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Xbox One


Lee909
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XBOX One specs

 

Slot-loading Blu-ray drive? Check. HDMI in and out? Absolutely, considering the Xbox One is meant to play a central role in the living room. There's an octa-core processor based on AMD's Jaguar design and 8GB of RAM to go up against the Sony PlayStation 4, plus USB 3.0 ports, 500GB of hard drive storage, WiFi Direct for communicating with the new controller and other devices, and a humungous amount of silicon to drive it all: no fewer than five billion transistors, which compares to 1.4 billion in your average Intel or AMD chip (although Microsoft may be included other processors and DSPs in that count). And just in case you're wondering, the switch to an x86 PC-style architecture will indeed preclude backwards compatibility with 360 games.

 

As for the box itself, well, it looks rather a like a little HTPC with black and silver case and a big Xbox logo -- a visage with actually tallies with the fact that's running a PC-like x86 architecture inside. There's a full list of specs after the break, which we're continuing to build out as more details pour out of Microsoft's Xbox One ongoing launch event.

 

xbox-hardware-600.jpg

Processor and graphics: as rumored, a heavily customized AMD chip that combines an eight-core CPU, a GPU tailored for DirectX 11.1 graphics and 32MB of high bandwidth embedded ESRAM memory. The 28nm chip will consume around 100 watts, which is slightly higher than current Xbox Slim and PS3, but Microsoft promises noise from the cooling fans will be "four times quieter."

System memory: a Sony-rivaling 8GB of RAM, although it'll be DDR3 instead of the PlayStation 4's GDDR5.

Audio and video: 1080p and 4K both supported; 7.1 surround sound.

Kinect: This will be bundled with the console and contain 250,000-pixel infrared depth sensor as well as a regular 720p web cam.

Storage and media: a 500GB hard drive of unknown speed plus a Blu-ray / DVD combo drive that will be used as little as possible. We're told disc-based games will be ripped to the HDD automatically.

Connectivity: HDMI 1.4 output and passthrough; a "few" USB 3.0 ports; gigabit Ethernet; plus, three separate 802.11n radios to allow the console to communicate with its controller (over a form of WiFi Direct) as well as other devices (such as perhaps other Windows-based phones and tablets) without losing its connection to the internet. At other times, two radios could be used to maintain a stronger WiFi signal.

 

If the spec you're looking for isn't on this list, that's likely because Microsoft hasn't revealed it yet. We've requested further details and will update as and when we hear more.

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News: Microsoft confirms 'pre-owned fee' for Xbox One - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

 

Microsoft confirms 'pre-owned fee' for Xbox One

 

Mandatory game installation required for all games; second install on separate Live account sits behind paywall

 

Microsoft has confirmed that all Xbox One games will require mandatory installation onto the system's hard drive and, to install the same disc onto another user's drive, a fee must be paid.

 

Individual games will be tied to Xbox Live accounts, Microsoft said, meaning that the software giant can detect whether a game has been sold to a retailer and repurchased, or handed from one friend to another. In such instances, the second user must pay a fee.

 

"On the new Xbox, all game discs are installed to the HDD to play," a Microsoft representative told Wired.

 

The company added that, once discs are installed on the hard drive, games can be played without a disc being in the tray.

 

The Wired article then elaborates: "What follows naturally from this is that each disc would have to be tied to a unique Xbox Live account, else you could take a single disc and pass it between everyone you know and copy the game over and over. Since this is clearly not going to happen, each disc must then only install for a single owner."

 

It added: "Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc."

 

Microsoft did not disclose what the second-user fee would amount too, and did not clarify further on the matter.

 

The article claims that there is no sweeping 'always-online' requirement for future Xbox One games.

 

Update: Jon Hicks, the editor of Official Xbox magazine, has claimed that pre-owned games will be un-installed from the previous owner's system and installed onto another's. It is not clear if this process would negate a pre-owned fee.

 

Fucking ridiculous, if true.

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Xbox Support's Twitter has announced that there won't be a fee to share games with friends.

 

When asked if one could lend a game to a mate without them paying for it, Xbox Support confirmed, "You will not have to pay a *fee*. I can confirm that those reports are wrong."

 

This suggests that the purported "fee" is really just a game sale that you could happen to attain through a friend's disc, but you could just as well borrow a game without purchasing indefinite access to it.

