My reaction to the Xbox One? Meh.

By Ian Coppock

The unveiling is over now, and I find myself feeling frustrated and slightly hungry. The hype for this event was at least ten times more compelling than the actual thing. Maybe that's just my fault, but in either case, here's why the Xbox One looked mediocre to me.

Where are the games?

For a full hour or so, these Microsoft guys stood up there talking about innovation and change. What they cast as the console's flagship feature was the ability to instantly switch between games, TV and social media. I laughed out loud when I saw that. Unless you're waiting for your Call of Duty match to start up, no one plays games and watches TV at the same time. Seriously, who does that? Gamers don't need all of this sexy switching between apps and social media and Internet. Call me crazy, but gamers play games to game, not multitask.

They made it sound really exhausting! "Play a game but also watch TV and check your fantasy league ratings and say hi to your buddy in Scotland and check Twitter and read other people's achievement stories and AAAAAAH!"

Steps Backward

The event began with a chronology of Xbox, and the unveiling itself. Microsoft has taken a step backward with the controller, making it even bulgier and more unwieldy than the original Xbox 360 colossus from 2006 or so. They then called up a dude who demonstrated that you can voice-command your way into the Xbox menu, and use vocal controls to switch between all of the aforementioned gimmicks. Then came an engineer to discuss computer architecture, and a slick corporate guy from EA to talk about the next lineup of sports games.

A Push for Motion Control

The next Xbox is really going to be pushing Kinect, a sub-mediocre motion control system that they've apparently improved, but I have no interest in. Again, gamers want their experiences to be simple. Motion controls work well when they've been cleverly implemented, as with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. However, that's the only example I can devise. Until motion controls implement some form of physical feedback, I'm not touching them with a ten-foot pole.

No...

After that, the event kind of collapsed into a bunch of trailers. There was something for a live-action Halo TV show and the next CoD clone, but the entire time I was waiting for confirmation on whether the Xbox One will require a constant Internet connection in order to run. Given its multiple media integration,  reliance on the cloud, achievement updating and social media, I'd say it's all but confirmed.

This conference was riddled with red flags. Constant social media updates. An alliance with notoriously consumer-unfriendly Electronic Arts. Pushing for gimmicky motion controls and media features that gamers don't need.

My advice? Get a PS4. Unless Microsoft is holding something amazing back for E3, like the Holy Grail, this event came off to me as Microsoft pushing a TV "synchronizer" rather than a gaming console. I don't care how many servers you have worldwide, Microsoft, there will be blood if you require an Internet connection for this thing to function. I'm angry because I'm completely astonished at the direction you think gamers are going in. With this device, you're appealing to a market of schizophrenic social media and entertainment addicts, not those of us simply looking for a good story without needless interference from the cloud and Internet.

Sorry Microsoft. I'm defecting to Sony.