Xbox One Reveal

As most of the world is now aware, Microsoft unveiled the new Xbox console last night at their headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The event was streamed live worldwide at 19:00 (+2 GMT) and the AWX press team was very fortunate to be invited to the live press event at Microsoft Headquarters in Bryanston.

Arriving an hour early we were ushered in to a waiting lounge where we took in the sights and sounds of the current 360 console while lapping up the atmosphere of a clearly excited group of invitees. The atmosphere was bubbling by 18:45 and as we drew closer to the reveal we were taken through to the private screening room. We were greeted to a panoramic collection of monitors and screens with countdown timers littered all over the room. As the clock moved into the last few minutes we were told the Microsoft team would not be answering any questions post presentation.

The excitement escalated as the lights dimmed and the stream kicked in. The rest you know, but lets take a look at what Team Microsoft put on the plate last night.
The official press release follows:

Introducing Xbox One



"With Xbox One, games push the boundaries of realism, and TV obeys your commands.1 Say "Xbox On" to launch your personalized Xbox One Home screen, discover what is popular on TV or see friends' latest gaming achievements all using the most natural interface - your voice. The more you interact with Xbox One, the more it gets to know you and learns what you like. Some of the breakthrough Xbox One features that put you at the center of your living room entertainment include the following:

• TV on Xbox One.1 Navigate and watch live TV from your cable, telco or satellite set-top box through your Xbox One. Microsoft is committed to bringing live TV through various solutions to all the markets where Xbox One will be available.3

• Home. Turn on your entertainment system with two powerful words, "Xbox On," and a custom-tailored Home dashboard welcomes you with your favorite games, TV and entertainment.

• Snap. Do two things at once on the biggest screen in your home. Use Snap to jump into a multiplayer battle while watching your favorite movie, talk with friends on Skype while watching live TV, or track your fantasy team on TV as you watch the big game and more.

• Skype for Xbox One. Specially designed for Xbox One, talk with friends on your TV in stunning HD, or for the first time ever, hold group Skype calls on your TV.

• Trending.1 Stay on top of what is hot on TV by discovering the entertainment that is popular among your friends, and see what is trending within the Xbox community.

• OneGuide.1, 2 Find your favorite entertainment easily, searching by network, name or time, all with the sound of your voice and presented in a tailored program guide.

To create the most advanced Xbox system ever designed for games, TV and entertainment, Microsoft created a state-of-the-art gaming operating system and fused it with an equally amazing entertainment platform, so you will not have to switch inputs to watch TV or play a game. An eight-core, x86 processor and more than 5 billion transistors helps make lag and load times a thing of the past, so you can instantly jump between a game and your entertainment at lightning speed or run a host of apps right alongside your game with no loss in performance.

Introducing Xbox One titles and exclusives

Gaming on Xbox One immerses gamers in cinematic worlds that look like real life, with characters that feel more human than ever before. AAA blockbuster titles unveiled for Xbox One include the following:

• "Forza Motorsport 5" from Turn 10 Studios is the latest edition of the highest-rated racing franchise of the past 10 years.3 Built from the ground up to take advantage of Xbox One and the infinite power of the cloud, no game better delivers the sensation of being behind the wheel. "Forza Motorsport 5" sets a new bar for racing games and will be available exclusively for Xbox One at launch.



• "Call of Duty: Ghosts" is the next generation of "Call of Duty" and a stunning leap forward for the franchise. It delivers an all-new world, an all-new cast of characters and an all-new story, built on a new, next-generation engine. The next-generation technical innovations built to support the incredible gameplay advancements make this the most beautiful and immersive "Call of Duty" experience yet. Activision and Microsoft also announced the renewal of their close partnership that will see both the return of the "Call of Duty® Championship," presented by Xbox, as well as all-new downloadable content debuting first and exclusively on the Xbox platform.



• "FIFA 14," "Madden NFL 25," "NBA LIVE 14," and "EA SPORTS UFC" from EA SPORTS will change the way consumers experience and play sports games. Driven by the new EA SPORTS Ignite engine, these new EA SPORTS games will deliver massive innovations in human intelligence, true player motion and living worlds. Adding to its commitment to Xbox One, EA SPORTS also announced the promise of exclusive content to be revealed in the coming months.



• "Quantum Break" from Remedy Entertainment is a revolutionary entertainment experience from the creators of "Max Payne" and "Alan Wake" that blurs the line between gaming and TV by integrating drama and gameplay into one seamless, uniquely immersive experience. How you play the game impacts the show, and the show informs how you play the game.



In addition to the amazing lineup of games coming to Xbox One, Microsoft unveiled exclusive content partnerships with some of the top names in TV, sports and entertainment.

• "Halo" television series. Award-winning filmmaker, director and producer, Steven Spielberg will executive-produce an original "Halo" live-action television series with exclusive interactive Xbox One content, created in partnership with 343 Industries and Xbox Entertainment Studios.



