Xbox, One for you?

After a super successful Xbox 360, which most people claim won the last console generation wars, Microsoft is now releasing the next iteration into a less clear cut market. The hardcore gaming sector as such is being threatened by smartphone and tablet dominated casual games. This situation is now reflected by Microsofts approach with the One. Instead of just focusing on just gaming the redmond based company has packed the One with tons of features to bring in new customers that wouldn’t usually buy a console. However this decision has lead to an extreme backlash from the core consumers that Microsoft needs for this console to really succeed. Their fail at the E3 really dampened a lot of excitement that had been surrounding the console pre-announcement. They decided to focus on the TV and media aspects of the “gaming console” at a Gaming convention which a lot of gamers found worrying. Furthermore this, coupled with the decision that a permanent online connection was needed to play, as well as inhibiting the resale and loaning out of games that seemed to have knocked the nails into this once promising console. Yet Microsoft was not ready to concede defeat to Sony so easily. They reversed (at least somewhat) on most of their negative decisions (which also caused some uproar on the internets forum strangely enough). However this is probably what has still kept the One in the running to still take this generation’s console crown. Now we are right just before the release of the Xbox One, and things are looking up from just a few months ago. The negative details of the E3 announcement and following dithering of Microsoft have been forgotten and the positives have stayed in mind. There is just one stumbling block that new Xbox needs to overcome: the price. Over £420 is quite a bit more than the earlier generation and given that competitors have given their devices quite a bit cheaper price tag, this may make gamers think twice about forking out that kind of money. Yet compared to the PS4 and Wii U, the One has a strong line up of exclusives which may yet sway the hardcore gamers. Titles such as Titanfall and Dead Rising 3 will grace the shelves at launch. One last worrying caveat, Call of Duty: Ghosts, one of the big name games, does not run at full HD on the Xbox One. Apparently this is due to the fact that even though the One does support 1080p, Infinity Ward (the publishers) have decided for stabilities sake that 720p is all they could offer on the One. What does this mean for smaller titles? Will the full HD experience ever come to the new Xbox? Now the question: Should you go for the Xbox One? If you (or your parents) have some money to burn, and are unsure, you should consider the Xbox. It has very decent specs and the opening line up of games is very respectable. Just keep in mind that this console is not solely aimed at gamers and therefore will not be as perfectly tailored to gaming as other consoles may be. Furthermore the need to be online once every 24 hours, as well as lack of open resale is very annoying, and so should be kept in mind. However you also get several positives which allow this device to be used for several other purposes (movies, tv, media etc.) which a traditional console may not be. In the end it is your choice though, and you have to do decide whether you value a multifunctional console or a gaming console more.