[Archived] Xbox One

[M-K]

Under half that, I would hope.

When I worked at HMV ages ago you could order a Japanese import Nintendo 64 (this was before they came out here) for around £800. Never dared click the button to see what would happen.

[Biddy]

Don't think they will be under half. Shop.to and zavvi (i think it was) both had the xbox1 at 399.99. Still too pricey for me.

[M-K]

Any prices you see at the moment are just placeholders. Whoever launches cheapest tends to win, plus there's a recession happening, so I doubt either of them will be extremely expensive.

- Xbox 360 was £280 at launch (or £210 for the 'core' version) versus £425 for the PS3. I don't think Sony will make that mistake again.

- The original Xbox was £300, and was quickly discounted to match the PS2 which launched at £300 and had by then dropped to £200.

- PS1 launched at £300, and was up against the Sega Saturn which cost £400.

Also, there's nothing in these consoles that's cutting-edge tech. It's all off-the-shelf parts, apart from the PS4's fast RAM and the Xbone's fancy webcam. The processors are based on tablet / notebook tech and the graphics chips have been around for a while. I reckon £300 at launch, with the early 'loser' knocking £50 off within six months. (I'm an optimist).

[Tom]

Looks like I won't be 'jumping in' to use a quote from their last console launch

Announced tonight that games can be traded to selected retailers or sold to a person that has been on your friends list for at least 30 days and each disc can only be sold on one more time after retail

You're move sony, don't limit it and you win the war without trying

[Tom]

[Stuart]

Blockbuster are going to be snookered with all this too. Expect more closures.

I'd like to think Sony will come along and sweep up but it's more likely that there has already been discussions between the two companies.

What Sony does will depend on the public reaction to the new Xbox, IMO.

This is the problem with large corporations, they get far too greedy and powerful.

[Kamy100]

The other decision that I am very surprised by is that the Xbox One will check once every 24 hours that you are online, if you are not then you won't be able to play games online or offline. That will be a massive problem with problem who don't have reliable internet connections.

Rumours from respected gaming journo's are that Sony have decided against implementing a DRM system on the PS4, if that is the case then fully expect them to mention this at their E3 briefing next week.

[davulsukur]

Just out of interest, how do you go about getting to be able to play games again if you have been offline for more than 24 hours?

What if someone moves house? Often you are without internet for weeks.

I agree with Tom M, Sony can clean up big style if they play this right.

[Kamy100]

Just out of interest, how do you go about getting to be able to play games again if you have been offline for more than 24 hours?

What if someone moves house? Often you are without internet for weeks.

I agree with Tom M, Sony can clean up big style if they play this right.

That's the point, you won't be able to until you get back online. So like you say if you move house, you won't be able to play games on the console until your internet is up and running. It really is a bonkers decision.

[M-K]

It has been probably 15 years since I went more than 24 hours without an internet connection, so I don't think that's an issue for many people in the 21st century.

All this DRM stuff is just the way the world has been going for some time. PC gaming has been there for many years - you buy a disc, you register the code, then you might as well throw the disc away. You can't sell your iTunes music to a bloke on the market, you can't lend out your apps. The Xbone option at least gives you the chance to pass the thing on to a friend or trade it back to a shop.

Also, this is from the whining article on Eurogamer:

"10 people can be authorised to play these games on a different Xbox One via the cloud, but not at the same time, similar to iTunes authorised devices."

How is that one a negative?

[Amo]

It has been probably 15 years since I went more than 24 hours without an internet connection, so I don't think that's an issue for many people in the 21st century.

Only recently our internet was cut off for two days because some klutz cut through a cable. T'were I an Xbox One owner, I wouldn't be able to resort to my only other form of escapism. What choice would I have left? ...Go outside!?

Sony have already won the latest console war and we haven't even seen the PS4 yet!

[Tom]

I haven't got any numbers to hand but I swear I once read an article stating a massive amount of Xbox 360's bought were never taken online

[M-K]

Only recently our internet was cut off for two days because some klutz cut through a cable. T'were I an Xbox One owner, I wouldn't be able to resort to my only other form of escapism. What choice would I have left? ...Go outside!?

Sony have already won the latest console war and we haven't even seen the PS4 yet!

Maybe you could sue the roadworkers if it happened again - like the guy in America who sued Gordon Ramsay for 'loss of enjoyment' because he got thrown out of the restaurant when he demanded ketchup.

Sony is winning the PR war by not saying anything at all, because Microsoft doing it all backwards. Who wants to hear about DRM before they've even shown a single game for the thing?

There's no guarantee Sony isn't planning to do something similar. If a publisher can put a game out on the Xbone and get a guaranteed income from every player, that's a better business model for them than releasing it for another console with a rampant second-hand market that they don't get a cut of.

If they want the big games from the likes of EA and Activision they might be obliged to guarantee revenue for those companies.

