9 ms·

Xbox One: Microsoft's All-In-One Home Entertainment System

137 points by irunbackwards 13y ago

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FreeBird 13y ago
The other discussion is here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5744967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5744967 It was up at #3 then went to the second page,strange.
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psbp 13y ago
I guess people still care about t.v.
- shiftpgdn 13y ago
  Out of touch MBAs maybe.
- danieldk 13y ago
  There's a world outside the US. E.g. in most of Europe there are virtually no Netflix or Hulu-like services. Nearly everyone uses a Cable or DVB-T service. A bit painful, considering that my ISP just announced to upgrade my connection from 120/10 MBit/s to 150/15. The bandwidth is there, but I guess it's hard to make licensing arrangements.
  - potatolicious 13y ago
    Even in the US, even in areas with good enough broadband to stream all your content, people still care about broadcast television because of sports. MS's focus here with ESPN and the NFL is bang-on.
    - moheeb 13y ago
      "MS's focus here with ESPN and the NFL is bang-on." I disagree. They managed to partner with the NFL but yet not show any games. Most of the games for my favorite team I still can't watch. Seems really lame to me.
- FreeBird 13y ago
  http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...
  - psbp 13y ago
    This was good satire in 2000. 13 years later, not owning a t.v. is not the same as being unable to watch traditionally broadcasted shows.
    - RobAtticus 13y ago
      The main point was more about how somebody who doesn't watch TV will always let you know that they don't. Not really the reasons why. I think in that case, the satire is still relevant. Plenty of people on reddit/HN/the Internet almost bragging about how they don't use a traditional TV setup. Basically like the old joke "How can you tell if someone is an atheist? Don't worry, he'll tell you."
      - psbp 13y ago
        Maybe you hear that so often because it's a trend, so the idea of it being the focus of your media center box for the next decade might be a little antiquated.
        RobAtticus 13y ago
        Or it's a vocal minority of people who don't miss opportunities to talk about it. I don't care either way, especially since the article was posted as a little joke.
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simonsarris 13y ago
Most people I know who own a PS3 consider it essentially a blu-ray player. Most people I know who own an Xbox consider it essentially a Netflix player. These people bought games, but they don't really play them. I've got naught but my anecdata, but I think attempting to bill this new console as an entertainment system that happens to also play some great games is a very, very good idea.
- minimaxir 13y ago
  Since the Xbox One has Blu-Ray, it'll be the best of both worlds! :)
  - Scriptor 13y ago
    PS3 has had Netflix for a long time as well.
    - ebbv 13y ago
      And without requiring paying $50/year as well.
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        You have to pay for Live if you are just using your ISP to hit netflix?
        ebbv 13y ago
        Yep. Awesome, eh? I own a 360 but I don't use it anymore.
        imissmyjuno 13y ago
        Is this true for Xbox One as well?
        13y ago
geuis 13y ago
I'd like to be impressed, but it's really hard. I have friends that work at Microsoft and have worked on various bits of this platform. I know personally the incredible amount of hard work that gets put into this product. This presentation just feels... empty. It's largely middle-aged men (and a woman who worked at tv companies) dryly reciting a badly written script with significant intentional pauses intended for applause after non-funny jokes. The opening demo was kind of interesting. It's hard to tell if the tv/kinnect interactivity was staged or not, but it seems real enough to be impressive. More of this please. Followed by a guy that no one knows or cares about, speaking at length the hardware, about how revolutionary the new product is. He doesn't actully say anything much about how the new system is built beyond "5 billion transistors and 8gb of RAM!", while briefly flashing some tech specs floating next to an amorphous blob of 3d Xbox parts. Then we get to see a non-MS exec from EA introduce a 2 minute interview with some sports guys.... SHOW THE DAMNED GAME!! Look, when you're showing off your product SHOW IT OFF. Don't put your fatty bag of mostly water in between the product and the people trying to learn about it. Then the stream died for me after the CBS/Time Warner lady started talking. I caught the end where guy #1 is talking about Stephen Spielberg and Halo, the it died again. For the HN audience, there's a ton of lessons to take from today. Talk about the product, don't get in the way, and make sure your tech supporting the launch works and is stable. Everything else will take care of itself.
- criley 13y ago
  Everything was stable, I streamed the entire event from Verge pre-show to the end screen without a single hiccup or drop. I also had far less criticism than you did for the presentation, I found it similar to what Sony and Nintendo do on stage and definitely par the course for a console release. I mean, think about it: Sony hasn't even shown off it's hardware yet, and they announced months ago. Now Sony is telling us they'll actually, you know, SHOW US the console in a few more weeks. What gives? At least Microsoft put the product there, front of stage, and (presumably) ran a few demos on it.
  - geuis 13y ago
    Yeah I can't criticize too much on streaming, other than that it worked fine until half way through and then wouldn't reconnect after that. There's a lot of factors that can affect that. Considering it happened from both my phone over LTE and laptop via wifi at home, 2 data points can triangulate in a certain direction. Your bar is too low. Expect more from product releases. Was this launch better than the PS4 launch? Absolutely. Was it great, not at all. I will never introduce a product that doesn't do what its being sold to do until I can stand in front of 100 people and show it working.
