All you need to know about Microsoft's Xbox One

The Xbox One was unveiled back in May, and while Microsoft may have shown off some great new hardware, much of the event was deemed unimpressive because of the company’s focus on the TV features of the console. Now that the Redmond-based company has finally shown off the gaming side of its console, we think now would be a great time to take an in-depth look at it.

Microsoft revealed during its pre-E3 press conference that its next-gen console will cost $499 in the US, which roughly translates to Rs 29,016. The European prices are higher with a price tag of 499 EUR (Rs 38,284) in Europe and 429 GBP (Rs 38,804) in the UK. This is quite expensive, especially compared to the $399 price tag of the Sony PlayStation 4.

On the hardware side of things, one of the most important new features of the Xbox One is the x86 architecture that we have on desktop PCs. This is quite a change from the Xbox 360’s PowerPC architecture. Thanks to the x86 architecture, cross-platform games between the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4 and PCs will be easier to handle, owing to the same architecture between the three. The Xbox One has 8GB of RAM, but unlike the PS4’s DDR5, Microsoft has opted for DDR3 RAM.

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The complete Xbox One package

The controller of the Xbox One is visually more or less the same as the 360 controller. It does, however, sport some new features, the biggest of which are the redesigned d-pad and the force-feedback enabled triggers. Otherwise, the controller seems to be more or less the same, albeit Microsoft touts a lot of new innovation in it. Unlike the PS4, the Xbox One controller lacks a touchpad.

To combat the touchpad on the DualShock 4, however, Microsoft is giving its SmartGlass tablet and smartphone apps a major upgrade. SmartGlass-enabled devices will be able to act like extra interfaces for games. For example, your inventory in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can be managed through SmartGlass.

The controller will be working in tandem with the new Kinect, which the Xbox One comes bundled with and cannot function without. The Kinect has a much-improved voice command module and is capable of doing more powerful things, like recognising players and noticing more nuanced movements. The Kinect can also apparently sense heartbeats.

The controller doesn’t have any touchpad

Xbox Live is getting quite a few changes as well. One of the biggest changes is that, taking a page out of Sony’s book, Microsoft will be giving Xbox Live Gold subscribers two free games. The company is kicking this off from July onwards with the Xbox 360, and it will continue on to the Xbox One. Other features of the new Xbox Live include Smart Match and Game DVR.

Smart Match is a new matchmaking system that Microsoft claims, “virtually eliminates waiting in lobbies by estimating wait times and finding people you want to play while you are enjoying other activities.” Game DVR is like the share button we saw on the PlayStation 4. The feature captures your gameplay footage and lets you save specific moments on the cloud. It comes with rudimentary editing tools and sharing options.

On the DRM side, Microsoft has included provisions for developers and publishers who might want some specific form of DRM for their Xbox One games. The system also locks any game disc you put into it to your own Xbox account. Users will be able to share a game with someone only once, and this number can be controlled by the game’s publishers. To be able to play games offline, users will have to be online at least once every 24 hours on their Xbox One. If they are using someone else’s Xbox One but are using their own accounts, they will have to be online once every hour.