It must be frustrating for the people who work on the Xbox One, to have turned one of the worst-pitched gaming consoles ever into a machine that’s in several ways better than its competition. Lately, Microsoft has done so many things well. They have improved their box in so many ways. Surely they ask: Will you not love the Xbox One, already?
They are trying so hard.
This is part of our 2015 “State of” series, a look at how the five major consoles (and PC) are doing this year.
Say you bought an Xbox One at the start of 2015 thinking, this console is “OK, I guess”. Then earlier this year, you find out that the machine you’ve got is one day just going to start being backwards compatible with an expanding list of games from the Xbox 360. That’s better than OK!
Microsoft has this “free” game thing going where $80 per year Xbox Live Gold subscribers get two free games a month. Not bad. Then, with that backwards compatibility magic accomplished, they promise that they will toss in two Xbox 360 games every month that will work on your Xbox One, too.
They grab the next Tomb Raider, which is made available first on Xbox consoles and turns out to be a good game.
They tap the top Metroid Prime guys to make a game for them.
They stop talking about Kinect. They stop talking about TV, and sports.
They revise the console’s unifying “One Guide” to put more focus on serving as listings for what’s available to watch on the system’s various streaming apps. (Minimal Netflix integration so far, unfortunately.)
They apologise for the messy launch of their collection of Halo games by tossing in another Halo game at no extra charge.
They put out Rare Replay, the best compilation of high-quality video games since The Orange Box. It includes some of the best games for the Nintendo 64, games you can’t even get on Nintendo’s Virtual Console. Blast Corps, people!
The Xbox people do a deal with EA for another paid subscription service — no one said they aren’t trying to get your money from you! — and, lo and behold, they get you access to one of the spring’s big games, Star Wars Battlefront, a week before it’s officially out.
They add a headphone jack to their controllers so that you wouldn’t have to use proprietary connectors.
They don’t suddenly make it easy to swap the increasingly limiting internal 500GB drives that hold all those games that everyone loves having to install, but they start selling units with 1TB drives (and support the addition of external hard drives).
They produce an extra configurable “elite” version of their controller. It costs $200, sure, but if you’re into that kind of thing, it’s a damn good controller.
They re-do their console’s user-interface so that it’s faster. And add the option to remap every controller button and zoom in on text so to make their console work better for more disabled players.
Microsoft did all of that in 2015 and nevertheless find themselves with the less buzzed-about of the biggest two consoles. Some of that buzz is literally theatre. Sony now holds annual fan expos and hits the nostalgia button by hosting crowdfunding announcements for games like Shenmue 3 and Psychonauts 2, or by bringing guys from Square Enix on stage to show off an eye-watering remake of the original PlayStation classic Final Fantasy VII. Xbox One fans are left hoping that Major Nelson will Tweet something cool.
Sony’s been skipping around this year, barely releasing major new exclusives and enjoying all the positive word of mouth from beating the Xbox One out of the gate while coming out ahead in the quasi-perceptible graphics resolution debate. It’s enough to make you think you screwed up if you chose to buy an Xbox One instead of a PS4, but actually, no, you did just fine.
Getting an Xbox One got you a console that now plays Destiny: The Taken King, Metal Gear Solid V, The Witcher 3, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and Fallout 4. You could’ve gotten a PC or PS4 for that, but you’d have missed Halo 5‘s great new Warzones mode, last spring’s terrific Sunset Overdrive, the superb Rare Replay collection and that whole Xbox 360 backwards compatibility thing.
Microsoft’s marketing hype for this spring’s Xbox One line-up said that it was their best holiday line-up ever. Maybe. The Xbox One holiday line-up sure was better than Sony’s and Nintendo’s, abetted by the fact that those two platform holders wound up testing what’d happen if they had a November without a major exclusive between them. Microsoft’s problem might be the creeping sense that all their big franchises are heading into that tired Guitar Hero: Van Halen phase where they need some time off. Who’s excited for the annual Forza release? Was Gears of War gone long enough for you to be excited about the original Gears‘ HD remake?
Then there’s Halo 5, a game with some interesting and fun multiplayer modes, but where the most heavily advertised part — the campaign — was a bland drag. If Halo isn’t going into Tony Hawk Pro Skater territory, it at least feels like it is going into Zelda territory, turning into a franchise that still pleases the faithful but rarely makes the have-nots jealous.
Moving into 2016, the Xbox One will finally have a new game from the makers of Alan Wake, will have a brand new Gears of War, a Crackdown, may get an as yet un-dated pirate game from Rare, a dragon game from the Bayonetta people, and maybe they will even finally release that multiplayer Fable game that’s been in beta for a while.