namityadav 13y ago
Is the underlying OS Windows 8? I think Microsoft can give its Windows 8 apps platform a big boost by giving them presence in the next Xbox. EDIT: Looks like they use Windows 8, but the Windows 8 apps will need to be modified to work on Xbox. From Engadget: In terms of whether apps will be cross-compatible between the regular Windows Store and the storefront accessed by the new console, we're told they won't. Developers will have to do a bit of work to make a Windows app suitable for the Xbox, not least in terms of tuning their UI for Kinect or the wireless controller. But Microsoft's engineers told us that the underlying similarity between Windows 8/RT and Windows for the Xbox should make this a pretty easy feat for coders. [ Ref: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-runs-three-operating-systems/ http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-runs-three-opera... ]
- minimaxir 13y ago
  The underlying OS is three different OSes, apparently. One of those is likely based on Win8 (Metro Snap and Metro IE was present).
georgemcbay 13y ago
As someone actually interested in playing games (and I know that may make me a minority here), this was the best commercial there will likely ever be for the Sony PlayStation 4.
- deleted 13y ago
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- chc 13y ago
  Personally, as a gamer, the native replay system is the most exciting thing I've seen out of this generation. So many times I've been playing a game with my brother over Xbox Live and something awesome happens, and afterwards we're kind of like, "Man, I wish this game had a record button like Halo so we could watch that over and over again." And now they all will.
  - nicholassmith 13y ago
    IIRC the PS4 was announced with a similar feature.
  - commandar 13y ago
    The feature Sony announced for the PS4 is actually more powerful than that - it not only records, but also allows live screen streaming and sharing gaming sessions with friends remotely. One of the use cases they suggested was being able to have a friend take over and help you out if you were having a particularly hard time with a section of a game.
    - chc 13y ago
      Ah, the PS4 presentation didn't really make that clear enough for my thick skull. Thanks for the clarification.
- deleted 13y ago
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- cgh 13y ago
  Yes, before I saw your comment, I was going to post something similar. I am also one of those weirdos who just wants a really powerful and reliable gaming console. No muss, no fuss, no "social", no voice-activated doo-dads, just really good games and not much else.
emehrkay 13y ago
So this is a Windows-lite PC, cable box, Xbox video game system? It has hdmi in right? I'm officially old because I do not find this interesting at all. My son will want it, so we will have it, but as a person who buys a lot of tech, I am not seeing the appeal. I think it is the all-in-one, do-everything approach it Microsoft is taking with this that disinterests me. Why does every company want to be your everything now a days?
- potatolicious 13y ago
  Normally I'm against do-everything devices, but IMO this is a stroke of genius. Everything about operating a TV today is pure pain. The centerpiece here is an obtuse, 100-button remote that no one fully knows how to use. You use this remote to get at the "mode switcher", which changes you from TV watching mode, to bluray watching mode, to gaming mode, to whatever else you do with your TV. It's painful, not to mention a lot of people have receivers to handle the audio portion of this. It's like a really, really bad KVM. The only way to eliminate that pain was to take over all of the above responsibilities, and MS just did that. With any luck this means you will basically never have to touch your TV's god-awful remote ever again, and the terms "Video 1", "Video 2", and "TV" will cease to have any meaning.
  - pkamb 13y ago
    Will the Xbox be able to power-on your TV?
    - justinsteele 13y ago
      I imagine so, my PS3+Samsung tv does so.
    - potatolicious 13y ago
      This was an advertised feature during the keynote, so yes.
  - emehrkay 13y ago
    I guess you're right about a convergence device. I appreciate, but do not use, the WiiU's tablet as a tv remote.
hospadam 13y ago
I was most interested by their Live TV offering. But does anyone have any details on how they get the TV stream? One of the slides mentioned HDMI In/Out - does that mean it's going the GoogleTV route? I have a logitech revue - and I absolutely hate it.
- vyrotek 13y ago
  Most likely it will have to work with an external subscription. The guy on stage mentioned that he uses Comcast and then did the demo. So I imagine it will work like Google TV and just be a glorified channel changer without any content of its own. I too have the Logitech Revue and it eventually just became a netflix box for my kids. We just switched back to having a dedicated laptop for our TV and never looked back.
itafroma 13y ago
It is definitely telling that it took them 30 minutes into a 60 minute presentation to talk about games, then another 10 to talk about a non-sports game. Yes, they're saying they're going to talk more about games at E3, but a reveal is a "put your best foot forward" type of event, and Microsoft seems to be going for a "games are an afterthought" type of approach. Compared to the PS4's continuation of Sony's "games first" philosophy and Nintendo's "we're sorry core gamers!" philosophy with the Wii U (that's not working out so hot right now, given how lukewarm core game developers are to it), it may be a risk that pans out for Microsoft, but it's a bit unfortunate: gaming—and not just sports gaming—has made gains into mainstream culture over the past decade, and it doesn't seem like it really needed to be brushed aside in order to "win" this generation's console war.
gagege 13y ago
You can have two things on the screen at once. Such innovation.
- Karunamon 13y ago
  For a video game console? Yes. Yes it is. GameFAQ's up right next to the actual game? Control panel where you can control your livestream?
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ochoseis 13y ago
