Xbox Store rebranding to 'Microsoft Store' on Xbox One. Last week it surfaced that Microsoft was preparing for a rebrand of the Windows Store – the inbuilt digital storefront for apps, games, movies, and music on Windows 10 devices. As spotted by Windows Insiders in the Release Preview ring, both the store's name and logo had changed, assumedly ahead of a wider rollout in the months ahead. It now appears that Microsoft is extending this change to the Xbox Store, rebranding the console's marketplace under the same name. Although this means little change in terms of functionality, the new name and icon can already be seen across pre-release versions of the Xbox One dashboard. Say hello to the Microsoft Store – the one stop shop for Xbox content going forward. Microsoft has used the "Microsoft Store" branding in the past for its online and physical retail stores, where the firm has sold various hardware and software. Following these recent changes, it appears Microsoft is attempting to further unify its marketplaces while phasing out the Windows Store and Xbox Store branding. In builds of pre-release builds of the upcoming Xbox One update, Microsoft has previously experimented with selling hardware directly through the Xbox dashboard. It wouldn't be surprising to see this to continue in the future, with more hardware available through the native app. What do you think of the store change? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Free game. Design an Xbox controller. Become a pirate legend. The battleground awaits. Limited-time offer. Play together with Xbox Live Gold. Play on the most advanced multiplayer network. Pick your team. Xbox Game Pass. Get unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for only $9.99 per month. Start your free 14-day trial today. Xbox consoles Show all. Xbox One X 1TB Console + Free Select Game. • Games play better than ever. • Experience immersive true 4K gaming. • Play on Xbox Live, the most advanced multiplayer network. • Works with all your Xbox One games and accessories. • Games run smoothly, look amazing, and load quickly on 1080p screens. Xbox One S 500GB Console – Starter Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • 3-month Xbox Game Pass membership. • 3-month Xbox Live Gold membership. • 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, 4K video streaming, High Dynamic Range, premium audio. Xbox One S 500GB Console – Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Forza Horizon 3 game download. • Hot Wheels expansion download. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 500GB Console - Ultimate Halo Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Halo 5: Guardians (standard edition digital code) • Halo: The Master Chief Collection (standard edition digital code) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass trial (new subscribers only) Xbox One S Console - Forza Horizon 3 Bundles + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB or 1TB Xbox One S consoles. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Forza Horizon 3 Standard Edition digital code for Xbox and Windows 10. • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 500GB Console - Battlefield 1 Bundles + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB consoles. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Battlefield 1 Standard Edition game download. • 1-month EA Access (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 1TB Console – Minecraft Limited Edition Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S Limited Edition 1TB Console. • Minecraft Creeper Xbox Wireless Controller. • Minecraft full game download, plus Redstone Pack. • Xbox One S Vertical Stand. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass trial (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 1TB Console – Shadow of War Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 1TB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Middle-earth: Shadow of War disc. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass trial (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox games (disc) Show all. Sea of Thieves for Xbox One. Minecraft Explorers Pack for Xbox One. PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS – Game Preview Edition for Xbox One. Call of Duty: WWII for Xbox One. Star Wars Battlefront II for Xbox One. Assassin's Creed Origins for Xbox One. Super Lucky's Tale for Xbox One. Minecraft Super Plus Pack for Xbox One. Xbox accessories Show all. Xbox Wireless Controller – Sea of Thieves Limited Edition. Xbox Design Lab. Xbox Design Lab. Controller Gear Xbox Design Lab Pro Charging Stand. Xbox Wireless Controller. Xbox Wireless Controller. Xbox Pro Charging Stand for Project Scorpio Special Edition Controller. Xbox Wireless Controller - Minecraft Pig. Xbox games (download) Show all. Call of Duty®: WWII. STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II. Rocket League® Assassin's Creed® Origins. NBA 2K18. Madden NFL 18. Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ The Sims™ 4. Get started with Xbox. Xbox deals. Save big on Xbox consoles, games, and accessories. Dream it, build it. Unlock the power of your imagination with Minecraft. Take your skills to the next level with the latest PCs, accessories, and games. Virtual Reality. Experience the world in a whole new way. Translate to English. Язык Microsoft Store: United States - English. Вас интересует язык Microsoft Store: Россия - Русский? Перевести на русский. You are shopping Microsoft Store in: United States - English. Are you looking for Microsoft Store in: Россия - Русский? Xbox Design Lab. Starting at $79.99 with free shipping. Pick your team. Make it yours. Xbox Design Lab. Green Bay Packers. Choose your team. New England Patriots. Choose your team. Pittsburgh Steelers. Choose your team. Seattle Seahawks. Choose your team. Orange Zest. Start with a bold color. Mineral Gold. Start with a metallic finish. Desert Tact. Start with new colors. The Diamond. Start with rubberized grips. My Gallery. Pick up where you left off. Community gallery. Get inspired by what other people are making. Get started. See where inspiration takes you with more than 1 billion possible color combinations. Free game. Design an Xbox controller. Become a pirate legend. The battleground awaits. Limited-time offer. Play together with Xbox Live Gold. Play on the most advanced multiplayer network. Pick your team. Xbox Game Pass. Get unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for only $9.99 per month. Start your free 14-day trial today. Xbox consoles Show all. Xbox One X 1TB Console + Free Select Game. • Games play better than ever. • Experience immersive true 4K gaming. • Play on Xbox Live, the most advanced multiplayer network. • Works with all your Xbox One games and accessories. • Games run smoothly, look amazing, and load quickly on 1080p screens. Xbox One S 500GB Console – Starter Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • 3-month Xbox Game Pass membership. • 3-month Xbox Live Gold membership. • 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, 4K video streaming, High Dynamic Range, premium audio. Xbox One S 500GB Console – Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Forza Horizon 3 game download. • Hot Wheels expansion download. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 500GB Console - Ultimate Halo Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Halo 5: Guardians (standard edition digital code) • Halo: The Master Chief Collection (standard edition digital code) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass trial (new subscribers only) Xbox One S Console - Forza Horizon 3 Bundles + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB or 1TB Xbox One S consoles. