How to Prepare for the Xbox One

You've got time to kill, so why not? Here are a few tips before you pick up your Xbox One late tonight!

Just in time for the weekend, the Xbox One will be headed to your living room! That is, of course, if you’ve preordered and are prepared to stand in those long lines all night. Nevertheless, the release of PlayStation 4 earlier this week and now the Xbox One, the official start of what they’re calling the Next-Gen of gaming will begin. Here are some tips, whether you are just joining the Xbox craze or have been apart of it for years, to get you ready for what will be an awesome weekend of gaming. 

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What to do with your old 360?

Your Xbox 360 has been by your side for the past 8 years and unfortunately it won’t be your main muse anymore, but there is absolutely no reason that you need to get rid of the console completely–you just need to rearrange your entertainment stand! 

The Xbox One will not be compatible with any of your 360 games so unless you don’t have any favorite games from last gen or don’t want to re-buy those games for another system, your old friend will still be useful. If you need or want to get rid of your old Xbox, my advice would be Ebay. You can easily sell your console there to the many people that stay a generation behind on technology or use those machines for parts.

Update

Microsoft spoke earlier in the month about a day one update that will need to be on your console before it even works. This update is pretty typical of console releases and even the PlayStation 4 had an update before some of its features worked. 

So keep this update in mind when you are finally ready to plug in your Xbox One and not able to play it for a couple of hours. Of course, the time it takes to download will be dependent on your internet speed but, in an interview with GI International, Microsoft’s corporate vice president Phil Harrison said there is an “unprecidented” amount of preorders for the Xbox One.

“I can only apologise in advance to anybody who is let down before Christmas,” says Phil Harrison in regards to how many systems are available to supply the demand.

So, who knows if Microsoft is prepared to handle the sudden influx of people–the update could take longer than you think! 

Xbox One SmartGlass App

SmartGlass has been available to download since yesterday and if you are planning on using the app for full integration with the Xbox One, I suggest downloading it before midnight. There will be a ton of people waiting for their console to update and the first thing they are going to do is download the app to fill up their time. 

You can customize your dashboard and set up all you need for when you finally get the Xbox One in your hands. The app allows you to navigate your Xbox One console, control your media and set top box, pin content to play on your console and more!

WiFi Password

This might be a problem if your password is one of those obnoxiously long series of letters and numbers. You’ll need to locate your password in order to use your dashboards features to its fullest potential but it’s definitely not necessary to connect to the internet through your Xbox One should you be a little leery. Just like setting up any device, the console will pretty much walk you through the process once you plug it in. 

Batteries

Your Xbox One wireless controller will get about 40 hours of gameplay, but with your controller probably being on during the update and definitely for the setup you’ll get less than 40 hours of gameplay. Remember you don’t want to go through all that setup just to not be able to play because you didn’t get those extra batteries. The Xbox One controller takes AA batteries. 

You could also invest $30 more in a Play and Charge Kit but considering the Xbox One is already $100 dollars more expensive than its competitor–the PlayStation 4–I’m not sure how gamers are going to take to spending even more money. It is,however, a valid option to extending your controller’s battery life.

The Xbox One comes out tomorrow, November 22nd. Lines are already forming and I know many people can’t wait to see what Next-Gen will bring. Even if you’re not looking forward to the new console, just be happy that this has been a great week for gaming! 


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Author
Miranda Kirk
Former member and Senior Intern of the JTP program, woo!