Xbox One

 

The Xbox One is an upcoming video game console from Microsoft. Announced on May 21, 2013, it is the successor to the Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox family of consoles.The Xbox One is scheduled for release in November 2013 and will directly compete with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U as part of the eighth generation of video game consoles. Microsoft and various publications have classified the device as an "all-in-one entertainment system",making it a competitor to other home media devices such as the Apple TV and the Google TV platform.

Moving away from the PowerPC based architecture used in the Xbox 360, the console features an AMD processor built around the x86-64 instruction set. The console places an increasing emphasis on entertainment and integration with the Kinect peripheral, offering the ability to use an existing set-top box to watch live television programming (augmented by an enhanced program guide with support for voice commands), a built-in Skype client, and improved second screen support. The console also provides new functionality for use in games, such as an expanded Xbox Live service, improved Kinect functionality, cloud computing, the ability to automatically record and share video highlights from gameplay, and integrated support for live streaming gameplay online.

Initial reaction to the Xbox One has been mixed. Some have praised the console's new features, while others have criticized its lack of backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games, online connectivity requirements, mandatory integration with Kinect, and ambiguous restrictions on the resale and sharing of used games.

Hardware

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

The Xbox One has an APU with eight x86-64 cores, 8 GB of DDR3 RAM with a memory bandwidth of 68.3 GB/s, a 500 GB non-replaceable hard drive, and a Blu-ray Disc optical drive. 3 GB of RAM will be reserved for the operating system and apps, leaving 5 GB for games. The graphics processing unit (GPU) is based on an AMD GCN architecture with 12 compute units, which have a total of 768 cores, providing an estimated peak theoretical power of 1.23 TFLOPS.For networking, the Xbox One supports Gigabit Ethernet. 802.11n wireless, and Wi-Fi Direct. The Xbox One requires an internet connection to function—with Microsoft recommending a minimum 1.5 Mbit/s broadband connection.

The Xbox One will support 4K resolution (3840×2160) video output and 7.1 surround sound. Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of marketing and strategy for Microsoft, has stated that there is no hardware restriction that would prevent games from running at 4K resolution. The Xbox One will support HDMI 1.4 for both input and output.The Xbox One does not have a video output for either composite video or component video.

The console will be region-locked, and at launch, the console will not operate outside of the 21 designated launch countries.

 
Controller

The Xbox One controller maintains the overall layout found in the Xbox 360 design. The directional pad has been changed to a four-way design, and the battery compartment is slimmer. Menu and View buttons have replaced the Start and Back buttons.Each trigger will also feature independent rumble motors called "Impulse Triggers", which allows developers to program directional vibration. One trigger can be made to vibrate when firing a gun, or both can work together to create feedback that indicates the direction of an incoming hit. It remains to be seen exactly how developers will use the new feature. Pre-ordered Xbox One controllers have the words "Day One 2013" engraved in the center.

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).

The Xbox One will not function unless the Kinect sensor is connected.However, users retain the software capability to turn off all Kinect functions while the sensor remains connected to the console.
A Windows-compatible version of the new Kinect will be released in 2014.

Software and services

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.

Voice control

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.

Operating system

The device will run three operating systems: Xbox OS[citation needed], an OS based on the Windows kernel, and another OS that will allow the other two operating systems to communicate by virtualisation (as a hypervisor). Such integration will include features like snapped Skype calls while in game.
The Windows edition on the Xbox will not be compatible with standard Windows apps, though developers will be able to port them over with little effort.

Xbox Live

The Xbox Live service is scaled up to use 300,000 servers for Xbox One users from 15,000 that handle the Xbox 360 users. Cloud storage will be offered to save music, movies, games and saved content and developers will be able to use Live servers (along with the Windows Azure cloud computing platform) to offer "massive", "living and persistent worlds." The service will still be subscription-based. The friends list will expand to 1,000 friends.

SmartGlass

Xbox SmartGlass will provide extended functionality on the Xbox One; a demo during the E3 press conference demonstrated its use for setting up a multiplayer match in another game in the background on a tablet while playing another game on the television.

Recording and streaming

Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to use the Upload Studio app to edit and share clips from gameplay footage that is automatically recorded by the console. Integration with the live streaming platform Twitch will also be provided; users will be able to use voice commands to immediately begin streaming footage of their current game directly to the service, and use the Kinect microphone for commentary and voiceovers.Despite the ability to record gameplay, the Xbox One will not include DVR functionality for recording television programs; executive Yusuf Mehdi indicated that the Xbox One would "work in tandem" with existing TV providers, but that Microsoft may need to work with them directly to provide extended functionality such as DVR integration.

Games

Microsoft presented several first-party and third-party titles for Xbox One at its E3 2013 news conference, some of which will be exclusive to the console.First-party titles unveiled for the Xbox One include Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, a revival of Killer Instinct, Project Spark and a teaser for an upcoming Halo game.

