From what I saw of the launch games on both systems, the Xbox One has more exclusives I'd be interested in playing sometime. Though that is only 2 (Dead Rising and Killer Instinct) compared to 1 (Resogun). If Microsoft keeps up with a steady release of good games I think they will do fine, no matter how much that will piss off the internet hate mobs.

The biggest thing I see long term is kinect holding them back from being able to drop the cost much. But with this past generation price drops on hardware were stupidly slow, so I expect the same or worse this time around.

Not sure how much you have seen in regards to the Xbox One's dashboard but its media capabilities are also behind tabs. Its main tabs are Home, Trending (which I think is going to be VERY cool), Games, TV & Movies, Music, and Apps. So really, I just don't get when people start saying things like PS4 gets you into games quicker. You honestly cant believe that your going to be able to get into game faster on the PS4 than you will Xbox One, and if by chance you can you really cant believe that its going to be an amount of time that will make any difference whatsoever. All you have to do is press one tab and your into your games on Xbox One. Its not like you have to traverse this labyrinth of tabs, commercials, and media services.. And what words exactly have I put into your mouth?

As for Kinect and the 100 dollar difference, I have no interest in Kinect whatsoever, but I not only respect the route MS has chosen to take, I also agree with it 1000% and as such I have no problem paying the extra 100. The minute you make a particular device an optional peripheral, you basically doom it to complete and utter failure. The average console peripheral is adopted by a ridiculously small percentage of overall gamers and as such it sees little to no support by most gaming companies. The only way Kinect, or Sony's Eye for that matter, is ever going to be a success and reach its full potential is if its shipped with every console and not turned into an optional peripheral. If Sony and MS aren't going to go all the way with these devices, they should just cancel them altogether and focus their efforts elsewhere. MS is doing just that and it will be very interesting to see the support the kinect gets this time around. it may not interest you or me, but Kinect 2.0 has a 1000 times more potential than the original model had. It truly has the capability to add some really unique aspects to games. It all depends on the game developers and just how creative they get with it. One thing is for sure and that is had MS gone the peripheral route again, it would have been a complete and utter waste of time. At least now it has the potential to live up to its capabilities.

It was a very weird problem and I'm pretty sure it was a rare encounter (keep in mind it cropped up back in the 1st gen 360 days). Most people created a hotmail account and attached it to the live account by the time Live started getting big on the 360, however, back in the xbox original days, you could link it to a non hotmail account. Basically from what I remember I had gotten live on my original xbox, linked it to a gmail account, ported my live account to the 360 later and then I bought dlc. At some point MS dropped support for linking an xbox live account to non hotmail account (these days the hotmail account is the live account) at which point I began to realize what was happening. I could still use the DLC on any account on the 360 I had, however if I were to delete the data and try to redownload it, I would be greeted with game store page to buy the dlc. The consumer use version of the license transfer I believe wasn't out yet (I could be wrong on that) However, it wouldn't have helped since all that really does is allow you to play content on another system you download your profile to. I believe now a days you can have a non hotmail account to xbox live, but it's kind of convulated to do.

Basically I think at the time MS was rolling out a new DRM scheme and saw that very few people actually used a non hotmail account on live and didn't recognize the issue that would cause with some people. Basically using consumers as beta testers in a sense for issues or not caring since they wanted stronger security. I do buy really good DLC on XBLive, some games are really too good to pass up, but it's always with the knowledge that at any given moment MS can change something again and take games away. I guess that's just as true for Steam but Steam has always done right by me when things were funky(I must have logged in 8 hours with MS tech support with half of it going toward explaining to the technicians what happened.) I was never reimbursed for the loss of dlc by MS

That's pretty much my take on the matter. Super Mario 3D World is a must-have by any account, and I've been hearing reports that Sonic: Lost World is a great game and nothing like the reviews have depicted it. Also, Assassin's Creed 4 on the Wii U has turned out to be rather superior to the PS3 version and sits quality wise between the PS3 and 4 versions (runs at 720p though, much like the Xbox One version I would wager).

Aside from a mild curiosity about Forza 5, none of the exclusives on the XO really interest me in the slightest. Ryse looked halfway good, but apparently it is such a shallow game - not even on the level of God of War - that it defies belief. Typical Crytek fare basically - all show, poor gameplay.

Nothing really interested me on the PS4 either, although Killzone: Shadow Fall does look good, and Knack is supposed to be good, old-school fun.

Dunno what happened there, I have a number of email addresses on my 360 for different profiles (eg. to get US content or demos and my kids accounts) and never had a problem. Dlc is linked to the console serial number, I really don't think its linked to emails tbh, but maybe I'm not understanding and I am also not an expert, so have a grain of salt handy when reading any crap I write :)

So, i finally received my Xbox One today and took some time with it.

