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The New Dealer

The student news site of Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School

The New Dealer

The student news site of Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School

The New Dealer

The Xbox One

The+Xbox+One

pg 4, pic 4 (800x534)On November 22nd, 2005, the groundbreaking Xbox 360 gaming console was released. On May 21st, 2013, almost 8 years later, the next generation Xbox One was revealed to the world. Anybody can be fooled by the sleek, glossy look of the console, but what’s so good or bad about it?

The Positives. Let’s talk about the mechanics of the system. The Xbox was designed to act as more than a video game console, but also as a media box. The Xbox One has 8GB of RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, 64-bit architecture, and Wi-Fi. What does this mean in English? This indicates that the Xbox will process very, very smoothly. The new system comes with a Kinect, which is what the Xbox primarily relies on for its sole function. The newly upgraded Kinect contains the following characteristics: 1080p camera, Skype support, it can sense the rotation of the wrist and shoulder, it can detect weight distribution, and it even has the ability to read your heart rate. For this new Xbox, voice and gestures are a major innovation. Just by the simple words “Xbox On,” will power the system with no remotes required and a basic “swipe” across the air would alternate pages on the dashboard. Is it NFL Sunday, and you want to watch some football? No problem! The ESPN application allows you to not only watch the hottest sports games, but at the very same time, side by side on your screen, have your fantasy team right in front of you racking up points. Done with football and you want to watch some TV? No problem, just say the magic words: “Xbox, TV”, and right then and there the Xbox will actually change the source to live TV (the Xbox connects to your television provider’s box in order for this to occur, so no, it is not free TV if that’s what you’re thinking).

The Negatives. It is still fairly early to judge the console. Unfortunately, Microsoft is infamously known for charging a lot to customers (Microsoft would charge for air if they could). It seems as if there is more and more evidence that portrays Microsoft as a money hungry company. For example, Microsoft is planning to charge a fee for “used” games. Meaning, if I bought a game over to my friends house to play, he would have to pay a specific fee for it, unless I log onto my Xbox Account on his Xbox. This would prevent people from renting and borrowing games. I highly doubt Microsoft will carry out that plan. If they do, they would put GameStop, one of the giants in the video game market, in jeopardy.  Most of their profits root from buying and selling used games. If Microsoft doesn’t do something about this, they’ll lose customers quick to the PlayStation 4, including myself.

In the revelation of the Xbox One, the impression created by Microsoft is that they want to entirely change the average living room. The console seems more of a media box rather, than a gaming device. During the May 21st, 2013 announcement, Microsoft deliberately chose to highlight the extra features.  One of the biggest gaming conventions of the year, E3, is just around the corner on June 11th-13th, there Microsoft will expose the true gaming capabilities of the next generation Xbox One. The rivalry between Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One will be more intense than Yankees vs. Red Sox, Knicks vs. Celtics, Jets/Giants vs. Patriots games all combined.

Release Date: Not specified yet, but it is said to be later this year. My guess X-mas.

Price: Not yet given.

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