News & Rumors: Xbox One (codename Durango)

[warb]

Time for somebody at MS to develop an adventure game where people have to hunt after some function's avatar though the maze of dashboard menus/worlds. Let's call it XBone Pitfall. Maybe that would convince people like me of the transcendental relevance of that piece of technology.

I think the idea is to circumvent a menu maze with more direct and natural voice commands.

Yep, searching from the dashboard was neat on 360, but you're often left with virtual keyboard/controller. I'd expect fuller integration on X1 and not just the designated on screen commands.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The NUI extends through and beyond games. Being able to power up the system and get to anything in a few sentences seems very cool. Along with recognising individual user preference with less faff.

There are some great, transparent features there, like seeing who is picking up a controller and assigning their preferred control scheme. It's not essential to using a games machine, but UI experience counts for a lot these days and I'm not sure a clunky system would cut it any more.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I'm seriously wondering why some people buy consoles. I thought the point is playing games and not playing around with some user interface. I would even guess my time spent in the dashboard doesn't even reach 1/1000 compared to my time spend on games.

There will always be people that only want to play games on a console.

But out of that group there will always be people that eventually grow out of it and want more. In the 90's that meant going from consoles (NES, SNES, PS1, etc.) to PC. There was no other option if you wanted a gaming machine that could offer more than just gaming.

X360 and PS3 changed that dynamic somewhat by starting to offer things that you didn't traditionally find on consoles. PS2 to an extent as well with DVD playback. You could make an argument for PS1 with CD audio, but really, who didn't have a CD player already?

Xbox 4 and PS4 are all about retaining the console gamers that just want to game while expanding their attraction to people who will not and never will buy a console just for gaming.

For PS2 I was content to have a console just for gaming. A hacked Xbox with XBMC allowed me to see the possibilities of a console beyond just gaming and I have never been satisfied with a console that could only do gaming ever since.

Hence, I made an HTPC that could also do light gaming. I now wanted more from my living room TV than I had prior to using an Xbox with XBMC.

Anyway, I know many people that bought a PS3 and/or X360 for things other than gaming primarily and just occasionally game on their machines. PS4 and Xbox One will be expanding on that and trying to get even more people.

Core gamers are going to have to come to this realization sooner or later. For Microsoft and Sony, console gaming isn't just about the gaming anymore. And core gamers are going to also have to realize that there are plenty of people that want and will pay for a console that does more than gaming that would not buy a console only for gaming.

Regards,
SB

 

[Brimstone]

Core gamers are going to have to come to this realization sooner or later. For Microsoft and Sony, console gaming isn't just about the gaming anymore. And core gamers are going to also have to realize that there are plenty of people that want and will pay for a console that does more than gaming that would not buy a console only for gaming.

Regards,
SB

Core gamers are just one market segment. It seems clear to me Sony wants the Core more than Microsoft. We will see how it pans out over the next year. While I'm a biased Core type, I find it hard to believe the Microsoft strategy will get great results. They as a company have a had few product duds recently and the trend looks to continue. Go get those casuals...drill baby drill.

 

[BRiT]

*AHEM* Where does it say Sony or PS4 in the Topic? Here's a big hint, it does not!

 

[warb]

It's not like MS don't want the core. They're investing a huge chunk in "core games" and new studios.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

They do. They aren't willing to pursue the core at the expense of profitability though.

 

[DrJay24]

They do. They aren't willing to pursue the core at the expense of profitability though.

So the casual Wii crowd is going to buy a $500 console? Or is it the TV watching sport guys?

MS is risking a slump in momentum via poor word of mouth from core, those who really sell the system for the first couple of years. It will take a price drop and some reinventing to start scooping up those who just are not heavy gamers.

 

[AlphaWolf]

There are way more people that watch sports than play games on consoles, so maybe they do want that market.

 

[Themrphenix]

So the casual Wii crowd is going to buy a $500 console? Or is it the TV watching sport guys?

