Should I get an Xbox?

Hey guys,

Disclaimer: Before we go any further I am basically openly debating whether or not I should buy an Xbox One and I am inviting others to inform me and help me make a decision. Because of this I give my thoughts on the console, what I like and what I don't like. You'll see me saying such things like 'The controller is worse' or something like that, I am not saying it is objectively worse but merely in my opinion to me personally I like it less - after I posted this I re-read and felt like it appeared I was giving the Xbox a hard time. This wasn't my intention but happens when you put anything under the microscope, same would happen with the PS4.

I've accumulate a great library of games for my PS3 and PS4. From decent exclusives like Infamous: SS, to solid multiplat's like Far Cry to absolute smashers like Bloodborne & Last Of Us. I also own a decent PC which, gaming wise, is used for PC only / orientated games such as Hearthstone, MMO's, MOBA's and indies. So up until recently I felt no real reason to buy an Xbox.

I've never been big on Xbox's in general. Call me what you will but honestly I grew up on the Playstation original and I am biased towards the brand - we all have all our little biases which make us who we are and define our tastes and preferences - I'm certainly no fanboy though and openly accept the Xbox franchise has a lot going for it, but ultimately up until recently wasn't enough to entice me in - given I had all my bases covered in the gaming sector.

The PS4 is going to have a killer '16 of that I have no doubt (in fact all of gaming will) however we all know late '15 is pretty darned weak. Recently I find myself thinking about getting an Xbox One. I wanted to know from you guys in particular what the Xbox One could bring to the table that my PC and PS4 already don't have covered.

Currently, reasons for:

- Halo 5!

- Forza Horizon: I am a big sim racer running a T500rs rig. Arcade wise the PS4 has DriveClub which is some quick fun and one of the prettiest games ever, outshining the yet to be released Forza 6 and recently released PCars by some margin! Sim wise I have PCars and Gran Turismo 6 (PS3) which for all intents and purposes is very similar to any Forza game. However, having the engine from Forza in a beautiful open world environment is a mouth watering prospect and I have always been jealous of the Horizon franchise as their simply isn't a Sony equivalent (no Gran Turismo Horizon :()

- Never liked the appearance of the One but every day that goes by I'm liking it, the snow white one is even becoming very sexy to me

- Controller feel and utility is equal to PS4 imo but lacks features such as the touch pad (and the infrared aiming thing, whatever its called), built in sound from controller, headset ease/utility, rechargeable, and even the lightbar can help immerse you in certain titles (GTA, or many games low health it goes red... which is something I guess lmao). However, the new elite customisable controller with things like paddles is totally up my street! Brilliant idea and really would love one. Depending on just how crazy you can get with it this could easily make up for those deficiencies and I could make the controller of my dreams! Is it out yet? It sounds amazing on paper but I wonder how it converts in real life. I'm a total controller feature junky lol.

- Kinect... Shocking I know but I've never really tested these peripherals out, stuck to core gaming, I'd like to try it and my GF wants that dancing game. I already know the Kinect will eat the PSEye alive. I could also use it outside of gaming, but Is it good enough for me to use it on things like Netflix, Youtube or even Google? I know it's capable of such things but I wonder if it will consistently hear me every time when I say 'Google Gamespot' and if it does it as fast or faster than without the Kinect. I do not want it to become one of those things which just frustrate me, or I force myself to use simply because I paid for it and don't want to waste it. Any thoughts on every day use with the Kinect?

- Rise Of the Tomb Raider: Loved the original, not such a big deal since it will be coming to PS4 later... but still

Against:

- £350+ for essentially the same thing I already have

- I've been lucky enough to try Virtual Reality and it blew me away. This is no gimmick. Sony has Morpheus coming out early next year and I'm sure since it's first party and internally developed it will have lots of support and will be well utilised. Microsoft don't seem to have their own, will the Oculus work on the One? Even if it did I'm not sure it'd be as well utilised as it is designed for PC's and would probably be a massive load on any console. I know MS have the smart glass thing which looks really cool but beyond Minecraft I really don't see a utility in gaming.

- Xbox has a lot of TV functionality. I don't watch TV at all. All I use is Netflix, Youtube and Google. But even with these my PC does 99%, occasionally I'll watch a movie on the console or a Youtube clip. Also, I find 'snapping' a bit odd, two things on one screen simply will not work for me (it'd give me a headache). Obviously I could just opt not to use it, but this was one of Xbox's key selling features.

