Xbox One is Meh

I’ve been patiently waiting to hear more about the Xbox One. This is one of the first new generations of consoles where I will be the consumer. During the last console rush, my mother was the principal buyer, but now I can choose. As I’ve been using an Xbox 360 for the last year or so, I’ve been particularly interested in what Microsoft is bringing to the table. 

But now that I’ve seen the reveal, the big reveal where they’re supposed to knock my socks off and make me want their device more than I want to eat sushi or go out dancing or whatever it is that you really, really want to do, I’m exceptionally underwhelmed. 

Notch sort of summed up my lack of excitement: 

I understand where Microsoft is coming from. Creating a home entertainment system is a great idea–it captivates the more casual crowd, and if you believe that most of the purchasing power for your console exists with parents trying to get the most bang for their buck, I can see how incorporating cable into the device would be interesting. 

With showings of Forza and EA Sports, the demographic targeted was once again clearly male under the age of 25. I’m not sure where they were going with Xbox One (if you don’t go with any of the rumored suggestions for titles, at least go with one that doesn’t sound so exceptionally odd) and for me, at least, voice activation is still a gimmick. 

All of this explains why Xbox One is probably the most meh thing I’ve seen in a very long while. It’s hard to get excited about a product hyped as “innovative” and the next generation when it seems to be much of the same thing, with the added benefit of working like a TV guide. I don’t know a single friend of mine that even has cable–it’s all going to Netflix and other online sources these days, and I don’t know who would want to Skype using their TV.

Xbox One seems to be solving problems I’m not sure existed. 

It also has the benefit of excluding some gamers like myself who buy used games. If I bought the game, it’s mine, and I should be able to use it on however many machines I want. With next-gen games allegedly clocking in around $100, I won’t be able to justify buying a new Xbox One game for years.