Xbox One Policy Updates and News

[Ascertion]

I just got an email from Microsoft.

 

 

At Xbox, we’re committed to continually improving the Xbox experience based on your feedback. Today we’re announcing two changes that you have asked for.

 

In June, we’re making Xbox Live Gold even better. Games with Gold will be coming to Xbox One, so a single Gold membership will get you free games on both Xbox One and Xbox 360. Plus, we’re introducing Deals with Gold for Xbox One which gives members exclusive discounts on games and content in the Xbox Store. With the most advanced multiplayer, Games with Gold, and Deals with Gold, Xbox Live Gold is better than ever.

 

Also, coming in June, all Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners will get access to popular entertainment apps, like Netflix, YouTube, Machinima, and more on Xbox without needing an Xbox Live Gold membership*. This means that everyone can enjoy the amazing gaming, TV and entertainment experiences that Xbox has to offer, right out of the box.

Looks like Free Games with Gold™ is coming to the Xbox One and Netflix no longer requires a Gold Subscription to use it on an Xbox.

 

I never had a problem with that because I had a gold account all along but it's nice to not worry about it if/when my Xbox Live runs out.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[MarshieZ]

^^^^ This was long overdue, but I too never had to worry about it.

 

To add to this, the Xbox One is also going to be broken up from the Kinect as a solo console for $399. 

 

If anybody has hesitated to get one, GET ONE!! They're awesome!! 

[Ascertion]

^^^^ This was long overdue, but I too never had to worry about it.

 

To add to this, the Xbox One is also going to be broken up from the Kinect as a solo console for $399.

 

If anybody has hesitated to get one, GET ONE!! They're awesome!!

I do think the kinect is a cool feature, but it's definitely not worth the $100. But out of both consoles, I'd recommend the Xbox One over the PS4 so far. Xbox just has a neater UI IMO.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[Destroyallcubes]

Honestly the Xbox one has had the best deal so far. I've seen it go for $449 at target for the titanfall combo, or for a 5 combo, and Target gave a free 12 month Xbox live card in for free while doing so. While the PS4 here is still $399, no camera, and no games, plus needing a psn card for online.

[MarshieZ]

I actually have had both (Playstation and Xbox) and by far I have loved Xbox since day 1. The original Xbox was super cool for it's time and Halo made it that much more epic. When the 360 came out, I was stoked about that and now that I have the One I'm amazed at how far technology has come!

 

As for Playstation, I had the original and the Playstation 2, wasn't overly impressed with it especially when the 3 came out. Mostly for some of the above reasons. Price, Hardware, Game Selection (aka no Halo) 

 

Xbox Fan-boy for life right here... nothing more awesome than taking my phone or tablet and bringing up Smartglass through it!!  

[themuffinman]

I do think the kinect is a cool feature, but it's definitely not worth the $100. But out of both consoles, I'd recommend the Xbox One over the PS4 so far. Xbox just has a neater UI IMO.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

I agree, the kinect should have always been optional from day one.  I think MS has simply taken too much for granted after the success of the 360. 

[newboyx]

Dropping the bundles Kinect sucks for game developers. Before they could design a game knowing with 100% certainty that buyers of the game had a Kinect. Now there is the possibility of less customers to buy their games. People without a Kinect will either not be able to play the game, or will miss out on specific features that require the Kinect. Developers have 2 options, ignore the market that does not have the Kinect (and lose money because of a smaller pool of customers) or spend extra resources (money and time) to make the game playable for people without a Kinect.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[SpenceSouth]

^^^^ This was long overdue, but I too never had to worry about it.

 

To add to this, the Xbox One is also going to be broken up from the Kinect as a solo console for $399. 

 

If anybody has hesitated to get one, GET ONE!! They're awesome!! 

 

I have to return my Xbox One to Microsoft at the end of the month, and to be honest I don't think I am going to miss it.  The Kinect has a lot of potential but I feel that it is never properly utilized.  With hardware like that they could do all the visual processing necessary to automate driving a car, but none of that power really shows in my livingroom.  Just wasn't impressed all around.  It's hard for the consoles to compete with PC gaming.

[Deval]

It's hard for the consoles to compete with PC gaming.

