First of all, from a press release/advertising perspective, what was the point of this event?!  Seriously, about the only thing we didn’t know that was “good” was the name itself.  “Xbox One” isn’t a bad name for their machine, especially when it goes along with the tag line “All in One”.

As for the bad:

• The main CPU is proprietary – they made their own chip.  Expect developers to have to struggle, at least a little with it.  Porting software will similarly have at least that one extra hurdle.  Proprietary chips have worked well for NO machines.  NONE.
• Xbox One offers no backwards compatibility.  All Xbox original and 360 games, including XBLA digital download games will not run on the new machine.
• Kinect is built in and always on.  This means two things:  1) it will be impossible to do with the Xbox One what 4GN is currently doing with four 360s, stacking them in the Man Cave, 2) I haven’t a clue how I will protect my privacy.  Kinect is a multi-spectrum audio and video capturing device, which, like all hardware will be “hackable”, potentially streaming all living room activity to whoever wants it.
• Games will be tied to accounts, not machines.  This is the same model as Steam, except that friends will not be able to borrow the physical discs and play them.  They will have to pay an “unlock” fee (the price of the game new) to try the game loaned to them by a friend.  So, not only will I not be able to “double dip”, but if I buy the next Batman game, I won’t even be able to loan it to the others in our Man Cave to play using their profiles.  If they want to play Batman, they will have to use my account.   This isn’t restrictive, this is a straight jacket in a rubber room.  Microsoft is already scrambling to do damage control and now saying that they are working on a plan so that we will be able to “trade” games.  Yeah, right.

There is more, or should I say less.  But at this point, it doesn’t even matter.  I will not commit myself to any future path.  I will refrain from making rash promises, but right now, I am not just uninterested but aggressively angry with the “features” announced at the unveiling.  Apparently, there are some improvements to the controller.  Woop De Doo!

There is no image with this post.  You do not want to see what I am thinking right now.

The name is fine.  “All in One” is their slogan.  It will not require constant Internet connection.  It will not be backwards compatible.  All your 360 games including your XBLA library will be unplayable on the One.  I am not sure, but I think Kinect must be on.  Is it just me, or is this thing HUGE, and with sharp edges.  Like, bigger than the original Xbox.  Moving from 15 thousand servers to 300 thousand servers.  That might mean Live is a little more responsive.  In the presentation above, he spent the least amount of time describing the most important features for gamers (e.g., multitasking – have it matchmaking while you are playing a different game or surfing the web).  There are still so many questions.

PAR coverage:

“The Xbox One: the services, the hardware, the limited details“

“Microsoft is changing the definition of “used” and “new” games, and you’re not going to like it“

The Kinect is mandatory, and can’t be turned off: Welcome your new motion sensing, Xbox One overlord

Indie issues, Kinect concerns, and E3 yearnings: Ben and Andrew discuss the Xbox One announcements

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/the-kinect-is-mandatory-and-cant-be-turned-off-welcome-your-new-motion-sens

Ty’s World with some solid opinion and excellent outside links!

http://www.saityrus.com/my-concern-with-next-gen-consoles/

http://www.saityrus.com/xbox-one-specs-revealed/

More videos after the jump.  Thanks to EvAv for heads-up on most of this stuff.

Update: Hey guys! ty here. I just wanted to add these two videos to the mix. Angry Joe (a popular YouTuber) posted his reaction. I recommend you play the second video while you listen to his rant. Adds to the epic feel!

Update #2: Kinda feel like THIS! -ty

Eating and working out feel like a big waste of time to me.  A while back, I read about a machine in an In-Flight magazine that could give you a high intensity workout the equivalent of an hour or two in the gym with a trainer and a full body plan.  Of course, the machine is hand-crafted and about 20 thousand dollars, so needless to say, I never picked one up.  Anyway, this time, some researchers have come up with a 7 minute workout that requires only a wall and a chair (that I can afford) and the plan is based on science, not testimony.  Perhaps this post is as much for me as for anyone.  The YouTubes above and below provide timed guides for the regimen. Cheers!

Smoke ‘em if ya got em.  ‘Suns.

Ray Manzarek passed away at the age of 74.  Watch the story of making Riders On The Storm above.  Great tale.

After Blankman’s heads-up on some gameplay videos, I did a little peeking around and discovered Naughty Dog just released another Developer Diary.  The tool/weapon crafting is really cool, but doesn’t impress me as much as the voice acting and storytelling as evidenced in the gameplay vids.  I cannot see how a fan of zombies won’t consider this to be one of the most important productions in the genre.  It is just a crying shame that Naughty Dog is Sony PlayStation exclusive.  Really, for all concerned except Sony, it is tragic.

So I posted mostly spoiler-free impressions of Star Trek: Into Darkness over at my blog. 3Suns made a great point and stated that he felt the movie probably doesn’t adhere to “The Principles of Star Trek.” That’s a lengthy, but great read if you have the time and interest. You can check out my latest post, which stemmed from that article here.

-ty

Just watch it.

Epic continues to try to address the needs of their Gears fans and simultaneously grow their gamer base. Their latest announcement is the upcoming Lost Relics map pack which includes:

• Checkout from Gears 3 – one of the few tight, Execution compatible maps in the entire Gears 3 map collection, which unfortunately, I like only slightly more than Blood Drive
• Museum - massive, for the inevitable Horde gametype release at some TBA future
• Lost City - looks small and kind of reminds me of Bullet Marsh
• Ward - made for OverRun.

I continue to pick away at that OverRun demo. I play a match or two whenever I have a chance and am now a level 34 (without any double xp). I enjoy OverRun darn near as much as I like Battlefield.  With Lost Relics, Epic is now adding Battlefield’s Rush gametype. I don’t know if it will work well in the Gears universe, but it might. I love me some objective gaming, especially when it involves grabbing and using one’s “kit”. And fo me, “shatty bottles” which are in full glory in Judgment, never get old. Just last night, without my sentry, I took out four humanoid locust and was working on the fifth when I jammed my reload. If I didn’t have the-”B”-button-is-broken mindset, I could have easily taken him out as well, such was the power of my flanking technique. Think Kung Fu Panda, at the end of the movie.

I know that for those who don’t already own the game, this boat has pretty much sailed. I don’t blame you. However, with Payday 2 releasing in summer, I figure just about the time we are satiated with its offerings, Judgment may hit the magic price of 10 or 15 dollars. I am secretly hoping that when it does, some of you just might pick it up on impulse. Since Judgment has already started its price slide, it won’t be much longer and I will be picking it up whether it goes digital or not.

The death of the “online pass” is actually important to me as, lately, EA has been publishing a lot of games I want to play.

Venture Beat via Joystiq.

This week I take a gander at Hitman: Absolution, a competent stealth game that has multiple approaches to bloody fun!

-ty

And check out the work we’ve done to the blog!

Don’t watch this if you plan on seeing Riddick and want to go in without any preconceptions. Having watched the trailer myself, I feel like someone is finally attempting a spiritual successor to the Alien movies. Release date: September 6, 2013.

Via EvAv.

Had to share this awesomeness with you guys. This is on the PC version only, but tell me it doesn’t look awesome! Modding = AWESOME. Love it! Expect a little footage of this along with all the other ridiculousness of what Steam Workshop has to offer sometime soon!

-ty