Members of the press gathered on Tuesday at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, campus for the reveal of the next Xbox console, called the Xbox One. The reveal, while light on news about the system’s games, was loaded with information about the console.
Introducing Xbox One
Members of the press gathered on Tuesday at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, campus for the reveal of the next Xbox console, called the Xbox One. The reveal, while light on news about the system’s games, was loaded with information about the console.
The event began with Don Mattrick, the president of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, taking the stage and revealing the console case, controller and accompanying Kinect package.
Mattrick then handed the reigns over to Yusuf Mehdi of the IEB division, who showcased system-level features of the Xbox One.
Mehdi demonstrated switching between different applications—games, music, live television, Internet Explorer—quickly using Kinect voice commands, a fantasy sporting app that can run alongside televised games and an integrated channel guide much like those found in modern digital video recorders.
Marc Whitten, the corporate vice president of Xbox Live, gave an abbreviated overview of the Xbox One’s internal technology.
The system will feature eight gigabytes of RAM, an unspecified number of USB 3.0 ports, a 500-gigabyte hard drive (it was not clear if every Xbox One model will ship with the same amount of storage), an 8-core central processing unit, HDMI in/out and, perhaps the biggest surprise, a Blu-ray drive. Blu-ray is a proprietary format owned by Sony, Microsoft’s main competitor in the core gaming market.
Whitten then moved on to the Kinect, which he claimed will see significant hardware revision, not the least of which is the ability to capture in high-definition 1080p video.
Whitten also said a Kinect will be included with every Xbox One, and will be able to wake the system from a dormant state using voice commands.
The Xbox One’s controller has seen more than 40 design innovations, including an integrated battery pack, a redesigned directional pad and “impulse triggers” that will “allow creators to program feedback directly into the triggers.”
Whitten said that Xbox Live will see numerous revisions, including a greater emphasis on cloud computing. The Xbox One will be able to capture game footage and that editing software will be baked into the console, adding that the system will “become dynamic and changing” and that it will “tell your personal story of how you play, not just what you’ve done.”
Phil Spencer, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, took over, and the event transitioned to a focus on games. Trailers for Forza Motorsport 5 and Quantum Break were shown.
Spencer said that 15 exclusive titles will be released for the Xbox One within the first year, eight of which are brand new franchises.
