Xbox One launch week:Reviews, Interviews and more.
Earlier this month Microsoft hosted a mammoth event in San Francisco, giving reporters a chance to play games, talk to developers and interview executives. We'll also be following up with Microsoft about their console in the lead up to the Xbox One's launch and of course hit the launch day festivities to chat with their on-hand executives.
We'll also be delivering our reviews of the hardware and its launch titles as the week unfolds, as well as videos showing our first impressions of the Xbox One's capabilities.
It's going to be a busy week, but we'll have all the news and reviews from the Xbox One launch collected in this StoryStream for you to peruse at your leisure.
And of course, last week was the PS4's big outing. You can check out all of that coverage here.
THE WII U PROVES YOU SHOULD WAIT BEFORE BUYING A NEW CONSOLE
The Wii U, launched last year, and the PS4 and Xbox One, which both hit earlier this month, are now the status quo in gaming. Or at least that's what the companies behind those consoles want you to think.
But the reality is that rushing to the newest piece of gaming hardware isn't always the best idea.
This "now generation" of consoles is a perfect example of why waiting is sometimes the best decision.
Sony's PlayStation 4 comes with arguably the best first-party gaming controller on the market. The console itself, a beefy bit of technology that can for the time being compete with...
BEST BUY: YOU WON'T HAVE ANY TROUBLE FINDING A PS4 OR XBOX ONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Based on acquired units outside of pre-orders for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Best Buy is confident the company will be able to stock both next-gen consoles well through December, vice president of entertainment Chris Koller told Polygon.
Speaking during the Xbox One launch event in New York City last night, Koller could not comment on Best Buy's expected sales or allocations beyond pre-orders, but did note that the company had enough stock for customers who did not pre-order either next-gen console. These extra units will be available not only through this weekend, but into the rest...
SOME XBOX ONES SOUND LIKE THEY'RE EATING DISCS
Some new Xbox One owners unpacked their Day One Edition consoles today and were greeted by non-functioning disc drives, according to reports in Amazon reviews and YouTube videos.
"Disc error, it sounds like a robot is vomiting when I try to put a [disc] in," wrote Amazon user JM, giving the console a one-star review. Another Amazon user said his Xbox One's disc drive "clicks and rejects discs." A four-page thread on the Xbox forums begins with a user describing the noise as a "crunching sound," with numerous others saying they're having the same problem.
XBOX ONE CONTROLLER VS. THE PS4 CONTROLLER
New consoles don't come around every day, but these past two weeks have certainly been a "when it rains, it pours" situation. And what could be more important about a console's launch than its controller?
We already put the PS4's controller through its paces. Next up: The Xbox One's controller. Is it better than the Xbox 360? More importantly, how does it fare against the DualShock 4? We cover all your burning questions.
WATCH US WALK YOU THROUGH THE XBOX ONE'S UI
The Xbox One's user interface is a cleaned-up version of its predecessor's, but don't let its simplicity be misleading. There's a lot to dig into here, menus and submenus of options and Kinect voice-commands that will allow players to get to anywhere from anywhere within the UI. It's sort of like an open-world map that gives players freedom of navigation, even if it sometimes isn't the best listener.
The dashboard this time around has been divided into just three screens, as opposed to the previous string of several screens dedicated to movies, music, Xbox Live, games and apps. There's one...
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE THE XBOX ONE RETAIL BOX
Are you curious what comes inside the Xbox One? Can you not wait for your console to arrive this Friday? Are you desperately wondering what will happen next in Polygon's unboxing metafiction, which began last week with the unboxing of the PlayStation 4 and will end 8 years from now with the unboxing of the Nintendo 500?
Then I think you will enjoy this unboxing video, which is full of wires and papers and thumb prints pressed into glossy plastic.
WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON FOR XBOX ONE GAMES AFTER LAUNCH
When Microsoft's new Xbox One debuts in North America later this week, it will be accompanied by more than 20 launch titles, includingDead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome and more first- and third-party games.
Like its chief console competitor, Microsoft is aiming to bring a steady stream of games to its nascent platform in an effort to keep new Xbox One owners happy. Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer tells Polygon that he hopes to avoid any "gaps" in bringing fresh games to the next-gen console and will likely make announcements about new titles in...
XBOX ONE WON'T LET YOU LIVESTREAM GAMEPLAY AT LAUNCH
The Xbox One won't allow gamers to livestream their gameplay via Twitch at launch, a service currently available on the PlayStation 4, Microsoft announced this morning.
"We know the ability to instantly broadcast gameplay is something the gaming community is excited about, and we are too," reads a statement from Microsoft. "We are working to ensure the initial Twitch on Xbox One broadcasting experience meets the expectations of the Twitch community, so while this feature won't be available right away, we'll let you know as soon as it is ready. Our goal is to deliver it during the first...
