Its a great time to be an Xbox One owner. We have a great machine with some amazing games, apps and features that were not possible on previous generations. Thanks to the wonder of Xbox Live things can only get better as the console, controller and Kinect receives further updates to fine tune and get the most out of each device. Now that The Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) is just around the corner Microsoft are going to have to step up centre stage once again and make some amazing announcements that will interest current owners, future owners and those still sitting on the fence.
Here are five announcements that I would like to see made at E3 2014…
1) MORE Free To Play Games
Killer Instinct was one of the first FREE to play games on the Xbox One. If you are a GOLD member you will be able to download the game and enjoy all the features with one character. Then you can purchase a different edition or individual characters for a few dollars each. I’m particularly excited about this business model as it will encourage better quality Demos than what we have seen in the past. As opposed to getting a few minutes of gameplay or just one level you will now get as close to the full experience without paying a cent. Hopefully we will start to see more games offer this type of option as it can work so easily for racing games, puzzle games, arcade game, adventure and just about any other.
2) HALO… ANY HALO
The reality is that HALO is kind of a big deal. Even if you are not a fan you still have to respect and appreciate that without the existence of the original Halo: Combat Evolved we possibly would not be where we are today. The announcement of the Halo TV series with Steven Spielberg is proof that Microsoft are taking this very seriously. I’m positive that with the success of the Halo TV series we will finally see a worthy Halo Movie and more importantly many more games set in that universe. That said we need more Halo and we need it now.
3) MORE KINECT ONLY GAMES
I was very impressed after playing with the Kinect Demo for myself the first time E3 2013 and seeing with my own eyes the crazy features that have been implemented. You can only imagine the possibilities that are now available to developers that are working on next-gen game titles. More importantly the new Kinect can do things that are currently impossible on other consoles. Measuring your heart rate can be great for the next Resident Evil or Alan Wake or Fitness Games. Subtle body movements whist holding a controller could be useful for giving out orders, doing a barrel roll or simply blocking. More importantly simply using your voice in a more natural way to watch TV could become very useful… especially when you can’t find that TV remote. So far we have seen hints of this with basic voice commands Volume Up, Down, Mute and in games like KINECT Sports Rivals. In all honesty I’m waiting for something that changes everything and make it a necessity rather than a gimmick.
4) VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET
It seems like 2014 is the year of Virtual Reality with Sony announcing Project Morpheus and FaceBook acquiring Occulus VR. I’m curious to see what Microsoft could bring to the table and what better way to show off a new VR headset than at E3 with Xbox and maybe a new HALO. Just imagine plugging in your new headset and playing Alan Wake, Perfect Dark, Kameo or anything else and seeing the world from that characters perspective. Surely this would be the must buy Xbox Accessory especially if it worked in tandem with Kinect and supported ALL Xbox One games.
5) 4K SUPPORT
We now live in the world of Ultra HD TVs. One thing that honestly surprised me was that the HDMI cable included with all Xbox One units is in fact 4K Ready. Even though the console currently does not support that resolution. I know that very soon YouTube, Crackle and other Video streaming services will support that level of quality and Xbox One will have to provide customers with this sort of feature in order to compete with the new 4K Internet ready TVs. At the end of the day it’s not the end of the world but I’m sure it will help sell units as “The One” device for all your entertainment needs.
So there you have it. What do you think? Did I leave anything out? Feel free to comment below and share with us what you are excited to see next for the Xbox One.
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