The XBOX One

RickH · 2015-06-18T20:17:11.000Z

Wendelius:

You might not need to be in the preview to try out BC: http://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/3acbbz/play_360_games_without_being_a_preview_member/

I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, bit that sounds promising.

Wendelius

It does indeed work, dowloading Geometry Wars Evolved right now.

EDIT: Well, that is pretty damn slick. Well played, MS.

sharaleo · 2015-06-18T20:20:36.000Z

It’s also worth pointing out that MS aren’t challenged with the problem most (all) 3rd party emulators face which causes performance problems - they don’t need to start from scratch and rely solely on reverse engineering to build emulation that works. MS own the IP for all the Xboxes, hardware and software. That would dramatically simplify the challenge of building emulation (whatever they want to call it). Add to that their capability around virtualisation (which the xbone already utilises to various extents) and it is not all that surprising they can get something working with nowhere near the computing overhead 3rd parties have traditionally had to deal with.

And as Stusser says, whether it is pure emulation or some combination of that, translation, virtualisation, abstraction, etc, it is just easier for them to communicate it with a term that is generally understood without confusing people about the underpinning technology.

All the users need to care about is ‘does it work’?

Brad_Grenz · 2015-06-19T00:25:03.000Z

The biggest challenge in emulation would be matching the performance of the 360 CPU’s Altivec units. At 3.2Ghz they have a theoretical maximum of about 100GFlops. That’s actually nearly the same as Jaguar CPU in the Xbox One, and in that case it’s spread across 8 cores rather than 3. I would still worry that there will be games with engine characteristics that the floating point performance in such a way that any emulation or recompilation would be inadequate, unless the PowerPC chips were so inefficient that they never approached full utilization.

Telefrog · 2015-06-19T07:20:08.000Z

Xbox Live's Major Nelson – 19 Jun 15

Buy Xbox One. Choose A Game For Free Updated with links

Update: The promotion is now available at Amazon and Best Buy As we head into summer, we are excited to provide fans with another great deal for Xbox One. Starting Sunday, June 21 through Saturday, June 27, when you buy any Xbox One, you’ll

From June 21st to June 27th, when you buy an Xbox One, you can get a free disc game at participating retailers.

The deal can include Batman: Arkham Knight, The Witcher 3, or Elder Scrolls Online.

Don_Quixote · 2015-06-19T08:03:09.000Z

Well, Hell.

That, and the backwards compatibility thing, might just get me to bite. That puts the console in the sub-$300 range. Does the 360 do in-game local (DNLA, whatever) music streaming yet? They also had some interesting looking indies at the conference.

Ginger_Yellow · 2015-06-19T10:04:59.000Z

500GB model only, it seems. And, at least as far as I can see, not in the UK.

Sam_Jones · 2015-06-19T10:24:21.000Z

Don Quixote:

Well, Hell.

That, and the backwards compatibility thing, might just get me to bite. That puts the console in the sub-$300 range. Does the 360 do in-game local (DNLA, whatever) music streaming yet? They also had some interesting looking indies at the conference.

DLNA is now supported in the media player app.

Don_Quixote · 2015-06-19T11:21:52.000Z

Sam Jones:

DLNA is now supported in the media player app.

So, does that need to be ‘snapped’ to the side of the screen while playing it during a game? Does it do video (not while playing, of course).

There have been a couple things keeping me from upgrading to either new console.

exclusives I actually want to play (duh)- getting better with time.
lack of functionality at launch compared to previous-gen. Local video and in-game music streaming, for example.
3)Backwards compatibility- I have three devices hooked to my ‘ancient’ tv and receiver (7 and 14 years, respectively), and as they both still work great for my purposes, I have no desire to upgrade them. I have a ps3, 360, and an old asus media pc thing. The only way to get a new gen anything is to straight upgrade it. I have most of my library (and still play it) on the 360, so the backwards compatibility announcement helps with this.

Microsoft seems to be making the changes that will bring me in. I’ve been leaning toward waiting for a reasonably-priced-and-specced PC- If the Alienware Alpha had a better graphics card I’d have been all over it in a heartbeat. This deal moved the Xbone into the realm of possibility.

RickH · 2015-06-19T16:57:53.000Z

Don Quixote:

I’ve been leaning toward waiting for a reasonably-priced-and-specced PC- If the Alienware Alpha had a better graphics card I’d have been all over it in a heartbeat. This deal moved the Xbone into the realm of possibility.

I’m not trying to sell you an Alpha, but it uses the same 860M that my new laptop has. It’s a very capable chip at 1920x1080p, and has played eveything I have loaded onto it smoothly (the most demanding so far has probably been Titanfall or Battlefield 4, I don’t have AC Unity or the Witcher 3 or anything like that). My son is interested in an Alpha, and my experience with that graphics chip has made me think that the i5 version is probably a pretty nice unit.

Brad_Grenz · 2015-06-19T17:22:13.000Z

Don Quixote:

So, does that need to be ‘snapped’ to the side of the screen while playing it during a game? Does it do video (not while playing, of course).

There have been a couple things keeping me from upgrading to either new console.

exclusives I actually want to play (duh)- getting better with time.

lack of functionality at launch compared to previous-gen. Local video and in-game music streaming, for example.
3)Backwards compatibility- I have three devices hooked to my ‘ancient’ tv and receiver (7 and 14 years, respectively), and as they both still work great for my purposes, I have no desire to upgrade them. I have a ps3, 360, and an old asus media pc thing. The only way to get a new gen anything is to straight upgrade it. I have most of my library (and still play it) on the 360, so the backwards compatibility announcement helps with this.