With WiFi direct, I wonder if this'll finally bring Miracast/WiDi mainstream. Maybe the ability to stream audio and video wirelessly is a niche feature, but for me Airplay is the one thing keeping me on Apple's platform.
maskedinvader 13y ago
I think this is fantastic for folks like me who have to juggle between my htpc (which has a cablecard so I can watch live tv on my media center) and my xbox (which I use to play games). Ofcourse il still have my htpc connected and use it frequently for other things (I am not sold on IE on xbox) but atleast it will make switching between watching tv,netflix, hulu and my games very simple. microsoft can take my money now, i want one of these things !
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parm289 13y ago
Most of the comments here focus on Microsoft, Sony, and gamers; I'd like to (indirectly) bring the traditional cable co into the discussion. Last semester several Comcast reps gave my class a presentation which included a summary of their media strategy, a demo of their new cable TV platform/cable box, and a Q&A section. Their new cable box (a small, black, ATV-like 'dumb' set-top box) is progressive: it has a modern UI, connects to the Xfinity cloud platform, and can be updated through software rather than hardware changes. However, one student asked their VP of Media Acquisition a simple question: "Who is your biggest competitor?" His answer shocked us. "Microsoft." At the time (~March), he told us Comcast expected Microsoft to stage a coup to claim "input A," the consumer's primary content interface. Traditionally, consumers would have their cable boxes plugged into input A and their gaming consoles plugged into input B. Microsoft, he said, would attempt to take over input A by including a cable jack in the back of the Xbox and offering live TV alongside streaming/web browsing/apps/games. Looks like he was spot on.
- garindra 13y ago
  Yeah. As soon as I saw CBS (which weirdly, was first presented in the context of the voice-activated command feature), I knew it had a pretty good chance of taking over the "input A".
AlexanderDhoore 13y ago
So no XNA replacement?
- runevault 13y ago
  This isn't the talk where I would expect any mention of developer stuff like XNA. It wasn't even core gamer targeted, with such a heavy focus on sports/Call of Duty. This was meant for a wider audience. E3 is the earliest I would expect them to publicly talk about the developer tools.
  - AlexanderDhoore 13y ago
    Thx for the friendly response!
malkia 13y ago
Years ahead, but still can't make a sandwitch!
Tactic 13y ago
So now I can have a UI with ads overlaid on my TV ads? Fantastic!
marcamillion 13y ago
For me...the first xbox really rocked my world. I dropped in a mod-chip, used XBMC and my eyes for a home-entertainment system that can read digital files were finally opened. I haven't used an optical disc for a movie since. I used the original XboX, then transitioned to 360, then to PS3 - now my PS3 does what all of my previous xboxes did. But....the truth is, with the 360, I was so blown away by how easy it was to connect to all my MSFT networked devices that I would gladly give this new xbox a chance to rock my world again. MSFT has really gotten XboX right. Every. Single. Time. I hope they don't try to lock down this one - where you can't play 'pirated content' and they have some hardware DRM or some bullshit like that. That's the only reason I will wait until others try it out. If it doesn't allow me to watch the content I want to watch - then I won't get it. If I can......I just may. Then again...my current PS3 is already pretty awesome so I may not need to.
orangethirty 13y ago
Wait until Microsoft unveils its first ever XBOX TV.
DonnyV 13y ago
Why does it look like a VCR?
- yoster 13y ago
  Box type consoles have always been iconic.
chimmy 13y ago
how does the voice work with the TV running in the background? If I play today's demo on TV, will it automatically switch to different channels/games.
Tiktaalik 13y ago
Will the Xbox continue to be the "America-box?" A huge amount of this conference focused on services that are irrelevant to those outside the US (even irrelevant to Canadians). This all looks great if you have a stellar cable package and live in the USA where you get ESPN, but what about everyone else?
- estel 13y ago
  Indeed: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-in-us-only-at-launch-requires-separate-device/ http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-i...
- conover 13y ago
  The answer is definitely "no" if they are embarking on a somewhat exclusive partnership with EA. Because EA has FIFA. And FIFA has sold 14.5 million copies mostly outside the US.
drone 13y ago
In our house, we have a 1st-gen ATV, Roku HD (again, older gen), and an XBox 360. We've largely found them redundant in most senses, except for the following: Can't watch Xfinity on the Roku or ATV, can't watch Netflix or unfiltered Youtube on ATV (can't get any VEVO content on the ATV), can't rent Amazon movies (prime is OK on 360) on 360 or ATV, and can't serve music from multiple computers to 360 or Roku. We can flip that around and say that no one device gives us all of the entertainment (and gaming options) that work best for us. I like to play a few games here and there, so there should be some console. I haven't even bothered to bring in the cable box (it actually only got plugged in long enough to authorize us for XFinity) because I've run out of HDMI ports (there's a blue-ray player in there too, because I'm sure as heck not going to pay Hulu for their buggy service just so we can stream the Criterion Movies, when most are on DVD/BD)... I like the concepts that MSFT is showing off here. I haven't reviewed the remote music service from MSFT in a while, but last time it lacked the simplicity of the ATV, especially for multiple libraries. If they've got that improved, the ATV is gone. (Having no other real value to us.) If they'd remove the restriction from paying to rent videos on Amazon, the Roku would be gone too. My partner uses all of these devices for her entertainment, and would happily switch to just an Xbox 1 if it does the job well. I'd be happy to have to maintain fewer devices (each with their own problems, let's not get down that path!). I'm not sure about the source of much of the angst here, but it does sound just about exactly what our household has been looking for.
