Now that we’re drawing near to the end of the console generation (if the rumours are to be believed), what do you think of the Xbox One? I must admit that while the system has considerably less exclusives that interest me compared to PS4, I’ve been impressed with how Microsoft has turned Xbox into a consumer friendly platform with backward compatibility at the forefront, especially given how the Xbox One started out.
I actually have a ton of digital games that I bought on Xbox 360 (a system I no longer own) that are now backward compatible. I still have my physical copy of Orta too, which I haven’t been able to play all the way through since my original Xbox died. So I might end up purchasing a One to play older titles again, along with revisiting some original Xbox games in HD, and playing exclusives that are not on PS4 or don’t run on my mobile PC GPU.
There’s also talk of Xbox games working on other platforms besides Windows in the future. Smart TVs or even on the Switch. While nothing has been confirmed, the idea makes buying games for Xbox again seem appealing.
Any thoughts on the Xbox One? What are your favourite games on the system (exclusives or even just console exclusives)? Is the Xbox One S sufficient or will frame rates suffer without the power of the X? Does the glowing light on the front of the controllers irritate you or is it just me (I put a bandaid over the back of my PS4 controller to reduce the light, and the One controller’s light is literally right in your face). How do you find using the latest dashboard compared to previous encarnations, such as the Xbox 360 dashboard?
To be honest I skipped over Xbox One. There just wasn’t anything for me on the system that PlayStation 4 didn’t already provide. Halo was also less appealing, since it was in the hands of different developers and going in strange directions with the story.
Not to mention the first iteration of the Xbox One having less ram or processing speed because the new Kinect was built into the system! And don’t get me started on all the different console iterations: Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X…
It’s great if you could find games you liked on it though. I just couldn’t find any to my liking…
I love my Xbox One, but not because of the games. Halo 5, Halo Wars 2, and Gears 4 were the only exclusives I picked up for it. However, I’ve spent many an hour watching TV through the many on-demand or streaming services, or via USB media.
The thing is, whilst it is a fantastic media device, the game library is just lacking anything worth buying the console for. The performance of both consoles is fine, most games are capped at 30fps anyway and that’s pretty easy to achieve. But yes the light on the controller is super bright!
Maybe take a look at Quantum Break? I enjoyed Remedy’s previous titles, Max Payne 1 & 2 and Alan Wake. They have always been focused on story.
But yes, there really isn’t many exclusives. Apart from Halo 5 (and the remake of Halo 2), all of these games have been released on PC too. Even Halo: Infinite is coming to PC. Which is a good thing for folks wanting to own less systems.
I remember enjoying this feature on the 360; it was easy to just plug in a hard drive and stream most of the common movie formats from it. With streaming services, Netflix is available on most platforms. What services does the One offer that you can’t get elsewhere?
I like how they are doing upscaling and anti-aliasing on backward compatible titles, but unfortunately any game I really cared for this gen has also had a PC release. It just hasn’t been worth picking up one since I can still play my old games on the 360, albeit no fancy upscaling. What peaks my interest more are the rumors of MS working on bringing Xbox drivers and Direct X versions to Windows PC. I would probably buy some Xbox games if they were PC compatible. I already use my wired Xbox controller as a PC controller for games that work better with a controller. Going a step further, if they somehow implemented the ability to play old Xbox and 360 titles on the PC, I would even pay a fair price for that!
There are a number games that will work on both Xbox One and Windows PC, check the list of Xbox Play Anywhere titles if you’re interested. I’m hoping they’ll expand with list with older titles, but it seems to be just newer releases at the moment.
Microsoft are reportedly releasing a digital only Xbox One S soon which might be worth getting, assuming the price is significantly lower. Although the higher prices of some digital games might cancel that out.
Or just wait until the next generation of consoles to play the few Xbox One exclusives, since it’s likely to be backward compatible…
If Xbox was like GoG where I could download and backup my games, I would be more ok with this. As is though, if I do ever pick one up, it will be the disc version. Call me old.
It’s perfectly understandable wanting to decouple your games from the store in which they were bought at, and have the ability to make a backup.
My expectation is that, given Microsoft’s stance on backward compatibility, the Xbox digital library will outlast physical media games since we can’t expect future Xboxes to retain the optical drive. But yes, for preservation reasons, it’s not ideal depending on a company to keep their service afloat.