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Forza Horizon 3 Standard Edition digital code for Xbox and Windows 10. • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 500GB Console - Battlefield 1 Bundles + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 500GB consoles. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Battlefield 1 Standard Edition game download. • 1-month EA Access (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 1TB Console – Minecraft Limited Edition Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S Limited Edition 1TB Console. • Minecraft Creeper Xbox Wireless Controller. • Minecraft full game download, plus Redstone Pack. • Xbox One S Vertical Stand. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass trial (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox One S 1TB Console – Shadow of War Bundle + 2 Free Select Games. • Xbox One S 1TB Console. • Xbox Wireless Controller. • Middle-earth: Shadow of War disc. • 1-month Xbox Game Pass trial (new subscribers only) • 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Xbox games (disc) Show all. Sea of Thieves for Xbox One. Minecraft Explorers Pack for Xbox One. PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS – Game Preview Edition for Xbox One. Call of Duty: WWII for Xbox One. Star Wars Battlefront II for Xbox One. Assassin's Creed Origins for Xbox One. Super Lucky's Tale for Xbox One. Minecraft Super Plus Pack for Xbox One. Xbox accessories Show all. Xbox Wireless Controller – Sea of Thieves Limited Edition. Xbox Design Lab. Xbox Design Lab. Controller Gear Xbox Design Lab Pro Charging Stand. Xbox Wireless Controller. Xbox Wireless Controller. Xbox Pro Charging Stand for Project Scorpio Special Edition Controller. Xbox Wireless Controller - Minecraft Pig. Xbox games (download) Show all. Call of Duty®: WWII. STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II. Rocket League® Assassin's Creed® Origins. NBA 2K18. Madden NFL 18. Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ The Sims™ 4. Get started with Xbox. Xbox deals. Save big on Xbox consoles, games, and accessories. Dream it, build it. Unlock the power of your imagination with Minecraft. Take your skills to the next level with the latest PCs, accessories, and games. Virtual Reality. Experience the world in a whole new way. Translate to English. Язык Microsoft Store: United States - English. Вас интересует язык Microsoft Store: Россия - Русский? Перевести на русский. You are shopping Microsoft Store in: United States - English. Are you looking for Microsoft Store in: Россия - Русский? Xbox One X review: A console packed with raw potential waiting to be fulfilled. Leading up to the announcement of the Xbox One X, prominent analysts and commentators said that anything above $399 would be a death sentence for the console, despite all the technology crammed into the box. Even when you disregard the Xbox One X's $499 pricepoint, and when you factor in the price of the 4K television required to use it optimally, you know this isn't a console for everyone. If you're looking to buy an Xbox One X, you can't just consider the 4K box itself. You also have to consider the ecosystem attached to it: games, media, and beyond. Unlike purchasing a gaming PC, with a console purchase, you're also locking yourself into a specific storefront. You're also trading the potential versatility of Windows for the out-of-the-box usability of a closed, standardized hardware ecosystem. The Xbox One X and Xbox landscape are a whole lot different than the original Xbox One in 2013. If you're already a diehard Xbox fan, Microsoft knows you're going to buy this box. But for lapsed fans who left the platform for PlayStation 4 at the start of this generation, or Microsoft ecosystem users looking to jump in for the first time, the Xbox One X is by no means a guaranteed win. Here's why. Xbox One X tech specs. Xbox Wireless Controller. one-month Xbox Game Pass trial. 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial. Hardware features and design. There's no denying how powerful the Xbox One X is. It's virtually impossible to create an equivalent gaming PC at this price point, even when you disregard some of the console's additional aspects like UHD Blu-ray and its uniquely compact design. The Xbox One X is, in fact, the smallest Xbox ever made, featuring a slimmer depth profile than that of its standard HD brother. Like previous consoles, the Xbox One X's design is intentionally unremarkable. It's a black box, designed to disappear in among your other TV peripherals in your media center. The reverse has a grill to promote air flow, and the Blu-ray drive has changed position slightly from that of the S, hidden neatly under the larger top section. The most remarkable thing about the physical design is the amount of power Microsoft managed to squeeze into such a small space. Like the S, the X can be positioned vertically, but as of writing, there's no official stand for the standard edition Xbox One X, which might prove annoying for some. However, there are some third-party options already popping up. Overall, the most remarkable thing about the physical design is the amount of power Microsoft managed to squeeze into such a small space. Microsoft pioneered new computing methods to get the most out of the X's hardware, boosting memory bandwidth and overall computing capabilities in the process. The customized chips help the X punch above its weight range, combined with powerful cooling techniques and some industry-leading design principles, ported across from Microsoft's billion-dollar Surface PC line. Speaking of cooling, the Xbox One X is never blisteringly hot to the touch when it's running 4K games, and considering it has an internal PSU and 6TF of computational power, that's an achievement. The top portion gets a little warm, but it's by no means worrisome. The reverse vents dissipate heat well, just make sure that your X is going to be properly ventilated. At peak, you're looking at around 155 degrees F (68 degress C). Despite all that cooling, it's also silent. My external HDD is louder than the console. My Razer Blade laptop, by comparison, sounds like a jet engine even running games at just 1080p, with the One X coming in at just 42 dBA during peak loads. The Xbox One X is warmest at the back of the box, where the heat is ventilated. As you can see from the top image, the X (left) definitely runs hotter than the S (right). As far as ports are concerned, Xbox One S owners will find the Xbox One X familiar. Two rear-facing USB 3.0 ports are joined by a front-facing port. There's your standard glowing power button, an Xbox Wireless pairing button, SPDIF optical audio, a port for Ethernet, and the return of HDMI-in and -out. Like the S, there's no Kinect port, as Microsoft recently announced its support of the peripheral is coming to an end. While the ports are familiar, some of the features, at least where HDMI is concerned, will be exclusive to the Xbox One X. The new box will eventually support HDMI 2.1 via a firmware update, which brings a potentially crucial feature in the form of Variable Refresh Rates (VRR). VRR over HDMI is going to be a staple of the next generation of TVs and displays, and several Xbox One X games are already advertised on the store as supporting VRR. While you won't really be able to take advantage of this on day one, the X is futureproofed for this standard. What VRR does is synchronize the frame rate of