King Files

Greeting everyone. I hope Christmas was a blast for you and your this year. I know that I have been absent from the roll as of late, but I had to chime in on the day that is the greatest manifestation of technophilia of the years. To paraphrase, Nate King Cole, "kids from one to ninety-two" were causing fire hazards as they knock over the electrically overburdened Tannenbaum, to get the latest in electronic shininess. It is no different in my humble abode as I was awakened at "before day I


in the morning" to break his Xbox One from bonds of its retail imposed prison, and rest it gently into it new home under the almost as new, mighty 65" Samsung.




The Xbox One is the latest Microsoft salvo into a dream that Bill Gates has long espoused, "taking over the living room". Microsoft has tried it with the Microsoft TV, through Microsoft Windows Media Center (which is what the Xbox 360s OS is based on) through Windows Media Player, and through the latest update to the Xbox 360 software (The Dashboard). None of these gained the type of traction that justify the use of the word adoption. But, finally the game (see what I did there) has changed. Yeah, it may pose as mere next-generation gaming system, but it is much, much more than that. This wolf, doesnt even hide the snout under the fleece. After 10 minutes, I am prepared to proclaim may be the closest thing to the holy grail of what we propeller-heads term as a media  convergence device, and trust me, I have built a bunch of them. I have a computers in most of the rooms in my home, that are networked throughout, so that I can share and stream multimedia through out the place. I balked at the cost of this damn thing ($500 is a lot of Gorgonzola), but once I calculated the price versus the cost of the type of rigs I have built to accomplish this same things, it is actually a bargain. Make no mistake, this is an entertainment device. To punctuate this point, it comes with an improved assortment of entertainment apps, NFL, Netflix, FoxNow, YouTube, Internet Explorer, SkyDrive, The CW, Red Box and Vudu just to list a few.




 Lets start with the obvious, it is a gaming console. While the game selection is limited at present (new consoles always suffer this bother at launch), the ones that are available appear incredible on the screen. The graphics, the fluidity, the sheer beauty of Forza Motorsport 5, Killer Instinct, NBA 2K 14, Call of Duty: Ghost, and Madden NFL 25 rival fine art.

 In NBA 2K 14, the players, the lighting, the movement, all will fool your eye for a brief moment. It is look like a live game. Same for Madden and if you get car sick, stay away from Forza.






 

If this is all the One had to offer, I would relegate it to the unconquered, foreboding moonscape known as my sons room, where it would waste away for the next 10 years or until he moves out (my preference is the later, not the former, or whichever is shorter). However, as I mentioned, it is an entertainment device and has earned a spot in the living room. The biggest feature (for me) is the ability to watch TV, through the device, without having to switch inputs on the receiver or TV. If you have a gaming rig in your home, you know the cycle, 1. Fire up the console, 2. switch the TV to the appropriate input. This is a different beast. Because acts as a pass through the Cable/Sat set top boxs signal, you turn on the Xbox One and live it on.

Depending on the type of setup you have, Set top box only, home theater receiver or just a sound bar, once you setup up those devices on the Xbox One, it allows you to control those devices, with the Xbox One, using only your voice. When you watching TV, the One adds the ability for you to lower or increase the volume, change the channel, bring up the guide (in my case a Comcast guide), pause, play, go back (30 second skip) live TV, all with just the sound of my (or any) voice. Bing Search is baked in, so it will allow you to search for programming, or other research, again using your voice. It accomplishes this while it sits quietly, lurking in your living room, and playing the TV, until you call its name, causing it to spring into action like a ninja assassin. This solves one of the most offensive problems about gaming consoles in general, the interruption in the flow of the living room. I do not like uni-tasking devices because the ROI on them is usually not equivalent, and gaming devices have been that. Even in my house, there is a huge eye-roll when someone wants to play a game. This is an unfair react, often towards my son, but this function is such an invasion of the living room, everyone leaves, seeking refuge in rooms that are not connect to the gaming console or the opposite happens and my son jettisons to his room, gaming console in hand only emerging after some bodily function has overwhelmed the senses beyond his visceral pleasure experience. Not the Xbox One.
 The One has a feature that allow you to view "snap", Windows 8 style, a TV windows in the right 1/4th of the screen, while playing a game. We watched Family Feud (dont judge me, it is the holiday and daytime programming is weak as it is) when the boy play Forza on the other 3/4th of the screen.





All in all, the Xbox One has made a definite impression on me. It has started to successful slip a computer in the leaving and if you give it a chance, you will welcome it with open arms. This is just the tip of the Iceberg, it does not stream media across the house, yet, for instance, allowing me to view my extensive movie collection, thus my PC is still safe. Other than that, it is a WIN in my book.