First & Early Impressions of an Xbox One NooB

[gf78]

Received my Xbox One yesterday at 8:30PM (good job UPS  ) and immediately got started on setting it all up.  The cables were easy enough, but the on-screen picture of the Xbox One Controller telling me to press the "Xbox" button did nothing to get the controller to sync with the system.  Looking in the paperwork, nothing there indicated anything.  The button would simply flash for a while then turn itself off.  So a quick Google search indicated that I needed to press a hidden button on the left side of the console to enter pairing mode, then within 20 seconds press the pairing button on top of the controller.  Viola.  Up and running. 

Next up, I got the basic settings plugged in and began a mandatory 1.5 gig system update.  This took about 30 minutes.  Pretty basic stuff for a first-time system setup.  Since I have long since forgotten my Xbox Live sign-on info, I made a new account.  It gave me a retarded default name and an ugly little avatar pic.  Oh well.

Finally, I can pop Halo 5 Guardians in and play an actual game!  Uhm...where is my option to start my game?  When I put a PS4 game in, typically within a minute or less you can start playing at least the single player mode.  Nope, not here.  After a 20 minute (roughly) setup process for the physical connections (remember I had to google how to get the controller working) and a 30+ minute update, I now have to sit and wait nearly an hour for the counter to slowly crawl to 100%.  Mind you, I declined the update to keep the process moving along smoothly, especially since the update was over 35 gigs!   

Alrighty, I can launch the game!  Halo 5 Guardians, here we go!  Oh...I can't decline the update to play.  No matter what I try.  I get kicked back to the dashboard.  I have to go manually turn off my Wi-Fi connection in the settings panel which by the way is buried in a panel on the left side of the screen.  Alright, I'm in the game!  The graphics are pretty sweet.  The cinematography is excellent.  The controls are tight and that shotgun has a pretty strong kick.  Unfortunately, I'm tired as hell by this point having worked all week and been dealing with 100-degree days.  My fat ass is spent.

So now I turn the Wi-Fi back on and begin the arduous 35 gig update.  I figure I'll go to bed, get up in the morning and it will be done.  So then I can pop the Master Chief Collection in and get it started downloading and I can be playing that by this weekend too.  Well...from around 11PM last night to 6AM this morning, the update progressed to 35%.  At this rate and if my download speeds remain fairly constant (which is a longshot), the update should be completed by about 7PM this evening.  Again, that's a long shot with my inconsistent internet speeds.

So that's it in a nutshell.  My first experience with an Xbox One aside from store demos.  I'm sure the games will be fun once I get to play them.  And the console is pretty.  At this point though, I cannot interrupt the update process for Halo 5, so I can't even play the single player mode until it's done.  I also can't remove the game and put another in since I don't have any installed yet.  So basically, the Xbox One has absolutely zero function as a gaming unit until such time as this ridiculously large download completes.  Hopefully this evening.  Before bedtime. 

[burningdoom]

Yeah, the required disc-download for some games can be excruciating.

The PS4 doesn't require that? I didn't know that. I thought both systems required download to the hard-drive.

I would have loved to get a PS4 over a XBox One, I just couldn't afford it. I had to buy an HDTV, as well, because before I went current-gen I was still using a CRT-TV. So after a $200 TV, an extra $100 for the PS4 (vs. the XBox One) just wasn't in my budget if I wanted games to play on it, too.

[rayne315]

the ps4 requires just the disc data to be downloaded to the hard drive (which usually takes less than a minute). if their are any updates to the game after that you can still play the game before its downloaded so long as you don't try and play online. (so games like the division you are screwed)

Wow really? it didn't even tell you their was a sync button you had to push? that's garbage.

you should probably hard wire your internet to the console by the sounds of it. that way if their is something you don't want to download to play you can just pull the plug, also your downloads will go faster.

[gf78]

Yeah, the required disc-download for some games can be excruciating.

The PS4 doesn't require that? I didn't know that. I thought both systems required download to the hard-drive.

I would have loved to get a PS4 over a XBox One, I just couldn't afford it. I had to buy an HDTV, as well, because before I went current-gen I was still using a CRT-TV. So after a $200 TV, an extra $100 for the PS4 (vs. the XBox One) just wasn't in my budget if I wanted games to play on it, too.

All PS4 games install to the HDD.  The difference is that when you put the game in, the box pops up showing what game is in the drive.  You see a progression bar at the bottom with a disc.  Once it gets to about 5% which takes less than a minute, you can start playing the game.  When it pops up telling you there is an update, you can dismiss it and get on with your gaming.  When I got Uncharted 4, I put the disc in and within a minute I was playing.  Some games are faster, some are slower.  But having installed and played over 80 different titles on my PS4 since I bought it, none of them had an excruciatingly long install like this.  Even Destiny installing all three expansions when the Taken King came out took less than an hour to get up and running completely. 

