Xbox One - General Discussion Thread

sadly i can't do that stuff and most kinect games seeing i have had couple major surgery on my left knee and can't do alot of things kinect games require.

 
Will that be that noticeable to the more casual though? I mean usually unless I'm looking side by side HD is HD to me. Obviously if it chugs or has noticeable jaggies that's different but the higher resolution usually isn't significant enough.

 
avt-large.jpg


Mark Serrels
kinect
Wednesday 12:30am


 



Why I'm A Little Bit Worried About Kinect
ku-bigpic.jpg


I am a little bit worried about Kinect.

I’ve just spent 10 minutes being scanned into Kinect Sports Rivals. I’m not sure if it’s working correctly. The only feedback I am being given is from a Microsoft rep to my right. He’s politely giving me instructions when the Kinect (for some reason) stops the scan.

“Take a step forward.”

“Take a step back.”

“Maybe just tilt your head a little bit left.”

After this laborious effort (which I’m assured will be streamlined before launch) Kinect Sports Rivals goes through the process of translating the information into a virtual representation of me. As it does its calculations I ask myself, ‘if this is difficult with a Microsoft representative guiding me step by step, how difficult will it be for a ten year old in the comfort of his or her own home, or parents who’ve never used a console before?’1

Then my avatar pops up. It looks vaguely like me. Vaguely. That’s being generous. The 3DS did a similar job of creating my Mii with a single low-resolution photograph. Was it really worth all that effort?

Now to play Kinect Sports Rivals itself. The rep sets up a two player game. Rock climbing. As someone obsessed with rock climbing (I climb three times a week) I’m super excited. I stand side by side with the Microsoft rep. Immediately I notice there is something wrong. My avatar’s limbs are contorted like some screwed up Lovecraftian marionette, my arms twitch incessantly, clearly not responding to any of my movements.2

I think we have a problem here.


Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time with the Xbox One’s new Kinect, and it seemed like a significant chunk of that time was spent trying to get things to work when (two months from the launch of Xbox One) they should simply work.3

We were supposed to be forgiving, and we were. After two player Rock Climbing on Kinect Sports Rivals clearly wasn’t working, I was happy to simply try out the single player, despite Microsoft making a big fuss of the fact Kinect allows multiple players on-screen simultaneously. Single player climbing worked more fluidly but, regardless, I never really felt like I was in control of my actions. My movements weren’t being replicated accurately. I felt as though I was fumbling my way to the top with no real in-game feedback; no real sense that Kinect was working as advertised.4

‘The lag has been reduced massively’: that’s what we’re constantly being told in conferences, in communications with Microsoft, in interviews, in previews. I have no doubt there are figures to back those statements up, but the disconnect between my movements in real life as replicated on screen is obvious. I feel it, instantly, and it makes playing any game with Kinect a frustrating experience. The next game I play is Wakeboarding, it feels a little better than climbing, but it’s nowhere near responsive enough. The delay is obvious to anyone who plays it, to the point where I can’t imagine anyone investing in it to any great extent.56

I find myself asking another question: three years after the release of Kinect, how many video games have really worked well with Kinect? I come up with two names. Two. Dance Central and Child of Eden. In three years. Is it possible that Kinect just isn’t suited for video games?78910


I’m worried about Kinect. Mere months from launch it feels imprecise, temperamental and clumsy. On more than one occasion its voice recognition, being demonstrated by a Microsoft rep from the US with an American accent, needed three or four repeats of ‘Xbox Home’ to do what a single button press could have done in half a second. If Microsoft reps who have been briefed and have lived with the Xbox One for months are struggling to make everything work seamlessly, what chance does the average punter have?11

And make no mistake, a device like Kinect — the device Microsoft is hellbent on shoehorning into our living space — must be seamless if the Xbox One is to capture the mainstream audience Microsoft is lusting after. In short: I have very little confidence in Kinect’s ability to respond quickly, efficiently or consistently and that’s an issue.12

But the major issue is this: if you want to purchase an Xbox One, Kinect is being forced upon you. You are paying extra for a device that, two months from launch, feels like a rough, unfinished product. You don’t have a choice and that’s problematic.

