Xbox One Announced – Here’s Everything You Need To Know Overview

After four whole years of a rumoured Xbox 720 in the release, Microsoft has finally dished out the details of it’s upcoming console – the Xbox One! If you want to know what it’s about, what it can do, when it’s out and how much money you’ll have to part with – keep reading…

We’re about to do what we’re best at, some up everything as concisely and as quickly as possible. Less time reading equals more time gaming, right?

Xbox One Logo

Xbox One Features

There’s a whole load of new stuff being packed into Microsoft’s new console. As the name will hopefully imply, it’s no longer just a gaming console but an all-in-one entertainment machine!

Hardware and specs:

The Xbox One packs some incredibly robust hardware that can easily force Sony to rethink their Playstation 4 announcement.

The new console boasts 8 gigs of RAM, an 8-core CPU and GPU SoC, a huge 500GB HDD (though we don’t know whether this is solid-state or not), a Blue-ray drive, 802.11n WiFi and USB 3.0.

The console has had a complete redesign giving it a cleaner and sharper look all-round.

Xbox One Console

New Kinect:

It was heavily rumoured that a brand-new next-gen Kinect was also to be announced to match the new console. Those rumours were infact true, and Microsoft were pleased to announced it will pack a full HD 1080p camera capable of capturing wide angles aswell as reading your heartbeat! Some concern for Wii Fit here…

The larger field of view is definitely something warmly welcomed with the new Kinect, but what is also notable is that it integrates seamlessly with the Xbox One’s voice-recognition software (which we’ll talk about later) so you can quickly and easily wake up your console without pressing any buttons.

Xbox One Kinect

New Controller:

Although aesthetically there is very little change to be seen, Microsoft has assured gamers that there will be a significant enhancement from the new control pad. Gamers have already claimed that the current controller is very comfortable, functional and well-designed – so Microsoft went ahead and brought “more than 40 technical and design innovations” to the new pad. Xbox One users are expected to notice a tweaked d-pad, adjusted ergonomic fit and so-called vibrating impulse triggers. Though no-one is totally sure what exactly the latter is, it can be guess to bring feedback to players fingertips during gameplay for added effect.

Xbox One Controller

Skype, Video Calling and Xbox Snap:

Sony’s Playstation 4 event showed us a strong emphasis on video sharing. Now that Microsoft have ditched MSN and bought Skype, the company’s largest acquisition was undoubtedly going to make a debut on one of the world’s largest gaming platforms. Skype for Xbox One looks set to be a real focal point, bringing a completely new, dramatically enhanced service for the next-gen console offering features such as HD video using the upgraded Kinect camera mentioned earlier. There’s an option for group video conferencing also thrown in to the mix, aswell as the Xbox’s answer to multitasking (called Snap) which will let you partake in picture-in-picture calls whilst enjoying other activities.

The voice-recognition, which outrivals Siri by the way, will allow you to begin and end a call with a simple voice prompt. Although the keynote demonstration was carried out on a Xbox One, there is a possibility the Xbox 360 will also support these features.

User Interface:

The Xbox One, branded no longer as a console but an all-in-one entertainment device, essentially runs three operating systems. The traditional re-vamped Xbox OS is accompanied by the Windows Kernal giving a real Windows 8 look and feel to the user interface. Those familiar with the new Windows 8 will feel right at home with content now spread out accross a multi-screened plain.

Xbox One Home UI

Graphics:

As mentioned, the Xbox One has 8GB of RAM and an 8-core CPU/GPU, and Microsoft has already stated that its forthcoming console delivers up to eight times the graphics performance of its predecessor, the Xbox 360.

To elaborate further on that custom made AMD SoC will let you get your CPU/GPU chip, memory, controller logic, DRAM, and audio processors all molded into the one component, which in turn is connected straight to the heat sink through phase-change interface material. This in result increases efficiency, speed and integration of the components resulting in much-improved gameplay.

Microsoft demoed several games to show the grapic capability of the new console as well as real-time 3d rendering of crowds and sidelines.

Xbox One Graphics

Live TV, Interactive TB and ‘Xbox On’:

You will now be able to watch live television broadcasts from your cable or satellite set-top box, through your new Xbox. Just as Google’s Glass seems to spring into action with the words “Okay, Glass,” the next-gen Xbox will also allow users to control many aspects of the console using voice.

The new dashboard is based heavily upon the Windows 8 OS, and Microsoft seem to be building on the Xbox and Windows experiences to create a truly immersive interactive TV viewing experience. Instant Switching, a new feature, allows the users to move through apps and TV streams with ease, nullifying the need for participants to engage in that cumbersome sport of fishing around for the remote. Gestures through the new Kinect take the voice feature to the next level, and although the inaugural Kinect took the world by storm when it released a couple of years back, I suspect the best is still yet to come.

Cloud Integration:

As with any new tech product nowadays, there’s a significant push from Microsoft on swaying gamers toward the floating realms of The Cloud.

In fact, the Xbox One allows developers to access Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform right off the bat. All downloaded and installed games / achievements can then be synced to the cloud and accessed and played on any Xbox One you decide to log into.

These new changes also make the process of holding down a multiplayer battle less tedious. Fingers crossed, those battles with the lag will be a thing of the past, with stable, dedicated servers hosting every multiplayer game. No longer will matches of this sort be hosted on somebody’s console somewhere far away, but allowing up to 128 participants to do battle without the stuttering connection drops reducing the enjoyment.

Xbox One Games

No newly-announced console is complete without a fleet of confirmed titles for gamers to save their pennies up for, and the Xbox One is no exception to this trend. Electronic Arts will be heavily involved in early stages, bringing a plethora of games such as Madden NFL, NBA Live 14, EA Sports UFC, and of course, FIFA 14. Meanwhile, fans of the Forza Motorsport series will be pleased to learn that Forza Motorsport 5 will be available from the get-go, and with Quantum Break, a the small matter of Call of Duty: Ghosts also joining the party, there’s plenty of action, adventure and competition for everybody to enjoy.

Release

Microsoft haven’t announced a release date or price. If we follow the trend set by other keynotes from Microsoft, Google and Apple, we can assume that it will be fairly expensive and a release date around September-November 2013 should be expected.

Subscribe to Email Updates