I have always been very skeptical about the Kinect and thought that it was just a gimmick, but now i understand why Microsoft decided to bundle Kinect with every console. Kinect is really useful with the Xbox One, i'm surprised to see how well voice commands work on the Xbox One. I didn't have any issues using voice commands at all. The Xbox almost always recognizes my commands at the first try. There are a few reviews stating that voice commands do not work as well in places with a lot of noise. Since my gaming room is very quiet, i didn't have any issues with it at all. It's not just a gimmick, it's indeed easier to use voice commands than browsing everything with the controller. If you're in the middle of a game, for example, It's much easier to say "Xbox go to marketplace" than leaving the game and browsing through the dashboard. I'll definitely use this feature often.

Also, voice commands do work in brazilian portuguese, so i don't have to shout in english at my Xbox. I suppose it works with every other supported language as well. That was pretty nice of Microsoft. They did put some effort in getting most features working worldwide and not just the US.

It does take some time to get used to how the voice commands work, though. You can't say anything you want and hope that Xbox will recognize what you're trying to say. You have to say the exact phrase it expects in order for it to work. You can't just say "Xbox, home", for example, you need to say "Xbox go home". You can't just say "Xbox, TV", you need to say "Xbox, watch TV".

Another neat feature is that Kinect automatically recognizes your face and log you into your Live account. Pretty cool, and it's easier than having to insert your login information everytime you want to get into your account. It also makes sure that no one else can use your account (unless they have the password, that is).

Kinect itself is a bit different to the one on the Xbox 360. One thing that i had to learn by searching online (because the manual and the console itself don't say anything about it) is that you need to adjust the angle of the Kinect sensor manually, unlike the previous Kinect which adjusted angle automatically by itself (it could move the camera up and down).

I have only played 2 games so far, Ryse and the free version of Killer Instintict. I haven't played Killer Instintict too much, but i did enjoy it a lot. Fighting feels precise and satisfying, and the new D-pad on the Xbox One's controller certainly helps fighting games (Microsoft finally got the D-pad right). The free version only comes with one character and one map. To unlock all the maps and characters you need to purchase a U$20 add-on. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

Ryse looks phenomenal. It's by far the most visually impressive game i've ever seen (and i do have a high-end PC). Everything looks sharp, detailed and there are no visible jaggies at all. Technically it's an amazing game. The gameplay itself is good, but not great. While combat is very precise, it does suffer from the lack of variety that reviewers mentioned. The combat mechanics are very similar to the ones found in Batman Arkham games, so if you have played these games you'll feel right at home. The game doesn't seem to be very long, though. I have played it for a few hours and i'm already halfway through the campaign.

Well, and that's it. Tomorrow i'll play Dead Rising 3 and see how it is. Acoording to the reviews it's pretty good.

The previous generation was PS3 and Xbox 360. Xbox and PS2 was 2 generations back.

Didn't they make it impossible to use streaming media servers or something?
I thought I read that before it was launched, was that just because of the interface?
I do think it's interesting how Sony did a 180 and changed their focus to gaming instead of all their insanity about making the PS3 your mediacenter and all that and instead Microsoft went the mediacenter road this time.
I only care about the gaming part myself so I'll probably get both after they've had some decent exclusives.

I just read a piece about 'our beloved putty squad' .... and I thought now I need a PS4 thread to share my bafflement. A XboxOne can make the trick too so here it is. Hang on to your tinfoil hats people.

I have never had issues before with launch hardware, and I am not just talking about game consoles either. I bought an HD DVD player at launch, a Blu Ray player at launch, as well as a bunch of other products like Kindle's, iPad's, etc. I never had an issue with any of them at launch. That being said, I do buy extended warranties on some of the products I buy. Usually I buy them for the products I know I am going to spend a exorbitant amount of time using. I usually purchase my game consoles from Best Buy for this very reason as Best Buy had the best extended warranties. If anything went wrong, you simply brought in your broken console and walked out with a brand new model. Thats what I did when I got the RROD on my 360. It took me all of 10 minutes to walk in and get a brand new console. Amazingly, not only did I wind up getting a new Xbox 360, I also got 100 dollar refund as the price of the console had dropped by $100 since I first purchased it. So I basically got a new console (a better model than the one I initially purchased), a new 3 year extended warranty on the new console, and a new game and it only wound up costing me like 15 bucks. I was one of the few people that actually benefitted from getting RROD on my 360, lol. I am still using that replacement 360 to this day. Unfortunately, Best Buy no longer offers replacement coverage. Now if something goes wrong, they repair it instead of issuing a new console.

In all honesty, I was tempted to forgo buying an extended warranty this time around as I couldn't find any retailers that offered a replacement plan. They are basically all repair policies now. I wound up changing my mind at the last minute and wound up buying a 4 year plan through SquareTrade. It was only like 65 bucks, basically the price of a new game. In my book the 65 bucks is definitely worth the piece of mind knowing if anything goes wrong in the first 4 years, I am covered. It still not a replacement policy but a repair policy is better than nothing.

There is just no need to wait a year or two when all you have to do us buy an extended warranty. That makes FAR more sense in my book than waiting.

