Xbox Wire editor Lisa Gurry stated that, “With the unveiling of Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment system for a new generation, we knew immediately Xbox fans were tuning into the announcement in record numbers. We are humbled and grateful for your loyalty and interest in the unveiling of Xbox One.”

Interestingly, next to the 2012 Presidential Election Night, the 2011 Royal Wedding and the 2010 World Cup, this was the most watched live broadcast in Akamai’s history, with Microsoft seeing triple its past concurrency record for such events.

Which is hilarious in retrospect because the Xbox One has been based from nearly every section of the gaming media for any number of features.

A savvy NeoGAF user BrokenEchelon recently pointed out that the Xbox One must be the first major console in the history of gaming to not feature its name on the console itself.

Indeed, on viewing pictures, we could only see the word “Xbox”. The user then proceeded to post pictures of every major console in gaming’s past, and sure enough, each of them had their full name on the console, abbreviated or otherwise.

But not the Xbox One.

Could it be that Microsoft will drop the “One” in the title sometime later? Does it even make sense to call it that anymore? How hard was it have an Infinity logo anyway? We’l see what direction Microsoft goes in with this, but suffice to say, it’s been a horrifyingly underwhelming ride thus far.

One of the biggest new additions, as evidenced in the gameplay trailer released from the event which looked at the next generation engine, was the facial animation Infinity Ward had employed. Despite animation lead Zack Volker being rather dodgy on what exactly make a new engine “new”, the facial animation was of a standard never before seen in a Call of Duty game.

The new engine tried to take advantage of the fact that the curvature of an object would remain constant, even as it came closer or further to the player. A similar method was seen more than a decade ago with Shiny Entertainment’s Messiah, wherein character models and environments would increase or decrease in the number of polygons being showcased depending on how near or far you got from them. This was technically supposed to help increase the efficiency of the engine, as polygons that weren’t displayed were not rendered and resources could be spent on making what was being displayed look even better.

Not that it worked in Messiah’s case but we digress.

Nowadays, the market for facial animation in video games has diversified greatly. One look at Crysis 3’s facial animation will tell you that developers aren’t playing around, using a combination of both licensed and propriety technologies and workflows to achieve the most realistic animation possible. So how well does Activision’s new engine measure up to what was shown at this year’s Game Developers Conference 2013?

Skip to 2:27 on the Xbox Reveal trailer to compare the current look of the animation to what was seen at GDC.

As stated in the comments, the GDC character trailer involved a majority of resources being devoted to lighting and animating a single head. Similar to what David Cage showcased at the PS4 Reveal event, this isn’t too difficult. But when you factor in a complete character model, other characters, environments, AI, particle effects, weather effects and a hundred other factors, it’s a given that you won’t get the exact same quality.

So it is a definite tantamount to the technology at hand that even if Activision’s engine couldn’t approach nearly the same quality shown in the GDC trailer, it’s still pretty decent in the larger scheme of things.

Does it look better than the crème of the crop in Crysis 3? Not really. But considering Infinity Ward’s approach of only including elements to increase immersion when it fits their definition of the gameplay experience, it makes sense. Right? Also, keep in mind that Ghosts is still, by all intents and purposes, a first generation title for the PS4 and Xbox One. Future games could significantly improve on what’s seen here.

Then again, Activision did recycle the same engine for years on end for the last generation of Call of Duty, only making an enhancement here and there when necessary. This resulted in Call of Duty titles that remarkably similar to each other with little improvements, to say nothing of the gameplay.

But we digress again.

What do you think about the facial animation processes in Call of Duty: Ghosts? Let us know in the comments below.

If you look closely, you’ll see that the link has the words “PS4” in the end.

Now, we know this isn’t a death knell for the console. But honestly, it doesn’t help. Do you really want to mention your rival at all in anything remotely having to do with your console? Especially in the so-called “highlights” video of your console’s big reveal?

And it’s not like you can just randomly edit that link either. The video would need to be deleted and re-uploaded.

As it stands, the Xbox One has been universally panned since its reveal on May 21st, with several polls rooting for the PS4. Let’s not forget scorned indie developers and the controversy regarding fees for playing used games. Stay tuned to see just how much worse it can get for the Xbox One.

Source: Reddit

According to an IGN, at the reveal of the Xbox One, whenever Yusuf Mehdi would give a voice command to the Xbox, his left hand would go to his pocket. Oddly enough, if you go back and view the presentation video, it’ll be hard to spot a single instance of Mehdi with both his hands out when giving voice commands.

Naturally, some of us assumed that this was the case since, being the worldwide reveal of a next generation console, you don’t want anything to go wrong. But is it fair to market the response and instantaneous feedback of the device when it’s caked in smoke and mirrors?

Microsoft is no stranger to this phenomenon – check out when it first revealed the Kinect at E3 2010, with actors who were following on-screen movements rather than actually having their gestures recognized (ditto for Lionhead Studios’ Milo and Kate, shown at the time).

Xbox UK marketing director Harvey Eagle thinks otherwise. “Seeing is believing,” he stated to GamesIndustry International. “I understand that people want to see the games, play the games and then make a judgement. That’s fair and reasonable, and we’re not so naïve to think otherwise.

“Given the structure of the unveil tonight, we wanted to make sure that we showed real, in-game content, but the proof for many will be when they have a chance to play those games. And that’s fine.”

