Xbox One: Twelve Months Later

This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.

The Story so Far

After generating considerable controversy during the months running up to its release (thanks to its price, Kinect pack-in, DRM issues, and some misplaced emphasis on entertainment over gaming), Microsoft's Xbox One carried a degree of negative consumer perception at launch. However, a year later, things are very different.

Currently available for $50 less than a PS4, the Xbox One is a tempting prospect. So far, it's featured some strong exclusive games – particularly the two Forza games, Titanfall and Sunset Overdrive, - and is very well supported by the industry at large.

Where the console is weak, but is slowly gaining ground is in the indies department. Last year, Microsoft just didn't seem to be interested in self-publishing programs and indies in general, and because of that, Xbox One is behind PS4 in this area. Sony, on the other hand, has made a huge effort to court indie developers, and thanks to that, the PS4 has an excellent roster of small-publisher games both out, and in the works.

That is changing, however, and following a little bit of back-tracking, Microsoft are now looking at indie developers with the respect that they deserve, and we're seeing games coming through their auspices that are bolstering the big AAA titles.

Kat believes Xbox One is finally moving beyond the bad publicity generated during its problematic early days. "Xbox One is doing a decent job of divorcing itself from the onerous decisions made in the past," says Kat. "Namely its focus on home entertainment and its heavy reliance on Kinect. However, it's still just behind the PlayStation 4 in my mind."

She elaborates, "Its graphics capabilities is an issue that continually pops up; and though Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare notably runs slightly better on Microsoft's platform—maintaining a solid 60 frames per seconds—that's mostly to do with the fact that it outputs at a lower resolution than the PlayStation 4. With that said, Forza Horizon, Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall, and Halo: Master Chief Collection make for an impressive group of console exclusives; and with Xbox One holding its own in the third-party development category, there's reason to be hopeful for the future."

Jeremy is positive too. "Xbox One is pretty solid. Microsoft’s big, all-media ambitions haven’t really panned out, but that’s just as well; I’m really only interested in Xbox One for games. And it has a fair few of those, including some really promising semi-indies like Ori and the Blind Forest. I know console warriors will never go away, but I honestly feel the differences between the two systems have become so negligible as to not matter. Xbox One hasn't offered any compelling reasons to own it instead of a PS4… but neither is the reverse true. Aside from the increasingly small number of exclusives available, they’re pretty much interchangeable… especially now that they’re on even footing price-wise."

"Is making fun of the Kinect beating a dead horse at this point?" asks Bob. "If so, I hope you'll forgive me, because I've only recently had the displeasure of using this well-meaning but functionally awful device. Not only is it basically unusable outside of the most cavernous upper-middle-class living rooms (we Bay Area writers basically live in glorified closets), the few times I got it working only served to complicate what would have amounted to simple button presses on a controller. I have a feeling Microsoft sunk a lot of money into developing this current form of the peripheral, and while the technology behind it is legitimately impressive, it seems to work best under a specific set of conditions that aren't found anywhere near my entertainment center. True, Microsoft is washing their hands of the device, but I'd rather have a Kinect that works than a system that doesn't offer any major differences from the PS4."

He continues, "I will say, though, that Microsoft nabbed some interesting exclusives like Platinum's Scalebound, but the way they gave SWERY's D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die a surprise release before burying it in their marketplace makes me wonder if they even have an interest in calling attention to the games that make this system unique. And even though I'd probably stick to the PS4 if I had my choice between the two, the Xbox One isn't without its share of upcoming releases I really want to play, like Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Cuphead, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Quantum Break. Microsoft seems to have developed a real weariness about ever getting into the console industry in the first place, but I'm hoping they land even more great exclusives to keep Sony on their toes."

Mike echoes the change in consumer perception of Xbox One over the last twelve months. "I was cool on the Xbox One at the beginning of the year, but right around now, I could seriously see myself buying one," he admits. "I came out of the last generation leaning towards the PlayStation 3 and the early part of this year didn't change my mind. I was buying a PS4 regardless and I picked up the Xbox One because it was my job. With Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, potentially Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and the price drop, I probably would've picked up an Xbox One this holiday."

Great Games:

Exclusive

Forza Horizon 2

Forza Motorsport 5

Killer Instinct

Titanfall

Non-Exclusive

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil Edition

Need for Speed: Rivals:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag:

Watch Dogs

Tomb Raider Definitive Edition

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Alien Isolation

Costume Quest 2

Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition

NBA 2K15

FIFA 15

Guacamelee Super Turbo Champion Edition

Wolfenstein: A New Order

As you'd expect, each current gen platform sports its roster of exclusive titles. If shooting and racing is your thing, then you have two of each on Xbox One - two essentially "serious" games from each genre, and two that take a more arcade-feeling and fun approach.

In terms of general games, Xbox One and PS4 share many great titles, and right now you really can't go wrong with either machine. The choice is simply down to what sort of games you want to play - and in some cases, the resolution you want to play them at

Not-So-Great Games

Ryse: Son of Rome - Kinect Required

Crimson Dragon

Halo: Spartan Assault

Murdered: Soul Suspect

The Legend of Korra

LocoCycle

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Fighter Within

While Xbox One features some great exclusives, it features some pretty grim ones too. The much-hyped, great-looking, but ultimately vacuous Ryse leads the way - but Spartan Assault, LocoCycle and Crimson Dragon are also fairly weak. Many of the games on this list are still playable, and some people might indeed even enjoy them - but none of these are greats in any sense of the word.

System Highlights

Now that the dust has well and truly settled on its pre- and post-launch issues, it's possible to step back and look at Xbox One a little more objectively.