the game directly with the display. At the moment, if your game isn't able to output frames at the speed of your display, you will either get a dropped or torn frame, known as screen tearing. VRR solves this by updating your display only when it receives an image from your console, leading to a far smoother, higher-quality experience. While we can't test this today, the Xbox One X will be the only console that does this for the foreseeable future. Overall, it's hard to argue against the quality of the Xbox One X's physical attributes at this price point. But a console is only as good as its software and services. Software and media. For the most part, the Xbox One X OS is identical to that of Xbox One S. You might think the beefier hardware in the X might lead to an even snappier experience, but if there are any performance gains, they're almost imperceptible. The main difference between the Xbox One X and S in terms of OS features is a flashy new boot animation, which celebrates the Scorpio engine and the powerful internals Microsoft baked into this device. Additionally, the Xbox One X can record video games in 4K with HDR. Right now, the best solutions for achieving this functionality are often quite expensive or PCI-e based, designed for desktop computers. For Microsoft to include such powerful recording features in the X, which now supports external 60 minute captures to a separate HDD, is truly laudable. Sadly, you can still only share 1080p clips on Xbox Live, and the 4K HDR screenshots are difficult to work with, outputting as .JXR and .PNG files that need to be combined to be viewed outside of the console. Hopefully, Microsoft will fix this in the future, because it's pretty silly. It doesn't feel like Microsoft is 'all-in' on 4K content. If you're unfamiliar with the Xbox One OS, it was recently updated to promote speed and usability. You can access a special Guide menu from anywhere, whether it's TV, movies, apps, or games, giving you access to friends lists, Xbox achievements and beyond. For Xbox One X buyers, the greatest feature is the fact you can back up your entire Xbox One to an external HDD, and simply move the whole thing to the X on launch day. There's no huge fuss during set up, except for an 800MB update. On the media side of things, Microsoft emphasized the amount of apps that now support 4K video. You have the UHD Blu-ray player obviously, and offerings like Netflix and Amazon Video. If you're in the U.S., there will be even more 4K-capable services. It is, however, incredibly annoying, that Microsoft itself isn't leading the charge on 4K digital distribution for TV and movies. If you're someone who has been investing in digital movies from the Windows and Xbox stores for years, the amount of 4K content to purchase on those storefronts is anemic. You can count a number of 4K movies available to buy from Microsoft on one hand, as of writing, and there's little indication this is going to change in the near future. They're also ridiculously expensive. It doesn't feel like Microsoft is as "all-in" on 4K content as it might like us to think. Apple recently announced that movies purchased through iTunes would be updated to 4K for free. In this case, Apple TV dominates the Xbox One X as a 4K media center. But ultimately, you're likely here for the gaming, not the media experience. Xbox One X gaming. At the time of writing, there's only a handful of games available to demo with Xbox One X enhancements, but Microsoft is aiming to get around 70 titles up during launch week, with over 150 in the roadmap. We'll be focusing on the games we have had hands and eyes on, including Gears of War 4, Assassin's Creed: Origins, and Killer Instinct. Make no mistake, with the right TV and the right games, the Xbox One X will blow your mind. First, let's describe exactly how the Xbox One X handles its "Xbox One Enhanced" games, because it's not entirely straightforward. The first thing to note is it's up to developers whether games get enhanced specifically to take advantage of the Xbox One X horsepower. But that's not the full story. Make no mistake, with the right TV and the right games, the Xbox One X will blow your mind. Games that have been developed with change resilience in mind, namely dynamic resolution scaling, will have an edge on the Xbox One X, achieving their target resolutions and frame rates more often. The speedier HDD will also help with load times, so you will get a better experience from the X, even when a game hasn't been patched. Playing an unpatched Assassin's Creed Origins was noticeably better on the X, with more consistent frame rates. Beyond that, the Xbox One X will enlist supersampling techniques to render more beautiful images on enhanced games, even on 1080p displays, and developers are taking advantage of the ability to include different graphics settings to boost things like frame rate and general quality over resolution, acknowledging that not everyone will have a 4K display. At least for the games we have available now, the difference between a supersampled 4K image on a 1080p display is quite hard to discern, frankly. There are simply not enough pixels to showcase the full beauty of a 4K image on a 1080p display. The amount of raw potential in the Xbox One X is staggering. You will see improvements to textures, foliage density, and draw distances, when developers focus their efforts on physical upgrades, rather than flat resolution bumps. On 1080p displays, perhaps the best use of the X horsepower is when developers transform a 30 frames per second (FPS) game to 60 FPS, as we've seen with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Gears of War 4. It's far more dramatic a difference than the supersampled 1080p images, so hopefully developers will continue to offer 60 FPS modes where possible. There's a lot of "hopefully," in this section, and that's because a lot of the features and capabilities of the Xbox One X rely so heavily on what developers do with the hardware. As a gamer, you will want to know whether or not your investment in the console is going to pan out in terms of support from third-parties, and it's hard to say at this point. In games, you'll be able to see finer and distant details far more easily on 4K enhanced titles. For the games that are supported, the Xbox One X achieves things previously only possible with higher-end gaming laptops and custom-built desktop PCs, such as native 4K visuals, occasionally with 60 FPS frame rates. Throw in HDR lighting on a high-quality TV, and games like Gears of War 4 simply look vivid, next-gen, and almost frighteningly immersive. Higher resolution textures supported by millions of extra pixels create a sharper image across the board, particularly in the details of distant objects or intricate designs, such as the textures on enemies and weapons. HDR gives the game some truly dramatic lighting, which elevates the campaign's cinematic qualities far beyond what the standard Xbox One is capable of. Another game that sports truly noticeable improvements, surprisingly, is 2008's Fallout 3. Microsoft is working to tidy up some of the Xbox 360's classic games, some of which really struggled on the old console. Fallout 3 on the X now looks like its maxed-out PC counterpart, which gives the classic title a new lease on life. Gears of War 4 and Fallout 3 are both great examples of the Xbox One X's capabilities, but having played Assassin's Creed Origins at 4K, it is the best looking game I've ever seen, particularly since I've been slugging through the blurry Xbox One S version over the past few days. The extra pixels pushed by the X produce crystalline scenery that showcases games at their absolute best. It's about the glistening, intricate architecture of forgotten catacombs in Rise of the Tomb Raider, the detailed reflection of the pock-marked moon as you trek through Gears of War 4's ruins, and the sand-blasted hieroglyphs on an Assassin's Creed Origins ancient temple. The amount of raw potential in the Xbox One X is staggering. It's hard to talk about gaming potential on the Xbox One X without mentioning virtual reality (VR), or in Microsoft's case, Windows Mixed Reality. Microsoft originally touted VR as a driving factor behind the Xbox One X's specs, but since then all mention of VR has gradually disappeared from the console's marketing. As of writing, there's no Mixed or VR content available for the Xbox One platform, and Microsoft says its focus for WMR is on PC right now. It's a safe bet we won't see VR on the Xbox One X any time soon either. The 4K resolution makes such a huge difference, though, and that's frustratingly difficult to demonstrate in an article or a video unless you're viewing it on a large 4K display yourself. So, the million-dollar question: Is it worth the price of admission? Xbox One X review conclusion. Games on the Xbox One X, on a decent 4K display, are truly awe-inspiring. The big studios pushing the technology to its full utilization are ushering the next leap for console gaming, offering an experience that, up until now, was restricted to higher-end PCs. That's the thing about the Xbox One X – it's remarkably gimmick-free. There's no Kinect, there's no VR or holograms. It's razor-focused on delivering the best console gaming experience possible, and as long as Microsoft is able to produce the full amount of developer support it claims to have, Redmond will have achieved its aims. The biggest question marks hanging over the Xbox One X have less to do with the console itself, and more to do with the ecosystem. There is very little 4K video support on the Microsoft Store, from a company that seems increasingly risk-averse and unexciting in the consumer space, killing consumer products, services, and games with worrying frequency. After experiencing a game with Xbox One X enhancements, particularly 4K, it's truly hard to go back to standard HD. What will Xbox One X support look like in a year? What exclusive photorealistic games are on the way that will use the X to its full potential? Microsoft doesn't answer any of those questions, putting the onus on third-party developers and old (sometimes very old) games to do the heavylifting in the short term. There's 150 plus games on the way, but we don't have a definitive roadmap for launch week, and it's something you should be aware of. Stalking Egypt in 4K in Assassin's Creed Origins or battling waves of grotesque monsters in Gears of War 4 proves the sheer genius of the Xbox engineering team, allowing console gamers to experience truly high-end gaming for the first time without an expensive gaming PC rig. The difference isn't big enough to make me want to go back and play old games though, and there's no concrete information on when more recent games on the enhancement list will get the 4K boost. After experiencing a game with Xbox One X enhancements, particularly in 4K, it's simply hard to go back to standard HD. There are no doubts about the hardware potential. It's just that as of writing, it's hard to know for sure how much waiting you'll have to do to see the console and that expensive 4K display achieve their money's worth. And that's unfortunate. With the hardware totally nailed, it all depends on how much faith you're willing to put in Microsoft to deliver those games, and how long you're willing to wait for that promised 4K content. Incredible 4K potential. Future-proofed for VR and FreeSync VRR. Amazing power in a tidy package. Xbox One X Enhanced games are relentlessly immersive. Little 4K media in the Xbox Store, and what is there is expensive. Price of entry is high when combined with a 4K TV. The timing of future 4K game patches is unclear. Xbox One X launches on November 7, 2017 for $499. This review was conducted using units provided by Microsoft. Jez Corden. Jez Corden is a Senior Editor for Windows Central, focusing on Windows 10, Surface, Xbox, and gaming. He drinks a lot of tea, and I mean a lot . Follow on Twitter, Mixer and Instagram and SoundCloud. Xbox One Consoles. Categories & Filters. Shop Xbox One Consoles. Hard Drive Size. Hard Drive Size. 2000 gigabytes (1) 1000 gigabytes (2) 500 gigabytes (3) New (4) Refurbished (2) $200 - $249.99 (1) $250 - $499.99 (5) Customer Rating. Top-Rated (5) Current Deals. Free Shipping Eligible (6) Xbox One X. Xbox One X unleashes six teraflops of graphical processing power, making games perform better whether you're playing in 4K or 1080p. Main Results. Microsoft - Xbox One X 1TB Console - Black. Model: CYV-00001 SKU: 5919707 Release Date: 11/07/2017. New! Microsoft - Xbox One S 1TB Starter Bundle - White. Model: 234-00347 SKU: 6176605. Microsoft - Xbox One S 500GB Madden NFL 18 Bundle with 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray - White. Model: ZQ9-00317 SKU: 5996001 Release Date: 08/25/2017. Microsoft - Xbox One S 500GB Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels Console Bundle - White. Model: ZQ9-00202 SKU: 5919705 Release Date: 10/01/2017. Microsoft - Refurbished Xbox One S 500GB Console with 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray - White. Model: 22Z-00037 SKU: 6087902. Microsoft - Refurbished Xbox One S 2TB Console with 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray - White. Model: 23Q-00038 SKU: 5789100 Release Date: 03/12/2017. No matching products found at this store. Recommendations. Shop Xbox One Consoles. What You Want to Know. The eighth-generation video game console from Microsoft, the Xbox One, is noted not only for its powerful gaming capabilities, but also for a number of multimedia options the entire family can enjoy. Xbox One Games. There are more than a thousand games available for Xbox One, including some very exciting exclusive titles such as Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, or any of the celebrated Halo games — this alone could make the Xbox One your best console choice. Also available are legendary series such as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Madden NFL. Most of the games are available in both physical and digital formats, but a few are available only through Xbox digital game download. Features You'll Appreciate. A key part of your Xbox One experience is Xbox Live, which enables you to buy game downloads and watch videos, share your recorded gameplay, and keep track of your friends' achievements and game progress. You can also subscribe to Xbox Live Gold, which allows you to play multiplayer games online, plus get free games and access to members-only deals and discounts. The Xbox Live store features Twitch live streams of any game that's being played at the moment, so you can watch a game in action before you decide to buy it. Xbox One is backward-compatible with Xbox 360 games, including both digital games and physical game discs, so you can continue to enjoy many of your favorite games, or try out classics you've missed. You can use two Xbox apps side by side with Xbox Snap, Xbox One's picture-in-picture feature. This means you'll be able to view a live sporting event and talk to friends via Skype at the same time. Each time you save your progress in an Xbox One game, that file is automatically saved in cloud storage, so if you're using a friend's console, all of your latest saves