When Kinect was first announced — as Project Natal — it felt monumental, as if Microsoft had captured some sort of rare lightning. Don Mattrick looked and talked like a strange time traveller, with a device he had somehow stolen from a distant, brilliant future. Our minds were alive with possibility. Since that day those possibilities have faded and declined, yet Microsoft still seems driven by that squandered potential — by the future that Project Natal promised but couldn’t deliver upon. Stop trying to make fetch happen, it isn’t going to happen.1314

I want to be positive about Kinect, but it’s difficult. Some aspects work well: facial recognition, although slow, is a great idea. I love that it recognises who is holding which controller and responds accordingly. This is a useful, future facing feature and it’s the result of great innovative thinking. Easier than passing switch controllers? Maybe not, but it has benefits, particularly in tandem with Xbox One’s customisable homepage. Watching the console adjust preferences on the fly based on who was holding which controller was quite breathtaking. ‘This is what Kinect should be used for,’ I thought.1516

But that was the 10%. During the remaining 90%, Kinect felt like it was a hindrance, forcing users to swim against the giant leaps Microsoft made with Xbox One’s user friendly UI, which looks fantastic. Sure, I can turn Kinect off — that’s my choice. But I still have to pay for it. I don’t have a choice there.17

So, yes. I think there are issues there — not with the Xbox One, with Kinect specifically. Forza Motorsport looks incredible, Ryse seems to have made strides in the combat department and I walked away genuinely blown away by the scale and ambition of Dead Rising 3.

But Kinect? I’m a little bit worried about Kinect.18

 
Erad30 said:
Will that be that noticeable to the more casual though? I mean usually unless I'm looking side by side HD is HD to me. Obviously if it chugs or has noticeable jaggies that's different but the higher resolution usually isn't significant enough.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't see that being a big deal to anything but the hardcore videophiles/graphics whores. Developers have been saying for months that the PS4 is a bit more powerful and will have better graphics technically, but not huge major differences.

PS4 games will get slightly better frame rates and resolutions, but most people will never notice or care as they'll just boot up the game on their X1 and think it looks amazing. As it does as these resolution differences aren't noticeable at the viewing distance most people have in their homes anyway. The average joe isn't sitting close to a 55"+ TV. They're in a couch on the otherside of a room from a TV that size or smaller in many cases.

The Kinect thing is more worrisome since it was supposed to be improved. But it could have just been issue with the current build or how it was set up in that instance. I imagine most core gamers won't use it for anything but the voice commands anyway, so really only an issue for people wanting to play the fitness games etc. And even then Kinect 1 was fine as long as you had enough space in front of the TV and I can't imagine Kinect 2 won't be at least a little better once it's final.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Monsta Mack said:
If that's true then the PS4 version is superior. Ouch.

So much for multiplatform parity which I fully expected at launch.
Click to expand...
Update

UPDATE: The original article by Game*Spark was updated with the following:

After the review of the product, during a Q&A session with the personnel at the DICE booth, we learned that the developer aims to have the same frame rate and resolution for the Xbox One and PS4 retail versions. We modified the contents of the article to match. Final specifications are unknown until officially published by EA DICE.

As stated at the bottom of the article, it's always better to take what reps say with a grain of salt. Future Xbox One users, there's still hope.
Click to expand...
 
parkerwilson said:
I am getting two xbox ones, is it going to work the same way on downloaded games, linked to first console and username on all other consoles?
Click to expand...
yeah, the licenses work the same way. Also if you didn't know, Xbox Live Gold is tied to the console as well. So if you have Gold, anyone else on that console can use Gold...and if you login to your other xbox, anyone on that box also gets Gold while you're logged in.

 
How large is the Xbox One’s Day One update? How long will it take to install?
MARC WHITTEN, XBOX ONE CHIEF PLATFORM ARCHITECT: We are optimizing Xbox One so that the day one update is as fast as possible. While we’re still finalizing the details, we expect that the download will take between 15 and 20 minutes for most users.

Do you guys plan to update the dashboard once or sometimes twice a year as you currently do with the Xbox 360?
WHITTEN: Yes. Like we have done with Xbox 360, we will continue to learn from what customers want and love to iterate on the best dashboard experience.

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/05/ask-microsoft-anything-about-xbox-one
Click to expand...
Some new info for you guys relating to the Day 1 update.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Considering we haven't even seen this demoed I'm seriously doubting how well this works:

Xbox One Kinect can understand two voices at once

by Ozzie Mejia, Oct 01, 2013 10:10pm PDT

Related Topics – Microsoft, Kinect, Xbox One
Xbox One includes an upgraded Kinect sensor that can not only recognize your face, but your voice as well. In fact, the new Kinect will be able to understand even when two people are speaking simultaneously. "We are focused on ensuring that we have great voice support which includes understanding which person is speaking in the room," Microsoft's Marc Whitten explained.

