5punk

MS Press release wrote:• Living Games.[6] Dynamic, living worlds evolve and improve the more you play, and advanced artificial intelligence can learn to play like you, so friends can play against your shadow.

That last bit is a little creepy.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/40 ... -xbox-one/

Ffs, just as EA dropped the online pass, too.

On a completely unrelated note, I felt inspired to make this.



Look! I think I saw it twitch!

Ugh. Very quickly looking like a generation I don't want to be a part of already. Which is a shame cause I'm an equal console-fag.

I wasn't impressed by the XBox One release thing, as:

- it looks like a Philips V2000 VCR. You've heard of VHS, maybe BetaMax - V2000 was the other, even less successful format. Would look great in an episode of Ashes to Ashes or an 80's-themed sitting room though

- you can watch TV on it. Because you can't of course watch TV on your TV that you have to have to use it. TV in Europe is rather different to US TV and controlled and transmitted in various ways, none of which are likely to work with the Xbox One. US might get live NFL on it, but the rough equivalent here of live Premiership games is not going to happen. I don't really understand how the US system works, but here you pretty much subscribe to the provider (Sky or Virgin) not the channel, so you get what you're given though the provider's chosen delivery system (Sky+, Tivo)

- it's voice-activated and works for all the family. You're in the middle of a game and the missus walks in and says "I want to watch TV", or your Mum says "For God's sake will you turn that Xbox off"

- it has a HAL-like camera constantly staring at you in the form of the apparently-now-compulsory Kinect attachment. For one, cameras and motion-detection don't work particularly well when you're sat in a chair in the dark and for twos I would be somewhat recalcitrant about embarking on an epic bollock-scratch with a fucking 1080p video camera looking right up my shorts, always

- it's just a PC in a box, like the PS4. I have a PC in a (bigger) box. It still plays all my existing games, too

- The only games shown were EA sports titles (yawn) and some non-gameplay footage of something called Call of Doody, which looks to be similar to Call of Duty - the only thing exclusive to the XBox One being that it will get the not-even-inevitable-but-now-preannounced DLC first. Is that even a selling point?

- Halo as (a possibly interactive) TV series with Steven Spielberg involved. They lost Bungee to Sony and I can't think of any argument that convinces me this won't suck. I liked the original idea of Halo - ie: the fact it was a Halo, but all subsequent releases of the game have left me cold story-wise

I am still a bit interested by the XBox One release thing, as:

- Forza 5, about the only gameplay footage actually shown, did look quite good, and is a launch title

- there are 15 exclusive releases in it's first year (doesn't sound many, but there may be lots more cross-platform releases) - eight of which are new IPs

- you can Skype and Internet Explorer in a sidebar while doing something else like watching a film. In the demo though the guy busted out a phone to control stuff, so you can do all that anyway with a phone already and it doesn't even have to be a Windows phone


Like the PS4 it's going to depend on the games for me, much like the previous generation - and my favourite games for both of those have only relatively recently been released

My current Xbox is just a DVD player most of the time. None of the announced new features sound like something I would ever use. I wouldn't be interested in playing any of the thus far announced titles even if you gave me them for free. Not a great start.

There was a hardware talk a little later in the evening and that was rather interesting from a technical point of view, Major Nelson talking to real engineers.

The device runs 2 virtual machines. One for the apps and one for games (and video?). The apps VM is started as soon as the box is powered and runs at low power so it draws minimal electricity, less heat generated and thus less fan noise. So the app VM can be doing stuff all the time, social apps, update downloads, whatever. When a game is started the other VM comes into play and this allow the instant switching between game and apps, as demonstrated, because both VMs are running.

They also spoke about computation in the cloud, especially for the Kinect aspects I think. I suppose like Siri on iPhone needs a clever system behind it, on the Internet, the Kinect will use the same to get better results than local computation and analysis. It can be improved dynamically. But like FatherJack, I don't want a camera looking at me the whole time. At best it'll be creepy like HAL or at worst an Orwellian nightmare.

It all sounds very interesting technically, but I don't particularly want it, especially as I have other devices that do some of the stuff or I don't care. Ultimately it'll down to the games.

Sounds like a very clever way of providing me with things I don't want and would never use, but I guess I am just not the target market for these things.

spoodie wrote:But like FatherJack, I don't want a camera looking at me the whole time. At best it'll be creepy like HAL or at worst an Orwellian nightmare.

I have never understood this camera-fear. No one is going to be looking at you even if they could, because why would anyone want to? Besides, nearly all smartphones nowadays have cameras both front and back, so whenever your phone is in your hand, or on your desk, or on your bedside table being charged or basically any time its not in a pocket you have a camera looking at you. Why does no one ever bring that up as being creepy or Orwellian?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic or anything, I just genuinely don't understand.

