#XboxReveal Kind of Disappointing

Before I start on this, let me preface this with not liking sports or racing games. That said, I understand why they highlighted those and I consider them for their gaming value rather than my personal tastes.

The big reveal was a little disappointing.

I love what they're doing with the XBox One. Bringing together media, entertainment, usability, ease of use and so on. The power should usher in a whole new age of games. But that's what was really lacking in the reveal: no game play. The demo of CoD: Ghosts at the end was more trailer than actually showing someone playing the game.

So let's look at what we do know: Impressive system specs, expanded XBox Live support, exclusivity deals, blended (not just combined) entertainment options. It's all nice. I really like the idea of not having to find the remote to switch between TV, XBox, and what not. Hmm, can I have XBox One switch to my PS3 for me? That'd be funny.

I have to admit, making the Kinect more built-in is quite the gambit. I know the Kinect wasn't originally as successful as Microsoft was hoping, but they put time and effort in to it and evolved its integration. The ability to include voice commands in games in a less clunky way would also be divine. Playing CoD: Ghosts and telling everyone to take cover rather than pull up some menu would make for a much more unique experience.

The work that EA (yes, I don't like them much, but I still have to analyze what they're doing) is putting in to their sports games is refinement. Let's face it, you play a football or soccer game, there are rules that just won't change. The only difference in competing game franchises is how well the game runs. Everything else is more or less gimmicks. EA is telling everyone they can improve how well their games will run. Better calculations, improved AI, greater graphical detail, all of it a step up. This translates well to other games yet to come.

One of the things that caught my ear was "persistent worlds". I hear that and I envision MMOs. Whether it's RPGs or otherwise, this could have a big impact. The style of free play or subscriptions is getting old, especially with so many companies getting it wrong. This could introduce new gaming models that will bring more satisfaction to players.

Let's looking at "Trending" next. Cool story, bro. I'll be blunt, there's nothing to convince me that anything trending isn't sponsored or that I'll care about it. I'd be more interested in watching The Price Is Right than The Today Show. However, given that I myself generally don't watch "trending" stuff, it could introduce me to some new content. Personally, I'll be more interested in Netflix support. But like everything else, there's potential. Possibilities. Promise.

Yeah, that's all it is right now. Promise. I'll be watching E3 for both Sony's and Microsoft's game play demos. Given its early stage of development, I really shouldn't have expected a whole lot, but when you're selling a game system, and it is a game system with a built-in media center, you need to sell games. Telling us there's a new CoD arc on the way is cool and all, but don't show brief demo clips and call it game play footage. Something more substantial would be needed. Even 15 to 20 seconds of continuous, actual game playing would be better.

For now, we have specs to help us determine base possibilities. I look forward to seeing what can actually be produced. Give us an appetizer at E3, not smells from the kitchen that you gave us at the Reveal. Looking forward to it and have fun!

PS: Did you see that plug for Halo: the TV series? Who would have thought they'd have a commercial in such a big presentation?