Microsoft Launches Updated Xbox One, Controller, and PC Adapter
by Brett Howse on June 9, 2015 4:26 PM EST
News comes from Redmond today that Microsoft will be offering a new model of Xbox One. It will ship with a larger 1 TB hard drive, which is double the storage capacity of the original Xbox One. It will also feature a new matte black finish, with the original Xbox One being outfitted in a glossy exterior. This is a small upgrade, but with the size of games getting larger and larger, it makes a lot of sense to offer the larger internal storage, even though the Xbox One did add the ability to use USB storage some time ago. As for the finish, I think the matte should be a good look and should help with dust and fingerprints.
Also being announced today, and being bundled with the new Xbox, is an updated version of the wireless controller. The big change is that Microsoft has finally ditched the proprietary headset connector, and has now moved to the normal 3.5mm jack. More subtle, but certainly notable, is that the bumpers have been tweaked, and the new controllers can now be updated wirelessly. The first gen controllers could also be updated, however they had to be connected to the Xbox One with a USB cable, so this should make it a lot easier to keep the controller firmware up to date. I have only updated my controllers one time because it’s a bit of a pain to do so, but when Microsoft drastically reduced the connection time when powering on the controllers, it was worth my time to find a cable and do that. With the new ones, even less hassle is necessary which is always a good thing. There is also a new camouflage design in silver and black available for those that want something different.
The final bit of Xbox news today is that Microsoft is finally releasing a wireless adapter for Windows PCs, letting you use the Xbox One controllers on your PC with no cable necessary. The adapter is just $25, or bundled with a controller for $80, and should come in very handy for anyone who wants to do PC gaming with a controller, or more importantly for those that want to use the upcoming game streaming from their Xbox One to their PC, which is something I got to try first hand at Build. The wireless adapter is coming this fall.
The new 1 TB model of the Xbox One will be bundled with the Halo Master Chief Collection and available starting on June 16th for $399, with the 500 GB model being permanently moved to $349.
Source: Major Nelson Blog
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sonicmerlin - Saturday, June 13, 2015 - link
Probably not 'till 14 nm next year.D. Lister - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
This mainly aesthetic update is just "too little, too late" for the MS console.Both MS and Sony made some very poor choices with their hardware this generation, but as most comparative quality tests would show you, MS has often a significant disadvantage in terms of resolution and/or framerates compared to its Sony counterpart.
Future DX12 development on PC may allow marginally better and quicker ports to the XB1, but it is highly unlikely that it would regain MS' console market share to a greatly competitive position.
cmdrdredd - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
That doesn't matter when the only way to play halo and forms are xboxTheJian - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
So you're predicting massively people will buy a $350-400 console for 2 games? LOL. OK. Those two games add another $120 on top. I'll take a shield TV to go and a dozen games and still save hundreds or thousands over it's life on watts and games that are $2-20. If I want the $60 PC equivalents to the majority of console games I can just stream grid for $5-15 a month (still waiting for a price on this for a few more weeks). Even at $15 a month ($180 yearly) that is the cost of 3x$60 titles on xbox1/ps4. My guess is you easily KILL consoles with the number of games you can pound through on GRID. Also android games will be massively improving with the coming set of unreal4/unity5 games and then vulkan adding all the dx12 like features next year probably. Consoles can't do much about their hardware costs, and I think they only survive if they figure out a way to drop prices of games to $30 area as the competition is FAR cheaper and can now STREAM full PC games at a fraction of the cost monthly. 80% of america is on broadband so a large portion of the market can use grid either at 720 or 1080. These users won't miss a console much now, and even less later as Android games amp up and actually use the power in X1 and all the other 14nm socs coming up.I bought my xbox360 for those exclusives (not many) but won't do it this time. I'll go android for my NON PC gaming this round (and never buy a MS/Sony/NIN again). Android has far more stuff than I could possibly play already (I have a huge list of stuff I want, just need the right device first, waiting to see what rev2 of the shield handheld looks like), and the list grows monthly it seems. We are not talking angry birds crap either.
Order & Chaos Online (very nice looking 1.9GB!), Asphalt 8, RavenSword, Dungeon Hunter 4, Modern Combat 5, Eternity Warriors 3, Soulcraft, Aralon Sword & Shadow, type stuff. I could go on, but you get the point. Check out a few of the vids on these and none are made for even K1 yet, let alone X1 level. But they will be coming in the next year. I have no need for xbox1/ps4. PC+Android is more than enough.
TheJian - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
oops, meant dungeon hunter 5...But heck, DH4 looks good too...LOL.ahamling27 - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
I guess the controller adapter is only for Windows 10..... It's like they hate the openness of PCs. I'm sure there will be a work around soon after release, but it shouldn't even be needed.benderw - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Any information on whether this will be using the "die shrink" versions of AMD Processor? Lower power consumption, less fan noise... From what leaked about PS4 (smaller PSU in "slim" version) it looks like Sony made the jump...cmdrdredd - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
No word on when the new controller will be available separately? I assume around the time the 1TB system appears but not sure. I would replace one of my launch controllers with the new one.Rocket321 - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Also excited for the PC wireless controller option to launch - the D-Pad is so much better than the 360 controller...this will be the go to controller for any emulator users looking for a good D-Pad.The Steam controller is also interesting...but need to see some reviews. With the "touchpad" D-pad I don't think it will be very good for playing old SNES games.
kyuu - Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - link
Rather wish the wireless adapter for the controller was a tad smaller. Kind of awkward to have such a huge adapter sticking out of my SP3's USB port.