reidmain 13y ago
Neither Sony or Microsoft have told me why I need to buy one of their next-gen consoles. I own a PS3, Xbox 360 and a gaming PC. The 360 came first and combined with Xbox Live it became my default gaming device. Probably 60% of my games are for my Xbox 360. After a few years with my 360 I bought a PS3 because there were some exclusive games I wanted to play. In 2010 Battlefield 3 came out and I built a gaming PC for it because in my opinion the Battlefield series excels when played with a keyboard, mouse and servers that can accommodate large scale battles. A strange side affect of building that gaming PC was that I started buying games for my PC instead of my consoles because the games looked and played better on my PC then my consoles. This next console generation is going to be the most homogenous yet. Developers will be able to make a game that works on PC, Xbox One and PS4 so easily that brand loyalty will mean a lot less. Unless Microsoft actually releases some TV features that actually work outside of the United States I don't know if I'll be buying one of these new consoles. I'll probably continue buying games for my PC until a platform exclusive game (which are becoming increasingly rare) comes out.
- zokier 13y ago
  > Developers will be able to make a game that works on PC, Xbox One and PS4 so easily that brand loyalty will mean a lot less. Developer effort hasn't been the limiting factor in the current gen either. Exclusivity is all about politics/marketing. And I don't see any signs of that changing. So the reason to buy a next-gen gaming console would be the same as for the previous: games.
- jfb 13y ago
  I would buy two PS4 if they actually announced a real shipping date for The Last Guardian. As it stands, my PS3 will be the last console I buy.
- __david__ 13y ago
  I've built a gaming PC before. What I underestimated was how nice it was to have my console in my living room. Having to get up and go into another room to play games meant that games never got played. And then the PC started getting flaky and then it was old and new games didn't look good any more. This happened very quickly. My consoles always work (no red ring on my 306 yet, knock on wood) and the new games always play great. I'm almost definitely getting one of the Microsoft or Sony next-gen consoles. I would definitely consider a steambox as well, as I love the idea of a living room game PC... Though I'm not sure how I'm supposed to manage the wireless keyboard and mouse while sitting on my couch.
yoster 13y ago
The thing about Xbox 360 not having Blu-ray just made streaming/renting/buying a lot better. Why go to a store when you can just turn the Xbox on and do the same thing. I do want to say that it is a great option for the people who buy Blu-ray discs, but I like the convenience of not being attached to huge, physical disc libraries.
jonas_maj 13y ago
Was a brilliant presentation IMO. Maybe Sony's extremely disappointing PS4 event set the bar too low, but anyway this Xbox One announcement gave me goosebumps. The possibilities are endless. Let's see what they have saved for E3.
ehmuidifici 13y ago
Xbox one is more a media center than a vg console itself. Sadly we're witnessing the second vg crash. No more hardcore gamers, no more preowned games... It seems that if we want to have a REAL GAMING EXPERIENCE, (this includes fun, creativity, good stories, simple controls) we will need to go back to the past. Fortunately, 'retrogaming scene' will gather more adepts. =)
- jiggy2011 13y ago
  Eh, there are just more gamers now than there were before so there's a lot of money to be made by targeting the huge mainstream audience. If you want more interesting games there's no shortage of stuff from indie developers or even AAA devs who are not EA and co. Including almost ridiculous numbers of "new retro" games. That market hasn't shrunk (if anything it's larger) it's just now a smaller proportional piece of an overall larger pie. Plus if you wait for Steam sales you can get games so cheap (often 50%+ off) that you don't really need preowned games.
threeseed 13y ago
Surprised no one is talking about Skype. This is a killer app and a genius acquisition by Microsoft. Having so many young, tech users using Skype is going to have a massive flow on effect to other users in particular older ones.
gdsimoes 13y ago
After seeing the presentations for the WiiU, the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One I think we really another gaming company. Apple or perhaps even a startup.
- squidsoup 13y ago
  Well, there's Valve who are supposedly developing their 'Steambox'. Hopefully they'll reveal more about that soon given the Sony and MS announcements.
adventured 13y ago
This thing is seriously ugly. Makes me think of the first XBox.
6ren 13y ago
> 1080p camera... 60 FPS. Field of view increased by 60%.... > motion tracking... detect skin pigmentation changes related to heart rate In soviet russia, home entertainment system watches YOU! Seriously, imagine being able to measure consumers' emotional reaction to your advertisements... if you were worried about information being gathered about you, with google adwords targeting you by search, or facebook data-mining your social network, you ain't seen nothing yet.
sergiotapia 13y ago
As a gamer living in Bolivia, 90% of the features peddled as REVOLUTIONARY will weigh in at ZERO for me. I'll be getting a PS4. I read that you can't even play used games on the XBox One.
tenpoundhammer 13y ago
I know the voice features have been available in the Xbox already, but I am really excited about them in the new Xbox. I expect them to be light years beyond on what they are now and key piece of the devices functionality. If it works really well it could open a whole new way of interacting with computers. It could also open the door to voice activated home automation, by training the masses to use voice controlled devices.
nthitz 13y ago
Shame so many anti MS people on HN that this gets flagged off the front page so quick :/