Xbox One games will be distributed on Blu-ray Disc and digitally through Xbox Live Marketplace. When games are first played, they are automatically installed to the console's hard drive and added to the user's library. Subsequent use of the game will not require the disc. Xbox One games will be tied to both Xbox One consoles and Xbox Live accounts. Multiple accounts on the same console can share the same games, while up to ten people can be designated "family members"; each member can view the same game library on any Xbox One console, and one member can play from the game library at the same time as the original console owner.An unlock fee will be charged to play a registered game under a different Live account on a different Xbox One console.Console owners can select up to ten people as "family members" – they do not need to be related.

The Xbox One console requires an internet connection to periodically check ownership status for games as well as updates. Games can be played offline for a limited amount of time before they must be authenticated over an active internet connection – 24 hours on the primary console, one hour on a separate console.Games which rely on cloud services may not be playable offline. The Xbox One will also not be backwards compatible with original Xbox and Xbox 360 games.

Used games can be traded at "participating retailers", though support is dependent on the publisher of the game who may opt out or include additional fees for retailers.Disc-based games can be given directly to friends, but the recipient must have been on the player's friend list for more than thirty days, and each game can only be given once; support for this is also dependent on third-party publishers.

Reception

After the official reveal in May 2013, the editorial staff of Game Informer offered both praise and criticism for the console.Matt Helgeson described the console as Microsoft's intent to "control the living room".He called the Xbox One's instant switching features "impressive", and that the console was "a step in the right direction" with regards to TV entertainment, especially the prospect of avoiding the usage of non-intuitive user interfaces often found on cable set-top boxes. Jeff Cork said that Microsoft had "some great ideas" for the console, but that it failed to properly communicate them.

Following Microsoft's E3 press conference on June 10, 2013, perceptions of the Xbox One by critics changed. Multiple GameSpot writers were critical of the new console; Mark Walton considered the Xbox One's launch lineup to be "uninspired", "lackluster" and plagued by "old men in suits, a stream of buzzwords, and superficial games that valued visuals over innovation" (as opposed to the "new generation of gaming" that Microsoft had promised to present during the event, by contrast to its previous television-oriented presentation) alongside strict DRM practices,while editor Tom McShea noted that despite the increased capabilities and cloud-oriented nature of the Xbox One, the presentation consisted only of "pretty games that didn't offer any noticeable change to the core experience we've already been playing [on the Xbox 360]", providing existing owners with little reason for spending $499 on the new console.

After Sony's E3 press conference later that evening, McShea went on to say that Microsoft had become anti-consumerist, trying to "punish their loyal customers" with strict restrictions, and that "by saying no to the used game restrictions and always-online that Microsoft is so happily implementing on the Xbox One, Sony has elevated the PlayStation 4 as the console to grab this holiday season."

Used games and internet verification

After its unveiling in May, gaming and PC websites expressed concern over the restriction on the resale of used games,and the requirement of online verification every 24 hours for offline games.Further official details released in June regarding the policy towards used games and Internet connection requirements caused negative backlash among gaming websites as well as concern amongst independent video game retailers. Microsoft clarified the situation stating that it would be the game developers that decide if used games could be played and any activation fees.Matt Peckham of Time believes that the Xbox One used games policy goes against the first-sale doctrine.Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter has suggested that the game developers would limit the used game market for a period after the game was released but might then allow used games to be played.

Xbox Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Yusuf Mehdi defended the changes, stating that the Xbox One was primarily designed with digital distribution in mind, and that the changes to the licensing model on the console would be "easier to understand" when applied to just digital copies of games. He contended that the new system, which would also allow games to be accessed directly from cloud servers by various means (regardless of how they were purchased), would allow publishers to use "a diversity of business models" to meet their individual needs. Mehdi also noted that Microsoft was not attempting to "give in" to the criticism of used games by publishers, but trying to balance the needs of consumers and the industry itself. The position on online requirements was reinforced by Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, who stated that those who do not have internet connectivity should purchase an Xbox 360 instead.

Privacy concerns

The console's prominent use of the Kinect sensor has been the subject of concerns surrounding its possible use for surveillance. As the device must be connected into the user's Xbox One at all times to be functional, privacy advocates contended that the increased amount of data which could be collected with the new Kinect (such as a person's eye movements, heart rate, and mood) could be used for targeted advertising. Reports also surfaced regarding recent Microsoft patents involving Kinect, such as a digital rights management system based on detecting the number of viewers in a room, and tracking viewing habits by awarding achievements for watching television programs and advertising.

While Microsoft stated that it currently has a privacy policy which "prohibit[s] the collection, storage, or use of Kinect data for the purpose of advertising", critics did not rule out the possibility that these policies may be changed prior to the release of the console. Concerns were also raised that the device could also record conversations, as its microphone remains active at all times. In response to the criticism, a Microsoft spokesperson stated that users are "in control of when Kinect sensing is On, Off or Paused," will be provided with key privacy information and settings during the console's initial setup, and that user-generated content such as photos and videos "will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission."