Xbox One Console Thread

[MattyP]

It really does seem like Sony just sat back after doing so well to win so many sales and so much gamer praise.

Market leader with big sales and they've got no big titles for Xmas and no first party titles in a whole year. Yeeesh.

Well if its one thing that is clearly evident that exclusives aren't as important as they once were to shift consoles.

Whilst I've been enjoying my XBox One it doesn't give me the same buzz as the first year I owned the 360 which brought so many new bits and pieces to gaming. Suppose it did usher in the HD era of gaming and is a tough act to follow.

Looking forward to the new Crackdown next year though to see what cloud computing will add to the experience... that and Crackdown been one of my unexpected favourite games on the 360.

Saying all that I'm really glad MS are back on track with the XBO they are ticking all the right boxes again. At one point I was so dismayed after watching that keynote back in 2013 I thought I'd never go back to the platform again.

To add Sony convinced me this gen to never ever buy a console at launch again. Not saying I was disappointed or anything but no longer have a PS4 and don't intend to buy one again.

[Boozy The Clown]

Media Molecule is owned by Sony so Tearaway counts. As does MLB. And I'm sure that they co-developed Bloodbourne.

Of course, I've got no idea why you'd exclude the stuff that they published either?

Mainly since the reveal we've been speculating as to what Sony's big first party studios would be bringing to this generation. Other than delays, cancelled projects and studios being closed and downsized there hasn't been a lot to get excited about. The fanbase seems convinced that 2016 will be a great year with various big studios putting out the goods. With little concrete news beyond announcements for games that could still be years away and major marketing investment to secure exclusive content and marketing rights for nearly every 3rd party multi platform game in 2015 it's leaving the PS4's line up to rely on indies that are starting to suffer the same issues as their major studios outputs.

I appreciate that the PS3 had support until late in the gen from the major studios and the success of the PS4 has taken them by surprise but they are missing out on strengthening their catalogue with games that utilise the PS4's superior tech to it's fullest especially when even Naughty Dog can't meet the 1080p/60fps that was promised/expected when the machine was announced.

[Kiwi Cake]

Agreed, but generally, it feels like MS are putting in more effort right now. I mean, there was precious little new content at that recent Paris thing. Just an observation as an owner of both.

I don't disagree at all.

[rafaqat]

Quick, someone list games we can't play yet!

Shenmue 3

*climbs on desk*

*whoops and hollers*

[Bojangle]

It does seem like a distant memory now. They've done incredibly well to recover from that.

Yeah, put me down as one of those who vowed to never buy a Bone. I feel it did MS a world of good, it was a tough learning experience for them, and I doubt the Bone would be in the strong position it is today (in terms of current and upcoming content) had the roles been reversed. They still need a lesson in decent UI design though.

[Yoshimax]

What about hololens? Is that going to be another kinect?

No it won't be sold as a console peripheral it's applications are far and wide.

[Nifta]

Is Hololens an Xbox One accessory? I thought it was a PC thing (genuinely).

[SeanR]

Shenmue 3

*climbs on desk*

*whoops and hollers*

Touche!

[Mr. Gerbik]

They get deleted after set time if you don't make a point of saving them.

Ah, that's good to know, thanks. Saves me the hassle. But it's still silly that Insomniac didn't put an on/off option for the automatic DVR in the game itself and it's just as silly that Microsoft apparently removed the option to turn DVR off completely in the dash. It's nice that additional features like these exist, but imo they should always be optional instead of forced.

[c-cat114]

Is the Sainsburys £280 deal for Halo and Fifa still on? Spent last night playing Halo 5, MGS5 and NFS demo and am sold

That said still thibk the console looks pig ugly but dem games ...

[Yoshimax]

Ah, that's good to know, thanks. Saves me the hassle. But it's still silly that Insomniac didn't put an on/off option for the automatic DVR in the game itself and it's just as silly that Microsoft apparently removed the option to turn DVR off completely in the dash. It's nice that additional features like these exist, but imo they should always be optional instead of forced.

A few older games have this "problem" (my term) but most new titles don't do it - I think they tried to use it as a way to promote games between friends.

It's an amazing game that didn't really get the praise it deserved - hope you're enjoying it.

[Mr. Gerbik]

A few older games have this "problem" (my term) but most new titles don't do it - I think they tried to use it as a way to promote games between friends.

