After eight years of the Xbox 360 , Microsoft launched the Xbox One, his 3rd and most ambitious foray into the video game consoles market. So ambitious that , in fact, more than being the ideal gaming machine , the machine wants to dominate your living room .
Something noticeable already in console design , which leaves behind the curves and bold lines of ancestors to take a more conservative look, like a large black rectangular block , which does not clash next to the TVs , home theater systems and other electronics.
Nothing in Visual denounces it is a game , not even the new Kinect , larger and heavier than the first - and much more functional , say by the way . If not for the control, which preserves the already iconic colored buttons , you would think it is a Blu-ray player or something .
A remarkable detail of Xbox One is how the unit is silent : except for the white light that shines behind the console logo , nothing indicates that it is connected . Another important aspect is the ventilation. The Xbox One is full of vents , including half of the top.
Scalded by heating problems on the Xbox 360 , Microsoft seems committed to avoid the problem of all the ways in Xbox One Because these vents , the game can not be used vertically , horizontally only , occupying a considerable area : he is bigger than all the consoles of the past generation and even the rival PlayStation 4 from Sony . And on top has a bulky external source , X360 heritage .
Connections , media , input and output
All outputs audio and video Xbox One is digital : HDMI port for video and optical for audio. The connection to the Internet , however, can be made via Ethernet cable or wi - fi , which is best for you .
An important detail : Xbox One also has an HDMI input on the back . Here you can connect your receiver to Cable or even another console , like the Xbox 360 or PS4 , for example.
It is worth noting , play on another console through Xbox One is possible and the idea may sound fun , but in practice , experience has a small latency that makes it not so rewarding.
The console has support for standard Wi - Fi Direct , which allows you to connect your Xbox One to other devices that use this system without going through the router of your home . This reduces the latency and increases the speed of data exchange between the game and the new version of SmartGlass application , for example.
The Xbox One also has three USB 3.0 ports, one side and two on the rear. For now , there's not much to do with them except plug the Play & Charge kit that is sold separately by Microsoft . These entries one day serve to connect an arcade control ~ Killer Instinct " or the wheel of " Forza Motorsport 5 " , among other things .
An improvement on the Xbox 360 is adopted by the media console. The Xbox One reads Blu - ray , as well as the PS3 and PS4 . Besides allowing to store more data , for relief of producers and players too, since they no longer have to keep switching discs in the middle of the match . To boot, this option eliminates the need for another player in the room , for lovers of a good movie or show.
The unit also comes standard with a hard drive of 500 GB, which seems pretty even , but if you think that all games Xbox One must necessarily be installed on the HD to run and some can hold up to 50 GB of data before indeed any update , it's good that Microsoft will soon allow the use of external storage devices - something that is not even possible to do, but it was already promised by the manufacturer.
With hands on control
Control of One Xbox is a natural evolution of the Xbox 360 joystick , made much of little tweaks and technical improvements than major innovations . On its face , the biggest news are the triggers that have independent vibration , directional pad and levers , smaller and more accurate - with the right to a rubberized edge that improves the adhesion of the thumbs .
The new control has a comfortable grip , but suffers from some of the design decisions , such as the shoulder and buttons , clickable smaller . Maybe it's the years of habit with the Xbox 360 , but the new shoulder buttons seem a bit uncomfortable - not to the point of jeopardizing the gambling , however .
Another drawback is that the accessory uses a pair of AA batteries as well as the previous control . Sure, you can adopt or purchase a rechargeable battery Play & Charge kit , but it would be much better if he had already an internal , rechargeable in one of the USB ports on the console itself battery.
By far , the use of cells was more clumsy and inelegant choice that Microsoft did with the Xbox One
A nice detail and ensures a slightly larger batteries for life involves the interaction of the control with the new Kinect . When watching a movie , for example, the Kinect sees you down control and transmits this information to the accessory that goes into a power saving state .
new Kinect
The experience of using the Xbox One is fully integrated with Kinect , either in navigation by voice commands similar to Windows 8 or the use of functions for recording video or chatting with friends on Skype interface.
After configuring the device , Kinect will recognize you and log into your user profile , accept your orders to open applications and various other commands . In practice , we need to get used to the construction of sentences and the speed with which speaks to the accessory - and yes, talk to the accessory sounds weird , but somewhat futuristic.
The Kinect also has some interesting features , how to recognize QR Codes - which now accompany all cards credits to use on Xbox Game Store or even the DLC that came with some games . You ask for the Kinect read the code , indicates a role for the screen and quickly content is added to your profile on Xbox Live . Much better than typing infamous 25-character codes using a virtual mini keyboard , right?
Some voice commands through Kinect not work very well in Portuguese and for some inexplicable reason , the command to turn on the console is not available in our language , but the fact is that at least when it comes to navigation, the use of voice replaced nods and gestures used on the Xbox 360 . And it was a welcome change , even if it can be improved .
SPEAK WITH ONE XBOX
49 new Kinect obeys voice commands in Portuguese ; know
The accessory does cool things like combine your face with your profile on Xbox Live . When you sit in front of Kinect , Xbox One will recognize you by username and enter your profile. In fact, the control is automatically synchronized to the player who has it in hand .
During my early days with the device were not a few that sometimes , when talking about the new Xbox with someone , Kinect understood that the conversation was with him , activating a large list of suggestions on the screen or interrupting what should be doing , as one of its time-consuming installations .
This, incidentally , is the biggest setback Xbox One: everything needs to be installed in the new game . Games , applications , updates ... buy a game , get home and quit playing is something to past generations . Even the initial update , turning on the console for the first time can be very time consuming depending on your connection. Without the update , you can not do anything with the Xbox One and even then , you'll realize that all your applications - like Skype , Uploading , SkyDrive and Xbox Video , for example - still need to be downloaded and installed .
But after going through this whole process , things improve significantly .
