Episode 26 - Xbox One, Kinect 2, (and our 3 opinions)

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 26:

Xbox One, Kinect 2 (and our 3 opinions)

After a brief summer hiatus, The Joy of Gaming Podcast is back, and we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) have a lot to talk about. Microsoft has finally shown its Next Generation cards, or at least some of them, and their vision for the future of gaming is Xbox One.  But are gamers really their target market? At their recent live event held in Redmond, Microsoft revealed the name of their new console (Xbox One), their plans for the future of Kinect, hardware specs, and a slew of new applications and functionality, allowing users to watch live TV and surf the web at the same time, communicate with the system via new simplified voice commands and gestures, and play fantasy football and Madden at the same time. All cool stuff, sure… but can it play games? The obvious answer is yes – but aside from Call of Duty: Ghosts (again) and a tease that there will be “15 Xbox One Exclusives released in the first year,” almost nothing game-related was discussed.

Microsoft has said that this was merely the roll-out event for the Hardware, and that E3 will be the time for them to talk about the games and everything game-related, but choosing to announce a gaming console that will likely cost between $400-$600 at launch and not showing the games it will be capable of playing, is decidedly an interesting choice.

Speaking of interesting choices, since the event, Microsoft left many other crucial aspects of their next-gen strategy rather vague at the event, and has spent the weeks following the event clarifying their stance on used games, always-online requirements, game sharing with family and friends, Achievements and how they will change, and even what the new buttons on the controller (It’s not “start” and “back” anymore, folks) do.  We will share our thoughts on what Microsoft has announced so far, speculate on what we expect to hear at E3, and discuss the Xbox One in the context of the current gaming market, and in contrast to its most intimidating competitor: the Playstation 4.

But before we get carried away by dreams and concerns for the future of gaming, there are current gen matters to attend to, including the games we’ve been playing. Tim has been playing some PC games, including Lone Survivor and Marvel Heroes, and Rich and Jordan have been playing a variety of games new and slightly old, including Remember Me, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Dead Space 2, Arkham City, Triple Town, Darksiders 1 and 2, and more. We also discuss some news items, including a massive Xbox One game title leak pre-E3, including some crazy heavy hitters like Mirror’s Edge 2, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Killer Instinct 5, and more!

So join us, as a new generation is (somewhat) revealed. This…is The Joy of Gaming!