• National Football League (NFL).1 A multiyear, landmark partnership will deliver the ultimate interactive NFL television experiences for the next-generation Xbox One and leverage Microsoft devices and services to evolve both in-game and on the sideline. The NFL on Xbox will redefine broadcast experiences through innovations around Skype, Xbox SmartGlass and player-worn technology; add an all-new fantasy football solution for the biggest screen in the house; and create a personalized NFL destination only available on Xbox One.



Introducing a new generation of Xbox Live

Xbox One is built to amplify an all-new generation of Xbox Live that is more powerful, more personal and more intelligent. Unleashing the virtually unlimited power of the cloud makes everything more convenient and accessible, from allowing games to be installed in segments so that gameplay can start quickly to updates downloading in the background. Save and store your personalized profile, games and entertainment in the cloud to access them anytime, from any Xbox One console.4 In addition, existing Xbox Live Gold Membership for Xbox 360 will
seamlessly carry over to Xbox One.5 Xbox Live takes you deeper into the games you love with all-new features.



• Smart Match. A new Smart Match matchmaking system virtually eliminates waiting in lobbies by estimating wait times and finding people you want to play with while you are enjoying other activities - reputation fundamentally matters and helps find best matches.

• Game DVR. A dedicated Game DVR captures and accesses your magic moments, all saved to the cloud. Along with sharing tools, you will have the most amazing bragging rights with Xbox Live.

• Living Games.6 Dynamic, living worlds evolve and improve the more you play, and advanced artificial intelligence can learn to play like you, so friends can play against your shadow.

• Expanded achievements. A new and expanded achievements system captures video of your epic moments, continues to grow a game's achievements over time and rewards you in new ways, and your Gamerscore carries over from Xbox 360.

• Xbox SmartGlass.6 Xbox SmartGlass is natively part of the Xbox One platform, built in from the beginning with the ability to quickly render content directly onto your device, and now more devices can connect at one time for multiplayer and shared entertainment.

Introducing the Xbox One look and feel

New Xbox One hardware is sleek and modern and complements any décor. The console is shaped in the 16:9 aspect ratio and employs a horizontal orientation optimized for its high-speed Blu-ray™ disc player. It is molded in a deep and rich liquid black color and includes a distinctive beveled edge.

The completely redesigned, revolutionary 1080p Kinect is more precise, more responsive and more intuitive. Its unparalleled vision, motion and voice technology let you reach into games and entertainment like never before by dramatically expanding its field of view and fidelity. It works in nearly any lighting condition, recognizes precise motion control from a slight wrist rotation, and distinguishes your voice even in a noisy room using advanced noise isolation.



The class-leading Xbox controller is refreshed with more than 40 technical and design innovations. Updated directional pad, thumb stick and ergonomic fit immerse all gamers in ways that are uniquely Xbox, and precision and control have been dramatically increased with all new vibrating impulse triggers.6 The Xbox One Wireless Controller is designed to work in concert with the new Kinect, allowing the two to be paired automatically to create seamless player syncing.

Xbox One will launch in markets around the world later this year. Visit the new Xbox Wire blog at http://news.xbox.com for in-depth features on the new system, including photos and videos from the unveiling event and new and rotating content from Xbox. More details about Xbox One and blockbuster games will be explored at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June."

Post reveal there has been a lot of hate directed at Microsoft already (naturally the internet hates everything) obviously there are many unhappy internationals questioning the compatibility of the integrated TV system with their own cable/satellite providers but one needs to bear in mind that the Xbox One team were simply putting it on the table to say ‘this is what this machine is capable of’ nothing is set in stone. My thought is that the Microsoft team is far too jacked up to not be able to accommodate international television services. But we will see.



Another bone of contention was the lack of titles in the reveal. What we saw was impressive, the graphic quality of the machine is clearly right up there with Sony’s PS4 and the announcement of the 15 exclusive titles leaves us titillating at the possibilities of new stories and worlds to be discovered. E3 is just two weeks away and it would have been a silly move to have revealed one too many titles. Hang on guys, we will know more soon! What I did appreciate was the fact that Microsoft presented the Xbox One in all its shining glory right off the bat. I found it quite the attractive machine, the firm lines and sleek design are a welcome change from the (somewhat dated looking) 360. I am also happy to see that Xbox have moved away from the very green dashboard and overall appearance, from what I gathered the new system will have a black chic to it, very trendy!
The controller once again looks like the most comfortable in the market, Xbox controllers are known for their ergonomic design and this one is no different, what particularly grabbed my attention was the now dedicated d-pad which should keep the fighting gamers very happy.

All in all it seems the Xbox One is prepared for the move into the next generation. Despite the hate the machine seems to be receiving right now, I think the Xbox One has a running start out of the gates in the race for next gen domination, but let’s wait and see what E3 has to offer.

- Hylton (Video Vengeance)

Woofels said ...

Active thread already running here:

http://www.awx.co.za/forum/view/id/49382/lastpage/t.html#49540

Or is the the official one now o.O?

.

A console so awesome it needs multiple threads?

@ Woofels - Yip Thanks, But this is for the AWX attendance/ coverage of the SA MS event

Your discussion can continue on the Reveal thread you listed

@ Woofels, what Tea said