10 reasons to consider Xbox One

10 reasons to consider Xbox One

Reviewing the Microsoft Xbox One launched here only yesterday makes me feel I have been trapped in a time warp.

The reason is that I have used this new-generation console for more than 10 months since a friend brought it home from the United States for me last December. I had to pay $120 for a bulky 500W transformer to convert the voltage from our 220V power sockets to 110V.

So, instead of doing a full review, I will focus on the console's top features and what those still sitting on the fence should consider if they are still deciding between the Xbox One and the Sony PlayStation 4.

1. Kinect

Microsoft changed the world when it introduced motion control in the Xbox 360.

I will never forget how privileged I felt being one of the pioneers to try out the Kinect prototype in Los Angeles back in June 2009. Using my hands and legs to hit multiple ricocheting balls against a wall in a game that eventually became Kinect Adventure was pure magic.

While the Wii was the first to launch motion control, its system was tracking only a controller stick. Kinect was tracking dozens of points on the body.

When Kinect launched in 2010, I was mesmerised. Kinect Sports, Dance Central and other casual games were the talk of the town.

On many nights, I danced past midnight to master the moves. I am no dancer, but I know how to beat a game and I wanted to top the leaderboard in every song my friends were on.

The bigger challenge for Microsoft was to extend the Kinect magic to hardcore games such as shooters. The problem was that Kinect's motion detection was not accurate enough for more granular movements.

The promised dream of slaying Sith and Stormtroopers with bare hands to emulate virtual lightsabers and force powers was a nightmare in Kinect Star Wars simply because movements were not accurate.

Microsoft knew it needed a new and better Kinect. It came up with the new Kinect for Xbox One, which has a wider field of vision and a shorter minimum distance. The new Kinect can track your heart rate by reading the change in colour of your skin as blood pumps through it.

Having played the older games, such as Kinect Sports Rivals and Zumba, as well as the recent Dance Central Spotlight, it is clear that the new Kinect sensor is much improved. When dancing, I can now stand about 30 per cent closer to the camera. This is a big deal because there is limited space between my TV set and sofa.

Unfortunately, there are just too few games that can take advantage of the new Kinect sensor. So far, the games are not pushing the limits of the new sensor, to see if it is better at tracking fine movements than its predecessor.

While the heart-rate sensor is a boon for fitness buffs who want to exercise at optimal level, the Kinect sensor reads the heart rate only when the user is standing still, not while he or she is running.

But Kinect is not all just about games. It lets you use your hands to navigate the Xbox One dashboard. Its array of microphones lets you use voice commands to launch games and apps, without lifting a finger.

The voice command function is impressive, recognising my commands most of the time, even though my diction is not the clearest.

2. Gamepad

This looks and feels like the eight-year-old Xbox 360 gamepad but it has had more than 40 subtle changes which make it much improved.

It is lighter and sleeker, thanks to the integration of the battery housing into the circuit board, instead of it sticking out the back of the gamepad. Without that ugly bump, there is more real estate at the back to provide a firmer and better grip.

Additional tiny motors are now built into both triggers, in addition to the giant ones in the main body of the gamepad. These extra motors are supposed to offer action-specific vibration feedback to add realism to the rumble.

For instance, the vibration on the trigger could be of a different intensity when you are blasting with a shotgun compared with using a sniper rifle. But I did not feel it when I played Destiny.

The right and left bumper keys are now much closer to the trigger buttons, making it easier to move the index fingers between buttons.

But the bumper buttons are so stiff that they must be pressed hard to execute a command.

In Destiny, this slowed me down when I was trying to melee-kill alien baddies.

Another big change is the addition of a microUSB port to the wireless controller. Plug in a microUSB cable and the wireless gamepad becomes a wired controller. This matters to skilled gamers who want faster response in their controls and for users who want to save on AA batteries.

The microUSB port also lets you plug the same gamepad into your PC for PC games.

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3. Out of space? Plug in external hard drives

After the June firmware update, you can now attach external USB 3.0 hard disk drives with at least 256GB of space to the Xbox One. This is really important because the games no longer run off the discs.

When you insert a new game disc into the Xbox One, the game needs to be installed onto the Xbox One's hard drive before it can be played.

In addition, most games are now also available as digital downloads from the online games store on the same day that the games are sold at retail shops. This means that the 500GB internal drive soon runs out of space.

You can even move games over from your internal hard drive and connect up to two external drives at the same time to the Xbox One. This is the real killer feature of the Xbox One, if you ask me.

4. Smartglass

Smartglass is the companion app to your Xbox One that adds plenty of goodness to your console gaming life. It works as an app on all mobile platforms - iOS, Android and Windows - and lets you use your tablet or phone to control the console.

This is really useful if you want to use the touchscreen keyboard to key in redemption codes or long URLs into the console's Web browser. It is much faster than picking out letters with the thumbstick.

Some games are designed with the app in mind, so you can get additional features and information on the second screen, even while you play the game on the main TV screen.

