I kind of don't care about the used thing. I buy games from Steam and have the same situation - albeit for much cheaper.

At first I was concerned about the issue with multiple Xboxes (like the example Spiderbite gave with Lego games and his kids) but then I realized I would just install it on the kids console (who wants to play it solo) and then install it on the main console and make sure the kid is logged in when we play together. Easy enough.

That and the fact I wouldn't own two XOs anyway... My daughter might inherit my 360. But she might not because I need the older console to keep playing pinball.

edit: I also love voice control for watching movies and such. So much easier to pause using voice than to hunt for a controller or remote.

Tech Specs and comparison with the PS4, for those that like reading the technical aspects of consoles.

http://anandtech.com/show/6972/xbox-...-playstation-4

As a Systems Admin, reading stuff like this is cool.

Great, more AMD. The overheating generation activate!

Looking at the specs, if MS sells this thing at $500 they'll be making a profit right off the bat.

They've been fine to me, I had a small laptop that used the previous generation Bobcat CPU (AMD C-50) and thought it was just fine. These CPU's are designed for lower power consumption and efficiency.

Hmm. So MS need to explain the lack of BC again if this is the case. They could very well have the 360 OS running as a VM just as easily.

Strange that they would include the 360 but not the PS3 in that comparison.

Even virtualized, they would still need to deal with the difference between PowerPC and x86, wouldn't they?

from my VERY limited understanding of VM, yes the VM is tied to the physical architecture of the host's CPU, its not something that is virtualized.

It's just not easy. If it was easy, they would do it. It's not.

Just gotta weigh in on people who hate the voice controls. I didn't think I'd care until I got a Kinect for the kids. Now, I'm sitting at my computer across the room with Netflix running on the Xbox. I get up to go to the bathroom and say "Xbox pause" as I walk past. It pauses, then I say "Xbox play" when I return. No need to even find where I left the controller. I actually think it's pretty great.

Glad it works for you. For me, it's more like:

"Xbox pause"
"Xbox pause"
"XBOX PAUSE"
"XBOX PAUSE"
"XBOX FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT"

Xbox: "Title not found".

I don't mind the voice controls, but don't need them or use them much. It seems like they'd be smart to put some sort of media remote bundled with this thing, with a full keyboard.

I don't know how much it'll permeate the public consciousness. The non-gamers I know who just have consoles for their kids would be at least somewhat put off by not being able to buy used games, but of course that's just anecdotal. Either way, I wouldn't underestimate the networking effect. If you've got a group with two regular gamers and a dozen casual Madden/CoD types and they all play those types of games together on occasion, the two are going to have a pretty strong influence on all 14 purchases.

I won't be shocked either way, but unless Sony's lying and has already firmly laid out plans for anti-used, I'd be surprised if they followed Microsoft's lead. There's just too much advantage in being the company that lets people actually use/own their games the same way they have for the past 25 years. I said ages ago that I highly doubted either company would go the anti-used route because of that advantage and the prisoner's dilemma nature of the decision. My best guess now is that Sony will announce no anti-used tech and Microsoft will try to compete by touting whatever 'solution' they've come up with but won't currently mention, which I'm leaning towards thinking will be 'de-authorize the game from your account for X Microsoft Points.'

My biggest problem with GameStop is their ridiculous selling of opened, used games as new. If not for that, I wouldn't think nearly as unfavorably of them. And speaking of the devil, I see their CEO released a statement that approximately 20% of their new sales are paid for with credit from used trade-ins. That's pretty huge if it's accurate. For simplicity's sake, if you just go off all games being the same price and GameStop offering 50% - 75% of the original price when they take a trade-in, you're looking at 27% - 40% of new games eventually getting traded back in and re-sold. Realistically, they're probably offering less than 50% on average, which would just make the percentage of sell backs even higher. If you knock used games out of the equation entirely, you immediately lose the 20% of new sales they're funding, as well as whatever proportion of that 27% - 40% (or more) are purchases people wouldn't have made if they knew they couldn't recoup part of their cost. It's not hard to see how getting rid of used games could immediately eliminate a huge percentage of current new sales. The argument, and what the publishers want of course, is that those who only buy used being forced to buy new would more than offset that loss. Seems like a pretty steep claim and it doesn't even take into account any other, more subtle ways that used sales may drive new sales.

They'd choose selling to 2 people. You act as if they're going MS exclusive because of this.

