E3 2013- The Xbox One is $499
Sentiment for the Xbox One leading up to E3 was at very low levels. It was very clear on every social network that the Xbox One’s recently announced restrictions pissed off a lot of Xbox Fans:
– The console requires an online “check-in” once in ever 24 hours in order for you to continue playing your games – even single player ones.
– The Publishers will decide whether or not the game YOU purchased can be resold. Microsoft makes no profit from this, but the publishers are the ones who most hate places like Gamestop.
– Microsoft is still exploring it’s options but there are restrictions on how you can trade, loan, or give you games to anyone. There is also a possibility of a fee associated with these actions.
– The always-on Kinect can be turned off. This is the one thing Microsoft has caved with so far.
– You can have up to ten people in a Xbox One family. One person with Xbox Live Gold can share this to others on the same console. Content can be shared within your family freely and these members can be changed around, but how freely?
Microsoft is sticking with these policies. Believe it or not, they think the consumers will realize it is “best” for them.
Don Mattrick, the Xbox Executive for Microsoft, In a recent interview with GameTrailers TV said that they already have a device for people with no internet connection: It is called the Xbox 360.
E3 Press Conference
The E3 media briefing can be seen on the Microsoft website here, Or with the video below:
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Price
The Xbox One is $499/ €499/ £429. The common complaint with this steep price is that most can buy a very decent PC with this kind of money.
The hardware is also virtually the same as the PS4 with a few variations, so why should it cost $100 dollars more? Sony announced the PS4 will be $399.
Kinect.
Plain and simple: Microsoft made a mistake bundling every single Xbox One with the Kinect. As we stated earlier, the only thing Microsoft changed was the always-on Kinect. The Kinect will always be on however, as it needs to use it’s mic to listen to your commands.
The Xbox One will not work without the Kinect connected to the console. The Kinect is basically a $100 dollar mandatory accessory that is constantly watching and listening.
It is really simple to a mother trying to buy her child a new console: the $399 Sony PS4 or the $499 Microsoft Xbox One.
Games
The price of games for the Xbox One is staying the same at $59.99. One would hope that with all the restrictions the games would cost less than those of the PS4 – but they don’t.
Xbox Live Gold pricing is also not changing, as confirmed by Microsoft, and will still cost about $60 dollars a year.
Below is a list of links to the most of the announced Xbox One Titles. In total this list contains 36 titles, some will launch day one and others later on.
Every game you buy for the Xbox will be installed to its 500GB HDD so it can “take better advantage of the cloud service” from Microsoft. There was no announcement on whether the Xbox One will feature some sort of full game streaming from the cloud like Sony’s Gaikai service.
The Xbox will allow you to record and share your gameplay in real-time.
The Xbox one will not be able to act as DVR yet. This functionality will remain with your television provider until Microsoft includes this feature in the future.
Microsoft Points
The hated Xbox currency is finally dead. At launch the Xbox One will use your local currency, no word on whether or not accumulated Microsoft points can be transferred.
Exclusives
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So far 12 exclusives have been named: Kinect Sports rivals, Halo for the Xbox One, Dead Rising 3, Ryse, Killer Instinct, Titanfall, Project Spark, Minecraft: Xbox One Edition, D4, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, Fantasia, Crimson Dragon.
Most of these look on par with the PS4 exclusives, will they be enough to persuade you?
Gamerscore, Friends, and Smart Match
Like most things associated with your Xbox 360 account, your Gamerscore and friends lists will transfer easily to the Xbox One.
The current cap for a single game is 1,000 points, unless DLC includes some extra achievements. Microsoft has announced that there will be a cap for how many points a developer can add on the new Xbox One. However, they can add new achievements every week for their games.
This will be great for people who don’t stop playing a game once they earn every achievement.
Xbox One Smart Match (Major Nelson)
Matchmaking has gone to the clouds. During the Microsoft’s E3 press conference’s Ryse segment they showed off some of the new matchmaking features for the Xbox One.
You can start matchmaking for one game and play another, watch TV, or anything else while you wait.
There will be some form of “filters” you can set for matchmaking as well. For example: What if you have the latest DLC maps for Titanfall and want to only play matches with those that have it as well? You can now.
Beacons will be upgraded to a global level, instead of the current friends-only system. You will be able to broadcast that you want to play Killer Instinct to anyone.
Reputation and skill will be more relevant in matchmaking for the future. The new algorithms, as detailed in Major Nelson’s blog above, will separate players more evenly.
Like Playstation+, Xbox Live Gold members will get free Games on the Xbox 360
Fable 3 can be picked up now for free. Assassin’s Creed II and Halo 3 were announced as free games that will be available soon. Microsoft said Xbox Live Gold Member can expect at least 2 free games per month until the Xbox One launches.
12 free games is a great thing, however, Playstation Plus members already have 12 right now and more are coming.
The recently redesigned Xbox 360 got another redesign to match the Xbox One’s look. The price of the Xbox 360 console remains the same after the redesign.
World of Tanks will also be free for the Xbox 360 this summer.
Who knows how well either the PS4 or the Xbox One will fair come launch or after.
The Xbox One has already almost sold out of it’s “Day One Edition” consoles. Amazon has already sold out of it’s inventory as of now.
The console will launch sometime around November this year.
This is a great year to be a gamer. It will interesting to see how all of Microsoft’s decisions will affect the Xbox One sales. What side of the console war will you be on?
Join our ongoing discussion of the new consoles on ABT’s forum and make your views known: here and here.