 

Update 2: Our man on the ground Tom Bramwell was able to speak to corporate vice president of Microsoft Phil Harrison about this hot-button issue and was able to confirm that a second user can install a game from a friend's disc for a fee, though it's unclear how much this will be. Harrison also confirmed that several users sharing a console can access the same game at no additional charge, and Microsoft has "a solution" for the resale market, though it's staying mum on those for now.

 

The full interview regarding this issue is as follows:

 

EG: The big thing that everything is concerned about is the Xbox One's attitude to second-hand gaming. I really want to try to get to the bottom of this issue before we talk about anything else.

 

Harrison: Okay, so, I can understand where some of the confusion may have come from, so let me try to help out there. First of all, you can buy a game on a disc from a retail store, come home and install it to your Xbox One. The disc contains all the bits and data on that game, which you can then give to your friend, and they can then install it on their Xbox One. No restriction on that, except that the second person obviously has to pay for it.

 

You can purchase a game in two ways: you can purchase it from a retail store or you can download it. So the act of putting the bits on the hard drive - the Xbox One doesn't really know or care what method the bits got into the machine, if it was from a disc or downloaded from Xbox Live. But obviously the users will then have to purchase that content.

 

What I think people are now confusing is the purchasing of content in the first instance with the ability to trade and resell the previously played games. We have a solution for that and we will be announcing exactly how that works in due course.

 

EG: Why can't you talk about it today?

 

Harrison: Today is about introducing the platform and it's about introducing the big themes of what Xbox One is about as a new entertainment device that brings together games, TV and entertainment into one place. I think it's inappropriate for us to go into every avenue of tiny little detail today, but we will in due course, so...

 

EG: Okay. I mean, it's just funny having come from a panel where the amount of detail they were going into on the silicon and power-switching on that, to come in here and be told you can't talk about something that it sounds like you already know the answer to and would clear up a lot of people's suspicions and concerns.

 

Harrison: Well, let me say it again: we will have a solution that we will talk about in very short order about how previously played games can be traded between players.

 

EG: When you install a game on Xbox One, does it lock it to a single account on that system, and therefore if someone in your household has another account does it restrict them from playing?

 

Harrison: No.

 

EG: So they're able to play the game, Okay.

 

UPDATE: Microsoft has addressed the issue of Xbox One second-hand games... sort of. When asked about the possibility of trading or buying pre-owned games on the console's official FAQ, Microsoft said, "We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We'll have more details to share later."

 

We're not sure what that means exactly, but we're following up with Microsoft and hope to find out more.

 

Elsewhere, Microsoft confirmed that your Xbox Live membership, Gamertag, Gamerscore and achievements will in fact transfer between the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, unlike the games.

 

When asked about if users would need a specific cable or satellite provider to watch TV through the Xbox One, Microsoft replied, "Our goal is to enable live TV through Xbox One in every way that it is delivered throughout the world, whether that's television service providers, over the air or over the Internet, or HDMI-in via a set top box (as is the case with many providers in the US). The delivery of TV is complex and we are working through the many technologies and policies around the world to make live TV available where Xbox One is available."

 

 

Original story: Microsoft has confirmed that second-hand copies of Xbox One games will only be playable if the user pays a fee.

 

The console manufacturer confirmed this to Wired, where it strongly suggested that game installations would be mandatory. "On the new Xbox, all game discs are installed to the HDD to play," the Redmond-based company explained.

 

Because of this, each disc will be tied to a single account lest consumers simply pass a disc around and have all their friends install the game, then play it without the disc. This is why the second-hand fee is being implemented.

 

When asked what if a person just wanted to play a game from the disc without installing it, Microsoft didn't have a response, further suggesting that playing a game without fully installing it won't even be an option.

 

Elsewhere, Microsoft addressed the "always-online" rumours, stating that you'll be able to play games offline. "It does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet," Microsoft confusingly stated on its official site. "We're designing Xbox One to be your all-in-one entertainment system that is connected to the cloud and always ready. We are also designing it so you can play games and watch Blu-ray movies

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The main attraction of consoles was their simplicity; stick the cartridge in, press the power button and away you go. They're barely any different from PCs now with all the fannying around you have to go through before you can actually play a fucking game. Ah for the days of Megadrives and SNESsss'ss.

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Lack of backwards compatibility is a deal breaker for me.

 

Not going to be on the PS4 either I believe.

 

The second hand market is my deal breaker depending on how much the "fee" is to unlock the game.

 

Fortunately I think there is a still a couple of years left in the 360 so won't be jumping across to the next gen just yet.

