Well the old thread was archived, so here is the new one.

Launch Events:

http://news.xbox.com/2013/11/xbox-one-launch-invitation

Can't wait!

what games are you guys picking up? both the PS4 and the Xbone launch lineups are AWFUL.

going with BF4 and Forza 5 here.

I'm getting the PS4, but the xbox definitely has the better lineup, IMO.  I'll take Ryse, Dead Rising 3, and Forza over Killzone, Resogun (sp?) and a bunch of games that are good but that I've already been able to play on the PC for months (like Blacklight).

Then again, like you said both lineups kinda suck.  Watchdogs was the big one that I wanted to see.  Black Flag on next gen should be worth getting, I suppose.

I'll get a PS4 down the road - I always have had both consoles - Watchdogs is gonna be sweet, as is Titanfall. there's some good stuff coming out next year for both systems, but I've never seen such a shameful launch lineup for a console launch.

It's kinda killed a bunch of the excitement. I really haven't heard much buzz about these systems.

To be fair, I think there's some misplaced nostalgia about previous launches.  I mean, think about the 360/PS3 gen - I think we had geometry wars and Gun for the 360 and Resistance: Fall of Man and "Riiiiiidge Rrrrrracer!!!" for the PS3.  I was just looking at the launch title lists for both consoles, and other than CoD 2 (which had already been out for a month on PCs when it came to the 360), none of the games on either platform was one that anybody remembered as a landmark title.

here was the 360 launch line up:



in my mind - the ones highlighted were either pretty cool, or massive leaps forwards in graphics and scale. I understand that graphically, we're not going to see the leap forward that we did between the last two generations. Not claiming these systems aren't more powerful, but the big improvements we'll be seeing now are the smaller details. particles, FPS, draw distance... the worlds will "feel" more alive.

either way, I know when the 360 came out I was excited to play the highlighted titles.

looking through the Xbone launch, I wanted BF4 - but could have had it on the 360, and went back and forth between Ryse and Forza. Read some pretty harsh reviews for Ryse, so I cancelled it and picked up Forza instead.

Really, I'm more excited about the features of the console than the games themselves.

oh well. maybe i'll feel better about it when I get my hands on it.

I suppose.  When I look at that list, COD and madden 06 are really the only ones that I recall with fondness.  I guess the NFS game too.  Remember too that COD was like battlefield 4 on next gen is now - it was already on other platforms (PC) for a month so it wasn't even really new. 06 was "cross gen" too because it was on PS2.  The others were games that we just played because they were there.  Launch titles In general are never what we look at at the end of the gen and say "wow that was cool."

Either way, the main thing I am excited about is the hardware like you.  It's the games that are coming next year I am interested in more than this year's offerings.

I remember COD2 as being an EPIC experience on the 360. I still play it from time to time and remember my time playing multiplayer fondly.

Looks like the xbox won't have live streaming at launch.  Not particularly surprising given how hot these consoles are coming in.  Both are having to strip out features they can't win until a later date.  

http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/2013/11/19/xbox-one-to-lack-gameplay-streaming-at-launch/

Eh, as long as the consoles work reliably to play games from day 1, that is the important thing.

BF4
COD: Ghosts
Forza
Ryse
AC4: Black Flag

Amazon delivered AC4, COD and BF4 today...too bad I don't have the Xbox yet

I got BF4 today - still waiting on Forza. got my shipping notice for the Xbox, too.

so excited.

I was only going to get BF4 but I am considering Ryse Rome

thoughts.

It looks bad ass.  For two systems that are basically identical, it's the exclusives that decided it for me...Ryse and the upcoming Titanfall, especially.  To a lesser extent, I prefer Forza over Gran Turismo.

Ryse looks like it will be mediocre from a gameplay standpoint.

At launch, Forza 5, Dead Rising 3 and BF4 will be the games to get.  Everything else is rather meh.