In Dead Rising 3, for instance, you can view a map of the area you are in on your mobile device so that your TV screen remains focused on the gameplay.

5. Video conferencing

Skype on Xbox One provides the best video-chatting experience.

The Kinect sensor bar streams video at 1,080p (720p for Xbox 360) and has an array of sensitive microphones to pick up audio.

The audio pick-up is top-notch and I am able to converse clearly while seated on my sofa, about 3m away from the Kinect bar.

The camera automatically zooms in on the person speaking. When more join in, Kinect automatically zooms out for a wider field of vision to include everyone in the video feed. Up to four parties can connect at the same time for a group video conference.

Whenever I am overseas, I always use my laptop to Skype with my family on the Xbox One, so that I can see all of them at the same time and hear them clearly, even as my kids are moving around the living room.

6. Watch TV on your Xbox One

Only the Xbox One has an HDMI-in port for you to connect your digital TV set-top boxes to the Xbox, instead of directly to your TV or your home entertainment system.

This pass-through method means you need to use only one HDMI port on your TV instead of two. You can also use voice commands to switch your TV on and off.

In the US, you can even integrate the electronic programming guide of their TV service into the Xbox One's One Guide service. So you can switch channels and check information on TV programmes using the Xbox One.

One Guide, unfortunately, is not available here, so you need to use the separate digital TV remote control to switch channels.

It may not be perfect, but being able to connect your cable TV, mioTV and even the new free-to-air digital TV set-top box to the Xbox One is still pretty cool.

StarHub is working with Microsoft Singapore to launch its TV Anywhere app on the Xbox One app store.

With the StarHub TV Anywhere app, users will be able to use the same Kinect gestures and voice commands to navigate StarHub's video-on-demand and live TV service.

TV Anywhere is currently available on mobile devices and Web browsers and lets cable subscribers view their favourite channels on alternative platforms. But only about 40 per cent of the 200-plus cable TV channels are available on TV Anywhere.

One free channel - Super Sports Arena - is available for free to all viewers.

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7. Using local credit cards for Xbox games and video store

Using the local games and video store on Xbox and PlayStation is just not a good idea.

There is much more content on both consoles' US stores. I have used a US Xbox Live account from the days of the Xbox 360. One difficulty is that credit cards issued outside the US do not work with them, so I had to buy prepaid gift cards.

In the past, local gift cards purchased here could be redeemed on the virtual US store. But this does not work any more. Fortunately, my Singapore-issued credit card now works on the new Xbox One store, so I do not need a workaround any more.

Using a US account lets you buy video apps such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus, which are conspicuously absent from the local Xbox Store.

But you will need a VPN account to view the TV shows and movies in these apps as they are IP-blocked to users outside the US.

The other piece of good news is that you no longer need to pay extra for Xbox Live Gold membership to be able to view these apps. You do not need a VPN to buy and play games from the US Xbox Store.

8. Sharing video footage of your gameplay

In the age of social media, no game is complete without the ability to show off your legendary kills to your friends.

This, unfortunately, is more complicated on the Xbox One than on the PS4. With the PS4, you hit the Share button to get a screenshot or a video up to 15 minutes long and immediately share it on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

On the Xbox One, you say "Xbox Record That" to record up to 5 minutes of video footage. But you cannot record screenshots.

Nor can you post the video clip directly on Facebook. You must first upload the video to Microsoft's cloud storage service called OneDrive.

If you do not have Kinect, it gets even more complex. You must open up the Game DVR app as a second window - better known as "snap" to Game DVR - to start recording.

Xbox One users, however, can upload such video footage directly to YouTube. Not so for PS4 users.

Microsoft said it is working on future updates that will enable direct uploading to Facebook, as well as the ability to take screenshots.

9. Get early access to EA games

Electronic Arts launched its EA Access subscription service (US$5 a month or US$30 a year; about S$6.50 a month or S$38 a year) recently. Members can play older games such as Need For Speed Rivals, Fifa 14, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4 for free, as long as the subscription is active.

Members also get discounts on digital downloads of new games and early access to selected new games. EA Access members, for instance, had access to Fifa 15 five days earlier and could play the game for up to six hours. To continue playing, you need to buy the full game.

The play-early bonus also applies to the upcoming Dragon Age Inquisition. EA Access is available only on Xbox One for now.

10. Halo

Halo remains a must-play for many console gamers. Exclusive to the Xbox platform, Halo is still the reason that many fans stay true to the Xbox platform.

But Halo 5 launches only at the end of next year. This year, Microsoft will launch Halo The Master Chief Collection, a single compilation of Halo 1 to Halo 4.

Halo 1 and 2 were released for the original Xbox; Halo 3 and 4 for the Xbox 360 platform.

If you want to play them all again, complete with enhanced graphics to take advantage of the new console's hardware muscle, the Master Chief Collection is the way to go. But I cannot imagine anyone but diehard Halo fans buying the Xbox One only for this compilation.

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This article was first published on Sep 24, 2014.
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