I haven't got any numbers to hand but I swear I once read an article stating a massive amount of Xbox 360's bought were never taken online

46 million Xbox Live users, apparently, which must be a significant proportion of the total Xbox 360s still in active use. I'd imagine Microsoft has done the maths on this.

[Mike E]

I game for personal pleasure (as we all do) but very rarely game online (haven't at all for about 3years). Where would that leave me? I'd not get an xbox anyway out of simple PS fanboyism. But hopefully the ps4 is basically a better version of it's predecessor without restricting the casual gamer.

[M-K]

I game for personal pleasure (as we all do) but very rarely game online (haven't at all for about 3years). Where would that leave me?

Do you not have a home internet connection at all? All the Xbox needs it for is to shake hands with a central server once a day and exchange a security certificate. If you don't have a connection then I suppose you wouldn't ever be able to set it up.

[DE.]

If Sony play it smart they can absolutely obliterate Microsoft in this generation of consoles. Depends how far down the line they've gone with certain things. I think public reaction to some of Microsoft's announcements could cause some last gasp changes at Sony before the PS4 release.

[Tom]

I also rarely play on line I prefer a more relaxed form of gaming in short sessions

I'm not keen on the direction things are heading in whereas everything is set around multiplayer but that's where the demand is and the money is made it seems

[Biddy]

Oh come on, don't be naive. Sony and MS probably both already have some agreement about DRM with publishers. MS aren't doing all this for fun, it's the same reason they work tirelessly to close the firmware loopholes that let people hack the consoles.

If, in some strange alternate universe, Sony announce no DRM at all, I can see publishers, especially EA going XBOX exclusive and then by way of content people will be forced to put up with the restrictions.

Personally I hate the idea of always on internet. Utter utter rubbish. I never play multiplayer and I'm not going to pay over the odds for their films, apps,games or music.

Might just stick with the pc.

[Stuart]

Never sure if it's the killing of the golden goose or just the next wave of technological advance. It's not the being online that is the problem, it's the continual strides towards a Big Brother world we seem to be immersing more and more in. (The Orwell one, not the Channel 4 one).

Mobile phones are already the voluntary tracking device we all can't be without. Now we need to be tracked inside our own homes. "One in every home" is fast becoming "One for every person" - whether you want one or not... no sharing with your family or friends now.

[Baz]

I think Sony are loving it at moment. Xbox is getting all the abuse, whilst Sony have only said you can play 2nd hand games on the ps4, without mentioning if there is an associated cost.

Microsoft are already recoiling from the reaction of their initial statements on the restrictions on 2nd hand games, so Id expect it to shift even further by launch.

The only way i can see the changes being accepted, is if the prices of games are reduced accordingly, like apps, or steam games. At a estimated £70+ per game, people will choose not to buy otherwise.

[M-K]

"One in every home" is fast becoming "One for every person" - whether you want one or not... no sharing with your family or friends now.

They already said you can 'authorise' up to 10 Xbones to play the games you purchase. That's very much a 'sharing with family and friends' feature.

[Mike E]

Do you not have a home internet connection at all? All the Xbox needs it for is to shake hands with a central server once a day and exchange a security certificate. If you don't have a connection then I suppose you wouldn't ever be able to set it up.

I have internet but don't like the idea that I'm gradually being forced to do it all online. I harbour the same grudge with FM on stream (I now play the handheld version on my phone instead).

[Biddy]

To be fair, mobile games are already starting to go the same way. Look at Simpsons Tapped Out. Along with ludicrous in-app purchases it requires an origin account and constant internet access to play. Barmy and yes, it's an EA game. I sense a pattern.

[M-K]

I have internet but don't like the idea that I'm gradually being forced to do it all online. I harbour the same grudge with FM on stream (I now play the handheld version on my phone instead).

From a practical point of view, though, does it make any difference? I mean, I've got an Xbox 360 now and it's connected to the internet all the time, even if I'm not playing a multiplayer game. It tells me what my friends are up to online (Netflix and Sky, mostly) and it's constantly sending info about us back to Microsoft - info that has no doubt helped inform the choices they've made with the new console.

I rarely trade in games, except when I realise buying one was a mistake (Black Ops II made me want to kill). Consequently I've got shelves full of games that I don't play anymore but are pretty much worthless because they're old hat.

I'm not saying what Microsoft is doing here is particularly beneficial to the consumer, but in practical terms owning an Xbone would not be much different for me than owning a 360.

One cool thing about it: if you're playing a split-screen game with your mates and you get off the sofa to grab a beer, it will recognise each player and rearrange the screens if you sit back down in a different order. That's some proper sci-fi shizzle right there.

[cmb211087]

On the point of not having an internet connection. I moved into a new build last year in early August. Obviously the property had no line connection before so BT had to come out and do all the wiring at the cabinet and connect the sockets in the house etc. This didn't happen until early September due to no free engineering appointments in August..

I went a month without internet basically, having to use the data on my phone. So I would not have been able to play anything had I had an XBone. Even Steam has an offline mode!

Microsoft really are shooting themselves in the foot here.