They have got some minor issues that still need solving, too. The console’s video capture options, for example, are still too convoluted and low-quality. Backwards-compatible 360 games are still not listed for purchase directly in the Xbox One’s store. This stuff seems solvable.
The State of the Xbox One in 2015 is that it is an aggressive contender constantly swinging at Sony. Those paying attention will notice it is scoring plenty of hits, too, and is likely to land more in 2016. It’s a very good console and has been for some time.
Illustration by Sam Woolley
Comments
113 responses to “The State Of The Xbox One In 2015”
Do you need some pepper to go with all that salt?
I’m tired of this slang, but that searing was pretty well-seasoned.
I’d have to say that Sony is looking at more hits in 2016, with Uncharted 4, The Last Guardian, Street Fighter V, No Man’s Sky, Horizon Zero Dawn and many more.
I do admire what MS is doing in making the Xbone more attractive and consumer-friendly. I might pick one up down the track.
Next year might just be the year I get my greasy little mitts on a PS4. Really looking at No Mans Sky and The Last Guardian with interest.
Sony would want a strong year, They haven’t done anything yet except sell a crap load of consoles….. so i guess they did well?
Pretty crazy that they’ve sold as much as they have when the software line-up is so lacklustre in terms of exclusives. I think the third-party marketing deals have been having a bigger impact than many expected.
The PS4 has had quite a few exclusives, but not many of them are A-list titles.
Having gotten quite a bit of fun out of some of those non-A-list titles, I’m basically OK with this.
The big XBox One exclusives are almost all shooters. That’s great if you like shooters, but it does mean my XBox One has been gathering dust.
(Obvious exceptions are Forza and the new Tomb Raider. There are others, but by the numbers most are shooters. Sadly, their main exclusive RPG franchise, Fable, basically jumped the shark at Fable 3 and hasn’t shown any signs of returning to being worthwhile.)
I really wish they would add a section to the XBox One store where you browse XBox 360 titles. That would make it much more useful. (Although most of the 360 games I’d want to play are not on the compatible list.)
Only just updated mine last inght lol… Turned it on to download the Division Alpha. Once that’s finished its a paperweight again!
Won’t be playing it then ? :p
Lol – once the Alpha is finished.
I got the XBone for exclusives only – and I cant afford ANOTHER game right now so Tomb Raider can wait a bit.
Its a decent machine dont get me wrong Ive just been in the Sony ecosystem for longer and games seem to still run smoother over there
Not sure why you get negged. Mine is a dust machine. Just sitting there and the last time I turned it on was to update and install Halo 5 then went off and never touch again.
I know why: Black Dahlia NZ – Loves his xbone 😉
Yeah i actually had to plug mine in last night because i had forgotten to download the Division alpha the night before – had the update to do that fixes up the UI which came out like what!? two months ago?!
Not got any reason to play that instead of PS4
haha. I’m really really hoping for Xbox One to get some decent exclusive for me to start using it again. I really want to use it. Last time I was playing it alot was back when Titanfall was released.
And i unfortunately put that one down after about two weeks – same shit different day!
Sorry man your going to have to repeat that, your connection to the SEN was being hacked/down for maintenance/DDOS’d (pick any) and you were unable to post. Please try again
You lost me with your attempt at fanboy humour
All the good things listed here are less good than they are described as being..
Backwards compatibility, of course, is a great thing and a significant technical achievement, but Digital Foundry’s in-depth analysis noted that Mass Effect is ‘Sub-optimal and nearly unplayable in places’.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-vs-backwards-compatibility-on-xbox-one
So, here’s hoping that:
(A) Performance can be improved.
(B) Red Dead Redemption is added to the growing list of compatible titles, and that it runs at a constant 30 FPS (unlike the 360 version).
Microsoft want Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar have yet to say Yes.
I can’t imagine why they’d hold off unless there’s a remaster on the way.
I really do hope there’s a remaster on the way.
Money
Possibly, but they stand to make a metric shit tonne more cash out of a remaster than they would extorting MS for money to allow backwards compatibility, I’d wager.
Edit: I really want a remaster. Don’t bust my bubble.
But think of how much less effort and risk their would be in letting MS have Red Dead for backward compatibility rather than a remaster…
I didn’t want to burst your bubble…but I have this giant needle you see.
A remaster would be preferred.
Since the game isn’t really sold new any more, there isn’t much of an upside to making it compatible. They would just be hurting later sales of any later remaster.
