The XBox One

One of the nice things about working for a video game company is that you get to take time out of your busy day and watch press release announcements about new gaming consoles. Today Microsoft unveiled their XBox One, which is the follow-on to the XBox 360. Sony made their announcement of the PlayStation 4 back in February and so it is nice to be able to compare the two new consoles.

Microsoft was able to do something at their release that wasn't done by Sony, they actually showed what the new console will look like. It wasn't sexy or pretty as I thought it looked like a black box. As far as technical specifications go, the PS4 and XBox One look to be very similar. They both use 8-core CPUs, have 8GB of RAM, and come with BluRay players. I like the looks of the Sony Controller vs. Microsoft's, but then I am a fan of PlayStation and so that makes sense. Microsoft's new console will also come bundled with the next version of the Connect. I've never used the Connect but can't really say there is anything groundbreaking with this new version. Perhaps I am wrong.

Missing from both announcements are pricing and release dates. I think both companies are waiting until E3 to make those announcements. The software announcements made by both companies looked very similar, but Microsoft will include Windows with the XBox One. While Microsoft may see that as a benefit, I really hate Windows and that is enough to keep me from buying one. You may feel differently.