It's an amazing game that didn't really get the praise it deserved - hope you're enjoying it.

Yeah it does feel like a 'start of the new generation, let's try all this new stuff out' kind of design decision. Still think it's weird that they didn't at least patch a simple on/off option in afterwards. Seems like such a small thing to do. Of course, being a new Xboner I'm only just now discovering these quirks that you guys probably already discussed ages ago. Sunset Overdrive itself is good fun so far, not amazing (yet) but real good fun and it controls surprisingly well after you get used to instinctively grinding while shooting and dodging at the same time. (It's miles better than inFamous second son for example, that game was boring from the start and never really improved. Looks great, but man is it ever boring and weirdly empty.) Apart from that Sunset also succeeds at making me wish for a new Jet Set Radio and hyping me up for Crackdown 3.

[Boozy The Clown]

https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/661307413597818880

List of the first 100 backwards compatible games to be shown on the 9th.

[Don Wiskerando]

Touche!

[Yoshimax]

Another day, another NXOE system update:

DETAILS

OS version released: th2_xbox_rel_1510.151031-1900
Available: 6:00PM PST 11/2 (2AM GMT 11/3) 

Fixes:

Live TV Stuttering Fix (50mhz: Fixed an issue that caused Live TV playback to stutter (more promiment with 50Hz content)
Bluray/Upload Studio/Preview Dashboard: This build contains a fix that may help address issues causing Blu-ray, Upload Studio, and Preview Dashboard to crash.
My games and apps: Fixed an issue that sometimes caused apps and games to fail to activate or timeout
DirectTV: Fixed an issue that sometimes caused no audio in OneGuide for DirectTV when turning on the console
Titles/Labels: Fixed an issue that caused "ms-resource" to show up on the labels of some titles and DLC
High Contrast Mode: Fixed an issue where room noise could cause a false recognition turning on high contrast mode.
Battery Indicator: Improved the accuracy of the controller battery indicator on home.
Media apps: Fixed an issue that was causing a small number of media apps to occasionally crash or have poor performance
Blank App Tiles: For some users, unlaunchable blank tiles containing only a background color and missing the title should no longer appear. Please use Report a problem if this issue still occurs for you.
Game Fixes: Some titles (such as Forza Motorsport 6) will no longer fail to resume a suspended session after powering on the console in Instant-On mode.

[SqueakyG]

My psu has such a noticeable fan hum that it prevents me from having it on Instant On (it's in an av unit now anyway where i fear it would get too hot anyway but still). It has been like this since day one and online reports say it's pot luck to getting a hummer so i never bothered replacing it.

I've complained about this before, but yes - I also have a power brick that makes an annoying noise when left in "Instant On" mode. It's too quiet to hear in the daytime, but this Xbox is in my bedroom, and in the nighttime silence it's just annoying enough to prevent sleep.

I can't be bothered mailing parcels and waiting weeks to get a swap from Microsoft, when apparently it's 50/50 luck that you'll get another hummer. And several shops have flat-out told me "No" when I've asked if I can buy a spare official brick off them.

So I'll compromise. I'll just do without "Instant On" mode. Unfortunately "Energy saving mode" doesn't automatically download updates, and it doesn't allow game sessions to instantly resume.

[McCoy]

Ahh, mine makes a small noise when instant on as well. I just assumed they all did that.

I guess there is no easy solution such as cleaning the power brick or anything like that?

[Transient Curse]

I've complained about this before, but yes - I also have a power brick that makes an annoying noise when left in "Instant On" mode. It's too quiet to hear in the daytime, but this Xbox is in my bedroom, and in the nighttime silence it's just annoying enough to prevent sleep.

I can't be bothered mailing parcels and waiting weeks to get a swap from Microsoft, when apparently it's 50/50 luck that you'll get another hummer. And several shops have flat-out told me "No" when I've asked if I can buy a spare official brick off them.

So I'll compromise. I'll just do without "Instant On" mode. Unfortunately "Energy saving mode" doesn't automatically download updates, and it doesn't allow game sessions to instantly resume.

You can now buy power bricks. I don't know where from but people were complaining about losing them in house moves and so on on Reddit and Major Nelson personally flagged it up and everyone was happy.

