If Microsoft’s unveil event for the Xbox One last month didn’t give you the clue that the company is focused on non-game entertainment for their new console, then maybe this will make you understand. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly went to Hollywood in order to get studios excited about the Xbox One, with the goal
Last week we reported that according to a listing on Amazon Germany, Microsoft’s upcoming console, the Xbox One, was tentatively priced at 599 EUR. Well if you’d rather not pre-order the console from Amazon, another retailer in the UK, ASDA, […]
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The Xbox One is under attack. Critics from all over the globe are saying that its “liquid black” finish and its boxy appearance make it a major design bore. Even the Kinect, they say, is too simple in its design to be worth putting in the average person’s entertainment center. All in all, it just doesn’t work.
But I totally disagree. Without a doubt, this is the best looking Xbox Microsoft has ever launched. And for some to believe that it’s not as good looking as the first Xbox 360 model the company launched is pure nonsense.
I can’t help but wonder if the complaints about the Xbox One’s design have more to do with Microsoft than the actual look of the product. Microsoft has found a way to make the Xbox One take on a streamlined, simple look, and it won’t look or out of place in an entertainment center.
Even better, the Xbox One follows what is essentially the design playbook: keep it simple, keep it streamlined, and make it shine. The Xbox One delivers on all fronts. And it would seem, based on that, that the device would be thought of as a beauty.
“If Apple designed the Xbox One, would we be hearing the same complaints about what a bore the device’s design is?”
If Apple designed the Xbox One, would we be hearing the same complaints about what a bore the device’s design is? I can’t help but think not. Apple is considered the world’s best product designer. And yet, every device it sells is simple, just like the Xbox One.
I understand the issues people have with Microsoft, Windows, Office, and the countless other products the company sells. I also see where people might take issue with Microsoft’s seemingly interminable grip on the software market and its billions in cash that it hoards in its coffers. But I just don’t understand why so many people find it so difficult to give the company some credit where it’s due.
In the gaming space, Microsoft has done the impossible: come in late to the market, establish a high-end online-gaming service, and take on Sony. For that alone, the company should be commended. But the very fact that it’s now looking at the possibility of beating out Nintendo and possibly trumping Sony in the next generation is something that many – including myself – thought couldn’t happen.
Microsoft is, believe it or not, a hardware and entertainment company. And surprisingly, it’s pretty darn good at it.
So, let’s stop the nonsense and give Microsoft some credit where it’s due. The Xbox One is not ugly, it’s not boring, and it’s certainly not something that people won’t buy because of its design. The Xbox One will look nice in any entertainment center and has a design that I’d say the vast majority of average consumers will find quite nice.
Hating on Microsoft for its many flaws is one thing. But taking shots at its product design because it has a Microsoft logo on it doesn’t make much sense.
The Xbox One’s design is just fine.
Why I Love Xbox One’s Design is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Microsoft talked about the television capabilities of the Xbox One during the console’s unveiling last week, and there weren’t that many games shown off, putting fear into many Xbox loyalists that Microsoft was focusing more television and home entertainment rather than the console’s main purpose. However, when the company discusses the Xbox One at E3, TV talk will be off the table.
Microsoft’s Xbox Live boss Larry Hyrb confirmed the news on Twitter, saying that the company’s press event at E3 “will have TV’s (or similar) on stage to show the games,” but “that should be the extent of TV talk in your #E3.” Hyrb confirms two things mostly: that there won’t be much TV talk, and games will be a big focus from the looks of it.
GTTV host Geoff Keighley also says that the E3 press events by both Microsoft and Sony will be filled with “lost of games and surprises.” He continues by saying that both press conferences by the two companies “will be the strongest in years.” This certainly makes sense, as this is the first E3 in years where Microsoft and Sony are showing off new gaming consoles.
During Microsoft’s reveal event for the Xbox One, the company talked a lot about new features that had nothing to do with gaming, such as watching TV and sports, thanks to that fancy NFL partnership. They also talked a lot about the Kinect and the different features that it has, most of which don’t even deal with gaming from what Microsoft showed off last week.
E3 starts next month, but seeing as it’s the last day in May, the gaming expo is just ten short days away. Apple’s WWDC is taking place the same week, with their keynote occurring during the same time as Microsoft’s press conference. Whether or not Apple is testing the loyalty of mobile game developers remains to be seen, but we can’t say that the overlapping events is a coincidence.
VIA: Kotaku
Xbox One E3 event won’t focus on TV is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Just as vocal as the enthusiasm around the new Xbox One reveal were those who thought the console looks like an old VCR; now, Microsoft is fighting back with an explanation as to why, exactly, the next-gen hardware is designed the way it is. Billed as “a new approach to design“, the process of crafting the Xbox One, the matching Kinect, and the wireless controller involved 200 gamepad models, over a hundred sensor-bar mock-ups, and “dozens and dozens” of console prototypes, before the so-called “liquid black” finished product was arrived at.
“Liquid black” sounds like marketing-speak at its finest, but Microsoft argues that it’s a legitimate color scheme strategy. Although the Xbox One has been accused of being slab-sided and drab – especially compared to the stealth-bomber aesthetic of its predecessor, the Xbox 360 – that aesthetic is actually intentional so that the hardware blends in and lets the gaming and entertainment experiences take the fore, Microsoft says.
“The console and Kinect sensor are liquid black so they melt into the background when being used, allowing the content on your TV to dominate the living room. The user interface is overlaid on the same shade of deep black so that the content tiles on the dashboard are more vivid and easier to navigate and interact with” Microsoft
It also echoes the squared-off and crisp-edged design of the Metro-influenced Xbox software, complete with the Live Tiles familiar from Windows 8 and Windows Phone. There, Microsoft’s team took the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio as its guiding light, making sure that buttons and graphics all “derive their size and shape from various fractions of a 16:9 space” just like the console itself has its own symmetry.
“The console is evenly divided between the matte and gloss –the front in particular clearly reflects this symmetry– and the top brings together two even rectangles, where the vent panel’s edge detail matches the appearance of a selected tile in the user interface” Microsoft
Some of the details may have to wait until the console is on the market to actually be appreciated fully. Microsoft is particularly proud of its injected-resin A/B/X/Y buttons, which have high-contrast colored material pumped into them to mark out their function.
This renewed focus on design borrowed some of the processes Microsoft had already used for its Surface tablet, including heavy use of 3D printing and rapid prototyping. In fact, Microsoft says, the design team was able to cook up a 3D model in the modeling shop and then send it next door, where the engineering team could give feedback on how practical it was.
Even with all Microsoft’s focus on how the hardware looks, it’s unlikely to satisfy all of the company’s critics. The discussion will only get louder when Sony finally shows off what the PlayStation 4 looks like. Still, whether gamers will end up noticing the hardware once they have everything plugged in and are getting to grips with shouting at their Xbox One, battering the control pad, and waving their arms around in front of the Kinect remains to be seen.
Microsoft defends Xbox One design is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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