137 points by irunbackwards 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

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The other discussion is here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5744967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5744967 It was up at #3 then went to the second page,strange.

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psbp 13y ago

I guess people still care about t.v.

shiftpgdn 13y ago
Out of touch MBAs maybe.
danieldk 13y ago
There's a world outside the US. E.g. in most of Europe there are virtually no Netflix or Hulu-like services. Nearly everyone uses a Cable or DVB-T service. A bit painful, considering that my ISP just announced to upgrade my connection from 120/10 MBit/s to 150/15. The bandwidth is there, but I guess it's hard to make licensing arrangements.
- potatolicious 13y ago
  Even in the US, even in areas with good enough broadband to stream all your content, people still care about broadcast television because of sports. MS's focus here with ESPN and the NFL is bang-on.
  - moheeb 13y ago
    "MS's focus here with ESPN and the NFL is bang-on." I disagree. They managed to partner with the NFL but yet not show any games. Most of the games for my favorite team I still can't watch. Seems really lame to me.
FreeBird 13y ago
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...
- psbp 13y ago
  This was good satire in 2000. 13 years later, not owning a t.v. is not the same as being unable to watch traditionally broadcasted shows.
  - RobAtticus 13y ago
    The main point was more about how somebody who doesn't watch TV will always let you know that they don't. Not really the reasons why. I think in that case, the satire is still relevant. Plenty of people on reddit/HN/the Internet almost bragging about how they don't use a traditional TV setup. Basically like the old joke "How can you tell if someone is an atheist? Don't worry, he'll tell you."
    - psbp 13y ago
      Maybe you hear that so often because it's a trend, so the idea of it being the focus of your media center box for the next decade might be a little antiquated.
      - RobAtticus 13y ago
        Or it's a vocal minority of people who don't miss opportunities to talk about it. I don't care either way, especially since the article was posted as a little joke.

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simonsarris 13y ago

Most people I know who own a PS3 consider it essentially a blu-ray player. Most people I know who own an Xbox consider it essentially a Netflix player. These people bought games, but they don't really play them. I've got naught but my anecdata, but I think attempting to bill this new console as an entertainment system that happens to also play some great games is a very, very good idea.

minimaxir 13y ago
Since the Xbox One has Blu-Ray, it'll be the best of both worlds! :)
- Scriptor 13y ago
  PS3 has had Netflix for a long time as well.
  - ebbv 13y ago
    And without requiring paying $50/year as well.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      You have to pay for Live if you are just using your ISP to hit netflix?
      - ebbv 13y ago
        Yep. Awesome, eh? I own a 360 but I don't use it anymore.
        imissmyjuno 13y ago
        Is this true for Xbox One as well?
        13y ago

geuis 13y ago

I'd like to be impressed, but it's really hard. I have friends that work at Microsoft and have worked on various bits of this platform. I know personally the incredible amount of hard work that gets put into this product. This presentation just feels... empty. It's largely middle-aged men (and a woman who worked at tv companies) dryly reciting a badly written script with significant intentional pauses intended for applause after non-funny jokes. The opening demo was kind of interesting. It's hard to tell if the tv/kinnect interactivity was staged or not, but it seems real enough to be impressive. More of this please. Followed by a guy that no one knows or cares about, speaking at length the hardware, about how revolutionary the new product is. He doesn't actully say anything much about how the new system is built beyond "5 billion transistors and 8gb of RAM!", while briefly flashing some tech specs floating next to an amorphous blob of 3d Xbox parts. Then we get to see a non-MS exec from EA introduce a 2 minute interview with some sports guys.... SHOW THE DAMNED GAME!! Look, when you're showing off your product SHOW IT OFF. Don't put your fatty bag of mostly water in between the product and the people trying to learn about it. Then the stream died for me after the CBS/Time Warner lady started talking. I caught the end where guy #1 is talking about Stephen Spielberg and Halo, the it died again. For the HN audience, there's a ton of lessons to take from today. Talk about the product, don't get in the way, and make sure your tech supporting the launch works and is stable. Everything else will take care of itself.

criley 13y ago
Everything was stable, I streamed the entire event from Verge pre-show to the end screen without a single hiccup or drop. I also had far less criticism than you did for the presentation, I found it similar to what Sony and Nintendo do on stage and definitely par the course for a console release. I mean, think about it: Sony hasn't even shown off it's hardware yet, and they announced months ago. Now Sony is telling us they'll actually, you know, SHOW US the console in a few more weeks. What gives? At least Microsoft put the product there, front of stage, and (presumably) ran a few demos on it.
- geuis 13y ago
  Yeah I can't criticize too much on streaming, other than that it worked fine until half way through and then wouldn't reconnect after that. There's a lot of factors that can affect that. Considering it happened from both my phone over LTE and laptop via wifi at home, 2 data points can triangulate in a certain direction. Your bar is too low. Expect more from product releases. Was this launch better than the PS4 launch? Absolutely. Was it great, not at all. I will never introduce a product that doesn't do what its being sold to do until I can stand in front of 100 people and show it working.