Kat likes the way that Xbox One can suspend games and quickly come back to them. "It's a feature that's been around since the adventure of the Nintendo DS way back in 2004, but modern consoles have been slow to implement it. My friends who own the Xbox One praise it all the time, and I'll admit that it's pretty neat."

While some were offended by Microsoft's initial emphasis on Xbox One being a media box, Mike thinks they did have a point to make. "The largest positive of the system isn't its gaming capabilities. It just works as a general media box," he says. "Being able to walk into my living say "Xbox On", "Xbox Watch TV", or "Xbox Go to Netflix" without picking up a control is pretty damn useful."

Although I do feel compelled to point out that it's less useful if you speak with anything other than a dulcet American tone like Mike does. I speak reasonably clearly, but the clip of an English accent seems to confuse my Kinect to the point where the machine just doesn't know what to do.

Mike is also pleased with the recent exclusives released for the system. "Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 formed a solid one-two punch in September and October. I didn't expect much from Forza Horizon 2, but came away pretty happy with the experience," he reveals. "Sunset Overdrive on the other hand lived up to all of my E3-heightened expectations. Titanfall surprised me with how good it was, but I didn't stick with it as long as I did with something like Unreal Tournament back in the day. Maybe my heart just isn't in FPS anymore."

Kat also lauds the exclusive Titanfall. "That's the easy answer, even if it was actually better on PC in most ways. It was certainly one of the most memorable shooters I've played all year. It could use an actual campaign and a bit more fleshing out; but in general, when I think of the Xbox One, I think of Titanfall."

Jeremy is a little more ambivalent about Xbox One, however. "While it’s kind of weasel-ish of me to say this, I can’t point to a single Xbox One experience that’s been especially revelatory, at least not that isn’t currently under embargo. But at the same time, nothing has made me regret owning an Xbox One, either. I see PS4 and Xbox One as being effectively interchangeable. Some games seem to perform better on Sony’s console, while others favor Microsoft’s. You can always tell which version is better based on which ones publishers mail out for review."

System Lowlights

For me, Kinect was a big bugbear. Buying an Xbox One on the day of launch meant I essentially shelled out a $100 premium for the mandatory pack-in tech. Once I'd set it up, I quickly realized it couldn't really understand my English accent, and since I didn't use my Xbox One for TV, that pretty much put it out of commission.

The lack of Kinect games also helped the thing gather dust, and as of now - twelve months after launch - I've used it only once to play Fantasia: Music Evolved. That's fun, but certainly not worth $100. Now Microsoft have seemingly turned their back on the peripheral, which means it's pretty much useless. Which also means the early adopters all got screwed - and that's really annoying. Perhaps if Microsoft gave me a $100 Xbox Live credit or something like that, I'd feel like they were at least recognizing my dedication for buying their machine on day one - as well as making good on me buying their mandatory tech that became redundant barely a few months after its launch.

However, Jeremy has a different beef to me. "I still hate the stupid interface," says he. "It’s needlessly difficult to legitimately relaunch a game when it glitches out; the resume feature sounds great in theory, but it tends to drop me out of an in-progress level between sessions, so it’s actually a net loss in practice."

Mike also has some mixed feelings. "When it comes to gaming, the exclusives push it ahead this year, but the PS4 remains the more-powerful system and its handling of game screenshots and videos is far superior to the Xbox One. Microsoft can catch up, but media sharing on PS4 is just flat-out better."

Outlook

Jeremy has a mysterious piece of sage advice. "There's one game I can’t stop playing. I have to force myself not to play one more level every time I sit down with it. However, I can't say anything about it because it's under embargo." Gah. Teaser!

However, in terms of Xbox One's future, Jeremy believes that, "there’s great stuff on the horizon, but you’re not missing out too much if you don’t own one yet."

Mike is a little more positive. "I think Microsoft will gain a bit of ground this holiday season. The exclusives will help, and the average consumer probably won't care that multiplatform titles don't perform as well on Xbox One; as long as they're there, that's enough." However, this is not a ringing endorsement. In terms of moving forward, Mike isn't fully convinced. "Microsoft needs to help developers pull more power from the Xbox One and they need to head into E3 with a similar lineup of exclusives. Titles that were little more than a CG trailer and a logo like Phantom Dust, Crackdown, and Scalebound might help them there, but there's no indication how far those games into development."

Kat has an interesting take on Microsoft's console. "The Xbox One has by all accounts sold very well, making it a success in that regard. Of course, it has also already failed in its primary mission, which was to be Microsoft's Trojan Horse for its invasion of the living room. For that reason, and because stockholders are reportedly putting increased pressure on Microsoft to refocus their attention on their core business model, this could be the last Xbox we see. With that said, however, I don't think the Xbox One is going anywhere anytime soon, and it should play host to plenty more excellent games to come over the next few years. If the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 proved anything, it was that graphics capabilities aren't everything when it comes to market share. Provided it continues to get quality exclusives, there's every reason to believe that the Xbox One can gain momentum over time and maybe even overtake the PlayStation 4 as the market leader as the generation winds down."

Out of all the USG team members, I'm perhaps the biggest fan of Xbox One at the moment. I've played my Xbox One far more than my PlayStation 4 this year - all thanks to its exclusive games - and that surprised me. I really thought I'd be favoring PS4 more than I am at the moment. However, that's because I'm looking at the now. In terms of outlook, the PS4 does remain the slightly more tempting prospect.

As I've said before, both systems have a long and bright future ahead of them. In terms of choice, it's basically all about the exclusives, so pick the machine that has the games you want to play right now - and take into consideration the upcoming games you're interested in. Just remember that there's no guarantee that they'll be good, so go with what's available first and foremost.