The Xbox One has had a bumpy start to say the least. From its live TV and movie filled unveiling, to its DRM filled E3, things have not been looking good for Microsofts gaming box. As bad as things have looked for the Xbone, thanks to the internet, Kinect and some jabs by Sony at their E3 showing, there is still plenty of good news for Xbox fans and potential Xbox One customers.
As I said in my Xbox One E3 write up, Microsoft would relax some of their DRM policies, and 5 days from my writing it, they announced that an online connection/check-in was no longer required. Microsoft also said game discs were now sharable and could be bought and sold on the used market, something they previously said they wouldnt allow, hence all the hatred of the Xbox One the past couple of months.
The very thing that most people were angry at though, was the one key component to making the Xbox One truly next gen. That one thing was the always online connection. Making the Xbox One NEED an internet connection was its one guarantee that every developer would be able to develop its games with access to the cloud. This cloud though is not the same cloud currently available for the 360 and PS3. Those allowed for cloud saves, the Xbox One allows for cloud computing. Cloud computing is the future and was the Xbone's greatest asset going forward as the cloud can process things that your console would otherwise have to process (graphics, physics, AI, etc) opening up the consoles hardware power for more important tasks.
To give you an example of what happened to cloud computing after Microsoft took away the internet connection requirement, we only need to look at the Xbox 360 launch. When the 360 launched, there were 2 SKU's, one with a hard drive (HDD) and one without. This made things difficult for many developers going forward as they had to develop games without the HDD in mind. And when the PS3 was launched, this made things even harder for devs as every PS3 had an HDD that many devs took advantage of, from caching to texture packs to quicker loading, etc. Developing with the HDD in mind lead to many games performing better overall on the PS3. Games like GTA 4 and Burnout Paradise took advantage of the PS3 HDD, while the 360 versions were developed without the HDD usage in mind and were overall the inferior versions.
Looking at the HDD issue today, the next GTA 5 will ONLY work on the 360 with an HDD, just as Battlefield 3 required a 360 HDD for its texture pack disc install. Just the way HDD's are becoming a requirement for todays games, is the same way internet access for cloud computing will become a requirement for games in the next gen, whether you like it or not! And if you wanna play 2014's first GOTY candidate called Titanfall, you will NEED that internet connection, and cloud processing will show itself in a big way.
Up until recently the rumor has been that the PS4 is the most powerful next gen console. One reason this rumor has been so widespread is because of the PS4's use of GDDR5 ram, which is, on paper better than Xbone's DDR3 ram. But there is one thing ram related that raises the bar for the Xbone, the way it did for the 360. With Xbone's built in, super fast 32mb of eSRAM, this will help developers get the most and more out of the Xbone over the PS4, just the way the 360's eDRAM helped it surpass PS3's performance for many developers. While it is only 32mb of additional ram, it is super fast and will come in handy for many developers, just as it did in this generation. And with Xbone's dedicated sound processing power, its the first hardware of its kind that separates itself from the rest of Xbone's processing. Not needing to use system resources for anything sound related will be a big deal for developers.
Of course, there is more to these next gen systems than just sound and ram. Most of the PS4's CPU and GPU specs have been outed and were found to be high end AMD, PC silicone just like those in the Xbox One. Although in the Xbox One's case the CPU and GPU were more customized than those in the PS4. There is still a lot left unknown about those customizations, but these tweaks to Xbone's CPU and GPU by Microsoft could be the difference when it comes to hardware horsepower. For sure though, Microsofts investment in cloud computing should take Xbone's processing power above and beyond PS4's, at least for any developers who decide to use it. And while both consoles are using 8 core AMD processors along with other PC-like components, only One console has PC-like software and that is the Xbox One with Windows. So while both consoles may resemble that of high end Windows PC's, for developers it will be much easier porting over their PC titles to the Xbox One as opposed to the PS4, not just because of hardware, but because of software too! Gaming PC's use Windows, Xbox One uses Windows, PS4 (Orbis/Linux) doesn't.
Last but certainly not least are the games. As a gamer I will be buying BOTH the PS4 and Xbox One, theres no denying this. But for sure I will only be buying one of these 2 systems this year. Obviously at the end of the day its launch titles that I'm most interested in. Both consoles have a great launch lineup on the way, from Battlefield 4 and COD Ghosts to a new Assassins Creed to the latest sports titles. But for me it comes down to the exclusives. And on launch day, its the Xbox One I find myself wanting the most. While the PS4 has Killzone... Its Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Forza 5, Killer Instinct and the new Plants vs Zombies for Xbox One I find myself most interested in.
The Xbox One may not be the most popular system going into launch, but surely its gonna be a system that no gamer will want to pass up. From the most secure and evolved online multiplayer platform Xbox Live, to the perfect controller thats now been perfected, on down to its HDMI-in port that allows you to hook up your Xbox 360 to your Xbone, the future looks bright for any gamer who takes the Xbox plunge. All the built in TV and entertainment features for the Xbone is a nice little bonus that you may or may not use, but its Microsofts multi-billion dollar investment in exclusive games and cloud processing that will set it apart from the competition in the years to come!
I liked the PS4's E3 showing much better than the Xbox One's. But now that I'm able to see past all the smoke and mirrors, its the Xbox One that has my attention. From hardware to Xbox Live to games, its the console that will be in my home come November! Xbox is back.