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE LIVESTREAMED
The ability to quickly and easily start streaming videos of yourself playing video games from a next-gen console is proving to be quite popular.
Livestreaming through Twitch or UStream is a launch feature on the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft says that ability is coming to the Xbox One early next year through their partnership with Twitch. While streaming live video gameplay to video services isn't new, historically it hasn't been exactly easy to do from a console either.
"Broadcasting from the current generation of consoles you can do, but it's really, really hard," said Matthew DiPietro,...
PS4 and Xbox One parental controls aren't quite as forward thinking as they could be
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One clearly represent the future of living room gaming, but the parental controls both consoles offer aren't quite as forward thinking.
Both consoles have revamped how parents can limit the sorts of entertainment experiences they can experience with differing results.
The PlayStation 4's biggest parenting downfall is that consoles with multiple users ( like a family with children), a parent has to create sub accounts for their children. The sub accounts, and all of the content purchased with them, can never be converted into a "master account." Essentially, your children will never be able to grow up on the PS4, not without ditching all of the online content they purchased and starting over.
That aside, the PS4's parental controls are a bit confused. They're all based on a level system. A parent can set up restrictions for games, apps and movie watching, but have to do so using a obtuse rating system that isn't clearly explained. The console uses 8 levels for DVD movie restrictions. It uses an age setting for Blu-ray movie restrictions and 11 levels available for games and apps. Five of those game and app levels line up nicely with the five ESRB ratings which run from Early Childhood (level 2 on the PS4) to Mature (level 9 on the PS4). Those other six levels? There doesn't seem to be any explanation online or on the console about what they do. Parents can go in and view what level a piece of software is by manually viewing it's information, but there's now broad definition, making the process a bit trial and error.
The PS4 does include a number of other options that are a lot easier to understand, though. You can, for instance, disable the internet browser and the ability to log into the console without an account. You can also disable chat, disallow user-generated content, restrict content in the online store and set spending limits.
Ultimately, the PS4's parental controls feels very slapped together and not at all intuitive.
The Xbox One's system, by contrast, has a much more approachable design, but it too has issues. My biggest complaint is what neither the Xbox One nor the PS4 includes: a parental timer or curfews.
This missing feature is more noticeable on the Xbox One because the Xbox 360 has a parental timer and Windows (which uses the same sign-in as Xbox Live) includes a curfew system.
AS THE PLAYSTATION 4 AND THE XBOX ONE CONTINUE TO BROADEN THEIR REACH, BOTH THROUGH GAMING AND OTHER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT, IT'S GREAT TO SEE TWO MONOLITHIC COMPANIES THINKING ABOUT THE TOOLS PARENTS CAN USE TO HELP THEM BE BETTER PARENTS.
I pushed Microsoft on this seemingly odd decision to take a step-backwards on their parental controls. Here's what they had to say:
"When you look back at the last eight years, how people consume media and information has changed radically, and you can see that the experiences possible on Xbox 360 have evolved along with those changes. We are continuing that evolution with the launch of Xbox One, but we are also continuing our commitment to give parents tools and resources to make choices about their families' entertainment.
"As we built Xbox One, we also designed our parental controls from the ground up. This gave us the opportunity to explore feedback we've received from parents over the years as we came up with our launch feature set. We'll continue to expand the toolset we offer parents in future updates."
In a nutshell? Not enough people were using the feature to warrant including it. But I think that's more a problem of education than it is of desired functionality.
Sure parents can step in and tell their child when enough gaming is enough, but anything that can remove a point of conflict, through automation, is a great piece of parenting technology.
Microsoft said they also continue to investigate the possibility of integrating parental settings across the Xbox and Windows systems. This would mean that a parent could more easily track usage and set limits for all PC and Xbox gaming from one place.
What Microsoft did right with the Xbox One is come up with an incredibly intuitive, universal system for setting up restrictions on all content streamed through the console.
A parent simply marks an account as a child's account and then they can choose what age-level they believe their child's content should be.
I have a 12-year-old son, but I set his limit to 13. The second I did that the system went through and did the work for me, figuring out that a 13-year-old's game restriction would be teen, but his video restriction would be PG-13.
The system also travels, so no matter whose Xbox One he signs into, those restrictions will be there.
If you have a child 8 or under, the system defaults to the setting for their age. You can change it manually, but I kind of like that it does this for those parents who perhaps don't take the time they should to figure out how consoles work.
As the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One continue to broaden their reach, both through gaming and other forms of entertainment, it's great to see two monolithic companies thinking about the tools parents can use to help them be better parents.
While PlayStation 4's controls seem muddled and confusing, I'm actually more disappointed by Microsoft's deliberate decision to take some of those tools away from parents, at least at launch.
The good news though?
Both systems will absolutely evolve. More than anything, this generation of consoles are about change so a fix could and should be coming.
Good Game is an internationally syndicated weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. JOE MANUEL is a founding News Editor of RULEDEWORLD.