If MS adds 360 games to the XBox Store so new people can play it on XBox One, Rockstar might get some sales out of it. No idea why MS hasn’t done this yet. Avoiding confusion where people buy the (cheaper) 360 version by mistake?
I think getting the 360 games on the store will be their next priority – they already come up in recommendations believe it or not!
A year ago on 360 you couldn’t see what Xbone players were playing – now you can, you also had a 32GB limit on external storage – now it’s two TB! MS keeps astonishing me with what they’re capable of doing with their consoles.
There’s no reason for RDR not to be BC except that a) a remaster is planned (the sakes they would generate on PC alone would make it worth their while) or b) they seem to favour Sony a lot more these days with press events and console bundles.
It’s worth noting that that Eurogamer story was written in June.
When backwards compatibility went into beta.
I don’t know how much it’s improved since then, but there were some improvements between June and its November launch.
More salt is required, so much salt in this
Couldn’t agree more.
Ps4 year in review… ‘Not great. Only starting to be worth your money’.
Xbox one year in review…’ new kid on the block. Great lineup. Halo!!!!! ‘.
“quasi-perceptible graphics resolution debate”, hmm this debate leads to not just a 1080P/900P difference, but with some games a 60 fps versus 30 fps difference. It may not matter to professional games reviewers who can afford both consoles & pc’s (plus don’t pay for a majority of the games they play), but for a consumer who basically can only afford one console – the it’s a major point of difference that I can’t ignore. I’ll wait until the Xbone comes slimmer, cheaper and get a bundle deal to catch up on Halo 5 (not that I’ve missed it’s story).
Pretty sure anyone with a job can afford both consoles they just choose not to like my friend who just spent 400 on a headset. A true gamer owns all consoles.
That’s not a fair statement IMO, considering the PS4 and XB1 are so similar maybe people can’t justify buying two slightly different machines. What about partners who can’t understand you buying two things that to them look exactly the same.
A True gamer isn’t somebody who purchases everything it’s somebody who loves games not the machines that run them to the exclusion of games. Sony Fanboys seem to love the PS4 more than the games on it. True Gamers can appreciate a good game that isn’t on their system.
Too true.
The value of a second console is more or less exclusively in its exclusives. It’s not worth buying until the exclusives are good enough to justify forking out the dosh for a new console.
So if a new console has two exclusives that you actually want to play, the price of those two games effectively goes up from $50 (or whatever) to $250 each. You can plan ahead and mentally amortise it over additional, future games, but that’s still a hefty up-front cost.
And when the price is denying your kids from going to summer camp (or whatever; not actually a parent here) it’s very understandable why a parent would choose to wait.
I just want to a) agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment – especially when it comes to justifying the excesses of this hobby to a non-gaming partner b) note how much what you said reminds me of that quote: “a great lover is not one who romances a different woman every night, but one who romances the same woman for a lifetime”
Rubbish.
a) There’s more than “both” consoles.
b) Jobs pay amounts of money.
c) People have different priorities for their money. Some people have dependents for example.
Any time someone wants to point out that the differences are imperceptible I kind of want to point out that there are people out there who can take a mouthful of wine and tell you not only which vineyard it came from, but in which fucking year.
Horse shit it’s imperceptible to the connoisseur.
I sat in a Marketing class at uni where a lecturer tried to demonstrate through a blind taste test that most people can’t tell the difference between types of cola.
He made the unfortunate mistake of picking the nerds at the front who were also doing a double-degree with IT (*cough* including myself), who nailed every single fucking cola, including the shitty brands like RC Cola and LA Ice which people only ever drank under duress at parties thrown by tightarses. (The class instead learned an interesting lesson about statistics and sampling.)
Differences matter to the connoisseur, to the enthusiast. Die-hard gaming enthusiasts will notice when something is 60fps vs 30fps. Even if they can’t quite put their finger on which of the many graphics variables is directly responsible for their discomfort.
well said.
Ive got a 4k monitor that literally looks no better than 1080p. The human eye on average just cant notice the extra detail particularly while engaging in a fast paced activity with shot flying everywhere. If you wanted the best graphics you should have got a PC really. What it comes down to with consoles is the experience being streamlined which neither console is excellent at yet but I would argue from personal experience with both that xbox is improving that experience better than sony is.
Hear hear
Except there aren’t that many games that are 60fps on ps4 and 30fps on xbox one. It’s usually the difference of 900p to 720p. I don’t understand how people can care that much about those 180 peas when the consoles can’t even reach full HD. If you want to care about graphics you get a PC otherwise you just get the console you want or that your friends have.