I believe you have to buy direct from Xbox support though, which probably means you're still rolling the dice.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-power-supply-units-now-available-to-buy/1100-6430492/

[SeanR]

we have a whip-round to hire one of these

http://www.hss.com/hire/p/sound-level-meter

and then select one member with:

to perform some real-world* tests

* as opposed to lab tests

[Guest]

That said still thibk the console looks pig ugly but dem games ...

I've said many times now that I think the design is fine.

It's a black box that runs silent. No weird slants or angles, nice clean face with no ports at all on it. It fits in perfectly on the TV stand.

[Chooch]

Is it okay to set a tivo box on top of it though? Otherwise it might have to go in the cabinet behind the closed doors.

Hmm, which is worse?

[c-cat114]

I've said many times now that I think the design is fine.

It's a black box that runs silent. No weird slants or angles, nice clean face with no ports at all on it. It fits in perfectly on the TV stand.

Whereas I think it looks ridiculously huge bearing in mind it also has an external power brick, the brick doesn't run silent, the two tone aspect is unappealing, the vents ran stupidly hot in my experience and, seeing it next to a PS4 - in and of itself not the prettiest piece of id in the world, makes it look like the bloated VCR lookalike that it is.

Horses for courses. But it was the games and the comfort of the joypad that sold it to me, you can choose whether you like it or not, that's fine, but imo it's one of the most startalingly unappealing consoles I've ever seen.

[HarryBizzle]

It looks OK but it's too big and mine's a hummer as well which is annoying. I can chuck my PS4 in a backpack and take it around but the size of the Xbox and that bloody brick make that impractical.

[Yoshimax]

I've never felt more than the slightest of heat from the vents on mine even after hours of use - i'd ventilate it better or swap it out. The brick doesn't generate much heat either but I've heard giving it a good knock can set the fan properly and stop noise. You could also box it and it'd be fine to stop you hearing it if it's that bad.

[Cosmic_Guru]

Yes, the second* objective advantage the PS4 has over this for me is the increased portability - if I wanted to tuck one console under my arm and set it up elsewhere it would be the PS4 - the Bone has a trailing bevy of heavy and / or cumbersome appendages attached.

* the first being the much faster boot from Off status (probably installation too but I've yet to test that - seems to average 1gig/min on the Bone, so 40 minutes for a AAA game).

[HarryBizzle]

I've never felt more than the slightest of heat from the vents on mine even after hours of use - i'd ventilate it better or swap it out. The brick doesn't generate much heat either but I've heard giving it a good knock can set the fan properly and stop noise. You could also box it and it'd be fine to stop you hearing it if it's that bad.

Mine does it as long as the white light on the power brick is on. I keep it on instant on mode but unless I'm downloading something or planning to turn it on again shortly I just press the power button for a few seconds to shut it down properly. Doesn't really bother me that much.

[Guest]

Whereas I think it looks ridiculously huge bearing in mind it also has an external power brick, the brick doesn't run silent, the two tone aspect is unappealing, the vents ran stupidly hot in my experience and, seeing it next to a PS4 - in and of itself not the prettiest piece of id in the world, makes it look like the bloated VCR lookalike that it is.

Horses for courses. But it was the games and the comfort of the joypad that sold it to me, you can choose whether you like it or not, that's fine, but imo it's one of the most startalingly unappealing consoles I've ever seen.

Well of course if it was smaller that would be nice. But that will come later.

I also agree with you on the two tone aspect. I'd prefer all matte black.

Mine definitely runs cool though.

[SeanR]

I've said many times now that I think the design is fine.

It's a black box that runs silent. No weird slants or angles, nice clean face with no ports at all on it. It fits in perfectly on the TV stand.

Except the one on the front, at the bottom, to try and slim down the profile, obv.

[Yoshimax]

Except the one on the front, at the bottom, to try and slim down the profile, obv.

That's so it will sit on a smaller surface area, obv.

[TehStu]

The PS4 may be generally smaller, but it's very deep, thanks to that leaning profile. I had clearance behind my XB1 on my tv stand, the PS4 does not. I note also that while my PS4 used to be silent on top of a desk, it's getting on for 360 noise in a TV stand. The XB1 was whisper quiet in that same stand, so I think it does a better job of cooling itself.

There's pros and cons to either approach, but I don't think there's any clear winner, to be honest.

Also, time to drill some venting holes in the back of my TV stand, I guess.