Microsoft seems to be making the changes that will bring me in. I’ve been leaning toward waiting for a reasonably-priced-and-specced PC- If the Alienware Alpha had a better graphics card I’d have been all over it in a heartbeat. This deal moved the Xbone into the realm of possibility.

I think the music player still needs to be snapped on Xbox One. PS4 just released a new media player that supports DLNA and can play MP3s in the background during games. Both do video and support MKVs, MP4s, and AVI files now.

Don_Quixote · 2015-06-19T19:33:55.000Z

Brad Grenz:

I think the music player still needs to be snapped on Xbox One. PS4 just released a new media player that supports DLNA and can play MP3s in the background during games. Both do video and support MKVs, MP4s, and AVI files now.

RickH:

I’m not trying to sell you an Alpha, but it uses the same 860M that my new laptop has. It’s a very capable chip at 1920x1080p, and has played eveything I have loaded onto it smoothly (the most demanding so far has probably been Titanfall or Battlefield 4, I don’t have AC Unity or the Witcher 3 or anything like that). My son is interested in an Alpha, and my experience with that graphics chip has made me think that the i5 version is probably a pretty nice unit.

Thanks, Brad. Seriously considering it, still. Isn’t there a deal on the Alpha right now? Or is that over? Witcher 3 is actually the game I’d pick up (I loved 2 on the 360) for the Xbone if I get one next week with the sale. Consoles have a slight edge for me as I hate drivers and all that crap. I just want it to work at some not-terrible-baseline level of quality. Can anyone speak to relative performance on that game between the Xbone and the Alpha?

The snap thing sounds annoying. It’s fine on my Asus on the tv, using a win8 metro app to access my Google Music library (outcoldplayer, it’s awesome), but then, it plays in the background, too, and I don’t play a ton of games on it. What’s so hard about the 360 solution of just accessing it through the guide and it just working in the background? I’d heard about the PS4 update, good to know it works properly. Too bad the only games that look interesting on it are No Man’s Sky and Horizons, and they’re both coming to PC, and a year or more out. And Dreams, I guess, but who knows what that even is.

Meh.

Kool_Moe_Dee · 2015-06-19T20:21:47.000Z

Don Quixote:

Thanks, Brad. Seriously considering it, still. Isn’t there a deal on the Alpha right now? Or is that over? Witcher 3 is actually the game I’d pick up (I loved 2 on the 360) for the Xbone if I get one next week with the sale. Consoles have a slight edge for me as I hate drivers and all that crap. I just want it to work at some not-terrible-baseline level of quality. Can anyone speak to relative performance on that game between the Xbone and the Alpha?

The snap thing sounds annoying. It’s fine on my Asus on the tv, using a win8 metro app to access my Google Music library (outcoldplayer, it’s awesome), but then, it plays in the background, too, and I don’t play a ton of games on it. What’s so hard about the 360 solution of just accessing it through the guide and it just working in the background? I’d heard about the PS4 update, good to know it works properly. Too bad the only games that look interesting on it are No Man’s Sky and Horizons, and they’re both coming to PC, and a year or more out. And Dreams, I guess, but who knows what that even is.

Meh.

Pro-tip: Check for yourself on the Xbox One music player situation, because Brad Grnz has never had a nice word to say about anything Xbox, and constantly concern trolls every Xbox thread on the forum.

Kadath · 2015-06-19T22:29:50.000Z

Still no word on the preview invite, guess that’s typical?

Brakara · 2015-06-20T00:26:50.000Z

Kadath:

Still no word on the preview invite, guess that’s typical?

I got mine today (thanks, Rock8man), downloaded the app, and now I just have to wait for the registration to be approved.

Edit: I also went through my 360 library and uploaded all saves I think I’ll need to the cloud, so that I’ll have the option to continue with them on the Xbox One (like Fallout 3 and Skyrim which I never finished).

divedivedive · 2015-06-20T01:03:47.000Z

Got mine tonight too - thanks Rock8man or Sam Jones or both of you!

metaphaze · 2015-06-20T07:22:23.000Z

Does anyone know how Xbox Live gold games will work with backward compatibility? I missed most of the games that are currently being released on the 360 games for gold so I am starting to get a nice backlog collection. I don’t quite understand the “mine-ness” of these games though. I think I can’t play them if I cancel my Gold account. I assume that I will be unable to re-download them on the Xbone and play them in BC-mode as well?

Brakara · 2015-06-20T07:48:33.000Z

No, the 360 games with gold are yours forever, even after you end the gold subscription. Which means that if they work with BC you’ll be able to play them on the Xbox One as well.

The Xbox One games for gold, on the other hand, works like PS+ (only available when you have gold).

jsnell · 2015-06-20T08:40:52.000Z

Digital Foundry on the state of the backwards compatibility (though not on the technical implementation, which I’d kind of hoped they’d gotten a scoop on): http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-vs-backwards-compatibility-on-xbox-one

ARogan · 2015-06-20T09:04:17.000Z

Got my preview invite message too! Thanks Rock8man/Sam Jones! I’m out of town until later tonight so I’ll get things going when I get home.

Cyrano · 2015-06-20T12:14:03.000Z

Kool Moe Dee:

Pro-tip: Check for yourself on the Xbox One music player situation, because Brad Grnz has never had a nice word to say about anything Xbox, and constantly concern trolls every Xbox thread on the forum.

While it’s true that Brad is kind of like K0ny, he also really knows his stuff. Xbox One cannot play music in the background. The admins in the preview forum claim that Windows 8 simply can’t be made to do it, but I don’t believe them. In any case, we have to wait for Windows 10 on Xbone for in-game music.

Also, the DNLA server does not work with medium or large libraries. It just crashes if you have a certain number of files. I don’t know if the new PS4 one is any better.