Yeah I’m hard pressed to notice any graphical deficiencies in Watch Dogs or MGSV on the Xbone even though I’m told the resolution is lower – for that matter (and I have a 60″ TV) I can’t tell much difference between Ch9 and 9HD!
I’d prefer 900P and 60 over 1080P and 30. Smoothness beats Resoloution IMO.
Yeah I did one of those taste tests, got every one right and annoyed the person trying to prove Coke is just marketing by picking it accurately every time. Even when they started mixing 25% something else in I could pick both fairly accurately.
I know their are people out that all Cola tastes the same.
30 & 60 are miles apart. It would be harder to notice 45 & 60 or 1080 vs 900 when you’re far enough back and your TV isn’t huge.
Arrr dude, how many games on ps4 are 60fps and the xbox version is 30?
You missed the point. Upscaled 900 vs 1080, different anti-aliasing settings, whatever it takes to get the job done, the point was that there are people who can and will tell the difference and to claim that there isn’t (as so many seem to) is complete ignorance.
Of course there are people who can tell the difference.
If I say, “hey there is a contact lens on the floor in the bathroom, can you find it?” most people can. However if you walk out of the bathroom and I say “Was there a contact lens on the floor?” your response will probably be “uhhh, I have no idea”
Putting your nose on the screen inspecting aliasing artifacts in a screenshot is a much different than playing a game. And I doubt even the best pixel connoisseurs could reliably detect native resolution changes when playing a game that uses dynamic resolution scaling.
Missed the point again. The POINT was they can tell the difference through casual inspection without needing to get the magnifying glass out because an enthusiast has the familiarity with the subject material to identify differences quickly and be affected by them. That was the point about the wine-tasters. They’re not examining bloody chemical composition, they’re using the same taste buds everyone else does. That was the point about me and my buddies testing different colas – we just drink it more, so we really fucking notice when someone tries to slip us some disgusting coke zero, even though THEY think there’s no noticeable difference without running samples through a centrifuge. The POINT was that PEOPLE WILL NOTICE WITHOUT HAVING TO LOOK FOR IT.
It’s the reason that people say, “It feels off on this system, so I’m going to get it on the other one,” even if they don’t have the language to explain why it ‘feels off’ because those differences aren’t necessarily layman-stark like a 60-30fps jump, and eventually someone points out to them why it is they thought things were so ‘off’.
It’s the uncanny valley, only for resolution/framerate/whatever other sacrifices get made (ambient occlusion, degrees of anti-aliasing, etc – there are more differences between AC4 Xbone and PS4 than mere resolution). Off-putting enough to make the difference when choosing between two.
A recent example being that EU/Aus gamers looking to play PS2 classics on PS4 need to buy their games from the US store instead of the EU store because the EU one is emulating traditionally PAL titles when up-scaled for PS4 run like shit compared to the NTSC ones.
For all the pedant fanboy forum warriors out there who are only looking for ammunition to justify their tribalism so they can validate their mere purchasing decision, there’s a tonne of gaming enthusiasts who play games a lot who notice that something is wrong because they play a lot and are unsettled by the differences.
(Edit: To call back to your analogy, it’s when someone walks into a bathroom and pauses, frowning, because they don’t usually expect to hear a ‘crunch’ when they walk on tiles, but they definitely heard/felt that And they just don’t know it was a contact lens until you ask them about if they found it. Yeah… Yeah, they did.)
haha you make me laugh.
I just want to make it clear, im not a PS4 hater at all! I just think there are WAY more OBVIOUS and IMPORTANT things that make a good console other than a slight difference in resolution.
Well, yeah. For me, it’s exclusives. I’d expect that to be true for most folks.
A common thread that seems to underline the comments here is that the exclusives have been pretty underwhelming thus far, though, and Totilo seems to be annoyed by the reputation the consoles have that if you’re not hunting for any exclusives in particular and picking up mostly multi-platform titles, you’re better off getting the PS4 by default because of those graphics differences.
I don’t blame him for being annoyed at that, but as someone who gets irritated by those differences when switching platforms, I totally know why it’s such a prevalent attitude.
I know there is a difference but on my 55inch tv i seriously struggle to tell the difference. Unless you take stills and put it on a PC and zoom in. Now i can easily tell the difference between 30 and 60fps but that seems to be more of a developer issue rather then a console issue because it plagues both consoles
“I don’t have a problem, therefore there is no problem!”
Never change, Internet.
