Across the web and within my circle of gamers, I have been sensing a lot of hate towards the new Xbox One. As consumer, I understand people’s disappointment and sense of being let down. However, as gamer and aspiring developer, I am excited now more than ever before. The hardware aspect of the Xbox One has the potential to usher in a new era in gaming. I personally believe that new games will only be limited by the developer. So I am going to go through the new Xbox One Hardware as a developer and explain what I think it means for the next generation of gaming.
Kinect 2.0
The all new Kinect sports 1080p 30 fps cameras with a 60 degree larger field view over its predecessor. It now can sustain up to 6 people on screen at once. It is accurate enough to pick up wrinkles in a shirt or the movement of your chest. And let’s not forget it now includes a set of IR sensors and Heart beat monitor. Just think of the possibilities. Starting with the obvious, sports games, a level of player based interaction can be reached that has never been dreamt of. When my friends and I get together for a game of Madden or NCAA Football, we play football, not those 5 minute simulation matches. We play 10-15 minute quarters of grueling All Madden grid iron pigskin. I am talking sweaty palms, trash talking, and victory dancing like we actually score a real touchdowns. Back in college it was normal for us to pause a match and play between classes.(I will get back to this point later.) Now imagine the heart monitor being able to sense your excitement or nervousness based on your heart rhythm changes, and that affects your team. EA Sports already includes a nervous feature, where the QB becomes unreliable in pressure situations. Now that feature can be based off the player and not some random statistics and algorithms. We can now live up to EA Sports motto and “Get in the Game”. That’s not good enough for you, ok. Imagine Call of Duty, Halo and Resident Evil survival mode becoming adrenaline based, with hordes of tougher and tougher enemies being thrown at you, maxing out your heartbeat.
Cloud Gaming and daily connection
I personally think this feature is blessing waiting to be fully realized. As we grow up and gain responsibilities, we can’t spend the countless hour gaming like we use to. But with cloud based game and Intelligent AI, the Xbox One can make it feel that way again. After graduating, my roommate and I have stretched across the world. With work, time zone differences and everyday life, it’s borderline impossible to set up gaming match. In event that we can, they almost always get cut short due to some unexpected turn of events. With cloud based gaming, gamer friends across the world will be able to requite old friendship. Using Intelligent AI, it will be a possible to simulate the reaction of our friends playing with us even when they are unavailable.
The second reason I like cloud based gaming is because of the community reaction to Mass Effect 3’s ending. If you recall, Mass Effect 3’s original ending completely pissed off its core game community. Petitions were signed and Bioware responded with a cinematic epilogue. Imagine the next generation of player control games. Through the cloud system developers can track the decisions players make and are able to add to the story line based on the path the majority of gamers take. We could see a video game based version of the Current TV series Bar Karma – an online community-developed game where Online users pitch their own ideas for scenes and twists online with a new level every week.
Overall
All and all this system will be made or broken by the developers. Microsoft has created a solid framework and vision for the future. I am sad to say most of us are too closed minded and stuck in the past to see the possibilities. I look forward to E3 before making my final decision about the Xbox One. But if it were to be released tomorrow, I would gladly be standing in line for one.
Let’s see what E3 brings and then pass judgement. Hopefully Microsoft won’t have me eating my words!!