will be instantly accessible as soon as you sign in again. What Else Can Xbox One Do? You can plug your cable box directly into your Xbox One and make it the television and gaming hub in your home. Streaming movies and TV shows is easy, as is watching YouTube and other videos on your TV. You can also play DVDs and Blu-rays, listen to CDs and MP3s, and make Skype calls. You can use OneGuide to discover what's showing on cable and apps like Hulu or Netflix. Additionally, with the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) media server streaming support, you can stream content over your network from your PC. The bridge console between the premium Xbox One X and the first Xbox One is the Xbox One S — it's 40% smaller than the original, with a built-in power supply, a sleeker, more user-friendly controller, and support for 4K Ultra HD video, streaming and Blu-ray, with High Dynamic Range (HDR). Xbox One Consoles. Free returns online or in-store. Not completely satisfied? We've made returning items as easy as possible. Never worry about minimum orders. Order as often as you like all year long. Just $49 after your initial FREE trial. The more you use it, the more you save. Cancel your subscription any time. It's free shipping made easy. It's your key to free shipping. Use your subscription to unlock millions more items that ship free. Managing your Shipping Pass is easy. Our customer care team is standing by to help you manage your Shipping Pass subscription. Seeing what items qualify for 2-day shipping is easy—they're flagged with the program logo. Featured Shipping Pass Products. The following is an overview of the Shipping Pass Pilot subscription service. You should review the Terms & Conditions for a more detailed description as well as service limitations prior to signing up for Shipping Pass. ELIGIBLE ITEMS. SHIPPING & RETURNS. Place your order BEFORE 11 a.m. PST cutoff: Place your order AFTER 11 a.m. PST Cutoff: MAINTAINING YOUR MEMBERSHIP. MORE QUESTIONS. Want to get your items fast without the pricey shipping fees? With Shipping Pass from Walmart, you can enjoy Every Day Low Prices with the convenience of fast, FREE shipping. Whether you need a gift in a pinch or you're simply running low on household essentials, a Shipping Pass subscription gets you the things you need without hurting your pocket. When you purchase Shipping Pass you don't have to worry about minimum order requirements or shipping distance. No matter how small the order or how far it needs to go, Shipping Pass provides unlimited nationwide shipping. If you need to return or exchange an item you can send it back at no cost or take it to your neighborhood store. To see if Shipping Pass is right for you, try a 30-day free trial. Also, with Shipping Pass, there is no need to worry about commitment. If you decide you want to discontinue the service, you can cancel your subscription at any time. No matter what your shipping needs, Walmart's got you covered. Sign up for Shipping Pass so you can shop more, save money and live better.

Microsoft shop xbox one

ServerRequestReceivedTime: 2018/02/02 08:54:58:894 , ServerResponseSentTime: 2018/02/02 08:54:59:035 (0.14) (Windows 10 only) • Advanced TV hardware required. Games, add-ons and media content sold separately. Initial set-up and some games and features require broadband Internet; ISP fees apply. Online multiplayer, Skype and some features also require Xbox Live Gold membership (sold separately) and/or additional requirements. See xbox.com/xboxone. • Dimensions: 31.8 x 19 x 36.8 cm ; 7 Kg. • Xbox One games look and feel incredibly real, with cinematic gameplay that rivals Hollywood. • Watch TV or chat with friends on Skype while you play, and keep on playing while smarter matchmaking happens behind the scenes. • With Xbox One, you can snap two things side-by-side on your TV, and switch from one to another instantly. • Cloud-powered and built for the digital age, Xbox One is designed to keep getting better over time. • With the Kinect Sensor, put down the controller and play Xbox One games using just your body, voice and gestures. Command your TV and even make Skype calls in HD. • Hone your skills with incredibly precise motion contols—even your smallest movements matter. • Compete against friends and rivals to become the Kinect Sports Rival champion. • Play as yourself—the Kinect sensor scans you and puts your likeness right in the game. Team up with friends or members of the online community. • Features tons of sports, challenges and activities over multiple zones. • Impulse triggers deliver fingertip vibration feedback, so you can feel every jolt and crash in high definition. • Responsive thumbsticks and an enhanced D-pad provide greater accuracy. • Plug any compatible headset into the standard 3.5mm stereo headset jack. • Impulse triggers deliver fingertip vibration feedback, so you can feel every jolt and crash in high definition. • Responsive thumbsticks and an enhanced D-pad provide greater precision. • Plug any compatible headset into the 3.5mm stereo headset jack. • Keep the action going with the Play & Charge Kit, featuring a battery that recharges while you play or afterwards, even when your Xbox is in Standby mode. • ESRB rating: everyone 10+ • Unrelenting action at simulation speed in the most beautiful and comprehensive racing game of this generation. • Collect, customize, and race over 450 Forzavista™ cars, all with working cockpits and full damage. • Compete in epic 24-player races across 26 world-famous locales. • Master wet weather and night racing on your road to victory. • Maximum Number of Players (Offline): 2. • Over 450 cars are recreated and customizable. • Cutting-edge ForzaTech™ engine powers the unrelenting action and state-of-the-art physics. • ESRB rating: M 17+ • Rare is celebrating its 30th anniversary by bringing together the adventures of its iconic characters in a collection of 30 games in Rare Replay for Xbox One. From its earliest 2D classics to Xbox 360 triumphs, Rare Replay delivers a gaming treasure trove for veteran players and newcomers alike. • Over 60 minutes of behind-the-scenes interviews and footage. • 700+ hours of gameplay and brand new challenges to test your skills. • Maximum Number of Players (Offline): 1. • 30 games included: Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Kameo, Killer Instinct Gold, Jet Force Gemini, Blast Corps, Viva Pinata, Banjo-Tootie, Atic Atac, Battle toads arcade, Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts, Jet Pac, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Perefct Dark Zero, Sabre Wulf, Cobra Triangle, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, R.C. Pro-AM, JetPac Refuelled, Digger T. Rock, Snake Rattle n Roll, Lunar JetMan, Solar Jetman, R.C. PRO-AM II, Underwurlde. • ESRB rating: E 10+ • Compete against the world to become a champion in Kinect Sports Rivals for Xbox One. • Using the all-new, mind-blowing Kinect sensor technology developed for the Xbox One, Kinect Sports Rivals instantly scans you and recreates your likeness in-game for an incredibly personalized experience as you compete against challengers from across the globe to become a champion. • Team up with friends or members of the online community in events like tennis, soccer, wake racing, climbing and more, and experience precise motion controls like you've never seen before. • Featuring evolving gameplay based on your playing style and preferences, Kinect Sports Rivals offers a world of competition and a chance to become the champion you were meant to be. • Xbox One 500GB Console. • Kinect Sensor for Xbox One. • Wireless