I agree with your basic argument (that resolution matters to “the connoisseur”) but disagree that it matters to all “die hard gaming enthusiasts.”
I’ve been gaming for over thirty years and spend a lot of time playing a wide range of games, but pretty much ignore resolution and frame rates.
This may be because in my early years single-digit frames per second and 320×200 resolution were common in 3D games, or it may be because my glasses prescription needs to be updated. But the argument that all gaming enthusiasts care deeply about FPS and ultra-high resolutions is demonstrably false.
It may matter to many such enthusiasts, perhaps even the majority, but not all.
lets face it MS really shat the bed on the xbones launch, and have been behind ever since. They cant hope to match sony from where they started, the damage was too severe.
by the time they finally come close to matching sony, the next generation will be out, and the cycle will start over again.
If microsoft even begins to realise that there are millions of PC users that wont by an xbone, but want to play xbone games, and actually release a PC xbone emulator, then suddenly things will get interesting. After all its not the hardware that makes these companys profitable.
Well interestingly almost all xbone exclusives are released for windows 10 as well. I am tentatively considering a PS4 for exclusives but considering I can get pretty much everything from xbone on PC not even considering an xbone
I could make the same argument about the PS3. Suffice to say I disagree with almost everything you said. If I were forced (at gunpoint) to choose one of the current gen systems, I would choose the Xbox One.
My only complaint about my xbone so far is my fault anyway. An update relating to the preview program has made my Logitech G920 wheel stop working, so it’s either wait for an update to fix it or opt out of the program.
Other than that, nothing really bad for me to say. Got both the Xbone and PS4 on day one and my PS4 has been collecting dust ever since.
Xbox definitely provides better value bundles at the moment and at a cheaper price, but they are still hurting from that terrible PR during launch. I am doubtful they will ever catch Sony in this generation of gaming. They have tried everything from having a better games lineup, backward compatibility, elite controllers etc and none of it has worked.
Frankly, I still don’t have a great desire to own either console considering how much love the PC has got and how little console exclusives there are worth owning.
I grabbed PS4 mostly for Remote Play but also because the sorts of games I’m into, often end up on Sony consoles exclusively in the end.
But if I could afford the money & TIME, I’d definitely grab both an Xbone & a WeeOoo too.
Unfortunately I had to choose. Which is fine. But yeah.
Streaming the xbox one to my laptop is better than remote play. Your headset and controller work as well. Nothing like sitting outside playing xbox on a nice day.
Yeah, that’s coming to ps4, I’ll see if my craptop is up to the task.
The handy thing about it being on a vita is the screen being small enough to keep my son seeing me explode a head in VATS or perhaps one day, hump a lady on a unicorn.
The Bone does all the hard work when streaming. The PC you use is just a screen.
I know, but I own a 9 year old craptop running Vista
Ah, that makes more sense.
The Xbone is a great console and a solid pick against the PS4 (which is also great). If it’s your primary gaming machine then you’ve had gaming experiences this year (The Witcher 3 and MGS in particular) that are sound leaps above anything available on the last-gen consoles.
Each to their own though, depending on what other machines you own and your priorities it can be a dust gathering paperweight (depending on your love for 1st party games) or the single best value machine on the market.
As someone who uses the Xbone as their primary console, it has more great games than I have time to play, That’s the most important thing you could want.
I bought one shortly after launch and had I have known what I know now I wouldn’t have got one. Lords of the Fallen has been the highlight so far, but everything else has been either available on PC or exclusive to PS4.
Halo 5?
Rise of the Tomb Raider?
Forza 6?
Sunset Overdrive?
Killer Instinct?
None of the current-gen systems are doing great for exclusives. The PS4 might have more, but a lot of them are rubbish. Bloodbourne is good, but I don’t really feel like I want to go back to it. Prehaps it’s a single game in the pile of “shit that’s just not for me”, but I like other hack-n-slash games and I like Metroidvanias so I don’t know what’s wrong this time around.
Have you tried Ori and The Blind Forest?
Absolutely incredible Metroidvania… and if you don’t have an Xbox it’s coming to PC too I believe.
Ori came out on PC during March this year.
It’s on PC, but I’ve heard from independent reviewers that it’s a bit overrated. Anyway, I don’t have enough money to buy new games and Bone’s HDD is full.
I have the PS4 and the WiiU and, while I doubt I’d be disappointed if someone gave me an Xbone, I don’t really want one.
Sure, it’s got some nice features and games, but I simply don’t have the time or motivation for another console. For me the PS4 was always going to win this console generation and so far I haven’t been disappointed.
