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Xbox One announced, more questions than answers

By BatRastered — May 21, 2013
Tags: blog microsoft wildrant xbox-live xbox-one

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I feel like I've wasted an hour of my life... Did they actually give us any information we cared about (other than the name)?

Why did Microsoft even have this event? What was the point? What was gained that a simple press release stating "we're calling it the Xbox One" wouldn't have accomplished?

Yeah, they told us the name and showed us the console (guess what, it's a black rectangle) and controller, and also a ton of non-game related features like watching TV... but, as they used to say, "where's the beef?"

Here's a list of the top 10 facts we DIDN"T get:

1. Release date (everyone and their dog knows it comes out before black friday, so why no specifics?)
2. Price - duh... I don't really expect this with E3 so close, but again, why have this event if you're not going to reveal anything?
3. SKUs - Is there a non Kinect version? Different HDD sizes?
4. Full Specs - 5 billion transistors? Photons? WTF? How about telling us about the GPU?
5. How does the TV feature work, what is required? Can I plug the coax right in, or does it connect to the existing cable box somehow? Does it work with satellite? How about OTA HD broadcasts? Can I use this without paying for XBL Gold?
6. Speaking of Gold, will the price stay the same? Will it still be needed for thlngs like netflix? They mentioned in the press release that existing subscriptions and gamerscores would carry over, but no mention of how much that renewal will cost you or if you get any PS+ style bonuses with it.
7. Will we be able to play used games?
8. Can we play offline?
9. Can I tell the Xbox to shut off all those extra "features" like skype, etc when I'm watching a movie?
10. Games - hooray, they showed cars and some TV show tie-in. Then they ended with a CoD game that will also be on the PS4. Where are the big name exclusives?

Again, I'm sure we'll get some of this at E3, but why have this event if not to detail some of the system? I'm not sure what MS thinks they accomplished today other than getting the new system's name, logo, and press shots out there. All of that could've been done in a press release a lot cheaper and easier. Though I suppose if you want cheaper and easier you'll probably have to go with the PS4 this generation. /rant

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[UPDATED] May 21, 2013 4:21:16 PM

May 21, 2013 by BatRastered

Update about used games from Major Nelson's blog

"We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today. While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.

Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.

Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house – should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile."

Sounds like there's some kind of key tied to your profile, but you can sell that key and disassociate it with your profile.

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