Xbox One Console Discussion

[Zechs Merquise]

If I was getting either of these consoles and I had to choose squarely on the basis of exclusives, it would have to be XBO as Titanfall is the only 'next gen' game that really looks interesting and fresh.

[Jamba]

If I was getting either of these consoles and I had to choose squarely on the basis of exclusives, it would have to be XBO as Titanfall is the only 'next gen' game that really looks interesting and fresh.

 

I'll be enjoying it "exclusively" on my PC, that's if it doesn't turn out to be rubbish.

[Cube]

I'll be enjoying it "exclusively" on my PC, that's if it doesn't turn out to be rubbish.

 

The more I hear about it, the more I think of this.

[Happenstance]

GB showing some Xbox One stuff

 

[flameboy]

If I was getting either of these consoles and I had to choose squarely on the basis of exclusives, it would have to be XBO as Titanfall is the only 'next gen' game that really looks interesting and fresh.

 

I have to be honest I do really like the look of Titanfall. Also as amazing as Infamous looks is it just a prettier Infamous? (II haven't seen enough to think otherwise) That's enough for me and a lot of other people on this forum but may not be for all.

 

This is where waiting a while can be a good thing. I remember when I was making the decision between PS3 and 360 I drew up a list of exclusives I cared about on each I had 360 Mass Effect (at the time) Gears of War, Left 4 Dead PS3: Uncharted, MGS 4, Little Big Planet and the fact it played Blu rays. Holding back enabled to make a decision I couldn't have made at launch.

[ReZourceman]

The XBOX YouTube channel uploaded footage of WatchDogs on PS4 to their channel.

 

http://www.geek.com/games/microsoft-posts-watch-dogs-ps4-footage-on-official-xbox-youtube-channel-1576705/

 

LOL.

[Deathjam]

Guy has an xbone already.

[Guy]

First hand review:

 

Pretty okay.

[Sheikah]

The guy who owns it put in the comment section that it takes 17 seconds to get to the dashboard. Seems a bit sluggish, maybe they'll improve it with a patch.

[Magnus]

I wasn't going to get an Xbone, but a kid was playing Killer Instinct on this week's Grey's Anatomy, so now I've reconsidered.

[Debug Mode]

I thought this thing was supposed to be out on the 22nd? ShopTo have supposedly started processing their orders

[ReZourceman]

I thought this thing was supposed to be out on the 22nd? ShopTo have supposedly started processing their orders

 

Yeah they said last week they were charging this weekend (early) so to ensure payment is all okay.

[Debug Mode]

 

Yeah they said last week they were charging this weekend (early) so to ensure payment is all okay.

 

Seems a bit.. early!

[Zechs Merquise]

When you pre-ordered they actually sent you an email saying they were starting to process on the 9th! Which seemed really early to me. With them processing early I wonder if they will arrive early?

[Charlie]

When you pre-ordered they actually sent you an email saying they were starting to process on the 9th! Which seemed really early to me. With them processing early I wonder if they will arrive early?

 

They just want to make sure that your payment is sorted and you have the funds so they can start processing the thousands of orders and get them ready to ship out in time.

[Jimbob]

When you pre-ordered they actually sent you an email saying they were starting to process on the 9th! Which seemed really early to me. With them processing early I wonder if they will arrive early?

 

They just want to make sure that your payment is sorted and you have the funds so they can start processing the thousands of orders and get them ready to ship out in time.

 

Yeah, this. Makes perfect sense to be honest. After all, they've got a shed load of orders to fulfill for launch day. And i reckon Shopto are under orders from Microsoft to not ship until a day or so before release.

[Debug Mode]

Looks like some games on the Xbox One might require an internet connection after all, even for offline play!

 

But of course, it could just be Call of Duty.

[Cube]

Titanfall is the same. Although the singleplayer is just multiplayer with bots.

[Jimbob]

The chap who got his Xbox early has been banned until the console launch.

[Zechs Merquise]

Looks like some games on the Xbox One might require an internet connection after all, even for offline play!

 

But of course, it could just be Call of Duty.

 

Apparently people getting XBOs early are now being prevented from downloading the day one patch and will not be allowed to get it until closer to the actual launch.

 

It's almost like MS are digging themselves a bigger hole with every move they make.

 

Having units ship early and impressions come out is something that builds buzz for a release not kills it. Having these people banned from playing their consoles sends out all the wrong messages - contempt for the loyal fanbase that is excited over the release and it is all as if MS have things to hide.

 

It's like the ridiculous embargoes on the games - it just ads to the air of uncertainty over the console and builds negative momentum on forums and in the gaming press that every game on the system is inferior to its PS4 counterpart!

[Agent Gibbs]

The guy managed to get the Day one patch but was banned from accessing Xbox live, and then 24 hours later banned from accessing anything on the xbone ; its effectively bricked until (hopefully) he can be reinstated on launch...

 

Panello has tried to explain the situation as the day one patch isn't final and is being updated constantly, as such the OS has a 24 hour timelimit....he also said DRM has never been in the xbone build....