I don’t really see this as a Console war, it seems an immature thing to say now that I’m older.
Microsoft, Nintendo & Sony don’t “win” by having an install base they win by making profit now while I’m sure Sony will make more Profit unless there is a Major shake up this year. If the others don’t lose money than everybody wins. As for Microsoft and Sony, they have other interests besides their gaming machines. Nintendo on the other hand is a Games Company and only a Games Company.
That being said I have a XB1 & Wii U, I’m happy with both machines. I wanted Halo 5, I prefer the XB1 Controller and with my small (42″ is now small) TV I won’t really get the benefit of 1080P vs 900P, that being said if a game has a choppy playing experience like Just Cause or the new Need for Speed I’ll skip it, so many games missing a few won’t hurt.
You’re missing another interpretation: which one I like the most. Subjectively, the PS4 has “won” this generation by being the one I wanted to buy, over the one that I didn’t.
I get what you’re saying, but as I said I’ve outgrown this us and them mentality.
Now when somebody asks me which machine to buy I don’t say my one, I ask about Games and which Controller they prefer. You rarely get somebody who says Halo and Dual Shock.
i want them all to succeed and give me great games, ill buy them all and be a happy man
Its too hard having a PS4 and Xbox One – Whenever i get a new game its always PS4 version… Forza 6 was good but didnt feel as nice as Project Cars even
I switched from xbox to PS4 at the new gen launch. I now own both. Xbone is making better improvements then PS4 in regards to updates. This is most likely because they’re trying to catch up to PS4. Which is great for consumers. I don’t want the PS4 to dominate. Remember fanboys competition is healthy. Here are three key features that the xbox one has over the ps4.
– external hard drive storage/media player (no need for fiddling with an ssd and voiding your warranty. Simply plug in and expand. Can also play ‘legally downloaded movies from the external hard drive)
-Provides a more truer backwards compatibility then this rubbish paid ps2 backwards compatibility. You can ear 4 games a month with xbox live gold which is nice.
– Ability to change your username. FFS how has Playstation not figured a work around for this I have no idea.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at with the hard drive bit… PS4 has supported media on external HDD’s for quite a while now. The media player itself isn’t great, but the support is there. Not sure what you’re getting at with the SSD / voiding warranty thing, either? Replacing the PS4’s internal hard drive doesn’t void the warranty.
Until Xbox can start doing some real exclusive games on it, it will continue to become dust machine for me. None of the multi platform release perform better on X1. Nothing but bro shooters on X1, nothing that doesn’t end up going to PC on X1. It is so hard to justify getting an X1 or recommend one to anyone.
Not to mention this is such a fanboy quote:
The only exclusive “hit” was Halo 5, Forza, arguably Sunset Overdrive for the entire 2015. Like how the hell is that “scoring plenty of hits”.
It seems like he’s counting backwards compatibility as a hit (which I’d agree with), as well as the free games with XBL (that’s not a hit, that’s catching up with what the opposition had already been doing for ages).
Yeah. I don’t really care about the backwards compatibility. Nothing my 360 couldn’t do and majority of the titles are on PC anyway.
I think no one actually noticed that people actually have no games to play on X1 to the point that they are actually popping their 360 titles to play with backwards compatibility.
It is true that the feature is important but Backwards Compatibility after 2 years? Defeats the whole purpose of backwards compatibility.
Not to mention weren’t people complaining they have so bad internet that they couldn’t download day one patches but downloading the entire game for backwards compatibility is suddenly the best idea ever?
Enh, it’s a plus side to me, because I have a fairly large number of titles that I either still haven’t finished, or which I like to pop in every now and then but don’t want to bother plugging in the old console for. But yeah, on the strength of exclusives, PS4 was a no-brainer for me. Bloodborne alone trumps pretty much anything the xbone’s been able to offer yet.
It’s still faster to plug in the 360 than play on One
🙁
It doesn’t have The Order 1886, Godzilla or Knack.
In all seriousness, I have a feeling that Sony need to get off their arse and actually start getting some really good exclusives out, otherwise they’ll end up looking like a bunch of tools.
Not sure if serious, PlayStation have better exclusives than Xbox one at the moment.
Bloodbourne and…well that’s it from my perspective. I mean Infamous: Second Son would be good, but it the characters are all what men in their early forties think kids are like these days. Sunset Overdrive has this problem as well, but the gameplay is fun. And unique. I could easily go and play the first two Infamous games or Crackdown or even Saints Row 4 and get the same experience as Second Son, but without the annoying characters (or stupid two-way moral choice system that ultimately doesn’t mean shit).
