The release of Microsoft's next-generation gaming console the Xbox One is on Friday. Despite its rocky announcement this past summer, the new system is expected to be one of the hottest ticket sales items of the holiday season, giving Sony's PlayStation 4 a run for its money.
It can be premature to review a console before it's had its official launch and has worked out any startup issues or unforeseen problems. However, there are probably many people who are considering spending $500 of their hard-earned cash on a Xbox One and you deserve to know a bit about what you're purchasing.
As far as hardware goes the box is packed with slightly improved specs over the Xbox 360. In terms of what you'll immediately recognize when unboxing your device is the new controller. It comes with more responsive thumbsticks, a reimagined D-pad and ultra responsive triggers that will vibrate depending on what you're using them for in-game.
The real appeal of the Xbox One, especially over that of its rival from Sony, is the Kinect motion sensor camera. According to a reviewer from Fox News, the Xbox One's Kinect is "upgraded to the point that it is barely recognizable from the glitchy, low quality version that was an optional extra for the Xbox 360."
Voice recognition has been reported to stumble a bit forcing users to repeat themselves every now and then but the Kinect's power is still unmatched. One thing worth noting is that the Kinect microphone is meant to pick up voice in any part of the room. While this means you can tell it to play a movie from your dinner table with a mouthful, it can also unpause itself if the wrong word is heard in a song, causing your character to die without you realizing it.
If you do learn to master the voice commands on your Xbox One, you can pair it with your cable set-top-box and control all of your TV's functions through simple voice commands.
As far as the camera goes, it's been upgraded to the point that, once you turn the Kinect on it will immediately sign you in with facial recognition software. If you are video chatting with someone, the camera will zoom in on your face and stay focused on it as you move around the room.
As far as the games go, you can check out our list of launch titles HERE and decide if any of them are right for you.
The Xbox One comes out on Friday for $500. It comes with a controller, Kinect and, of course, the console itself.