[desocietas]

Let me know if you need a cheap Xbox Live Gold year subscription card or anything... I bought a whole bunch of them for cheapish when I used my 360 regularly, but of course now I never play the thing   

[gf78]

Let me know if you need a cheap Xbox Live Gold year subscription card or anything... I bought a whole bunch of them for cheapish when I used my 360 regularly, but of course now I never play the thing   

That's something I'm going to be looking into soon.  The cheapest I can find them is $39.99 on eBay right now.  If you want, maybe we could trade?  Any games I have that you were interested in?

[burningdoom]

^ $40 is well worth it for the monthly free games, alone. You get two XBox One Games and two 360 games (they always make them backwards compatible when they put them on the free list) per month, digital versions of course.

[gf78]

^ $40 is well worth it for the monthly free games, alone. You get two XBox One Games and two 360 games (they always make them backwards compatible when they put them on the free list) per month, digital versions of course.

Yeah, $40 isn't a bad price at all for a year of service.  I just don't really have the cash to spend at the moment. 

[desocietas]

I would charge you less than $40 if it were cash, but I'll look around your collection to see if anything's of interest! Otherwise, feel free to hit me up about them at any time since I have quite a few.

[gf78]

I would charge you less than $40 if it were cash, but I'll look around your collection to see if anything's of interest! Otherwise, feel free to hit me up about them at any time since I have quite a few.

Will do!  Thanks a bunch!

[gf78]

Wow really? it didn't even tell you their was a sync button you had to push? that's garbage.

you should probably hard wire your internet to the console by the sounds of it. that way if their is something you don't want to download to play you can just pull the plug, also your downloads will go faster.

Yeah, it seemed silly to me.  The 360 had a sync button on the console front and the top of the controller which was easy to see and if you didn't know, the manual told you what to do.  The Xbox One just had a big picture of a controller indicating to push the power/home/X button.  It never showed anything about the sync button on the controller or the system.  Likewise, the little manual that came with the system just showed the same thing with a brief description.  And the sync button is kinda hidden around the side of the system by the disc slot.  When I was looking it over, I figured that's where you touched/pushed to eject the disc. 

I'll probably run another wire from my router to the Xbox One sometime soon.  But there is definitely a large discrepancy in the length of time it takes for the Xbox One to download as opposed to the PS4.  It's also so much more evident when you take into account that you have to wait for the game to fully install before you can start playing.  I guess I'm just spoiled by the PS4, but popping a disc in and getting into the game in a matter of a minute or so is fantastic.  And even if (when) the game prompts you to download an update, I can still decline and start playing while the update is happening in the background.  It just pops up with a message that "x" has finished downloading.  I can then save what I'm doing, close the game and restart it.  Update is applied and I'm back into the game in another couple of minutes. 

[burningdoom]

Wow really? it didn't even tell you their was a sync button you had to push? that's garbage.

you should probably hard wire your internet to the console by the sounds of it. that way if their is something you don't want to download to play you can just pull the plug, also your downloads will go faster.

Yeah, it seemed silly to me.  The 360 had a sync button on the console front and the top of the controller which was easy to see and if you didn't know, the manual told you what to do.  The Xbox One just had a big picture of a controller indicating to push the power/home/X button.  It never showed anything about the sync button on the controller or the system.  Likewise, the little manual that came with the system just showed the same thing with a brief description.  And the sync button is kinda hidden around the side of the system by the disc slot.  When I was looking it over, I figured that's where you touched/pushed to eject the disc. 

I'll probably run another wire from my router to the Xbox One sometime soon.  But there is definitely a large discrepancy in the length of time it takes for the Xbox One to download as opposed to the PS4.  It's also so much more evident when you take into account that you have to wait for the game to fully install before you can start playing.  I guess I'm just spoiled by the PS4, but popping a disc in and getting into the game in a matter of a minute or so is fantastic.  And even if (when) the game prompts you to download an update, I can still decline and start playing while the update is happening in the background.  It just pops up with a message that "x" has finished downloading.  I can then save what I'm doing, close the game and restart it.  Update is applied and I'm back into the game in another couple of minutes.

Some games have to fully install before you can play, others don't.

[soera]

Just wait til you try to install Rare Replay. It does each game separately.

[shepard11]

Or DOA 5? My god that took FOREVER off disc. I thought my system was going to die.

[kashell]

The only Xbone game I played was Dark Souls III and I don't recall having to wait too long to start seeing "You Have Died" over and over again.