The Xbox ONE's Got Some Really Unnecessary Things Going On...

 

Dale North over at Destructoid got some face time with a the Xbox ONE during the Tokyo Game Show this past week, getting a chance to get a closer look at its interface and some other bits that haven't been talked about nearly enough yet. And I'm sorry but most of it sounds horribly unnecessary.

1000 friends, and unlimited followers? We're looking at, "Hey look, lets follow what Ice T is shooting at this week," territory here, nothing more. The only people people are really going to follow are those they know are stars, industry people and probably some of the more competitive gamers. All of these types of people aren't going to want to friend everyone and their mother any way, while the average gamer isn't going to come close to 1000 friends, and next to no followers. It just proves how Microsoft wants their console to become the island of vapid gamers.

Follow industry people and celebrities!!! How about we leave them alone, in Anonymity, so they can relax and game without being pestered? If they want to come out of the woodwork, then let them do it on their own terms. We don't need to know what everyones doing, every second of the day.

And its funny that we couldn't be provided with more images of the interface, considering that the post is about that, and need the same press release images of the hardware we've had since its announcement. Those images we do get don't look clean or elegant, they look like a reorganized version of the unfettered mess we currently have.

"My Pins" obviously serves as your "Home", while "Home" serves as the "What we think you want to look at, from all sections" tab. And then the "Trending" tab (not shown) is probably going to be where the Microsoft force feeds you crap based on what everyone else is doing; If you cared, then you'd probably be seeking it out without their help, it's just another word for "most popular," after all. The rest of the tabs being where you go if they didn't force feed you what you wanted to see.. When their primary idea is for you to use the Kinect to voice your way through everything on the system any way. The only benefit it seems that tabs have is for the mute.

As for the Kinect's IR functionality. I'm sure that someones going to be excited by this, but I really don't see where the majority of users are going to see any play from this... Or know what it even does, for that matter. It just feels like Microsoft proving that their machine is reaching far beyond the depth of the casual sect -the majority of the populous-  that they've struggled to get to with their current simpler system, that they really want to latch on and buy this system. Sure, the hardcore are welcome, but your not going to win anyone past that with unseen beams that can control your stuff.

And what about that too? It can fill the room with IR Beams, but does it really need to? How many people have their gaming areas filled with stuff that would use IR, with most of that stuff being right around that one general unit, usually housed inside entertainment furniture that I'm going to assume will block the beams. And thats if your just counting the people who can afford more then a TV and a gaming console right now.

 

On top of it, this all maybe simple when you get it in front of you, but it sounds complex, and thats going to scare away the general consumer that they're going to be trying to push these to after all the gamers get their hands on it. I can't wait for the stories about how people can't figure out how to get their Kinect to recolonize them, to sign them in. That honestly sounds like it'll be a mess in a room full of people, who happen to be moving around.

The only real positive I'm seeing in this how fast it's said to run things. I'm just hoping "instant" really means what it should mean. Its going to disappoint people when they get it and theres some pause, and they start mass blaming Microsoft for lying to them about the power of the machine.