It seems likely that voice recognition is being paired with video information from the camera, as Polygon points out that Kinect can identify when people's mouths are moving--even when in a dark room.

Of course, what do you do if your friend is trying to grief you? Well, those audio commands will require a further confirmation, as in the case of "Xbox Off," Whitten explained.

If you don't want to deal with Kinect at all, however, Microsoft does remind gamers that it can be turned off. "You have the ability to completely turn the sensor off in your settings. When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information," Whitten told IGN. However, you have the option of having Kinect turn on automatically by playing a Kinect-required game. "If you enter into a required Kinect experience (like Kinect Sports Rivals for instance), you'll get a message asking if you want to turn the sensor back on in order to continue." This is perhaps the best option for gamers that don't want Kinect to be on--but want to still play games with it.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I still wish the sensor wasn't included. I'm paying $100 for something I won't use. It'll just sit there staring at me for years to come. It's like phones/tv's these days where you can control things with your hand gestures or through speech or with your eyes. They're gimmicks. I'd be willing to bet most people don't use those features. I'm willing to bet a lot of people won't use the kinect sensor at all. I understand MS wanting to put it in the box, but I think they are really fighting a useless fight. This is not like the HDD disaster with the Xbox 360. They are probably costing themselves a large customer base as well because of the cost of the kinect sensor. Average joe citizen isn't going to give two sh*ts about the kinect if they can play Call of Duty $100 cheaper on the ps4. That's what MS is failing to see here. I swear they have a blind ignorance towards the Xbox 1 in the same way Apple does when they release a new product and call it magic. I'm sure the kinect 2 is really cool MS, unfortunately most of us really don't care. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
NinjaPenguin777 said:
I still wish the sensor wasn't included. I'm paying $100 for something I won't use. It'll just sit there staring at me for years to come. It's like phones/tv's these days where you can control things with your hand gestures or through speech or with your eyes. They're gimmicks. I'd be willing to bet most people don't use those features. I'm willing to bet a lot of people won't use the kinect sensor at all. I understand MS wanting to put it in the box, but I think they are really fighting a useless fight. This is not like the HDD disaster with the Xbox 360. They are probably costing themselves a large customer base as well because of the cost of the kinect sensor. Average joe citizen isn't going to give two sh*ts about the kinect if they can play Call of Duty $100 cheaper on the ps4. That's what MS is failing to see here. I swear they have a blind ignorance towards the Xbox 1 in the same way Apple does when they release a new product and call it magic. I'm sure the kinect 2 is really cool MS, unfortunately most of us really don't care.
Click to expand...
This is one of the main reasons why I'm skipping the XB1 for now, despite the fact that the 360 was my favorite console of this generation. I really couldn't care less about the Kinect gimmick, and having it forced on every XB1 buyer is ridiculous. The other major reasons for skipping XB1 are weaker hardware specs and the always-online DRM scam they tried to dupe people into. I will miss using that new controller, but not enough to bother picking one up.

 
That's one thing I really don't get about the marketing, yes you will probably get a large number of people who are already in the Xbox ecosystem because it's what their friends are buying and what they are used to, etc. But the whole point of a new product is to GROW the brand. If this sells the same or even less then the 360, it'll probably be considered a flop and as I've already pointed out, that would give the anti-xbox people inside Microsoft the ammo they need to just kill the thing. We probably wouldn't see the repercussions til the next round, but if this doesn't for gangbusters there may not be an Xbox 2 or whatever they would call it. Of course in several years there may also be a huge executive shakeup and you'll have people in charge who love the Xbox. Who knows.

 
I doubt the X1 or PS4 will flop like the Wii U. The preorders show that people are going to buy these systems regardless. If the ps4/x1 sell as well as the 360 has then there is no way the X1 would be considered a flop. 

 
I doubt it'll flop as badly as the Wii U either, but what if "only" sells 60 million? That would probably make plenty of money but at the same time seen as a flop. It's already in the "makes money but not enough" category for many at MS, it might have to basically be an unqualified mega success for them to not spring on the opportunity to drop it like a bad habit. Again, it makes money but compared to the money the software & services of MS makes, it's very small potatoes.

 
This gen will last 8 or so years who knows what the video game industry will be like by then. By then it will be a all digital world and ms sees that being the big money maker they are going no where. If anything I could see Nintendo out of home system market and either be 3rd party software maker or just handheld world. Ps4,is I think the make it or break it for Sony also but I see them sticking after this gen.
 
