22-02-2021, 11:50 PM
Ok, so hear me out. I'm a big Xbox fan, it's been my main platform for gaming ever since SEGA quit the console industry back in the early 2000's, and the only Xbox console I don't own yet is the Series X for obvious reasons. Now, to my point.
The original Xbox was an absolute beast of a console. It had almost double the PS2's power, and it hit the timing perfectly to bring about online gaming to the console space. Of course, we had it before on the PS2, the Dreamcast and even weird online stuff on the Saturn, Mega Drive/SNES and so on, but on Xbox, it was made easy and accessible, and the tech was there to support it.
Then the Xbox 360 came around and not only was the online experience fully integrated into it, it expanded into having a whole personality thing, where you could create your avatars and show off your achievements (something that Sony ended up copying on the PS3 a few years later with the trophy system). With the Wii's success in the casual market, Sony decided to create the Move, which is pretty much a better wiimote. Meanwhile, Microsoft went full blast and created the Kinect, which allows you to control games using your body, and let's be honest: it works. It's not perfect, and most of the heat the device takes is because of the games being shitty and lazy, but the thing itself works pretty well. You can decently play Child of Eden, Rise of Nightmares, Dance Central and anything else that implements it correctly.
The Xbox One comes around and while it disappointed for not being so focused on gaming when it first was announced, it still did new things. Microsoft doubled down on the Kinect, allowing you to control the dashboard using it. The snap function allowed you to watch a walkthrough on youtube while you played the game at the same time, or even to play minigames while watching Netflix (a favorite of mine). They added Cortana to it, and once you learned how to use it, it was awesome. I remember getting home from uni and yelling at my Xbox to turn on, then asking about the weather forecast and the news before opening Netflix or some game I wanted to play while I unpacked, undressed and looked for my controller.
However, after this generation hit a peak, it started going downhill. First, Microsoft removed the need of having a Kinect conected to your console. Then the Snap functionality. Then they removed Cortana, right after I got so used to it. I used to be able to assign a controller to my Xbox just by holding the sync button on the controller and pointing it at the Kinect; now I have to walk over to it and press another button like the primitives. You know how it sucks when you buy a gift card and have to type out the whole thing like a neanderthal and you always miss a letter or another and it's the worst? Back at the beginning of the generation, these cards used to come with QR codes. You'd just say "Xbox, redeem code" and show that shit to the Kinect.
The backstep doesn't end there though. Motion controllers can be awesome when implemented correctly. The PS3 did some cool stuff with the Sixaxis, but the PS4 does even better - when there is support. Have you ever played Uncharted: Golden Abyss on the PS Vita? It has a function that allows you to fine tune your aim by tilting the device. The Vita is so precise and fast that it works very naturally, and it's so good that it spoiled 20 years of stick aiming in me. I went back to the Xbox right after playing it and instinctively started tilting the controller while I aimed in whatever I was playing at the time. It's that good, but we're missing out on it even when a console has motion controllers because the other one doesn't and that doesn't incentivize the industry to standardize it.
A few years ago I played Dead by Daylight on the PS4 and was shocked to find out that, despite having a track pad right in the middle of the console, you can't use that to move the cursor around in the game's menus. I'm 100% sure that that's because the Xbox doesn't have a trackpad too, for instance. Because it just doesn't make any sense.
The Xbox Series X came out a few months ago, and it does nothing new. It's a sad, black little tower that didn't even have any exclusive games for it at launch. The OS looks the same as the Xbox One, the controller has no motion support, the Kinect is gone, as are voice commands and anything else remotely interesting. I feel we could have so much more if, y'know, Microsoft kept trying. What's your thoughts on this?
The original Xbox was an absolute beast of a console. It had almost double the PS2's power, and it hit the timing perfectly to bring about online gaming to the console space. Of course, we had it before on the PS2, the Dreamcast and even weird online stuff on the Saturn, Mega Drive/SNES and so on, but on Xbox, it was made easy and accessible, and the tech was there to support it.
Then the Xbox 360 came around and not only was the online experience fully integrated into it, it expanded into having a whole personality thing, where you could create your avatars and show off your achievements (something that Sony ended up copying on the PS3 a few years later with the trophy system). With the Wii's success in the casual market, Sony decided to create the Move, which is pretty much a better wiimote. Meanwhile, Microsoft went full blast and created the Kinect, which allows you to control games using your body, and let's be honest: it works. It's not perfect, and most of the heat the device takes is because of the games being shitty and lazy, but the thing itself works pretty well. You can decently play Child of Eden, Rise of Nightmares, Dance Central and anything else that implements it correctly.
The Xbox One comes around and while it disappointed for not being so focused on gaming when it first was announced, it still did new things. Microsoft doubled down on the Kinect, allowing you to control the dashboard using it. The snap function allowed you to watch a walkthrough on youtube while you played the game at the same time, or even to play minigames while watching Netflix (a favorite of mine). They added Cortana to it, and once you learned how to use it, it was awesome. I remember getting home from uni and yelling at my Xbox to turn on, then asking about the weather forecast and the news before opening Netflix or some game I wanted to play while I unpacked, undressed and looked for my controller.
However, after this generation hit a peak, it started going downhill. First, Microsoft removed the need of having a Kinect conected to your console. Then the Snap functionality. Then they removed Cortana, right after I got so used to it. I used to be able to assign a controller to my Xbox just by holding the sync button on the controller and pointing it at the Kinect; now I have to walk over to it and press another button like the primitives. You know how it sucks when you buy a gift card and have to type out the whole thing like a neanderthal and you always miss a letter or another and it's the worst? Back at the beginning of the generation, these cards used to come with QR codes. You'd just say "Xbox, redeem code" and show that shit to the Kinect.
The backstep doesn't end there though. Motion controllers can be awesome when implemented correctly. The PS3 did some cool stuff with the Sixaxis, but the PS4 does even better - when there is support. Have you ever played Uncharted: Golden Abyss on the PS Vita? It has a function that allows you to fine tune your aim by tilting the device. The Vita is so precise and fast that it works very naturally, and it's so good that it spoiled 20 years of stick aiming in me. I went back to the Xbox right after playing it and instinctively started tilting the controller while I aimed in whatever I was playing at the time. It's that good, but we're missing out on it even when a console has motion controllers because the other one doesn't and that doesn't incentivize the industry to standardize it.
A few years ago I played Dead by Daylight on the PS4 and was shocked to find out that, despite having a track pad right in the middle of the console, you can't use that to move the cursor around in the game's menus. I'm 100% sure that that's because the Xbox doesn't have a trackpad too, for instance. Because it just doesn't make any sense.
The Xbox Series X came out a few months ago, and it does nothing new. It's a sad, black little tower that didn't even have any exclusive games for it at launch. The OS looks the same as the Xbox One, the controller has no motion support, the Kinect is gone, as are voice commands and anything else remotely interesting. I feel we could have so much more if, y'know, Microsoft kept trying. What's your thoughts on this?
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