XBox One: Boxing Clever

With the breathless announcement of the Xbox One came the droves of gaming fans ready to heap mountains of scorn on every possible failing, both compared to the still-nebulous PS4 and just compared to the hype of the Xbox 360, an 8 year old console that has endured well beyond its projected life span.

And scorn they did, with some genuinely valid complaints: “It just looks like a box” said those unaware of the device’s name. “Used games will cost buyers to play,” said those who didn’t even have pricing on how that would work.  “It’s just a media centre, they didn’t even show any games,” said those who need everything at once. “It’s not backwards compatible,” said those who somehow think backwards compatibility is an easy trick that wouldn’t raise the sale price one pence. “Kinect has to be on all the time, it’s creepy,” said those who are justifiably creeped out, but way overestimate how interesting their nighttime activities are to Microsoft.

Maybe I’m not as cynical as I was originally programmed, maybe I drank the Kool-aid here a little, but most of the complaining about the Xbox One (name notwithstanding) seems rooted in actually complaining about this generation of consoles. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, can all read the writing on the wall: TVs are getting smarter. They can do more, connect to the internet, and even game all on their own, and it won’t be long before consoles are marginalised set top boxes for hardcore gamers still going through puberty. If consoles are going to survive, they need to embrace being a media centre, need to do dickish things like charge for used games (though we have no idea how much yet), and can’t keep appeasing legacy fans by supporting old games (no one’s taking away your Xbox 360, guys).

There’s plenty to be suspicious about – needing to connect to the internet every 24 hours is a classic dick move – but ultimately there’s enough here to have me interested. This is our first real taste of what an eighth generation console will look like (don’t get me started on the Wii U), and it finally looks like a device I will get more use out of than just by screaming at a red ring of death.