Well, we will just agree to disagree then as I don't see it as a gamble at all. In fact, quite the contrary now. Initially it was a bit of a gamble but it has caught on like wildfire and has paid off in spades. More time is spent watching TV and movies through XBox's now than actually spent playing games. Last I saw it was around 45% for gaming and 55% for watching TV and Movies. Add to that the exclusive programming that MS is very serious about producing, all the new channels and apps that will continue to be released, and the ability to run your cable through the system now and....well, I have no doubt that this generation will actually blow last generation away, in regards to the success and popularity of these features. And there are still a TON of people that watch live TV. It may not be as popular as it used to be but that is to be 100% expected now that there are so many other avenues available. While TV numbers are down, it is still a very popular and very successful medium. Its not like MS is putting all of its chips on live TV. Its doing what any smart company would do in its position and that is focusing on all of the different avenues available and ultimately giving people the ability to make those choices themselves. My family watches at least 10-15 hours of live TV every week.

Of course many of these features are on the PS4 as well. Sony isn't stupid. They know full well how popular these features have been this last generation and they know that they are only going to continue to get more and more popular as time goes by. To not implement such features would be a monumental failure on Sony's part and it would cost them dearly in the long run. All that being said, MS has been the key innovator in the console market since the original Xbox first hit store shelves, especially in regards to TV and movies. Given the size of these companies, the amount of cash these companies have available, and the overall success of these companies the last 12-13 years, it makes perfect sense for Sony to sit back and let MS do all the heavy lifting. The features that wind up panning out, Sony adopts at a later date. Here are just a few of the key innovations MS has brought to the console market:

1 - Xbox Live / Online Gaming
2 - Achievements
3 - TV and Movies through a game console
4 - High Definition Graphics
5 - Trail games for all game releases
6 - Digital distribution through an online store
7 - Xbox Live Arcade / Smaller sized games sold via digital distribution.
8 - Gamerscore
9 - A singular entertainment hub
10 - Matchmaking

Its important to note that some of these were available on PC first. I am not suggesting MS invented many of these features, simply that they were the first to bring them into the console market. Each and every one of these was an innovation for the console market and the Xbox One looks to lengthen this list dramatically. Its not even about where the Xbox One is right now. Its about where it will be in 3-4 years. The difference between the 360 at launch and the 360 in years 3-4 was absolutely staggering. I really didn't like the Xbox 360 at launch, but by the 3rd year, I couldn't live without it. I have absolutely ZERO doubt MS will continue to innovate the console space just as it has the last 2 generations and that TV, Movies and sports will play a large role in a lot of that innovation. The days of game consoles are over. From here on out, they are just as much home entertainment hubs/devices as they are gaming machines. Nintendo is the farthest behind in this regard, but they too will eventually adopt many of the key entertainment features.

As for the speech controls, this is exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. Its not about where it is right now, its about where it will be in a couple of years. Most people won't even buy next gen consoles for at least another year or two. For a launch product, the voice control is already amazingly accurate, once you actually learn the proper language, and its only going to get better and better as time goes on. I guarantee by the 3rd year, the voice recognition system will be nothing short of amazing. Actually, its already amazing, but its going to continue to get better and better. Thats how innovation works. Again, all ones has to do is look at the 360 at launch and then look at the 360 during the 3rd year. Its like 2 completely different consoles. Thats how fast technology is advancing now. Basically, both the Xbox One and the PS4 will continually get better and better as this generation progresses. So to look at features now, with no though towards how they will advance or improve over the years.....well, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

As for your opinions of the games, I couldn't disagree more. Imo, Xbox One's launch line up us hands down the strongest launch line up in console history. I have purchased every major console released in the US and the only one I didn't buy at launch was the PS3. Xbox One's line-up is the best I have ever seen at launch. Forza 5 is nothing short of mind blowing. Its the racing game I have waited my entire life for. I expect I will still be playing it when Forza 6 hits the market. I just finished Dead Rising 3's campaign and it was a blast. Easily one of the funnest titles I have played this year. I am about 10 hours into Assassins Creed 4 and imo, its the best AC title to date. While not AAA, I have throughly enjoyed Battlefield 4's multiplayer. Need For Speed Rivals is the best NFS game I have played since Most Wanted. Killer Instinct has been amazing and I honestly thought it was going to suck. Its FAR deeper than I thought it was going to be. Hell, I even loved Ryse. It had a great story, amazing visuals and fun combat. If I were rating it, I would easily give that game a 7.5-8. , Of course, this is all subjective so your entitled to your opinion, but for me, Xbox One's launch line up is easily the best launch line up in console history.

If you don't think the Xbox One or PS4 offers you anything you don't already have then you were right not to buy them. Had I felt that same way, I wouldn't have purchased one either. Of course, I didn't feel that way so not buying one was never even an option for me. I knew I was buying the next iteration of the Xbox at launch before MS even announced it and now that I have sat down and spent a lot of time on it, I am 100% satisfied with my decision. New gaming hardware doesn't come around very often. As a gamer, very few things are as exciting as the launch of new hardware. IMO, life is just way to short to wait. Again, if hardware failure is an issue, one can simply buy an extended warranty. In the end, I think its safe to say that some people can wait and others can't. I am definitely one of the latter.

Think I am gonna go play some Assassins Creed 4!