- Does the controller come with a rechargable version? Like a simple USB into the controller port to charge? Batteries are my mortal enemy and I cannot stand them. Also, I'm pretty certain it lacks a headset jack in the controller and has limitations on non MS branded heatsets, how does this affect every day use? is it as restrictive as it seems? Also lacks the sound from the controller

- Currently only 2 exclusives I really want and one timed exclusive, what do Xbox have for 2016? Any big hitters?

- For multiplats I'd probably always buy on PS4. As a rule of thumb either the resolution or FPS is always superior on PS4, sometimes both, occasionally this isn't the case (FPS on Witcher 3) but it may be fixed, or is offset by resolution, so it isn't clean cut.

Anyway guys I just want some opinions. Is there a space for a PS4 and Xbox? Does the One still have that massive brick? Is there a version you can get without it (lol)? If you were trying to sell me an Xbox but had to be honest what would you say? How's the Kinect? Is it worth buying for only 3 exclusives? Is it, as I assume from tech run downs, generally inferior for multiplats? The PS4 has features in it's multiplats specifically designed around the controller, in GTA the lightbar flashes blue/red for the cops, in all games the touch pad is used for changing weapons, map usage, anything a mouse is used for etc, flicking rapidly causes menu shortcuts, aiming the controller at the tv causes the cursor to move, does the Xbox have any design / controller specific features for multiplats in a similar fashion (or any?)

Btw only replies from people who own and love their Xbox One and believe it to be either superior to the PS4 or a console that should share living rooms with the PS4.

Thanks! And pretty sure this is my first thread so apologies if I sound a bit odd and the EXTREME length, wasn't sure how to approach the question. It says I've posted before but been ages (year +) so I don't even remember ever being on this site, lol. Will continue to research and this will form part of my decision, hoping to have bought the One (If I'm going to) before the big hitters release.

Well. I favour AMD over Intel. I am biased towards a gaming rig with cherry picked components. A console is what it is. Graphically the PS4 and the Xbox 1 still look shite to me, but I am used to a monster nVidia card. Basically you have answered you're own question. Stick with what you or plump for the Xbox. Matters little really other than what you want to play. I wanted Halo, hence my choice. Which I only really got due to saving for my next rig.

No

If you have to ask the answer is no

Too long of a post to read.

By the way,the decision to buy an Xbox One is yours,it's up to you. lol.

@ozzy987: You would think users in this section would try to sell the X1 on you a bit better, terrible fans they are!

For some context for you, there are a lot of users here who consider me an Xbot even though I am a multi-platform gamer since I really don't like some of the fanatical PS fanboys who spend their whole lives online bashing the Xbox brand. Truthfully I have about 40 Xbox One games and 14 PS4 games, I play my multi-platform games on the Xbox One because I have about 15-20 friends I regularly game with on Xbox Live, and only 3-5 on PSN. Switching from PSN to Xbox Live for you will probably be less enjoyable in some cases since your friends list will initially be much smaller. There really is a lot to be said about how much value is added by playing a game with a friend vs solo.

You ask if there is room for both consoles in the living room, for me the answer is obviously yes, here's my proof.

For 2016 I don't entirely believe that the PS4 has a killer lineup, reasoning for this is that I can see much of the announced games being delayed into 2017, with the biggest announced games so far being very far off in the future(Shenmue, Final Fantasy Remake). On X1 there are a few really good exclusives I am eager to get my hands on, Quantum Break, Scalebound, Crackdown 3, and Gears of War 4 are highly likely, though Gears could maybe slip to 2017.

One of the benefits to getting an Xbox One if you like Halo is that you can get every Halo game except for Reach right now, 1-5 and ODST, and if you like the custom consoles check out the Forza and Halo editions, I am a big fan of both of those. When it comes to Forza, a word of caution since your information appears to be a little off, Forza Horizon 2 is not a Simulation like Forza 6, I'm not even sure if they use the same engine. Horizon is more like Test Drive Unlimited and was created by former developers from Eden(who made TDU) and Bizarre Creations(who made PGR), and definitely leans more towards being an arcade racer than a simulation.

Personally I prefer the X1 controller, it's much better for shooters and driving games, not so much fighting games. You can buy a recharge kit for the controller that has a rechargeable battery and a fairly long(6 meters iirc) usb cord to charge it, and the newer controllers use the same 3.5mm headphone jack that the ps4 uses. Honestly the lightbar feature needs to go away on the PS4, it's a waste and I don't notice it at all since I usually leave a light on when I game, and so far almost no games on PS4 use the touchpad, they're a bit gimmicky right now. Nice ideas, but no one has figured out a good application for them.