TimboSliceGB said:
Microsoft is still floating thanks to 360 sales seeing their computer software side is not healthy right now
Click to expand...
That is so ludicrous it's not even funny. The Xbox division is literally one of their lowest margin divisions(source). They make WAY more off services and software. People may hate windows but it's on over 90% of computers. The big hardware pushers are Ballmer & Gates. Ballmer is on the way out, Gates has stepped away from day to day stuff and there are calls for him to step down as well.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just because they are supporting it doesnt mean that there are people with power higher up that don't want to put the money into it.

Also, do you honestly think that Xbox ix what is keeping Microsoft afloat?

 
Deader2818 said:
Just because they are supporting it doesnt mean that there are people with power higher up that don't want to put the money into it.

Also, do you honestly think that Xbox ix what is keeping Microsoft afloat?
Click to expand...
that could be true but for you to say oh this could be the last system ever for xbox is jst nonsense to say this before the system is even out. Who knows maybe it is the last one for ms and you could say the same for sony seeing how in 8-9 years the gaming industry will be diff ball game and who knows if it will still be big like it is now.

 
TimboSliceGB said:
that could be true but for you to say oh this could be the last system ever for xbox is jst nonsense to say this before the system is even out. Who knows maybe it is the last one for ms and you could say the same for sony seeing how in 8-9 years the gaming industry will be diff ball game and who knows if it will still be big like it is now.
Click to expand...
Its not really non sense as you can say the same for all 3 companies. The fact is though that Microsoft is the only one of the 3 that has shown hints of not wanting to stay in the home console business. The Xbox One is already showing some signs of that (focusing more on non gaming features)

 
Deader2818 said:
Its not really non sense as you can say the same for all 3 companies. The fact is though that Microsoft is the only one of the 3 that has shown hints of not wanting to stay in the home console business. The Xbox One is already showing some signs of that (focusing more on non gaming features)
Click to expand...
Or MS just realizes that releasing a game centered console is no longer the future. Look at the Wii and Wii U. The wii was a complete gimmick. People bought into it because they thought "hey that looks fun" and it was...for about 5 minutes. The Wii U is more of the same. People don't care anymore. The Wii U flopped. Game consoles are no longer just for games. If you really expected MS or Sony to go the Wii U route then you are crazy. MS adding more features like tv integration, tablet integration, apps, and cable control are not signs that they are getting out or wanting out. They are signs that MS is trying to evolve. They don't need to focus on the gaming features. Other than a few exclusives here or there most of the games will be exactly the same. How many exclusives can we still say are system sellers on either console at this point? Halo, God of War (maybe), MLB The Show, Mario and Zelda. Microsoft is trying to get into the casual market. The people that may want to play games, but more so than that they want something that can make their tv/movie/music experience easier and better. It's smart frankly.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well what do you think MS is doing then if you think they are getting out of the games business? What would be the purpose of them focusing on everything but games in your opinion?

 
NinjaPenguin777 said:
Well what do you think MS is doing then if you think they are getting out of the games business? What would be the purpose of them focusing on everything but games in your opinion?
Click to expand...
Make something comparable to Apple TV. Focus more on their software and other things like tablets/phones, etc.

Could be wrong or right, no one really knows but its very real that there are higher ups in Microsoft who do not want to be in the gaming industry.

 
Again the hardware is pretty much from Gates/Ballmer. Ballmer has literally been called the worst CEO in America and is stepping down. Gates doesn't have the iron grip he used to  (he was famously repeatedly saying things along the lines of he did not care how much money was lost with the Xbox) and many are calling for him to step away altogether. With Ballmer gone and Gates probably on the way out there is pretty much no higher ups left to champion the Xbox. It's in an extremely precarious position. I've posted various articles that state these very simple facts. You guys saying it isn't going anywhere are speculating based on literally nothing.

 
People act like Sony is not doing same thing with ps4 people need to face facts ms and Sony are trying to go after the avg joe or family's when they make these things Nintendo is living in the past which is why wii u flop at launch
 
That's an entirely different subject. You can make an argument that Sony's Playstation Division is one of it's few successes (I think that and Sony pictures are the only ones really making money right now) and helping keep that company afloat. Any argument I've seen for them selling off the Playstation brand is so it doesn't go down with the ship because Sony's in pretty bad financial shape at the moment. Microsoft is in a very different position. A pretty good analogy to Microsoft would be CBS. CBS is fucking huge, so a show on there can;t just be successful, it has to be a huge hit. Many shows that would've been huge on flagging networks like NBC have gotten canned because they weren't successful enough. Not a flop by any realistic standards mind you, just not meeting CBS' incredibly high bar. This is the position the Xbox is in, it's a success but it needs to make way than it's doing to really keep the people at the top happy. The minute it's not successful enough by their standards, it'll be gone because that's all the ammo the anti-Xbox faction that does indeed exist within MS will need.