 

I doubt that for a second

 

PC gaming can coexist with console gaming any day of the week, but the reality is that a lot of developers are moving towards consoles vs. PC. Look at the some of the exclusive flashship games for their respective consoles (Halo, Killzone, Uncharted, etc.).

 

I'm sure they would look 100x better on a PC, but the developers have stuck to their consoles. And quite a few of the new sales for the One or PS4 go to kids who's parents rather spend $400 than $1000 for a PC which could play games decently. 

 

(Yes I know, one could build a kickass gaming PC for less than $1000, but that's not for everyone).

[Mondays In Flames]

This was a much needed update. I'm glad they finally have started listening to their customers. I haven't used my 360 in months primarily because I needed Gold for so many things. Maybe now their sales won't lag behind PS4's but unfortunately the damage has already been done.

 

Also people saying that the XBONE, has had better deals is primarily because the system does not sell. The retailers are the ones who put the deals up because it is not good for them to have such large stocks. Makes them look bad, desperate times calls for desperate measures.

 

 

-Luis

[themuffinman]

I have to return my Xbox One to Microsoft at the end of the month, and to be honest I don't think I am going to miss it.  The Kinect has a lot of potential but I feel that it is never properly utilized.  With hardware like that they could do all the visual processing necessary to automate driving a car, but none of that power really shows in my livingroom.  Just wasn't impressed all around.  It's hard for the consoles to compete with PC gaming.

When it comes to pc gaming you get the best visuals based on your budget but as far as making money most developers will make content for home consoles.  Look at all the top selling game titles for the last decade, were any of them exclusive to pc?  If those titles where available on the various home consoles and pc, what percentage of those sales came from the pc? Not much at all.  PC gaming is for the extreme hardcore which only represents a very small percentage of overall gamers and developers know this hence why most will mainly focus on consoles if they want to be profitable.  

[themuffinman]

Dropping the bundles Kinect sucks for game developers. Before they could design a game knowing with 100% certainty that buyers of the game had a Kinect. Now there is the possibility of less customers to buy their games. People without a Kinect will either not be able to play the game, or will miss out on specific features that require the Kinect. Developers have 2 options, ignore the market that does not have the Kinect (and lose money because of a smaller pool of customers) or spend extra resources (money and time) to make the game playable for people without a Kinect.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

At the end of the day, its all about awesome games and in my opinion the kinect doesn't really add much to that unless its some sort of family type party game.  Now I do like the convenience of the kinect(voice controls) in some instances like walking into my den and simply saying "xbox on" and it turns on my xbox and my tv and then the kinect camera recognizes me and signs me in automatically.  I also like the fact that if something bad ass happens during gameplay, I can say "xbox record that" and it automatically saves the last 30 seconds of gameplay.  

 

But when it comes to console gaming its all about giving the people what they want and if the devs want to make money they will also give the people what they want or make something so cool that the people will want it. If microsoft made it optional in the first place, they would have sold a lot more consoles than they have so far and at the same time I am sure they would still have a decent attachment rate for the new kinect.  I bought two xbox one's on release day and if the kinect where optional I would have probably bought them anyway but at least I had the option to and not be forced to. If devs wanted to make a game with kinect integration they can simply make it clear that kinect will be requried to play the game and if the game is in fact that awesome then you will see kinect sales increase.  

[JE5TERHEAD]

I myself like playstation better then xbox.  Still love my ps controller, I know blasphemy but i love it haha.  Right now i have 360 and ps3/psvita and trophies FTW heh.  But i love both consoles but playstatoin has more RPG's that i like aka persona 4, ys: memories of celceta etc.  Not much of a halo fan or call of duty.

[Destroyallcubes]

This was a much needed update. I'm glad they finally have started listening to their customers. I haven't used my 360 in months primarily because I needed Gold for so many things. Maybe now their sales won't lag behind PS4's but unfortunately the damage has already been done.

 

Also people saying that the XBONE, has had better deals is primarily because the system does not sell. The retailers are the ones who put the deals up because it is not good for them to have such large stocks. Makes them look bad, desperate times calls for desperate measures.

