It was more than just a game console.

 

It was more than just a game console.

The PS3 aspired to be so much more than a way to play games; in many ways, it accomplished that dream.

A big part of this was that the console had a Blu-Ray player built into it, allowing you to watch your favorite TV shows and movies in full 1080p — providing you were happy to fork out for an expensive Blu-Ray copy of them

After many months of rumours, speculation and discussion on the next offering of Microsoft’s gaming console, details of the new Xbox have finally been revealed. Christened Xbox One, it is to be their third console, after the original Xbox in 2001 and Xbox 360 in 2005. It comes with an 8-core CPU, 500 GB of hard disk drive space, 8 GB of DDR3 RAM and an integrated Blu-ray drive. More importantly, it also comes with an updated version of Kinect, a motion sensing input device, which is now to be far more accurate.

With the launch, Microsoft has made its ambitions very clear. Their focus is not to just make Xbox One the next version of their popular gaming hardware, but also an all-round living room entertainment device. Using voice-activation and voice commands, Xbox One was used in the launch to seamlessly switch between live TV and a video game. Whether all this manages to satisfy the narrower, but still considerable fan base of individuals who have eagerly waited for a long time for an improved gaming experience remains to be seen.

Before the launch, gamers and the gaming industry have been heavily debating what Xbox One would mean for used or pre-owned games. According to Wired, it seems that Xbox One games will require compulsory installation to the hard disk in order to run. The game disc is only used for verifying that you own the game.

So, as a direct result of this, it is likely that games will be inevitably linked to individual accounts and request an extra fee for each new account installation. This is not confirmed just yet, but it is not surprising given that the gaming industry has constantly voiced concerns about used games and their effect on sales.