Eagle has already stated that the focus of Microsoft’s E3 2013 conference will be nothing but games. For now, though, they want to position the Xbox One as something more.

“I hope people weren’t confused about games still being absolutely critical and fundamental to us. We are a gaming machine that is designed deliver the best experiences in gaming. What we want to try and do is more than that, and we have a box that can do more than that without compromising being the best games console out there.

“Ultimately, we have an ambition to grow the market, and we believe that in order to do that and bring new people in we need to deliver great gaming. But also if we can deliver great entertainment and great TV experiences all in one box, then we think we have an opportunity to appeal to even more people.”

Will it work? We’ll stay cynical all the way to E3, as usual.

However, speaking to GamesIndustry International, Eagle stated that, “We are building the Xbox One to support the trading and re-selling of used games. We are working through the policies of how that will work right now, but we will not block used games.”

So it seems you will be paying a fee to install games on another Xbox One console (since it will be coded to the original system it was used on, making it “used” for other consoles).

Regarding the rumours of the Xbox One being always online to function, Eagle stated, “The answer to that question is no, you do not require an always on connection to use Xbox One.”

Speaking to GamesIndustry International, he stated that, “E3 is absolutely all about the games. E3 is gaming, gaming, gaming. We’ve been very clear about that internally in our planning.

“But we felt that there was another part, and we didn’t want to wait until after E3 to start telling that story. So that’s why we went with the plan tonight: to come out of the gate with the overall vision for the box, an all-in-one device with games, TV and entertainment.

“We didn’t want to forget games entirely tonight, because then there’s the risk that people think we’re forgetting them, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. But we tried to be clear that E3 completes the story, and that’s where you’ll see the games.”

It’s not as if the actual console is being rubbished, so much as Microsoft’s direction for it. Instead of games, there was talk of having an all-in-one media solution – which is how the console gets its name – where you can play games and catch up on your movie and TV viewing at the same time.

The implementation and symbiosis of Kinect into the console’s ecosystem is now complete. It now tracks your controller, automatically loading up your saved games while responding to your voice commands. But the question still remains: Where were the games?

When Major Nelson announced that the conference would only be an hour long, I took it as a sign that Microsoft was going to focus more on what’s worked for it so far – that is, Kinect and the technology’s appeal to mainstream consumers. Aaron Greenberg’s statement later about the exclusives being shown at E3 pretty much clinched it. If nothing else, Microsoft had done a repeat of its now universally mocked E3 2010 conference wherein it devoted an entire extra day to showing off the Kinect. Of course, the next day wasn’t much better since Kinect appeared again but that’s a different story.

The point is: Microsoft no longer needs to focus on gaming. What does it have to do to appeal to its core audience? Why, release a new Halo and create some exclusive titles. Maybe get a new Forza game out. And if Remedy Entertainment can somehow impress people down the line with Quantum Break without delaying it for several years, then great.

But getting after the real money that’s in the Tivo and Smart TV market? Now that takes time. And it takes a lot to convince consumers that a device that was formerly best known for bro bashes and whiny Xbox Live players is their best bet for their living room needs.

The presence of appealing to gestures is a way to acclimate more users to the Windows 8 experience, if the appearance of the new Xbox Dashboard wasn’t enough. As such, the entire exercise is an attempt to appeal to the consumers making up smartphones and tablets, and who were responsible for Kinect being such a success in the first place. With everything that’s happening, Microsoft wants to get a leg up on Apple TV and Roku with its next generation console. If it can appeal the hardcore gamers along the way, then great.

It’s not like it takes much to satisfy us. Last I heard, the only positive thing about the conference is that there 15 exclusives planned, 8 of which are new IPs. Because if there’s anything that gets a “hardcore gamer” excited, it’s the words “exclusive” and “new IPs”.

I don’t blame Microsoft for heading in that direction. I do find that the Xbox One’s reveal felt incomplete with all this talk media and very little information about how certain things would work. So now I can’t pick up a game and play at a friend’s house without paying a fee? If my Kinect breaks, then what happens to my play experience? Can I carry on as usual? What if I don’t want to use Kinect at all? What if the gestures and Snap Mode and Instant Switching don’t appeal to me, and I just don’t use them?

Microsoft doesn’t have to focus on gaming anymore. It pretty much stopped along the way with PCs when it realized it couldn’t compete on the same level as real, hardcore developers. Somewhere along the way – with the Wii’s dominance and subsequent success of Kinect, doubtlessly – it realized it can’t really succeed on the consoles unless it offers consumers something they don’t already have for enjoying the things they can’t be entertained without.

And as much as we gamers will bitch and moan about it, the fact remains that it doesn’t take much to satisfy us. Alternately, it doesn’t take much to make us mad either (see how many people forgot about the “always online” rumours?). As long as we’re content to let Microsoft throw us a bone every now and then in the form of Halo or Gears of War or Forza, we’ll be fine.

All content and save files will reportedly be accessed via the Cloud and a dedicated DVR will capture footage during play and upload it online for you. Not only that, but you’ll be able to search for matches to play in while watching TV or surfing the web. We would imagine this is where the new Snap Mode and Instant Switching come in handy.

But that’s not all. Microsoft will also be increasing its servers for Xbox Live from 15,000 to a whopping 300,000 to handle the load for the new Xbox Live.

What are thoughts on the new Xbox Live? Did Microsoft nail it or are these feature mere poppycock?