 

 

-Luis

Not exactly. Just because I see a TV brand on sale constantly on sale for a good price doesn't mean we are trying to move product because they Don't sell. The Xbox at the $449 sale price is a loss leader. They pushed price down to be more competitive. I've seen more people return ps4's than Xbox ones. And we've sold roughly the same either way. I'd go Xbox alone for the controller. The ps4/ps3 controllers are terrible compared to the 360/one controller.

[digiblur]

Just like when the Wii came out, Kinect was cute for a few months and that's it. I have never seen my son use the Kinect on his Xbox One at all.

[themuffinman]

This was a much needed update. I'm glad they finally have started listening to their customers. I haven't used my 360 in months primarily because I needed Gold for so many things. Maybe now their sales won't lag behind PS4's but unfortunately the damage has already been done.

 

Also people saying that the XBONE, has had better deals is primarily because the system does not sell. The retailers are the ones who put the deals up because it is not good for them to have such large stocks. Makes them look bad, desperate times calls for desperate measures.

 

 

-Luis

Really, the only reason why sales are lagging behind the ps4 is because the initial hardware purchase is $100 more out of the gate, regardless of whatever you get with it.  Consumers will think twice before just dumping an additional $100 just because its an xbox.  Same reason why the ps3 lagged behind the 360 because out of the gate it was $200 more for basically the same thing. But yeah, there are more deals with the xbox because they are simply not selling as well. 

[Mondays In Flames]

Not exactly. Just because I see a TV brand on sale constantly on sale for a good price doesn't mean we are trying to move product because they Don't sell. The Xbox at the $449 sale price is a loss leader. They pushed price down to be more competitive. I've seen more people return ps4's than Xbox ones. And we've sold roughly the same either way. I'd go Xbox alone for the controller. The ps4/ps3 controllers are terrible compared to the 360/one controller.

See but that all comes down to personal opinion, and preference. I would never chose a system just because of the controller, or for such a minute detail, that's just insane. The truth is that the sale of the XBONE are lagging, the supply is out there. Almost every store I have called in Miami, they have XBONE in stock, but the PS4 flies off the shelves. Now, every store is different, so I can't say with certainty that is true for all of the US. 

 

Really, the only reason why sales are lagging behind the ps4 is because the initial hardware purchase is $100 more out of the gate, regardless of whatever you get with it.  Consumers will think twice before just dumping an additional $100 just because its an xbox.  Same reason why the ps3 lagged behind the 360 because out of the gate it was $200 more for basically the same thing. But yeah, there are more deals with the xbox because they are simply not selling as well. 

This. I made a point the other day to a friend, who stated that loyalist to the XBox will always get the next gen. I disagreed because it's easy to defect with consoles. Unlike phones where all your content is digital and can be transferred to a newer phone, old games aren't playing on newer consoles. I loved my XB360, I was so ecstatic when I got it. I loved playing Mass Effect on it, but simply because the PS4 has identical hardware for $100 less, I would go with the PS4 over the XBONE.

 

 

-Luis

[Destroyallcubes]

See but that all comes down to personal opinion, and preference. I would never chose a system just because of the controller, or for such a minute detail, that's just insane. The truth is that the sale of the XBONE are lagging, the supply is out there. Almost every store I have called in Miami, they have XBONE in stock, but the PS4 flies off the shelves. Now, every store is different, so I can't say with certainty that is true for all of the US. 

 

 

This. I made a point the other day to a friend, who stated that loyalist to the XBox will always get the next gen. I disagreed because it's easy to defect with consoles. Unlike phones where all your content is digital and can be transferred to a newer phone, old games aren't playing on newer consoles. I loved my XB360, I was so ecstatic when I got it. I loved playing Mass Effect on it, but simply because the PS4 has identical hardware for $100 less, I would go with the PS4 over the XBONE.

 

 

-Luis

Yeah just the opposite here. People were easily going for the Xbox especially once it hit $449 with a game. The ps4's have been in stock here for a while. Xbox actually went out of stock for awhile. And the controller has more than a small difference. For first person shooters how the analog sticks are set up, you are actually more accurate to a degree, and the triggers are more realistic. Plus the value of Microsoft servers. I've never had an issue regarding their servers going down Like what Sony had. After that it left more than a sour effect. And since Final fantasy is not a Sony/Nintendo exclusive, and is on Xbox I have no need for The PlayStation. I will still play the ps1 b/c of Final Fantasy 7-9. But if I were to go to any system it'd be Xbox One. But I have my Gaming computer still running strong.