I just read that the review embargo from Microsoft is still in place for Ryse (despite it being dropped for all other launch titles) and it will stay in place up until November 21st.  Not a good sign...

Are they expecting them to sell out and not have a large enough supply to meet immediate demand?

Hell yeah I'm excited, the thing is awesome. Forza looks amazing, the detail on Leguna Seca is awesome. Actually most of the launch titles are pretty good. Killzone and Dead Rising are pretty sweet from what I've seen.

I'm guessing similar to ps4, of you want one bad enough it shouldn't be too hard to find one at retail. Most stores are doing midnight openings with a decent stock that is not for preorders. Resellers be damned.

http://kotaku.com/the-xbox-one-the-kotaku-review-1467960010?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

This is a good, but LONG, review. I hope Microsoft fixes all these issues before launch, but I doubt that they will. We'll likely see them do what they did with the 360---constantly update the software via patches.

I have 4

I read that earlier, as well as the Ars Technica review and a number of others.  The kotaku one has some stuff that seems pretty nitpicky - he considers the removal of the massive and annoying battery pack on the controller to be a negative for example, while I'd say I think it's an improvement.  A lot of the other stuff will certainly be fixed over time with the interface and whatnot.

At this point I'm only seeing a couple of things across all the reviews that seem less than ideal long term.  One is that the headset jack on the controller is proprietary (and the setup is huge), and not only that but it's not even the same proprietary jack that the 360 had so you can't use ANY of your previous sets until they come up with an adapter .  Seems like a very poor and unnecessary design choice.  The PS4's headset is certainly chincy, but at least th controller will take any 3.5mm headset that you might have lying around, from a $10 pair of earbids to your $300 Astros.  Why they couldn't have designed the One's controller with a universal port is beyond me.  Well, unless they just want to have one more thing to sell you.

The second is that the kinect still isn't reliable in either the voice or camera functions.  Kotaku mentions an ~80-85% reliability rate and another review mentioned a 75% working level, while Ars and Kotaku both mention failures with facial recognition and speech and other problems.  Frankly, 80% isn't good enough for me to not get frustrated when it doesn't work to the point of just throwing my hands up in frustration and using the controller.  I'm hoping that this can be fixed through firmware updates, but I'm not exactly sure what more can be done.  Plus, you still have the inherent problem of having to yell at your TV whenever you want anything to get done, which makes it less useful if there are multiple people in the area.  I'm still completely unsold on the kinect idea and no review has pulled me over to its side so far.

Either way, I think it's kinda pointless to "review" consoles so close to release.  I understand that they kinda have to for the sake of people who are trying to decide what to buy, not to mention page views, but how useful is a day one review of such a complex piece of hardware that is coming in on the absolute bleeding edge of development?  Both consoles came in SUPER hot, as the removals of various launch-day features and large day-1 patches on both show.  There will be teething problems and updates and other tweaks and changes and fixes for many months still.  All I'm really interested in at this point is a) does the console work mechanically, and b) does it play games well.  I take it as a given that everything else is in a lot of flux and don't expect a very polished UI or software system.  Heck, I don't even expect great games.

Here's Adam Sessler's video review.  It's pretty good.  

Stupid question: What's the best way to run the xbox one through my old rear projection tv that doesn't have HDMI? I know, my SO is getting me a new tv for Christmas.

My guess would be an HDMI to component converter.





 

Eh some people saw it as nitpicky. I saw it as touching on people's preferences and how those will be affected. The proprietary headset jack is a deal-breaker for me---it's a function that has saved me ~$150 on my PS4, and it's a naked money-grab by Microsoft.

The voice and camera functionality is a huge concern. Changing profiles when someone walks into the room is an issue. Feet being interpreted as hands and commands then being given when watching a movie is an issue. ~85% reliability is an issue. Issues with turn-on commands and audio are a problem, and if they're not fixed they're going to end up negating any "multi-use advantage" that the One might have. It's a clunky, unfinished product and it's still going to be pushed out to compete with Sony.

