Xbox One - Three Weeks Later

It's been about 3 weeks since the Xbox One dropped. The other night one of my wife's coworkers asked how I liked it, because he was on the fence about getting one himself. With Christmas around the corner I thought I'd share my experiences and overall impressions with the next generation of gaming.

The most important question is whether you get the most bang for your buck. At $500, there's a lot to live up to. Although the system is still young, is it worth it to buy one now?

So far, I don't think having a next-gen console has remotely improved my gaming life. I blame this on the lackluster launch titles and horrendous user interface. I still use my system for Hulu and Netflix, and the occasional game of Call of Duty. If there isn't an exclusive game you want to play, you can safely hold off on picking one up until the better titles are getting released. 

I know some will disagree with me on the launch titles. CoD, BF4, Forza, Dead Rising... Those are big names. The problem is that they don't break new ground with the console. They are all popular series, and as a result it's just more of the same. Ryse and Killer Instinct are new, but the idea of Ryse doesn't knock my socks off, and I'm not Killer Instinct's target audience because I hate 2d fighting games. 

As for the user interface, it's just a mess. I still can't figure out where to find certain menus, the game library is frustrating to navigate, the Kinect still required me to repeat myself in a quiet room, the darn thing wants to pick up ALL noises and movements that have nothing to do with me, and it is impossible to join party chat with a friend. The only time I play CoD is when my buddy Zach is online, and we spent 90 minutes trying to figure out a way to chat without having everyone else listening in. He finally had to use Skype on his phone, because everything is so screwed up that people can listen to me while I use the Skype app on the console!

And of course, waiting is always good because you never know how well the first narc of consoles will work. The RRoD fiasco of the Xbox 360 launch still haunts gamers, and it's impossible to say whether Xbox One will have a high mortality rate as well. 

So with all that bein said, do I regret my purchase? Not one bit. I definitely haven't gotten a lot of mileage out of it, but I have it. When games line Watch Dogs and Titanfall release, all I need to do is pick up the game. I won't have to fight to find the system because no one has any in stock.  I haven't gotten $500 of work out of it yet, but as I look at the list of games releasing in the next year, I know that it's a worthwhile purchase. 

If you don't have any games you need to play right now, I don't think you need to scramble to pick up a system immediately. January and February will be the ideal times, because March is going to be a very good month. So if you couldn't afford one yet, or if everyone is sold out, I really don't think you're missing too much. The Xbox One's launch played it very safe and didn't release any blockbusters, but that will al change in the coming months!

See you tomorrow!

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