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I don't see how that second article suggests that you can buy a game and share it between your household without paying a fee (i.e., I buy the game and allow my brother to use it). It just says that it doesn't restrict them from playing it, but everything suggests they'll have to pay a fee, which is fucking ridiculous.

 

Surely consumer law in some sense protects us from such madness? If I've bought something its my fucking property and I should be able to give it to who I like, for free. Im not talking about second hand selling, I'm talking about not having to buy two fucking copies of FIFA within the family or whatever.

 

They are treating games as if they're perishable goods.

 

I fucking hope both consoles get hacked in the arse and I'll gleefully pirate the fuck out of them when they do.

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I think they are saying with the 2nd hand games is that you can only have 1 game installed on one console then if you try to add it on a 2nd console while still installed on the 1st console it will charge you. The game will be linked to the account like XBox live games at the moment.

 

If you un-install the game from the 1st console you can then add it to a 2nd console at no extra charge. This means that the same game can't be played on multiple consoles for free like you used to be able to do with PC games.

 

I don't think I will be getting an XBox next time around anyway. After getting one on the cheap this time and buying Fable (quite like but nothing special) Mass Effect (Ace but now on Playstation too) Halo Reach (Didn't really like it) Forza (Just made me want to go back to Fran Turismo 5) and Gears of War (Awesome and only series I will miss) I dont thing I will miss any of the Xbox only titles. If there any I miss let me know.

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I think they are saying with the 2nd hand games is that you can only have 1 game installed on one console then if you try to add it on a 2nd console while still installed on the 1st console it will charge you. The game will be linked to the account like XBox live games at the moment.

 

If you un-install the game from the 1st console you can then add it to a 2nd console at no extra charge. This means that the same game can't be played on multiple consoles for free like you used to be able to do with PC games.

 

I don't think I will be getting an XBox next time around anyway. After getting one on the cheap this time and buying Fable (quite like but nothing special) Mass Effect (Ace but now on Playstation too) Halo Reach (Didn't really like it) Forza (Just made me want to go back to Fran Turismo 5) and Gears of War (Awesome and only series I will miss) I dont thing I will miss any of the Xbox only titles. If there any I miss let me know.

 

I know, but the situation you've (and they've) outlined is fucking moronic and ridiculous. I don't think i'll be getting an XBox either to be honest mate, but I haven't been particularly woo'd by the PS4 either.

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I know, but the situation you've (and they've) outlined is fucking moronic and ridiculous. I don't think i'll be getting an XBox either to be honest mate, but I haven't been particularly woo'd by the PS4 either.

 

I agree that its a daft Idea. Installing a game should be optional like it is now on the xbox. Just seems really weird that if I want to take a game around to my mates to play I would have to un-install just to install it again.

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It's all a bit cloak and dagger from MS.

 

If it's simply a case of paying a fee when you've borrowed the disc, and thus it'll be on two consoles, then fine, they want to avoid freeloaders.

 

However, if it's an activation fee, similar to the Online passes many games now use, that'll bump up the cost and could make buying second hand pointless.

 

If downloadable versions of games are still sitting at £49.99 whilst the copies in shops are almost half that, i have little faith that the pricing will be fair.

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Neither the PS4 or this new Xbox One will be backwards compatible due to the new architecture that they will both use.

 

It makes it better for the developers to make mutli-platform games across the PS4, Xbox One and PC as they will all use this similar type of architecture but it means play 'old' games is difficult.

 

I'm sure it can be done by means of an emulator that Sony and/or Microsoft will develop for the xbox live/PSN network but obviously they aren't going to develop this at launch.

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It's no secret that both Microsoft and Sony want rid of the second hand gaming market, so I can't say I'm at all surprised by all the secrecy around disc/game sharing.

 

I suspect that you'll be able to share games, but only in an offline mode, where only the single player campaign is available and the disc must be present in the console, despite the game being ripped/installed onto the HDD.

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I agree that its a daft Idea. Installing a game should be optional like it is now on the xbox. Just seems really weird that if I want to take a game around to my mates to play I would have to un-install just to install it again.

 

Yeah, its really odd. Personally, I don't think they'll let you just install it and then un-install it as much as you'd want to, there'll definitely be some kind of fee involved - well, plans might change now that everybody's calling them a bunch of nobheads, I guess.

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What the fuck is this shit?!!! They seem to be bragging about the fact that we can watch tv, skype people and watch blu rays. Don't know about anybody else but i've been able to do all that for a number of years now. Ooh, we can skype people and play dark souls at the same time! Err, no thanks. Fuck off.

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