lot of UI as stale and the Kinect is an attempt to change that. I don't mind it and the possibility of where they could go is intriguing. Hopefully including one with each system will turn into some great features from Kinect.
The new controller is another plus of this system. I'll add that last generation the Xbox 360 controller was my favorite and that will likely continue this generation. The new thumb sticks with the new grippy feel and updated LB and RB buttons are all great improvements. I also like the new D-Pad as it is very clicky and precise. Yes I know these are not real words I'm using. The controller also feels like the general shape has been changed a little, as it fits into your hands much more comfortably than the 360's, overall a great improvement. I had some really long gaming sessions this weekend and the controller didn't cause any fatigue from holding it. I for one am also a fan of the double A batteries in the controller. I know a lot of people feel this is a thing of the past but it just works for me. I don't like having the controller wired to the system to charge and the battery packs all eventually die and need to be replaced. Batteries can be charged and recharged simply and I will never have to replace the controller due to battery life waning over time. I know I am the minority with this opinion but it's mine and I'm sticking to it. I'll step down from my soap box now. Finally how about those force feedback triggers. Nothing like slamming on the brakes hard in Forza Motorsport 5 and having the trigger for braking shaking, just like if you slammed on the brakes in a real car. Also love when I'm holding down RT in Call of Duty Ghosts and it's shaking like a leaf just like it should. I think this will be a great feature moving forward.
The One also comes with a headset much like the 360 did. If you are not going to be a heavy gamer then it will do just fine. I have to say this was my only area of disappointment with the One out of the box. The headset that came with the 360 had a habit of being pretty cheap as well but this one is a downgrade. The set is not adjustable on the head as it's just a solid piece of flexible plastic. The sound quality is what it is, nothing earth shattering. I had a Turtle Beach headset with my 360 and I think I'm now spoiled. If you are not going to be using the headset often this one will likely take care of your needs. If you are a heavy multiplayer gamer you will likely be investing in a new headset, as this will not get it done for you. The Kinect is also auto set to be used as a headset out of the box, but I turned that off. That's a great way to be the guy online who has a ton of background noise!
There is also an included 4K capable HDMI cable that is included with the system. It's a fairly nice cable and I think we are all at the point where we expect the Xbox One and PS4 to have these included. The power brick is also outside the box. Ohhh nooo. I have no clue why so much has been made of this. Power bricks create heat. Putting them in the box may be nice for the end user but not for the ones who are trying to make this box as cool as possible. I understand why they kept it out considering the heat issues the previous console went through. Underneath the entertainment center it goes. Why are we even discussing this!
The longest that I have run the system was on release day and that was for about 8 to 9 hours non-stop with a disc in the drive. The system remained whisper quiet the entire time. I was playing at night with the volume down and couldn't hear that it was running in the room. Overall I would have to say that I feel much more confident in the hardware effort this time around by Microsoft. It seems like a sturdy well-made piece of hardware. Obviously the RROD that I experienced with my release edition of the 360 was not until over a year later, but at this point my initial impression of the One is that it's a much better made machine. Time will tell and I could not be happier after my first few days with the Xbox One.
110 of 129 people found the following review helpful.
Amazing
By Joseph Purcell
Still unsure about which console to purchase? I'll help you. If you want a console that is built for gaming and gaming alone, then maybe the PS4 is for you, but if you want a console that does gaming and much more, GET THE XBOX ONE!
I've been gaming since the 80s, I've owned every console since the NES, and I've never seen anything like this. The setup process alone was amazing! The moment I hooked everything it up, the xbox started asking my tv, cable, and receiver models. The xbox communicated with all three and I was able to turn everything on with one command, "xbox on". I can go on and on with all the features, but you already know the features, instead, I'll tell you about one of my sessions.
I walked into my living room and said "xbox on", within seconds my xbox turns on followed by my dish network, tv, and receiver. Once the dashboard shows onscreen, War of the worlds is playing on HBO in the main window, because tv was the last thing I was doing. I then say, "xbox watch tv" and immediately I'm watching war of the worlds on wide screen. I wanted to watch some college football, so I then say, "xbox watch ESPN", and just as fast as changing the channel, I'm watching my Ohio State Buckeyes crush Indiana. While watching the game, I get an unexpected Skype call from my mom, she saw that I was signed on through Skype, I then say, "xbox answer" and now I'm having a video conversation with my mom about the game in perfect 1080p. After the conversation, I launch Killer Instinct by saying, "xbox go to killer instinct" and it switches from tv to the game like switching channels, it's that fast! After getting my butt handed to me in Killer Instinct, I decided to call it day and turn everything off. Instead of grabbing all my remotes to turn off all my devices, I say, "xbox turn off" and everything turns off.
I'm still learning everything the Xbox One has to offer, I still haven't messed around with the DVR yet, but the snap feature is awesome! Its like having picture in picture, I can watch tv and play a game at the same time!
I think both consoles are awesome, and they both have their pros and cons, it just depends on what your gaming preference is. I'm the type of gamer who loves co-op and multiplayer games, and Microsoft has a better community for those types of games. Sony is more of a single player system, their games are amazing, but mostly single player, ie. uncharted, god of war, heavy rain, beyond, last of us, infamous, metal gear, etc.
114 of 151 people found the following review helpful.
Starting to live my childhood Sci-fi dreams.
By mike
Pretty amazing stuff. A couple things I wasnt sold on till i tried were Xbox Fitness and voice navigation. The voice navigation is pretty smooth and my kinect is even positioned right below my tv speakers. Skype is pretty cool too, my friend and I tried it and I def felt like I was using something from a scifi movie back when I was kid. Another thing that impressed me was the Store. You can browse all the games and also view player uploads right next to them. That gives you a good sense of how a game plays and players upload some pretty neat clips.
Kinect is pretty awesome. It tracks my girlfriends 4 year old perfectly and we played Kinect Sports Rivals without any hickups. Xbox Fitness with Kinect is cool too. I passed this off as a big 'meh' before i tried it, but the Kinect tracking and point system actually makes working-out a game as much as it can be.
The controller is probably my only complaint. The thumbsticks are smaller diameter than the 360 (albeit more responsive), and it is lighter making it feel a little cheap (but I am also a supporter of the now long gone 'Duke' controller). The triggers feel a whole lot better though, and I dig the positioning of the LB and RB buttons.
The quick switching is outstanding. Absolutely amazing.
The only legit game I have played is BF4 and it does look amazingly better than the 360 version. It does have its issues, but I think a lot of it is blown out of proportion. The only issues Ive had is playing conquest with the number of players maxed out. It ran fine, but once the match was over, loading the next map just seemed to 'hang' (but that is more of a DICE issue).
The system is dead silent, even after playing games or movies for a few hours.
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As others say, this hard drive does not let you play backwards compatible games