Apparently a lot of the Xbox One games require day one patches to even be playable. I don’t have that issue with the 360. That is pretty disappointing from a collector standpoint. I am just grateful that most of the games of my childhood work via emulation (Saturn, SNES, etc) and/or have been rereleased in PC compilations(Genesis). Unless Orta gets rereleased on PC via digital format or emulators, I worry games of that generation and newer are going to be harder to keep playing/working as time goes on.
I suppose in the future people will have to depend on others (who downloaded the updates in time) to share the fully patched versions of software, as with games and demos that have already been pulled (like the Silent Hills demo, PT). Still, unless you shop exclusively at DRM-free sites like GOG, it’s the same problem with Steam, PSN, Switch, etc.
I think Microsoft will keep pushing the Xbox backward compatibility momentum forward for a while. They seem very interested in creating a large “Netflix of games” with Xbox Game Pass, and having all these older titles readily available gives them a competitive advantage.
That said, with the recent news of Halo Master Chief Collection coming to PC, there’s becoming less of a reason to get an Xbox One. If they port Halo 5 to PC as well, that basically leaves little reason to get an Xbox One specifically besides backward compatibility.
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I wasn’t expecting the rumors to be true. I will most likely pick some of these up on Steam as I have had less issues with that and have heard a lot of horror stories related to buying on the Windows Store. Nice to see them porting them though and it makes me think maybe the rumors of them bringing Xbox compatibility to Windows could also be true. Orta on the PC upscaled with AA would be awesome!
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Consider Halo Infinite is confirmed for PC, I don’t see how they can’t port this. Unfortunately a PC capable of running the latest games is still going to cost considerably more than an Xbox though…
The price is a really strong point for getting an Xbox over a PC, perhaps the strongest at this point.
I’d also say the “everything works with a controller” point is very compelling too, for a relaxing living room setup. If you’ve ever tried using Steam Big Picture mode extensively you’ll know it’s far from perfect, with many games still requiring mouse input to launch, even those that play with a controller. Not to mention third party DRM etc. A better user experience is why some people use a Mac over a Windows PC for non-gaming tasks, and I think you could make the same argument for playing on Xbox over Windows for gaming.
I think I shared here how I bought an Xbox one S for Panzer Dragoon Orta at higher resolutions. 
The strength of the console is just that though, large emphasis on backwards compatibility. Its great not having to hook up my 360 or OXB to play through many of the games I already own. The only games native to the console I have are the Rare replay collection and the Halo MCC. Both of those games are collections of ports from previous consoles (though fantastic deals on their own, especially Rare Replay. I bought a 360 mainly for playing the Perfect Dark XBLA remake, and it’s included in that bundle.)
A little added bonus though over the PS4 is that it seems to have better luck playing Blu-rays on displays that might not be HDCP compliant. PS4 will refuse to play the bluray, but Xbox doesn’t seem to care. Maybe it’s a silly jab at Sony?
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There’s another point that occurred to me regarding backward compatibility: some Xbox 360 games, and many original Xbox games in particular, were designed to be played with a controller specifically because they were released on consoles. Whereas most modern games that have controller support include this in the PC version, for older games this was very often not the case. Morrowind, Oblivion, Dragon Age: Origins, Beyond Good & Evil, and numerous other titles were all mouse-only games on PC and controller-only on Xbox,. This makes Xbox One, with its visual updates and reduced loading times, the definitive way of playing these games with a controller.
It may not to be deciding point for those who don’t mind playing with a mouse, but for those who prefer using a controller, it’s an important factor. Since I spend 40 hours a week at a desk for my job, being able to relax with a controller in the evenings and weekends is a large part of the appeal of games, especially RPGs that involve a lot hours of gameplay.
The One X console is my favourite console since the OG XBox. Game Pass is the best gaming service around, the be able to play Orta and the likes in 4K is increabile, even more so given MS doesn’t charge for the series (you just need to own the game) .
My issue with MS isn’t the so called lack of exclusives, but how MS doesn’t look to grow its IP and given them a chance, unless they sell millions of copies; Recore is a lovely IP and a charming game and where a new engine and some more work, could make it into a fab IP. Ryse, was a ace and fun AAA Golden Axe style game. MS needs to learn to grow some of its IP better and also look to do what it did so well on the OG XBox and that’s paying the likes of FromSoftware and SEGA to make exclusives .
I really hope SEGA Yakuza studio make some games for the XBox One X and the new XBox system.
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