 
And by the way, that bigger more casual market might not even be there, there was a pretty recent reuters poll that had people preferring the PS4 to Xbox One by a pretty large margin, but the sobering statistic was that 64% weren't buying either.Both companies could be in a for a pretty harsh reality come this gen

 
As I was talking to my girlfriend earlier is that the gaming market is in a pretty interesting period of time now. From the 70s to up till lets say PS2, gaming was a very niche market. They made a profit on their games, and it wasnt a huge social thing like it is today. Even in that PS2 era, gaming wasn't huge yet but was starting to get there. Then comes the Wii and the gaming market starts to blow up, Wii, 360 and PS3 all become huge and attracting people that normally wouldn't play games. Games like Call of Duty start to sell huge and now everyone wants to start getting their games up to those numbers so they start to hire huge staffs, spend a lot money on marketing etc but no matter how  well it does, it won't overcome how much they put into getting the game out there.

Now we are starting to see the "casual" market move on, going to Tablets, Phones, etc. This isn't just affecting Nintendo but Sony and Microsoft as well. The remaining "casual" gamer (by this I mean the people that will only buy Call of Duty and Sports games) aren't going to rush out to get a new X One or a PS4 when they can get these games on their current console.

I think at this point, its going to depend on how companies face this. They can either keep spending more money on development and marketing and try to get those "casual" gamers back or keep them from leaving, or they can instead refocus on the core gamer, the ones that have been there for the past 20 years buying systems, and cut back on costs and still put out great games that can make a profit.

 
Call of Duty and Madden and those types of games will probably appear on the current gen for at least several more years. The install base is just too big to ignore that. As long as that's happening, the bigger casual crowd has no reason to move on. Hell FIFA was released on PS2 this year. Who still owns a PS2? Lots of casual gamers who don't need a new console anytime soon, that's who.

 
I don't really see the casual market "moving on" to tablets and phones. The casual market is just an evolution from back in the day when the casual market was flash games, then facebook games and now phones, tablets, xbla, and ps3's arcade games. When a new console launches there are 2 kinds of people that buy them. Well 3 really.

1. People that are the die hards. 2. Parents of little kids that just want to make little timmy happy. 3. Scalpers. 

You don't see the casual market explode for consoles, generally, until one year or more after launch. That's when you start getting black friday deals on them or big sales or console bundles and price drops. The tablet/phone playing people could really care less about most games, but they see a few that they want to play and they will snag a console because it is $100 off. Remember back in the Xbox/Gamecube/PS2 days you had people lining up for consoles at launch, and games as well. Halo 2 was a really big freaking deal. Even when the 360 launched it sold like gangbusters, but most new products will do that. But at the same time the rest of the causal market was still playing their ps2's because the ps2 still had good games coming out. Same thing will happen with this next generation. People are still going to buy 360's and Ps3's because there are still good games coming out, and they are dirt cheap. People that don't need the newest, greatest thing can wait on consoles for a few years, and grab them when they are cheap along with a great library of games.

I forgot what I was even arguing for...christ. Long rant about god knows what

Anyway I think MS is making a huge mistake with their price point. Unless they start doing price drops in say March of next year I don't think it will sell anywhere near the amount the ps4 will. It is a shame too. They are both great systems, but MS is just shooting themselves in the foot. 

 
Yeah, so there are some new systems coming out.  Some cool new games, or whatever.  But, yeah, sure we can continue to bicker about mundane crap over and over again.  This thread is troll city.  CAG is really turning to crap since the switch to a new platform. 

 
chubbyninja1319 said:
Yeah, so there are some new systems coming out. Some cool new games, or whatever. But, yeah, sure we can continue to bicker about mundane crap over and over again. This thread is troll city. CAG is really turning to crap since the switch to a new platform.
Click to expand...
Again, having a discussion =/= trolling. Who exactly is trolling in this thread?

 
i do agree the price point might hurt xbox one for awhile but again the way the economy is even ps4 price point of 400 is alot for people. I think we will be seeing a larger number of people staying with a ps3/360 longer then we have seen for last system launches.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top