When I was a wee child my dad would drape a tea towel over the microwave (even when it was switched off) to prevent harmful rays from seeping out. I suppose the same could be done with the new Xbox.

Joose wrote:No one is going to be looking at you even if they could, because why would anyone want to?

How do you know? That's similar to the argument "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear", which a problem because it's not you deciding what's right and wrong. It's governments, law makers and corporations manipulating the former. The argument that all smart phones, tablets, etc. have then is fair though, but these aren't pointed at me the whole time. It's things like this that are worrying - http://gawker.com/judge-tells-fbi-they- ... -483855078

And that's just what we know about. Normalising potential constant surveillance is very worrying to me. Granted this is just an entertainment device, but you need to think about how it could be abused by other parties.

Xbox budgerigar?
I'm actually with Joose, the chances of anyone wanting to use this to actually '1984 you' is remote to say the least. But the tin-foil hat brigade might one day have a point if it is a slow slide into it, or governments find a way to get into the system.

But anyway, I'm still not sold on consoles. I'll stick with my media centre PC thanks (running xbox media center. The irony!). As the lines between consoles and PCs blur, I see less and less reason to go for a console.

Is there any talk of the kinect being essential, or just bundled? Obvious solutions would be. 1) not plug it in. 2) cover the lenses with something. 3) don't buy one.

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:2) cover the lenses with something.

Foil. Always foil.

Or I suppose you could cover your cock in foil, so it can't see you fapping.

STEALTHWANG

Joose wrote:I have never understood this camera-fear.

I don't fully understand it either, it's something instilled in me from an early age, most likely from my mother who would freak out if ever the lights were turned on with the curtains open.

I'm quite sure that nobody would want to see me strolling around my house in my pants, but that doesn't mean I give people the opportunity to do that, either deliberately or accidentally on their part.

I even turn the PS Eye around after use so it can't 'see' me, even though I know full well that it's turned off.

I consider I'm doing other people a favour by avoiding being captured on camera.

I guess part of the problem with my not understanding this issue is that I wouldn't give a shit even if the government themselves wanted to stick cameras in every room of my house and publicly admitted that every one of them would be monitored by real people 24/7. If someone I don't know and I'm never going to meet wants to look at my bum or watch me whilst I mong in front of the computer, I really couldn't care less.

How do you know? That's similar to the argument "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear", which a problem because it's not you deciding what's right and wrong. It's governments, law makers and corporations manipulating the former.

Because hackers getting access to a video feed from my house would quickly get bored and go off looking for something more interesting to perv at, so that's everyone but law enforcement out right there.

As for governments, what every conspiracy theorist seems to forget is that the government has limited resources. Why would they spend resources, whether cash or man hours, checking out people who they have no reason to suspect of illegal activities? The FBI can apparently use any mobile phone as a bug, that doesn't mean they are going to listen in on random people on the off chance they catch them saying something naughty. It would be a massive waste of resources they could more productively use elsewhere. Plus if they do suspect me of illegal activities I would welcome a camera in my house if it meant I had solid proof that I was not, in fact, snorting blow off the bum-crack of an under-age illegal immigrant. You know, for example.

I'm on the fence with the camera thing. On the one hand I don't care about Big Brother. The government has neither the inclination nor the resources to watch my every move, and there's no indication that it's even possible. Randoms tapping into my webcam is a risk, but they're in for a nasty shock if they do as anyone who plays Bumout with me can attest to. What I don't like is corporations gathering data on me, either to try to separate me from my cash or just profit from my activities.

It's not really about a real person watching you, that's not required. It's speculated that digital communications are being recorded and stored just in case you do anything wrong, or you do something the government doesn't like, such as protest against them. That's certainly what many governments would like to do (and some are already doing in more authoritarian countries) with regards your Internet usage, UK included. If you have absolute trust in those that seek to monitor your every move then good for you.

I appreciate I'm being a conspiracy theorist, but that doesn't mean this isn't happening.

FatherJack wrote:I don't fully understand it either, it's something instilled in me from an early age, most likely from my mother who would freak out if ever the lights were turned on with the curtains open.

I can't do it, it freaks me out. Our kitchen window faces the road and I can't have the lights on and the curtains open, missus thinks I am bonkers.

I DO think that this new generation of consoles might be the first time we see AV targetted at them - after the first big virus ofc.

Anery wrote:

FatherJack wrote:I don't fully understand it either, it's something instilled in me from an early age, most likely from my mother who would freak out if ever the lights were turned on with the curtains open.

I can't do it, it freaks me out. Our kitchen window faces the road and I can't have the lights on and the curtains open, missus thinks I am bonkers.

I get this fear too :B