namityadav 13y ago

Is the underlying OS Windows 8? I think Microsoft can give its Windows 8 apps platform a big boost by giving them presence in the next Xbox. EDIT: Looks like they use Windows 8, but the Windows 8 apps will need to be modified to work on Xbox. From Engadget: In terms of whether apps will be cross-compatible between the regular Windows Store and the storefront accessed by the new console, we're told they won't. Developers will have to do a bit of work to make a Windows app suitable for the Xbox, not least in terms of tuning their UI for Kinect or the wireless controller. But Microsoft's engineers told us that the underlying similarity between Windows 8/RT and Windows for the Xbox should make this a pretty easy feat for coders. [ Ref: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-runs-three-operating-systems/ http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-runs-three-opera... ]

minimaxir 13y ago
The underlying OS is three different OSes, apparently. One of those is likely based on Win8 (Metro Snap and Metro IE was present).

georgemcbay 13y ago

As someone actually interested in playing games (and I know that may make me a minority here), this was the best commercial there will likely ever be for the Sony PlayStation 4.

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chc 13y ago
Personally, as a gamer, the native replay system is the most exciting thing I've seen out of this generation. So many times I've been playing a game with my brother over Xbox Live and something awesome happens, and afterwards we're kind of like, "Man, I wish this game had a record button like Halo so we could watch that over and over again." And now they all will.
- nicholassmith 13y ago
  IIRC the PS4 was announced with a similar feature.
- commandar 13y ago
  The feature Sony announced for the PS4 is actually more powerful than that - it not only records, but also allows live screen streaming and sharing gaming sessions with friends remotely. One of the use cases they suggested was being able to have a friend take over and help you out if you were having a particularly hard time with a section of a game.
  - chc 13y ago
    Ah, the PS4 presentation didn't really make that clear enough for my thick skull. Thanks for the clarification.
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cgh 13y ago
Yes, before I saw your comment, I was going to post something similar. I am also one of those weirdos who just wants a really powerful and reliable gaming console. No muss, no fuss, no "social", no voice-activated doo-dads, just really good games and not much else.

emehrkay 13y ago

So this is a Windows-lite PC, cable box, Xbox video game system? It has hdmi in right? I'm officially old because I do not find this interesting at all. My son will want it, so we will have it, but as a person who buys a lot of tech, I am not seeing the appeal. I think it is the all-in-one, do-everything approach it Microsoft is taking with this that disinterests me. Why does every company want to be your everything now a days?

potatolicious 13y ago
Normally I'm against do-everything devices, but IMO this is a stroke of genius. Everything about operating a TV today is pure pain. The centerpiece here is an obtuse, 100-button remote that no one fully knows how to use. You use this remote to get at the "mode switcher", which changes you from TV watching mode, to bluray watching mode, to gaming mode, to whatever else you do with your TV. It's painful, not to mention a lot of people have receivers to handle the audio portion of this. It's like a really, really bad KVM. The only way to eliminate that pain was to take over all of the above responsibilities, and MS just did that. With any luck this means you will basically never have to touch your TV's god-awful remote ever again, and the terms "Video 1", "Video 2", and "TV" will cease to have any meaning.
- pkamb 13y ago
  Will the Xbox be able to power-on your TV?
  - justinsteele 13y ago
    I imagine so, my PS3+Samsung tv does so.
  - potatolicious 13y ago
    This was an advertised feature during the keynote, so yes.
- emehrkay 13y ago
  I guess you're right about a convergence device. I appreciate, but do not use, the WiiU's tablet as a tv remote.

hospadam 13y ago

I was most interested by their Live TV offering. But does anyone have any details on how they get the TV stream? One of the slides mentioned HDMI In/Out - does that mean it's going the GoogleTV route? I have a logitech revue - and I absolutely hate it.

vyrotek 13y ago
Most likely it will have to work with an external subscription. The guy on stage mentioned that he uses Comcast and then did the demo. So I imagine it will work like Google TV and just be a glorified channel changer without any content of its own. I too have the Logitech Revue and it eventually just became a netflix box for my kids. We just switched back to having a dedicated laptop for our TV and never looked back.

itafroma 13y ago

It is definitely telling that it took them 30 minutes into a 60 minute presentation to talk about games, then another 10 to talk about a non-sports game. Yes, they're saying they're going to talk more about games at E3, but a reveal is a "put your best foot forward" type of event, and Microsoft seems to be going for a "games are an afterthought" type of approach. Compared to the PS4's continuation of Sony's "games first" philosophy and Nintendo's "we're sorry core gamers!" philosophy with the Wii U (that's not working out so hot right now, given how lukewarm core game developers are to it), it may be a risk that pans out for Microsoft, but it's a bit unfortunate: gaming—and not just sports gaming—has made gains into mainstream culture over the past decade, and it doesn't seem like it really needed to be brushed aside in order to "win" this generation's console war.

gagege 13y ago

You can have two things on the screen at once. Such innovation.

Karunamon 13y ago
For a video game console? Yes. Yes it is. GameFAQ's up right next to the actual game? Control panel where you can control your livestream?