MS is risking a slump in momentum via poor word of mouth from core, those who really sell the system for the first couple of years. It will take a price drop and some reinventing to start scooping up those who just are not heavy gamers.

I believe you are confusing early adapters and core gamers as the same.Yes a lot of core gamers are early adopters,but I would guess only 35 to 40 percent are.Those who are early adopters have already made their mind up at this point and have reserved said console.

The other half of the core gaming market tend to wait 6 to 12 months before buying.Some core gamers want to make sure there is no issues with system reliability.Some core gamers want to make sure there is a good game library already in place before investing.

So to say Microsoft has lost or is losing the core gamer is to early to be said!We still have a few months and game expos left!Do you really think Sony or Microsoft emptied out all there ammo for game and feature announcements yet?

 

[Cyan]

John Carmack :smile: has said on next gen consoles that they are both very close in performance and very good. They are going to have a big impact, he says.

He also mentions that it is not mystery that he favoured the 360 over the PS3 in this generation and that the Xbox 360 was a bit more powerful and nicer to work with.

But Sony have improved their tools and that is great. He also says the Kinect has some limitations in his opinion.

It is highly recommended to watch the video in the link:

http://kotaku.com/john-carmack-on-ps4-vs-xbox-one-specs-theyre-very-c-994733823

 

[Strange]

I wonder if using the controller wired will reduce controller latency? That could be interesting. Hopefully they do a better job of supporting a multitude of video and audio file formats.

It seems unlikely that either Sony or MS could totally flame out this gen. The balance could swing more heavily to one side again, but I expect both businesses to be profitable in the long run.

I doubt it will be anything noticeable. Your screen refeshes every 16 ms and as long as you are in the realm of <5ms latency you're not going to notice anything. Controller inputs are not data heavy and bluetooth / wifi surely operate at latencies way below 5ms.

 

[warb]

His criticism of hand waving is spot on for original Kinect. I hope this has been improved upon for Kinect v2. It can at a minimum see that your hand is open or closed. A flick or jab of the finger/hand should be a huge improvement over hovering there for a bit.

They did grab to minimise/minimise a window in their reveal presentation.

 

[-tkf-]

His criticism of hand waving is spot on for original Kinect. I hope this has been improved upon for Kinect v2. It can at a minimum see that your hand is open or closed. A flick or jab of the finger/hand should be a huge improvement over hovering there for a bit.

They did grab to minimise/minimise a window in their reveal presentation.

There must be some demo videos out there that show Kinect 2's advantages?

Kinect 1 is pretty cool, but it's not faster or easier to navigate with than a Controller, would be cool to see what they did with the 2

 

[Aenima]

There must be some demo videos out there that show Kinect 2's advantages?

Kinect 1 is pretty cool, but it's not faster or easier to navigate with than a Controller, would be cool to see what they did with the 2

If you haven't already seen it, this video from Wired is the most informative one I've seen. But it doesn't really show any specific Xbox One UI interactions.

 

[dagamer]

Xbox One gets GPU up clock from 800Mhz to 853MHz (confirmed) : http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/2/4580852/microsoft-boosts-xbox-one-gpu-clock-speed

 

[Reiko]

So the upclock rumor turned out to be real. That's interesting.

 

[dagamer]

So the upclock rumor turned out to be real. That's interesting.

Also means they apparently aren't having yield issues, in fact, quite the opposite. Yields must be pretty good for an upclock to be feasible without ruining profitability. Actually, I should ask, I only assume the Xbox One is going to be profitable but at $499 is there any reason it won't be?

 

[Reiko]

Also means they apparently aren't having yield issues, in fact, quite the opposite. Yields must be pretty good for an upclock to be feasible.

Yep.

 

[temesgen]

Xbox One gets GPU up clock from 800Mhz to 853MHz (confirmed) : http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/2/4580852/microsoft-boosts-xbox-one-gpu-clock-speed

Article also says 8GB memory.....