From the Computer-based games, either both offline aswell as online games, the other big thing in the gaming industry is console games. Whether it is from Nintendo, Playstation or Microsoft XBOX, the 3 big consoles in the industry.
I was able to go to Disney’s big comic-con like event this Saturday at D-23. Never would I have thought that my first experience with the Xbox One would be at a Disney conference. But lo and behold, Harmonix was there presenting their new music game Fantasia: Music Evolved and the Xbox One was there. Here is a preview on my thoughts about the game and my experience with the Xbox One.
With xbox, you can jump online and play online games just the same as play station or computer games. It is nothing real different besides different controller as well as a different operating system. Hence, the game should technically be all the same. For example, If we were to play the latest suicide squad game, it virtually should have no real gaming experience different, when you play on the computer, playstation or xbox. Only the controls slightly differ.
Kinect
Let’s talk about the Kinect. The original Kinect seemed more like an elongated toy to me. The quality was decently made, but it had a cheap glossy look to it in my personal opinion. Also, I felt the original Kinect was a tad bit elongated and didn’t seem quite right in most home entertainment set ups.
The Kinect 2 alleviates some of these issues. The Kinect 2 definitely looks more put together than the Kinect 1. It looks more like a power brick compared to the original Kinect. In my opinion, the design fits with most living room set ups better than the original. It also looks more durable and the quality of the material is a definite improvement. When Microsoft said that a $499 Xbox One/Kinect is a “great value” I didn’t believe them. After seeing the Kinect, I can tell the product would most likely cost $200 on its own if it were sold separately. So if you are a fan of the Kinect, then yes the Xbox One is actually a reasonably priced console.
After looking at the Kinect, I got to play one of it’s highlight games, Fantasia: Music Evolved. In the end, I enjoyed my time much more than I expected. The song I selected for my demo, was “Levels” by Avicii. The loading screens were about 30-60 seconds long, but I am attributing that to repeated sessions among convention attendees/early demo and not the hardware itself. The actual gameplay was great. There are different hand gestures that need to happen at the exact time in order for the sound to play appropriately. It is a similar style to Rock Band. There are still some issues with latency with the Kinect, but I felt like there was an improvement compared to the original Kinect. What surprised me the most is you can differentiate people with different skill levels. A novice player will look like he is just moving his limbs around, but an expert playing at a higher difficulty will look like he/she is conducting an actual orchestra. A Harmonix representative told me that there goal is to make you feel like Mickey in the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. They are well on there way to completing that goal.
Controller
Not much to say about the Xbox One Controller. I got to hold and test it out a little bit, but that was it. The controller felt good in my hands. The original pictures made the controller look bulky, but when I actually held it, the controller pretty much felt the same with some improvements on the triggers. I like the Xbox 360 controller so I have no complaints about that. I do wish they would upgrade to a chargeable controller though, and leave batteries alone.
Conclusion
Sadly, I did not get the chance to play other Xbox One games or try out the OS. I did get a little insight on the Kinect. For me personally, I still wish the Kinect came separately. This would ease my concerns of privacy as well as simply not really wanting it. Although, I did like the demo of Fantasia: Music Evolved it’s not enough to make me want the actual accessory. But for the customers who were going to buy a new Kinect even if it was sold separately, then the Xbox One may actually be a bargain .