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ochoseis 13y ago

With WiFi direct, I wonder if this'll finally bring Miracast/WiDi mainstream. Maybe the ability to stream audio and video wirelessly is a niche feature, but for me Airplay is the one thing keeping me on Apple's platform.

maskedinvader 13y ago

I think this is fantastic for folks like me who have to juggle between my htpc (which has a cablecard so I can watch live tv on my media center) and my xbox (which I use to play games). Ofcourse il still have my htpc connected and use it frequently for other things (I am not sold on IE on xbox) but atleast it will make switching between watching tv,netflix, hulu and my games very simple. microsoft can take my money now, i want one of these things !

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parm289 13y ago

Most of the comments here focus on Microsoft, Sony, and gamers; I'd like to (indirectly) bring the traditional cable co into the discussion. Last semester several Comcast reps gave my class a presentation which included a summary of their media strategy, a demo of their new cable TV platform/cable box, and a Q&A section. Their new cable box (a small, black, ATV-like 'dumb' set-top box) is progressive: it has a modern UI, connects to the Xfinity cloud platform, and can be updated through software rather than hardware changes. However, one student asked their VP of Media Acquisition a simple question: "Who is your biggest competitor?" His answer shocked us. "Microsoft." At the time (~March), he told us Comcast expected Microsoft to stage a coup to claim "input A," the consumer's primary content interface. Traditionally, consumers would have their cable boxes plugged into input A and their gaming consoles plugged into input B. Microsoft, he said, would attempt to take over input A by including a cable jack in the back of the Xbox and offering live TV alongside streaming/web browsing/apps/games. Looks like he was spot on.

garindra 13y ago
Yeah. As soon as I saw CBS (which weirdly, was first presented in the context of the voice-activated command feature), I knew it had a pretty good chance of taking over the "input A".

AlexanderDhoore 13y ago

So no XNA replacement?

runevault 13y ago
This isn't the talk where I would expect any mention of developer stuff like XNA. It wasn't even core gamer targeted, with such a heavy focus on sports/Call of Duty. This was meant for a wider audience. E3 is the earliest I would expect them to publicly talk about the developer tools.
- AlexanderDhoore 13y ago
  Thx for the friendly response!

malkia 13y ago

Years ahead, but still can't make a sandwitch!

Tactic 13y ago

So now I can have a UI with ads overlaid on my TV ads? Fantastic!

marcamillion 13y ago

For me...the first xbox really rocked my world. I dropped in a mod-chip, used XBMC and my eyes for a home-entertainment system that can read digital files were finally opened. I haven't used an optical disc for a movie since. I used the original XboX, then transitioned to 360, then to PS3 - now my PS3 does what all of my previous xboxes did. But....the truth is, with the 360, I was so blown away by how easy it was to connect to all my MSFT networked devices that I would gladly give this new xbox a chance to rock my world again. MSFT has really gotten XboX right. Every. Single. Time. I hope they don't try to lock down this one - where you can't play 'pirated content' and they have some hardware DRM or some bullshit like that. That's the only reason I will wait until others try it out. If it doesn't allow me to watch the content I want to watch - then I won't get it. If I can......I just may. Then again...my current PS3 is already pretty awesome so I may not need to.

orangethirty 13y ago

Wait until Microsoft unveils its first ever XBOX TV.

DonnyV 13y ago

Why does it look like a VCR?

yoster 13y ago
Box type consoles have always been iconic.

chimmy 13y ago

how does the voice work with the TV running in the background? If I play today's demo on TV, will it automatically switch to different channels/games.

Tiktaalik 13y ago

Will the Xbox continue to be the "America-box?" A huge amount of this conference focused on services that are irrelevant to those outside the US (even irrelevant to Canadians). This all looks great if you have a stellar cable package and live in the USA where you get ESPN, but what about everyone else?

estel 13y ago
Indeed: http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-in-us-only-at-launch-requires-separate-device/ http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-live-tv-available-i...
conover 13y ago
The answer is definitely "no" if they are embarking on a somewhat exclusive partnership with EA. Because EA has FIFA. And FIFA has sold 14.5 million copies mostly outside the US.

drone 13y ago

In our house, we have a 1st-gen ATV, Roku HD (again, older gen), and an XBox 360. We've largely found them redundant in most senses, except for the following: Can't watch Xfinity on the Roku or ATV, can't watch Netflix or unfiltered Youtube on ATV (can't get any VEVO content on the ATV), can't rent Amazon movies (prime is OK on 360) on 360 or ATV, and can't serve music from multiple computers to 360 or Roku. We can flip that around and say that no one device gives us all of the entertainment (and gaming options) that work best for us. I like to play a few games here and there, so there should be some console. I haven't even bothered to bring in the cable box (it actually only got plugged in long enough to authorize us for XFinity) because I've run out of HDMI ports (there's a blue-ray player in there too, because I'm sure as heck not going to pay Hulu for their buggy service just so we can stream the Criterion Movies, when most are on DVD/BD)... I like the concepts that MSFT is showing off here. I haven't reviewed the remote music service from MSFT in a while, but last time it lacked the simplicity of the ATV, especially for multiple libraries. If they've got that improved, the ATV is gone. (Having no other real value to us.) If they'd remove the restriction from paying to rent videos on Amazon, the Roku would be gone too. My partner uses all of these devices for her entertainment, and would happily switch to just an Xbox 1 if it does the job well. I'd be happy to have to maintain fewer devices (each with their own problems, let's not get down that path!). I'm not sure about the source of much of the angst here, but it does sound just about exactly what our household has been looking for.