Gamestop rakes in 10+billion a year in used sales. People will catch on fast. If one console goes with no used and the other allows it then the no used console will be headed for an early grave.

That's where you're wrong. Speak with your wallet. If you don't like these "advancements" then don't buy in. If XO falls on it's face, MS will have to rectify it.

I envision more fighting between my kids with the voice controls.

Son 1: "Xbox, play"
Daughter 1: "Xbox, pause"
Daughter 2: "Xbox, Bing princesses!"
Son 1: "Xbox, play"
Son 2: "Xbox, snap netflix"

Me: *disables voice controls*

Yeah, that's my understanding as well.

I read an article yesterday about how the Wii U being the only PowerPC console this generation is going to contribute further to the lack of big new games and publisher support, since just about everything else is now x86 and can easily be ported between PC, XO, and PS4. A lower powered PPC Wii U is going to be a harder sell in terms of development time and effort to port over to.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/x...paign=Engadget

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but the TV controls utilizes IR blasters hooked up to your cable box. (Although some newer ones might apparently use HDMI control.) So switching to TV and back to game can happen seamlessly, but changing channels is going to take longer than it normally would.

I use the Voice Control with my Kinect now. The reason is because the Microsoft rechargeable battery kit I purchased doesn't actually charge the battery when I hook it up to the USB connection. The only way to charge the battery now is to fish out the standalone battery charging kit. So my controller is always dead and I primarily only use my 360 now for HBO Go.

What's weird is that to watch Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 7, it won't let me say that. I have to try and figure out how to pronounce "Game of Thrones Sn 3 Ep 7" which is always a hilarious experience before delving into the show.

While I will still probably purchase this close to release date (and then resell it if it's rare and I can make money), the lack of backwards compatibility for the Arcade games really bothers me. If their whole point is to make the entertainment center easy, clean, and the ONE box, it's only the ONE box plus the 360. While I haven't loved my Wii U, Nintendo certainly got the BC right. I replaced my one Wii box with one Wii U box and I have improved functionality and did not lose anything. But for both Xbox and Playstation I'll have to have twice the boxes in very limited space. I would gladly pay $200 extra dollars on top of the PS4 or One purchase price to have full backwards compatibility (which would easily be covered by selling off the old system. ---> but see! that doesn't spur new sales for them of the older systems.) It does seem that PS4 has some kind of BC with the streaming Gaikai service, but I don't know if you still have to buy into that or if somehow it will be unlocked from old online passes.

This new development on the BC and the fees per account certainly make it clear why EA just days ago abandoned Online Passes. They were trying to make themselves look good, when in reality, there's still an online pass, it's just a play the game fee.

What hasn't been mentioned and would be nice (although I doubt it's the case) is if the new Arcade games purchased, based on x86 architecture, are cross-compatible with either my Surface tablet or Windows 8 machine.

Nice to see someone has something positive to say.

I'm excited as well, and welcome this soul crushing abomination into my game room.

My point is, more gamers would buy the PS4 due to being able to buy and sell used games. I certainly would. I am not sony fanboy...all i have is a 360 and a PC.

Sony may be doing the very same thing MS is doing with used games. We don't know yet, but Sony could have one hell of a trump card if they allow used games.



i am a tech spec moron. if these numbers are accurate, the PS4 is the stronger console? I am using the "It has higher numbers" method.




Also, how much would it cost to get a computer that would match this tech?

I totally forgot that 360 was a PPC. So yes they would.

Ah well...then...nail.coffin.BC.

Sort of, yeah. That's where some speculation in the article I posted comes in to play, as it is suggested that the embedded memory in the Xbox One can help ease the memory bandwidth differences.

As far as those specs on a computer, the "Jaguar" chip doesn't have a desktop or laptop equivalent out yet (but should, eventually), but given the lineage of the chip it isn't or shouldn't be that expensive. It's not nearly as fast as the typical Intel and AMD desktop processor alone, but the difference is in the integrated GPU in one efficient package, which AMD has been trying to push for laptops. The high speed DD3 RAM on the Xbox isn't too expensive, under $100. The GDDR5 on the PS4 would be pretty expensive though.

my hope is to get a laptop that will do what the new consoles will do at the very least. if Ican get a laptop for $1000 or less to do this, that would be great.


I know desktop PCs are better for gaming, but that isn't an option for me. It has to be a laptop.

The Jaguar chip? That doesn't seem like good luck