[jonathanm1978]

See but that all comes down to personal opinion, and preference. I would never chose a system just because of the controller, or for such a minute detail, that's just insane. The truth is that the sale of the XBONE are lagging, the supply is out there. Almost every store I have called in Miami, they have XBONE in stock, but the PS4 flies off the shelves. Now, every store is different, so I can't say with certainty that is true for all of the US.

 

This. I made a point the other day to a friend, who stated that loyalist to the XBox will always get the next gen. I disagreed because it's easy to defect with consoles. Unlike phones where all your content is digital and can be transferred to a newer phone, old games aren't playing on newer consoles. I loved my XB360, I was so ecstatic when I got it. I loved playing Mass Effect on it, but simply because the PS4 has identical hardware for $100 less, I would go with the PS4 over the XBONE.

 

 

-Luis

It's pretty common in gaming circles to see Xbox lagging behind Ps4 in sales.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/15/ps4-beating-xbox-one-because-of-unsatisfied-ps3-owners-says-microsoft-4728907/

 

" However it’s hard to tell exactly what the gap is as Microsoft refuses to release exact figures. The best guess, based on the most recent shipping data, suggests it’s about 4.3 million for the Xbox One compared to 7+ million for the PlayStation 4."

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[halcyoncmdr]

Just like when the Wii came out, Kinect was cute for a few months and that's it. I have never seen my son use the Kinect on his Xbox One at all.

 

I use my Kinect every day, but not for games. I use the voice commands almost exclusively (my phone as the remote if I don't want to talk since it has an IR blaster), it logs me in automatically (4 people in the house use the box so no auto-login), it turns off the controller automatically when I set it down for a couple minutes to watch a movie, go to the bathroom, etc. and that saves battery life.

 

I hardly use it for any sort of gaming functions, but it's dramatically changed the way I use the Xbox and how I watch TV and movies. I couldn't imagine using my One without the Kinect to be honest. But that's just how I use the box. A kid may not use any of those voice features and just want to play a game, in that case Kinect isn't really needed in most cases.

[jonathanm1978]

Looks like Xbox power consumption is atrocious..says it uses almost half it's yearly power while in standby mode... The Ps4 didn't fair to well, but isn't as bad as Xbox.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2156044/study-xbox-one-ps4-consume-ridiculous-amounts-of-unnecessary-power.html

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[anthony.spina97]

Looks like Xbox power consumption is atrocious..says it uses almost half it's yearly power while in standby mode... The Ps4 didn't fair to well, but isn't as bad as Xbox.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2156044/study-xbox-one-ps4-consume-ridiculous-amounts-of-unnecessary-power.html

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Maybe that's because the xbox is "always on"? Which means, even in stand-by mode, it's using pretty much just as much power as it uses when in use.

 

-Anthony

[jonathanm1978]

Considering where the xbox 360 and PS3 were in terms of power usage, the new consoles aren't just a jump backward, they are a huge LEAP backwards...especially in the "green" era (we all know how global warming ....nm)..

But realistically, unless I'm doing something with my console, I don't want it sitting there sucking down power as if it's turned on. That's just not economical, or practical.

If I were an xbone owner, I'd really think twice about letting it sit and suck down electricity because "I might decide to holler out TV ON instead of pushing a button on my 1watt TV remote."

[travismheim]

While I would like for my xbox to consume less power, its nothing compared to the other things in my house. Both my tv and computer( when gaming) draw well over ten times more than my xbone.

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

[halcyoncmdr]

Maybe that's because the xbox is "always on"? Which means, even in stand-by mode, it's using pretty much just as much power as it uses when in use.

 

-Anthony

 

It doesn't though. With Instant-On enabled it uses 15W while "off" waiting for the voice command, and keeping the system in a sleep mode for a faster startup (That's really all it is, it's a sleep mode like your computer). Actually off in standby mode (controller will turn it on, but not "Xbox On") it uses <1W.