reidmain 13y ago

Neither Sony or Microsoft have told me why I need to buy one of their next-gen consoles. I own a PS3, Xbox 360 and a gaming PC. The 360 came first and combined with Xbox Live it became my default gaming device. Probably 60% of my games are for my Xbox 360. After a few years with my 360 I bought a PS3 because there were some exclusive games I wanted to play. In 2010 Battlefield 3 came out and I built a gaming PC for it because in my opinion the Battlefield series excels when played with a keyboard, mouse and servers that can accommodate large scale battles. A strange side affect of building that gaming PC was that I started buying games for my PC instead of my consoles because the games looked and played better on my PC then my consoles. This next console generation is going to be the most homogenous yet. Developers will be able to make a game that works on PC, Xbox One and PS4 so easily that brand loyalty will mean a lot less. Unless Microsoft actually releases some TV features that actually work outside of the United States I don't know if I'll be buying one of these new consoles. I'll probably continue buying games for my PC until a platform exclusive game (which are becoming increasingly rare) comes out.

zokier 13y ago
> Developers will be able to make a game that works on PC, Xbox One and PS4 so easily that brand loyalty will mean a lot less. Developer effort hasn't been the limiting factor in the current gen either. Exclusivity is all about politics/marketing. And I don't see any signs of that changing. So the reason to buy a next-gen gaming console would be the same as for the previous: games.
jfb 13y ago
I would buy two PS4 if they actually announced a real shipping date for The Last Guardian. As it stands, my PS3 will be the last console I buy.
__david__ 13y ago
I've built a gaming PC before. What I underestimated was how nice it was to have my console in my living room. Having to get up and go into another room to play games meant that games never got played. And then the PC started getting flaky and then it was old and new games didn't look good any more. This happened very quickly. My consoles always work (no red ring on my 306 yet, knock on wood) and the new games always play great. I'm almost definitely getting one of the Microsoft or Sony next-gen consoles. I would definitely consider a steambox as well, as I love the idea of a living room game PC... Though I'm not sure how I'm supposed to manage the wireless keyboard and mouse while sitting on my couch.

yoster 13y ago

The thing about Xbox 360 not having Blu-ray just made streaming/renting/buying a lot better. Why go to a store when you can just turn the Xbox on and do the same thing. I do want to say that it is a great option for the people who buy Blu-ray discs, but I like the convenience of not being attached to huge, physical disc libraries.

jonas_maj 13y ago

Was a brilliant presentation IMO. Maybe Sony's extremely disappointing PS4 event set the bar too low, but anyway this Xbox One announcement gave me goosebumps. The possibilities are endless. Let's see what they have saved for E3.

ehmuidifici 13y ago

Xbox one is more a media center than a vg console itself. Sadly we're witnessing the second vg crash. No more hardcore gamers, no more preowned games... It seems that if we want to have a REAL GAMING EXPERIENCE, (this includes fun, creativity, good stories, simple controls) we will need to go back to the past. Fortunately, 'retrogaming scene' will gather more adepts. =)

jiggy2011 13y ago
Eh, there are just more gamers now than there were before so there's a lot of money to be made by targeting the huge mainstream audience. If you want more interesting games there's no shortage of stuff from indie developers or even AAA devs who are not EA and co. Including almost ridiculous numbers of "new retro" games. That market hasn't shrunk (if anything it's larger) it's just now a smaller proportional piece of an overall larger pie. Plus if you wait for Steam sales you can get games so cheap (often 50%+ off) that you don't really need preowned games.

threeseed 13y ago

Surprised no one is talking about Skype. This is a killer app and a genius acquisition by Microsoft. Having so many young, tech users using Skype is going to have a massive flow on effect to other users in particular older ones.

gdsimoes 13y ago

After seeing the presentations for the WiiU, the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One I think we really another gaming company. Apple or perhaps even a startup.

squidsoup 13y ago
Well, there's Valve who are supposedly developing their 'Steambox'. Hopefully they'll reveal more about that soon given the Sony and MS announcements.

adventured 13y ago

This thing is seriously ugly. Makes me think of the first XBox.

6ren 13y ago

> 1080p camera... 60 FPS. Field of view increased by 60%.... > motion tracking... detect skin pigmentation changes related to heart rate In soviet russia, home entertainment system watches YOU! Seriously, imagine being able to measure consumers' emotional reaction to your advertisements... if you were worried about information being gathered about you, with google adwords targeting you by search, or facebook data-mining your social network, you ain't seen nothing yet.

sergiotapia 13y ago

As a gamer living in Bolivia, 90% of the features peddled as REVOLUTIONARY will weigh in at ZERO for me. I'll be getting a PS4. I read that you can't even play used games on the XBox One.

tenpoundhammer 13y ago

I know the voice features have been available in the Xbox already, but I am really excited about them in the new Xbox. I expect them to be light years beyond on what they are now and key piece of the devices functionality. If it works really well it could open a whole new way of interacting with computers. It could also open the door to voice activated home automation, by training the masses to use voice controlled devices.

nthitz 13y ago

Shame so many anti MS people on HN that this gets flagged off the front page so quick :/