I wouldn't worry about Kinect too much, it only responds to the word 'Xbox' followed by a command(i.e. Xbox Go To Netflix). Once in a while it will hear a word that sounds similar and think you're talking to it, but its not very often and you can just say "Stop Listening" and it'll go back to idle. That said, I love using my Kinect to navigate through the machine, from saying 'Xbox Record That' to save a 30 second clip of recent gameplay, to starting up skype and calling friends & family w/out ever touching a controller(i.e. "Xbox Go To Skype... Call John Smith"), to simply turning the machine on when I walk past my gaming room by taking one step in the room and saying "Xbox On" and the box automatically turns on my TV and 5.1 system as well. And I don't use a TV for anything but gaming.

If you get an X1 and you're a fan of Tomb Raider I'm sure you'll enjoy Rise just as much on the X1 this year as you could on the PS4 next year, only difference will most likely be post release content will be packaged on the disc for the PS4, graphically they'll be the same.

I also do not believe that VR will have that much of an impact early on, whether it is Oculus or PS VR, there is literally no data to determine what types of games work on these devices commercially, but the cost to make a game for them will be the same as it is for a PS4 or X1, so it will have little support for the first few years until that information is available to the people who write the checks. X1 has some very minor Oculus support, but it isn't full VR, it's just an app that simulates a 60" or larger screen, nothing more.

When I think of the Xbox One, there isn't any one specific game or feature that excites me, it is the combination of all the new features and games combined, which is the one thing the PS4 lacks in the near future. Halo 5 is obviously huge, and there have been a bunch of other highly anticipated releases on the system(both multi-plat and exclusive), in addition to the upgraded party chat servers, larger party chat(12 users), the backwards compatibility, and the new dashboard(which I am using currently via the preview program, it is super fucking fast!!! 1000x better than the old one). All of those things are great, but when you look at the bigger picture you can see how hard the Xbox team has been working to make this a great machine to play games on, and when you put that much effort behind your product you WILL have a good product.

Anyway Ozzy if you want an Xbox One then go for it, it's a good system and if you enjoy the type of games that get released for it then you can't go wrong.

The download speed and install times are shit though and the Japanese support is pitiful which for me will always make it my least fav of the 3 (sorry Xbox fans)

I do however like my Xbox One and use it whenever I want some Rare or Gears action.

Yeah enough of this. This is not System Wars so please do not treat it that way. This applies to anybody whos posts have been deleted. If there are any questions on this please PM myself or use the Ask The Mods board.

Back to topic now please.

Microsoft have no control over download speeds!

Yes its worth it

if you have the money then yes go for it.

Just to provide closure on this thread I got a snow white Xbox one!

Disappointed by a few things but plenty to be happy about. Won't go into them since it'd ignite a war but overall the team at Microsoft did an amazing job... I say this because I played the XO at a friends years ago, roughly November '13 and despite only playing/navigating for 10 mins I really didn't like it. Fast forward to today and it feels like a totally different console.

@ozzy987:
On November 12th, it'll be all different again. Congrats I hope you enjoy gaming on it!

I know I'm late to the convo but I just wanted to throw my input in for the record just because I've beat this to death with a bunch of people either for or against the XB1. The bottom line is this. Whatever console the rest of your friends are playing on is going to be the one that you are happiest on. Nobody likes gaming alone. Even if its a single player game its nice to talk about and share your experiences at work or school with friends who are playing the same thing.

As for the racing sim you were talking about- the Forza horizon game are more arcadie and less of a sim than Forza 5 or 6. But I too love the open world and prefer the Horizons over the digits.

GL HF-

Yes you should get an xbox one its worth it

I would wait until it's cheaper. I'm the same way but I usually pick up a PlayStation way down the line. It wasn't until 2012 that I finally bought a PS3.

Both of them are very similar products and if there isn't anything on the horizon that makes you scream to pick up an Xbox One than I would just wait.

well 350$ is a damn good price .

I had these problems with it :
_ its big . I mean its a huge console , barely fit under my TV .

- game installs are slow ( although overall UI and xbox live are really fast )

- Hardware is weaker compared to PS4 . this makes resolution on some games lower compared to PS4 . its not a big deal to me tho .

but overall its a great console , runs well , has great games , good price , cool online service . yeah go for it .