The XBOX One

[Telefrog]

Given this timeline, with Sony ahead by a week, I expect we’ll see a number of preview stories comparing the two systems well before launch. Microsoft has a vested interest in being in the mix on people discussing the hands on details of the PS4.

They were all over at PAX. Every demo station was using a functioning Xbox One.

In contrast, the PS4 wasn’t at PAX except as a case behind a glass display. The game demo stations were using discreetly hidden PS4 dev kits hardware.

[pyjamarama]

So they are launching both after and before Sony interesting. I guess they probably will lose some of the media coverage in the US, being second, at the moment they could use any advantage they could get. It’s possible that there is enough demand out there that both consoles could be always sold out during the holidays, but is also very possible that it isn’t. Except for the UK Xbox was clearly behind Playstation in Europe, launching early in the top 5 markets may given them a little boost on those markets but I only see the PlayStation lead in Europe increasing even more in the first year, they will be lucky if they get to maintain the number one spot in the UK.

[Wendelius]

Ooh, it looks like we get to pick between Fifa and Forza for our Day One edition. I’ll be going for the latter (as soon as Amazon lets me switch, that is), thanks!

Also, Amazon UK now has a direct link to that version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DCUPE2O/ . Other retailers like Shopto and Game do too.

Wendelius

[Ginger_Yellow]

Hey, HDMI cable included! See, electronics manufacturers, it’s not so hard to include the equipment your customers need to get your product to actually work.

[Teiman]

Also included with XBox One:

• Small wooden horse figurine, inside the wooden horse theres a even smaller figurine of Stephen Elop dressed as Joulupukki.

[Murbella]

Hey, HDMI cable included! See, electronics manufacturers, it’s not so hard to include the equipment your customers need to get your product to actually work.

I hope they include a bunch off papers then so that you can get the Kinect to work for its intended purpose as well, as a paper weight of course.

[pyjamarama]

Yusuf Mehdi said “This will be the biggest launch we’ve ever done by a wide margin in terms of units shipped at launch.” I looked up 360 numbers and according to Wikipedia they sold 1.5 M units from November 22 to the end of the year. Nintendo managed to ship 3M Wii U in a similar time frame, although they did not sell out. So is expected that MS given the comments should be able to produce at least the 3M, and given Sony bigger launch they should probably surpass that number. So I wonder if there is a market that can sell out more then 5M consoles in the first month.

[TundraWolf]

I looked up 360 numbers and according to Wikipedia they sold 1.5 M units from November 22 to the end of the year.

Is that worldwide? Or just North America, or just the US? That’s an important distinction to make. In any event, I’d imagine both the PS4 and the XB1 will sell record numbers come November, probably somewhere in the ballpark of 4 million a piece.

[pyjamarama]

I was talking worldwide numbers, NA was 900m for the 360, is possible that they ship 2M for NA and 1M for the rest of the word, or something like that, for sure more then half of the initial shipment will go to NA.

[Cyrano]

November 22 is the same date that the 360 launched, which is a nice symmetry.

[Starlight]

They were all over at PAX. Every demo station was using a functioning Xbox One.

In contrast, the PS4 wasn’t at PAX except as a case behind a glass display. The game demo stations were using discreetly hidden PS4 dev kits hardware.

It’s a difference in the casings they put the dev kits in. Microsoft puts them in the “final” casing pretty early, Sony doesn’t.

(Also, the days of needing “debug” consoles with more RAM are past)

[LMN8R]

There were indeed a large number of Xbox One consoles at PAX, but some demos like Titanfall were running on PCs with 360 controllers.

[Island_Dog]

Now to just narrow down launch titles to get. :)

[Telefrog]

Yeah, it was weird. The Xbox One was everywhere at PAX. The PS4? Not so much. Sony was still pushing their indie titles (good choice for PAX, I think) but the only PS4 at the event was in a display case. Felt odd with all the Xbox Ones all over the place.

[pyjamarama]

Maybe all the PS4 were shipped to Japan for TGS, Seattle is Microsoft home town after all so make sense they have a big presence at Pax

[Kool_Moe_Dee]

The CPU speed bump is essentially meaningless. Modern CPUs modulate their clockspeed to fit within a thermal envelope. The xbone probably has superior cooling, with its larger case, that’s all. So it might run slightly faster in a hot room. Maybe. And like someone else said earlier CPU speed doesn’t actually matter a great deal in gaming.

Uh, on what planet? CPU speed is definitely important, for any sort of complex world simulation and AI. This is one of the areas where having a fixed CPU platform helps immensely, because it’s harder to dial that stuff back the same way you can graphics.

[stusser]

Uh, on what planet? CPU speed is definitely important, for any sort of complex world simulation and AI. This is one of the areas where having a fixed CPU platform helps immensely, because it’s harder to dial that stuff back the same way you can graphics.

Nah. Vast majority of games aren’t CPU constrained. Of course you can find exceptions.

[Editer]

It depends on the kind of game. If a game has significant AI, CPU speed is important. If a game has physics, it’s important. If it’s a bunch of guys running around a giant map shooting at each other, not so much.

[stusser]

Yes, it depends on the game, but most aren’t CPU-constrained.

[jpinard]

Just to play devil’s advocate, most of the games I play actually are cpu constrained, but that’s the kind of titles I generally like.