The Xbox One might not be great, or even good, by exclusive standards. But I would rather have Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5, Rare Replay and Forza Horizon 2 than Bloodbourne, Infamous: Second Son, Killzone Shadowfall or Project Cars.
Maybe it’s because I have more history with the Xbox console line, but I think the Sony’s exclusive really aren’t that good.
The only game I can think of for PS4 this year was Bloodborne. Even then it didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything cause it felt like I could just wait for Dark Souls 3 instead. Not saying it wasn’t good but surely Xbox won this year for big exclusives, just depends if you like those games or not.
I think purchasing a console now depends on what your mates are playing. I picked up a Ps3 last gen, only to find out all my mates picked up 360’s. I just picked up a 360 later on, come this gen I picked up an Xbone only because my mates picked one up then I picked up a Wii U and Ps4.
I’ll probably get an xbone sometime in the new year. Until I become an xboner and catching up with my Halo obsession, I will claim it to be an inferior console.
Of course it’s inferior, because PC MASSTUURRR RAAAAAYYYYYCCCCEEEEE
I bought an Xbox One first (having had the Xbox, Xbox 360). I owned it for a total of 3 days before I returned it. Waiting 3 hours + everytime I want to install a new game was horrifying. Sunset Overdrive alone took 7 hours to install (and then wasn’t even the great game reviewers had made it out to be).
A few months later I purchased a PS4. Not one bit of buyers regret with this system. Sony all da way boys!
Glad to see someone with the same opinion as me on Sunset Overdrive.
7 Hours? That seems like an exaggeration to me. The PS4 is hardly any faster from my experience.
Because the trick is to say no to updates and install the game and than the patch. I have no idea why the patch takes forever. I assume it was a release day problem.
No it’s not. I set the machine to install. Waited around a couple of hours and was like ooook… and then went out and came back hours later and it still wasn’t done. And what are you talking about… The PS4 doesn’t require you to install half the game just to run it. Sure it might need a patch or two but it’s a lot smaller than installing entire games you’ve just bought. That’s fanboism if you’re honestly going to sit there and try to say the Xbox One doesn’t have insanely stupid installation times. It’s a known issue with the machine. I’m talking as someone who bought the Xbox One over the PS4 (because i was leaning more towards the Xbox at the time) and I was so disgusted with how long the load times were that I had to return the machine. Bought a PS4 a few months later, and I’m actually impressed with how smooth it all runs. No dicking around with installations. No mucking around with that horrible Xbox Profile login thing (if you have multiple people using the console). It’s so much easier it’s not funny. I prefer my PC to console gaming so I’ll pick that over the PS4 or my Wii U any time, but for exclusives etc I’m happy to have these two and not that black plastic piece of junk.
I mainly want to say: fuck you, it DOESN’T have backwards compatibility. I’ll be glad to educate anyone who doubts this.
Additionally, the things Xbone has going for it, if that is your preference: the controller (taste); OS (taste); multiplayer (taste/friends); 1-3 games that are Xbone exclusive; multimedia options. Those can’t be denied.
The rest, PS4 is better in every single way. More power; more console exclusives; consistent 1080p hits (vs 720p/30); lower priced bundles originally; more market penetration.
900p. Not 720p. It just seems like you are seriously butthurt over the fact people might prefer the console that you don’t. I’m not sure what you mean by “it doesn’t have backwards compatibility”. I might not be able to stick Red Dead Redemption in my Xbone, but what it has is still better than Sony’s subscription service (that isn’t even in Australia yet).
Also, might I ask how you are enjoying The Order, Knack and Godzilla? You are right about it having more exclusives, but I prefer quality over quantity.
Not butthurt. I had PS4, now I have none. All the strengths of PS4 I listed are indisputable facts, not opinion.
Xbone has “small number of playable X360 titles via free download”. It does not have backwards compat. Last I ran the numbers (which was couple weeks ago), it supports like <8% of all 360 titles. Comparing it to the non-existent PS4 back compat doesn’t magically grant it back compat, either.
Agreed, I like quality over quantity too. I personally really liked Knack and played most of it co-op, but haven’t tried Order or Godzilla (I know order flopped).
PS4 owner here who had a 360 and original xbox.
Picked up an xbone a couple of weeks ago with halo 5 and Forza and it felt like coming home again. I’ve enjoyed my ps4 this year but there’s been nothing I couldn’t get on PC. Halo is smooth and amazing, Forza is the best racing game on console and always has been.
Although I can’t see myself getting anything other than exclusives they are worth it. Rare replay is also awesome!