Controller with Play and Charge Kit. • Forza Motorsport 6 (download card) • Rare Replay Collection (download card) • Kinect Sports Rival (download card) The Xbox Console and Kinect sensor come with a 1-year warranty from the date of purchase. The accessories come with a 90-day warranty. Microsoft Store Coupons & Promo Codes. While it’s rare to find a Microsoft store promo code, there are plenty of other ways to save on software or your next computer or laptop. Microsoft student discounts, store coupons and holiday discounts could earn you from 10% to 50% off your next Microsoft purchase. How to Use a Microsoft Store Coupon. Add the items you want to the Microsoft online store cart and proceed to the checkout page. Look beneath the list of items in your cart and click the link that says “Enter a promo code.” Enter your Microsoft store promo code in the box that appears. Click “Apply Discount” and your discount will appear in the subtotal. How to Save at the Microsoft Store. Utilize the Microsoft store student discount program, which offers 10% off education store purchases for students and teachers, plus free shipping. Just shop online through Microsoft’s education store portal. In addition to discounts on tablets and PCs, there is also special pricing on Microsoft software and accessories. Shop holiday deals. During Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday season, the Microsoft store has a number of laptop, Xbox and accessories deals. From December 1 through 12, Microsoft has 12 days of deals where each day they offer a large discount on a specific item or category. For example, 50% off select Xbox games and up to $500 off select Intel PCs. Sign up for Microsoft store emails to get exclusive offers and information on sales. Take advantage of the Microsoft military discount. Military members can get up to 10% off PC software and accessories Look for bundle deals that could save you up to $200 when you buy a PC and accessories together. Microsoft Store Return Policy. The Microsoft return policy is fairly strict and allows for returns within 30 days of the purchase or download date. Items must be returned with all original documentation, accessories and packaging. Refunds are not made for shipping costs and will take up to three week to get to you. Copyright 1999 - 2018. Slickdeals, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All content, trademarks and logos are copyright their respective owners. Xbox One Review: Microsoft’s Ambitious One-Stop Shop. It's a work in progress, but then Microsoft's aiming higher than its competition. When I unboxed my Xbox One review kit, you could almost hear the plink of an achievement being unlocked. Microsoft wasn’t first to slip those sly little dopamine hits into our brainpans, but it’s the company that made them essential. Look at all those who’ve followed suit: Apple, Google, Valve, and even Sony all but wrestled into aping the competition’s killer idea. It’s that feature, among others, in Microsoft’s trendsetting Xbox Live suite of services that hoisted Redmond from also-ran to formidable Sony and Nintendo threat: In North America, the Xbox 360 has to date outsold the PS3 by over 17 million units, and Xbox Live is approaching 50 million members, many of them paying Microsoft $60 a year for the privilege (nice work if you can get it, as they say). Consider the original Xbox, launched in 2001 and a flop by industry standards despite its powerful PS2-smashing architecture. It turned out to be an object lesson for horsepower-mongers, managing to eke out just 24 million units sold worldwide and only a few million more than Nintendo’s dismally received GameCube — a pittance compared to Sony’s record-shattering 155 million unit landslide. The Xbox 360 was a different story, of course, managing to stave off Sony’s PS3 for years and forcing its rival to share the spoils: as 2013 wraps, the Xbox 360 and PS3 can lay claim to some 80 million units sold a piece — a fitting swan-song tie in search of a next-gen tiebreaker. Which brings us back to Xbox One, Microsoft’s toe, foot, other foot and both legs in the water. It’s a function-before-form multimedia nexus that melds everything Redmond’s learned about platform design with its Windows 8 Metro interface, steeped in motion tracking and voice recognition meta-structures that make good at last on promises the company oversold the last go-round. Like Sony’s PlayStation 4, the Xbox One is more about fine-tuning existing ideas instead of positing radical new ones, but it’s also up to something more — extending a bet Sony hasn’t fully committed to making: that gamers want more than just another box crowding their entertainment centers. Microsoft intends the Xbox One to be paramount to your living room experience — the One box, as it were, to rule them all. It’s still a work in progress, as my colleague Harry McCracken points out, and in several respects it’s less polished than the PS4, but then it’s also more ambitious, and that ambition could eventually pay dividends. The System. Let’s break down Redmond’s shelf-scaring giant of a console: There’s irony in a name like “Xbox One,” Microsoft’s attempt to tap the reboot zeitgeist. Only here, the engineering and design teams went for literalism, crafting a case that looks like it time-traveled forward from 2001, trading turn of the century neon-green frills for icons (like the capacitive power button on the glossy faceplate — be careful where you grab this thing) that pulse ghost-white. Contrasted with Sony’s slender, almost rack-able PlayStation 4, the Xbox One is a hulking, grille-plated desktop: 13.1 inches wide by 3.3 inches tall by 10.8 inches deep, weighing about 8 pounds; the original Xbox, by comparison, was 12.5 inches wide by 4 inches tall by 10.5 inches deep and weighed 8.5 pounds, so near parity. It’s definitely a regression from the slimline Xbox 360 that debuted mid-2010 at 10.6 inches wide by 3 inches tall by 10.4 inches deep and weighed just 6.3 pounds. You’ll need an entertainment center with room to spare, in other words, and there’s the chunky remodeled Kinect sensor to think about as well. Indeed, there’s plenty of thinking to do (put your feng shui cap on), because the Xbox One only supports horizontal orientation, while half its upper housing is a heat-jettisoning grille, rendering stacking verboten. In short, if PS4 system architect Mark Cerny’s strategy was to peer into the future and craft a box you wouldn’t expect to see for years into a console’s life, Microsoft’s approach was to settle for something unapologetically workmanlike, a system you half-expect to sprout caterpillar track and trundle off like a Panzerkampfwagen. Perhaps it’s a hedge against thermal issues (remember the “red ring of death”?), a “safety first” approach to housing the Xbox One’s c ustom eight-core AMD CPU, 8GB of DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive, custom GPU capable of 1.31 teraflops performance (notably less than the PS4’s hypothetical 1.84 teraflops, but still packing a wallop), Wi-Fi, and slot-loading Blu-ray drive. In back you’ll find a customary Ethernet port, Kinect connector, IR out, dual USB 3.o ports, a S/PDIF connector and power connector for the external power supply (still literally the size of a brick — at least Microsoft didn’t try to ram it in and make the box bigger still). Alongside the conventional HDMI out connector, you’ll now find a port for HDMI in , designed to accommodate a digital cable signal (though in theory any HDMI device can be chained, including the PS4). This is how Microsoft intends to make cable-watching integral, allowing your TV experience to exist within the system’s multi-OS interface, eliminating input switching once and for all. (My colleague Harry McCracken evaluated this aspect of Xbox One; click here to read his first look, which also touches on Microsoft’s channel-aggregation OneGuide feature.) Reprising its role as the Xbox One’s eyes and ears, Microsoft’s revamped Kinect sensor has been likewise embiggened, but employs that extra space to house an upgraded 1080p camera with a wider field-of-view lens, capable of telling if you’re standing off-balance, gauging your heart rate by scanning your body and — according to Microsoft — tracking up to 25 unique joints. Glancing at the sensor bar you might wonder what happened to Kinect’s second camera: it’s there, only hidden, and using something Microsoft calls “time-of-flight” to reduce motion blur by measuring how long it takes light to bounce off your body. And rounding things out, there’s a new multi-microphone strip along the base, designed to better hear what you’re saying, noise or no. The Controller. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: that’s the Xbox One’s controller in a nutshell. It’s a more angular Xbox 360 gamepad with the biggest improvements (Microsoft claims 40 total) tucked inside. The most visible change is that extended upper midsection, pushing the shoulder buttons higher and giving you more handlebar space, plus the d-pad is finally an honest to goodness d-pad, not a circle-pad posing as a d-pad. The thumbsticks now sport thicker, knurled edges, which provide better thumb-tip control, and Microsoft says the dead zones have been reduced to register the slightest amount of movement. The thing that impressed me most was the lighter tension in the thumbsticks — perhaps half as much as on the 360 gamepad — which makes finessing something like a gun crosshair or steering wheel back and forth less prone to overshooting. You’ll discover a new haptic feedback system squirreled away in the bumpers and triggers, something I appreciated most playing Forza Motorsport 5 : You now feel the quiver of a car’s transmission in your fingertips as you shift, and everything from banging fender-benders to juddering collisions are conveyed with greater haptic nuance. The triggers themselves feel higher-end as well, with more continuous resistance throughout a pull, and none of the plasticky click-and-clatter you get when hammering the 360’s gamepad equivalents. Unlike Sony’s DualShock gamepads, Microsoft’s still opting for external battery power, which adds a hair more weight to the controller. It felt on par with my Halo 4 wireless gamepad, and I tend to prefer the extra heft, though in the end, we’re talking about weight differences (in grams) so slight they’re quickly forgotten. The best part is Microsoft’s elimination of the 360’s bulging battery protrusion, replaced with a shallower panel that conforms to the overall molding (simply put, it feels classier). Microsoft’s selling a play and charge kit version for $75 (it includes a controller), but a pair of AA rechargeable batteries work as well or better. Sony’s integrated battery approach in the DualShock series is more convenient, but Microsoft’s approach lets you replace the batteries once you’ve exhausted their charge cycles. My one complaint hinges on comfortably reaching the new curved left/right bumpers with my index fingers. As before, your middle fingers rest below the triggers, but your index and middle finger have to stretch more than on the 360, especially if you’re holding the controller tight. You can work around this by keeping a loose grip that’s less close in, but you may find there’s an adjustment curve if you have hands like mine. The Interface. The Xbox 360 was throwing out Windows 8 signals with its mutating tile-based interface before you could buy Windows 8, but with Xbox One, that shift feels total and complete. On the Xbox 360, you navigated a series of tabs divided into categories like Bing, Games, Music, Movies and so forth. Here, those tabs have been reduced to three: Pins, Home and Store. The leftmost “Pins” view replaces the 360’s “My Pins” subcategory and offers a welcome, customizable nook to bookmark just about anything you like. This is the deal-maker if you’re committed to navigating with the gamepad, since there’s so much going on here it’s easy to get lost (at least initially). “Home” is your go-to contextual content hub, highlighting your current activity in a largish rectangle that’s encircled by the system’s active profile at left (whoever’s currently in the driver’s seat), the four last invoked apps sequenced along the rectangle’s bottom and three fixed feature tiles sitting to the rectangle’s right. Think of this as the master control center, the place you land first after powering the system up. Kinect can now sign you in with up to five others simultaneously just by catching sight of your face, which is kind of creepy but equally sci-fi-future cool. If you turn on the system and leave the room while the system’s booting (boot times averaged 14 seconds for me) then walk back into camera range, the system identifies and logs you in automatically and in seconds. You can force it back to old-school manual logging in if you prefer, but the face recognition tech recognized me every time I did this without fail, and that automation means one less thing to worry about. The camera’s wide-angle requirements do come with a price: Kinect has to sit at least two feet off the ground and 4.5 to 6 feet away from you, which didn’t jibe with my setup, since I tend to game at a table, just two or three feet from a 22-inch TV. Needless to say, Kinect wigs out (or checks out) if you’re up in its face. Each time I logged out or reset the system or launched a game (which requires re-authentication), I had to lean back in my chair to bypass an authentication threshold. Bear that in mind if you game at a desk or sit near your entertainment center. Back to the interface: If you love the vibrant mono-colored look of Window 8’s tiles, you’ll love them here; if you hate it, the Xbox One version won’t win you over. I prefer Microsoft’s clean, uncluttered approach, but I understand why some don’t. My only quibble is that the rightmost tiles under Home — Snap, My Games & Apps and whatever disc’s in the system — are undifferentiated. Since they’re pinned in place, it’d be nice to see them marked off from the shifting tiles beneath the rectangle to mitigate confusion, say when the last invoked tile is (and looks) the same as the disc tile. Speaking of pins, the new “Snap” feature, which lets you place apps side-by-side, works as advertised, letting you drop the Xbox One version of Internet Explorer in beside a game, for instance, say you want to scour the web for tips without pausing, or keep a browser hint map up while exploring a game locale; clearing the screen is as simple as saying “Xbox, unsnap.” I haven’t plumbed Snap’s depths yet or used it for more than folding in the browser, but like the Windows 7 feature that inspired it, I’m expecting it to grow on me over time. The third and final tab in the interface, “Store,” drops you into the Xbox One’s online shopping arena, now divvied into Games, Movies & TV, Music and Apps. It’s just an online store, of course, but you can now search across its content using Bing, driving Microsoft’s search engine with your voice. So for instance, say “Xbox, Bing, movies, comedy, zombies,” and the store instantly cobbles together everything from Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead to Warm Bodies and Aaah! Zombies!! Or “Xbox, Bing, show