After abstaining from buying the Xbox One, I think I’ll finally be ready soon.
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely excited about the Xbox One when it first came out. The policy changes intrigued me, but I was more than happy to own a PlayStation 4 instead. However, months have passed and I’m starting to feel more excited about the former. I’m not ready to buy it now, but now I look forward to owning one anytime soon. Does this mean I’m switching my loyalties over to Microsoft? No. It’s kind of silly how we have intense loyalties for commodities. Save that for people and/or your country. I enjoy both and I hope not to see any console wars mumbo jumbo in the comments.
Here are the reasons behind my decision:
1. The Price is Right
I thought the Xbox One’s price couldn’t get any better when it had a Titanfall bundle (with membership and Kinect) for $450. I turned out to be wrong when Microsoft suddenly announced that they are selling the Xbox One without the Kinect for $399. While I won’t be getting the Xbox One without the Kinect, the price drop alone allows me to find used consoles and Kinect separately at lower prices. Nobody is going to buy a used item with a price tag that’s more expensive than its brand new counterpart. It’s also not going to be too “used” since the Xbox One is fairly recent.
2. Kinect, but simply Dance Central
I actually enjoy the Kinect despite its imperfections. It’s a great piece of technology that’s still in its early stages. I’ve never regretted having it because the Kinect is simply a hit when guests come over whether they are kids or full grown adults. It doesn’t even matter if they are gamers at all. It’s fun to play on your own and with a group. A lot of announcements in E3 sealed the deal for me, and the reveal of Dance Central Spotlight is one of them. The PlayStation 4 has the Just Dance series but the choreography isn’t as great. Some people expect the Kinect to do more, but if you’re happy with the party games then maybe you should get an Xbox One in the future despite what hardcore gamers say.
3. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
It’s funny how I’ve never picked up a copy of Halo even if I’ve owned all the Xbox systems before Xbox One. I kind of regret that I missed out on the franchise, but I always thought that it was too late. Developers make sequels that’s easy for newcomers to jump into, but I personally think it’s more rewarding to experience it from the very beginning. Halo is special to the video game community even if it’s just a shooter. I don’t have the first Xbox anymore, but then it’ll be hard for me to appreciate it with all the bugs and old graphics even if I did. Thankfully, the collection will give an HD facelift and tweak to all of the games included. That’s more than enough for me. In the end, it’s interesting how a batch of old games turned out to be one of the big reasons for me getting a console.
4. More Games
I’m not only talking about Scalebound or the exclusives that were announced this year. I’m looking at the games roster in general from the very beginning. At launch, there were only a few exclusives and only one or two were at least great. I already had a PlayStation 4 to play multiplatform games, so exclusives are the main deal for me. My choices seem to be growing now and I bet that there will be more exclusives by the time I get an Xbox One.
Conclusion
I’m definitely getting an Xbox One, but am I getting one now? Most of the stuff I’ve mentioned aren’t even available yet. I project to own the system by the end of this summer mainly because I’ll have enough dough by that time. Additionally, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Dance Central Spotlight will be out this fall. Console wars? Nah. It’s all about games, games, and games for me baby!
6 comments
That Scalebound trailer may have just sold me. That looks like my dream game. With the excess Kinect baggage being shed, the Xbone made itself a viable competitor in my mind, and it really seems like they are starting to kick out the exclusives while Sony is busy converting year old PS3 titles to the PS4. Even if the PS4 has more horsepower, it’s meaningless if they don’t have a more powerful lineup of games. I know there’s no Master Chief in it, but they really should have included ODST in that Halo bundle. I really loved that game.
How do you think scalebound looks good, Headphones really? the character looks corny and its made by platinum games which means its pretty much just gonna be a fast pace button masher like bayonetta or DMC
But whatev I guess if thats your thing, I know I just got overhyped when I read about it thinking more like a monster hunter clone instead of that.
Okay, the headphones thing was cheesy, but I have a giant monster fetish and the idea of a Shadow of the Colossus or Monster Hunter type game where you’re battling giant monsters that are also battling each other really floats my boat. I’ll have to see some real gameplay and details before I’m officially sold, but conceptually, I likey very much.
I remember growing up during the 16 bit wars. Now that was intense and it’s still a debate that goes on today. I have never really been a big fan of Microsoft’s consoles mostly because their exclusives have never appealed to me. I passed on the original Xbox, and bought it a few years later because I wanted to play Panzer Dragoon Orta, Indigo Prophecy, and Munch’s Oddessy. I disliked the controller as well, even the second generation modified version was still too bulky.
I got an Xbox 360 to play Tales of Vesperia, but ran into the same issue; I didn’t see a wide variety of exclusives that interested me. It’s a better machine than the PS3, but Sony had the Ico/Shadow of Colossus HD remastered duo pack, I’m not passing that up! Those were two of my favorite games on the PS2! An Xbox One is not likely in my future, but I said the same thing about the previous two.
I chose a PS4 for really shallow reasons (I keep foolishly hoping for a Dark Cloud sequel and I like the Duallshock controller because I likes my fighting games. That 360 D-pad can rot in Hell), but my loyalty will continue to gravitate towards Nintendo. The Wii U may not surpass either of the former machines, but I prefer Nintendo’s focus on innovative gameplay mechanics, it’s light-hearted charm and whimsy, and substance over style. Sony and Microsoft can butt heads about who does gaming bigger and better, Nintendo just tries to focus on keeping it fun, and that’s all I care about.
Frankly
It’s a mistake to have brand loyalties.
I enjoy in life whatever is good.
My loyalty is to quality.
When you get mentally stuck with one brand, you’re in for a world of pain and struggle.
My advise to you. Free yourself.