I love seeing fanboys fight over articles like this.
I own all three. My kids play the Wii U mainly as I just don’t have time/want to play the games.
I bought Xbox One first. Had issues originally but played games great and it has the online/controller option I like best. Plus most friends are there so that makes sense.
Picked up a super cheap PS4 a few months later. Controller was greatly improved and everything just worked.
I spend most of my time on X1 due to the old home console swap with a friend so we share digital purchases. I do notice the slightly better visuals/performance on the Ps4 but its nothing to write home about. Both have games that look great. It’s like comparing a low to mid spec gaming PC to a slightly better low to mid spec gaming PC. Meh?
2015 for me was a better gaming year on Xbox One. Just more games there that I wanted (and am still playing!). 2016 is looking more evenly split. Uncharted, No Mans Sky….YES! And for Xbox, Quantum Break and Crackdown (AND FOR THE LAST MILLIONTH TIME PLEASE LET THERE BE FORZA HORIZON 3!!!). So good times to be had all round.
I bought a Bone first, then the PS4. I’ve found I prefer the PS4 controller, and find the interface more manageable. Every time I boot up my Xbox it takes a while to update, and though I try to still pick up the exclusives, there’ve been few must play titles.
I bought Tomb Raider Definitive edition on Xbox so I can finally finish it, then buy Rise for Christmas… and found my wife had used all the rechargeable batteries for Xmas lights.
… I’m now back playing Until Dawn on PS4.
For some reason it’s just less of a struggle.
Also, did this seem like a Microsoft puff piece to anyone else? They’re both really good consoles at this point. Don’t really see how Sony’s failings outweigh Microsoft’s, TBH…
I think Totilo must be exposed to a lot more social media/gamertalk assumptions that the PS4 is simply a clear winner, no-contest and wants to point out that there should actually be a bit more of a contest than he hears xbone getting credit for.
Fair enough, I suppose. I, uh… Don’t do social media, I’m afraid.
#32turning60
Yeah, I don’t think we’re the audience.
He did do one about the PS4 yesterday, and I suspect one about the Wii U will come soon. Maybe even a PSP Vita and 3DS. A Console might be a Christmas present so articles like this usually turn up so people looking for info can find it easy.
I know. I saw the PS4 one. It seemed far more… Indignant? But as @transientmind said, it’s likely simply a reaction to a weirdly one-sided reputation war.
– lackluster backwards compatible titles
– installing off cd’s which defeats the purpose of owning the bloody things
– some games needing online connection even though game is being played offline
– limited profile options and settings when compared to xbox 360
Most of those are a problem with the PS4 too.
This generation of consoles require installing the damn game, patching the game and being online for no good reason.
exactly.
Too much piss farting around for something that should be simple as shit.
Amen….
I spend more time on my PC while I wait for what I just bought to install then patch on my console.
I would buy one, but the new Nier game whenever that comes out is exclusive to the ps4 and I don’t want to buy both. If that were coming to Xbox One I would have bought one by now most likely.
Ps4 has definitely done well for itself. I’m an Xbox guy since 360 and didn’t wanna switch cos I have online mates who play.
Now I’m not saying ps4 players aren’t invested gamers, clearly both consoles have an equal amount of rabid players.
But playstation gets the sometime players every. Single. Time.
People will just buy a playstation because. The amount of ppl I know who have a ps4 but barely game is insane, to the point I’ve almost switched because in the off chance they keep playing something longer than a fortnight we could be gaming together. Obviously both consoles have an equal amount of “hardcore” gamers, but Sony gets those and they get ALL the ” casual” players.
Not having a go at Sony players at all, if I had time to play all the exclusives I’d get one to play too. Honestly they deserve kudos for maintaining their cultural cred from the mid 90s to this day, playstation r just deemed cooler or more accepted in everyday life I find. Especially in Australia.
fucking whinge whinge whinge.
Why do playstation fucktards always have to carry on they are superior?
Yeah, you like sony, i dont give two fucks.
fuck off and eat shit, so sick of the 12 years old trying to justify their purchase by slagging everything else.
To me, Playstation fucktards are the apple fucktards of the console world.
just grow up
The Xbone is pretty great, but where is the ability to listen to music while gaming?
Seems like Microsoft dont care about it, but I need it for racing games! The in game radio always sucks, except for GTA of course.
Thanks for the article. Just want to inform all folks who live outside US that Xbox One is a great media Player. If you want to access Netflix and other streaming stations on your Xbox One you can use UnoTelly as I do to get around the geo block.