These reviews are vital---they provide an up-to-date and hopefully unbiased view of exactly where the console is at. It gives us the information needed to decide whether or not we purchase the product. These reviews have helped knock out any lingering doubts in my mind. That said, I'm curious about the reliability. The system is HUGE and could be an issue "fitting in". I hope that it's successful, as that will continue to drive innovation and the market forward.

Double-tap

I pre-ordered my xbone this morning from Amazon.  Thanks to all those people that didn't pay for their pre-orders.  I wanted to order Forza but I'm pissed that they keep dishing out the same tracks so I'm skipping Forza 5.

Maybe I'm just a car nut, but I think forza is probably the best on the lineup, the tracks are BEAUTIFUL.

I love me some Forza, I've owned all of them so far but I'm just tired of the same tracks over and over.  They take out the best and throw some other pos in and act like it's an upgrade.  While it will be no Forza check out The Crew, it's going to be my racing fix if they don't have FREE dlc tracks for Forza that come out while people are actually playing the game.

Is it true that this installment doesn't even have Nurburgring?  Waaaat.

Everything I've read about Ryse makes me think it's just showing off the hardware, and the gameplay itself was brutally awful, and boring.

i cancelled my pre order for it and got Forza instead.

Copy that.



I'm gonna do the same.
 

Is there a wheel and pedal combo that actually allows you to shift using a real clutch pedal and shifter? or is that outside the scope of the game?

serious question, Ive never played forza before and the game looks great but I dont want to just steer and use a paddle shifter.

there's this wheel

I don't know much about it - but it says it just has gas and brake pedals. no clutch. Looks pretty snazzy though!

bf4 tomorrow when I pick up my console and ghosts is sitting in my living room in the box. debating inside my head on madden. I love last years version, but the sign into EA for custom teams and players is BS. let me pick and choose whoever the hell I want without signing up for your BS.

GT launch coverage starts at 11pm est.

http://www.gametrailers.com/

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/launch

Will definitely watch.  I can't stand the host (at least if it's the same guy as the PS4 launch), but whatever.

getting really excited now.

Really? I just watched a video, and it looks like the coolest hack and slash ever made.

That's just his "show" personality.  He is a bit better in the "shows" done by gametrailers.

Good luck everyone! Hope the system is exactly what you're looking for

Will let ya know after the update is finished.

Love it so far.  Only had a couple of hours on it last night.  Played a few games of COD, the maps were really impressive & it seems like almost a different game than the previous cod titles.  Very impressive.  I am still learning with it as the dashboard is an improvement with more features but with less clutter- only three blades now with a lot of stuff super-imposing  Never used the pin feature before & they have a blade just for that & I still have to experiment with the snap feature.  You can start games during the games initial update.  It seems like you can access the entire dashboard while in a game quickly also if you quit a game purposely to get off or check something it, it jumped back right into the game menu right where you left when I decided to get back in it.

If it seems like I am rambling it is because I am.  I honestly had no idea what I was doing last night.  The system is familiar & yet so different that at times you are wondering how do you do this or that & I actually was talking to a buddy at the time & the system responded to my questions / voice recognition.  I did not even want to have the kinect & skipped setting that up but it still picked up voice commands with no problem No problems or glitches of any kind.  I downloaded the system update, cod update & maps/bonuses & battlefield update & bonuses.  Looking forward to using it tonight.

Looks like the games must be downloaded and installed although it just says installing.

Are you not able to play a game when it is just partially downloaded?

yes, but the complaints are:

1. Story line is only 6 hours
2. hack and slash mechanics only take a short time to master, and never grow more difficult
3. little variety in enemy type
4. gameplay is mindless and easy.

it's supposedly beautiful, but i want more than a pretty picture

I was able to load them & play them while downloading.  & the games (cod & bf) only needed an update downloaded not the whole game or anything big.

It was 42% give or take a few.Dead Rising 3.