 

 

Others have pointed out its quite a coincidence that the 24 hour limit is identical to the original 24 hour online DRM check in.....

 

Conspiracies and lies are abound as there is just no trust in MS and their representatives, and eitherway its seen as a dick move, or really bad that a week or so before launch the OS is so in flux it has a 24 hour limit..

 

 

of course sony have capitalised on this, saying they won't ban early consoles, and some ps4's are in the wild.....

 

Its like if it can go wrong MS are doing it

 

 

EDIT: i should mention supposedly the xbones are shipping with NO real OS and the day 1 patch is to install one...or so has also been said (its like 40 pages the thread on neogaf and nobody sumarises without hyperbole)

Edited November 12, 2013 by Agent Gibbs

[dwarf]

I really don't think this is an issue for Microsoft.

The patch on the other hand... Sounds dodgy.

[Cube]

I just think it's a case that the day one patch isn't fully ready yet. They won't want someone posting stuff with buggy software.

[Charlie]

I think it's also worth noting that in the original article the updates said that Major Nelson sorted the issue out for the user. He hasn't been banned from playing it and can do everything apart from access Live until release day.

[Cookyman]

Interesting article but worth posting for the title alone.

 

The Xbox One Has A Wee Dong Problem

 

But designing around male genitalia is nothing new for video game consoles.

 

The Kinect is one of the most amazing pieces of consumer hardware on the planet. It can recognize the human anatomy with incredible logic and accuracy. And when Microsoft’s new Xbox One comes out next month, every unit will be packaged with an improved Kinect, capable of 1080p Skype video and improved 3-D fidelity that, using an IR camera, can even make out your body in the dark. With extreme specificity.

 

 

In fact, while I’d intended to post the above tech demo of the improved Kinect from Microsoft Research, I noticed, alongside the intricacies of a hoodie and jeans--and there’s no graceful way to put this--a dong. The Kinect hardware/software is now so effective at deciphering the bumps and folds of clothing that it can pinpoint a man’s package down to its pant leg, carving out the distinctive folds in our trousers that society, backed by a bit of shadowy denim, has become remarkable at ignoring.

 

As soon as I made the observation, it brought me back to a moment I must have repressed during the Xbox One announcement at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond. Testing the new Kinect in a cozy room, I, amongst a small handful of journalists and engineers who I didn’t know, caught a glance at my own man lump snake python on the screen. I felt the fear of every ninth-grade boy called up to the chalkboard.

 

Truthfully, a small percentage of Xbox owners may ever have such an experience. This topographical view is essentially a debug mode (I believe, accessible to gamers, but far from standard), and most Kinect experiences will likely render you as a bubbly asexual cartoon or a character with stock anatomy, smoothing over everything from hoodie strings to the overzealous nipples.

 

But as everyday technologies get better at seeing us naked, it does call to question: Should developers start thinking about censoring their imaging APIs? Should a company like Microsoft algorithmically smooth over chests, rears, and crotches at the core layers of their technology to protect a user’s chastity in the uncanny valley of nudity? Because while the Kinect isn’t nearly as anatomically omniscient as the TSA’s controversial millimeter wave scanners and Backscatter X-ray machines, it’s still processing our anatomy at a level more acute than the human eye, and it’s only going to get better.

“As everyday technologies get better at seeing us naked, should developers start thinking about censoring their imaging APIs?”

As absurd as this problem may sound, the consoles have a history of designing around sexuality--what most of us would agree is a necessary countermeasure on platforms where five-year-olds may interact with 50-year-olds. Xbox Live gamertags and profiles, for instance, ban “topics or content of a sexual nature.” (This policy led to mass bannings of subscribers who used the words “gay” and “lesbian” a few years ago, when Microsoft clarified the policy was not driven by an anti-gay agenda, but because a vast majority of users were using those words as insults.) The Nintendo Wii U took on dongs in a more direct manner, when their latest console allowed users to draw on the walls of Miiverse message boards: The company actually developed algorithms derived from popular, Western styles of penis sketch to detect and block phallic imagery. (Crafty artists beat the code, but Nintendo’s heart was in the right place.)

 

Almost everything in this article is laughable, so I’m not going to pretend that Microsoft is violating us, or spotting anything that a strong squint couldn’t already see. And I’m certainly not going to imply that some exacerbated shadowing around someone’s crotch will defile the youth of our society. The new Kinect certainly isn’t malevolent; it’s just engineering that works a bit too well, and is sharing that a half step more socially than we might want it to be.

 

As increasingly capable technologies become more personal, we’re going to have to think less about what we can do, and more about what we shouldn't do. Whether it's Kinect staring at our crotches, Amazon peeking into our buying habits, or Facebook leering at our social life, the technology industry will have to continually strike a design balance between the granular information they see and the information about ourselves that we see.

 

Because if I’ve learned one thing in 31 years of masculinity, it’s that nobody ever wants to see my placket-racket flopping around in the living room.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Cookyman