animated movies for kids,” which it parses as “family, animated,” and presto, you’re looking at Despicable Me , Cars 2 , Brave , Rio and so forth. As a quick combo-search tool, it’s effective, actually helpful and much quicker than having to type all those search terms in with a gamepad, one letter at a time. It’s limited to popular search terms at this point, so it hears a niche request for “wuxia” movies (say Iron Monkey , or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ) as “work ca,” which turned up movies as disparate as A Sierra Nevada Gunfight and Michael Jackson’s This Is It along with TV shows like The Hills and Pimp My Ride . Still, it’s pretty slick to be able to say “Xbox, Bing, movies with robots” and see everything from Wall-E and The Iron Giant to Ultramarines: Warhammer , Runaway and The Black Hole appear in seconds. Since we’re talking about talking, you can speak your way through virtually all of the Xbox One’s interface using Kinect, which now functions like a purpose-built version of Apple’s Siri. On the Xbox 360, Kinect’s voice commands were limited to rudimentary functions and often hit-and-miss at interpreting what you said, but Microsoft’s worked voice control into every aspect of the Xbox One’s interface, letting you access almost anything you can with a gamepad while ratcheting up recognition reliability. To invoke the new voice overlay, for instance, you simply say “Xbox.” You can follow immediately with a known command, or if you want to see a list of options, you say “Xbox, more shortcuts.” If you want to tag a tile or dialogue box visible onscreen, you say “Xbox, select,” which turns white text green and making it interactive. If you want to capture the last 5 minutes of a game you’ve been playing, you say “Xbox, record that” (after which you can edit and upload the H.264 format clip to Xbox Live or — and here the Xbox One trumps the PS4 — to Microsoft’s SkyDrive service, where you can do whatever you like with it). And if you want to turn the system on or off, all you have to say is “Xbox, turn off” or “Xbox on.” It’s a powerful, addictive way to navigate the console, and save for a few exceptions that seem to be smoothing out with use — the system’s always training behind the scenes — I now prefer it to using the gamepad. It really is that much faster, to say nothing of your ability to casually drive a $500, all-in-one, audio-visual content encyclopedia from across the room, and without lifting a finger. That said, like anything involving input as nuanced and variable as speech, your mileage getting Kinect to recognize what you’ve said may vary, and based on what I’ve heard from my colleague Harry McCracken, who’s been working with the TV interface and run into issues, I’d say your mileage probably will vary. Add stuff like overlapping speech or background noise to the mix and you’ll probably have to issue commands more than once, and sometimes you’ll say something the console ought to semantically understand, like “Xbox, go to Forza 5,” when what it’s looking for is the full title, “Go to Forza Motorsport 5.” No doubt Microsoft’s working to smooth some of those kinks and extend that semantic flexibility, but even as-is, it’s a notable (and I’d argue finally usable ) leap forward from last-gen Kinect. The Xbox One brings 21 games to the party at launch, but the ones I want to talk about are under embargo for a few more days, so I can’t delve into the particulars of spotlight-hoggers like Ryse: Son of Rome or Forza Motorsport 5 . Stand by for impressions of those two later this week. Without identifying a specific game, I can say this much: Microsoft has Sony’s problem — nothing that leaps out and hollers “Buy this!”, though like Sony’s launch lineup, there’s more to like than not; after all, how many system launches had games as strong as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag , Battlefield 4 , LEGO Marvel Superheroes and Need for Speed: Rivals ? It’s worth level-setting here. Everyone wants the next Super Mario 64 , or Halo , or Wii Sports , and there’s nothing wrong with that impulse, but at some point you have to step back, take a long look at some of these titles (especially something like Ubisoft’s incredible Assassin’s Creed IV ) and ask whether we’ve let pedantic games-as-art bombast or crippling cynicism about gaming’s corporate future put a knife through the heart of wonder. The Idiosyncrasies. Yes, as you’ve probably heard, the Xbox One runs a handful of games at lower resolutions than Sony’s PlayStation 4. Two things about this: First, unless you’re a videophile, the disparity’s barely noticeable in a game like Assassin’s Creed IV , which runs at 900p on the Xbox One and 1080p on the PS4; and second, given what I’ve played of 1080p-at-60-frames-per-second games like Forza 5 , we’re talking about a development maturity problem. The Xbox One is a little slower than Sony’s system in theory, but only in theory, and in the days to come, multi-platform titles are going to be indistinguishable on both systems. It’s in the interest of developers and publishers to make it so. I’m more concerned about things like account interface hierarchy, since the Xbox One now supports up to six simultaneously active, logged-in and system-controlling Xbox Live users. As William Golding’s crash survivors would say, who’s holding the conch? Everyone in the room, it turns out, which is another way of saying you’re at the mercy of the least mature person in the vicinity (and don’t think this won’t be a problem when you’re opening up the household TV and cable box to anyone’s vocal imperatives). The system needs a master account override, an optional administrator who can lock things down in a pinch. But the biggest problem is that aspects of the experience are plain buggy. Applications hang or behave unexpectedly, issuing obscure error messages like “something went wrong” before shuffling you off to tech support. Sometimes Kinect’s gesture interface appears unbidden, the little hand icon roaming the screen like a ghostly gremlin, launching apps you didn’t intend to (I could do without Kinect’s gesture recognition menu interface entirely, to be honest — it’s a fiddly dead end, as far as I’m concerned). Sometimes it’s just procedural oddness, like when I tried to sign up for the Music service’s free 30-day trial this morning and the system told me, “Try a different payment option. This payment option is used on as many accounts as it’s allowed to be. Remove it from those accounts and try again, or add a different payment option.” I proceeded to try three perfectly good cards and got that message until I gave up. Microsoft’s going to fix some of this stuff, sure, but not in the next three days. Wrapping Up. Let’s talk price. The Xbox One is $100 more than Sony’s PS4. That’s money you might otherwise spend on a game, a second controller, subscription to some service and so forth. You’re going to spend $500, no games included, for the Xbox One, which lands the system in PS3 launch price territory — a position that muted Sony’s thunder seven years ago. But this is 2013, and $500 is what you’ll spend for an entry-level iPad, a tablet Apple’s sold 170 million of in less than three years time. That, and $500 buys you more than a souped-up gaming portal this time: the Xbox One is a content assimilation engine, a vanguard move into a market the competition’s still toying around in by comparison. It’s an immature , somewhat glitchy content assimilation engine at this stage, sure, and it shares the PS4’s launch game weaknesses if you’re coming at it from the gaming side, but if you’re an early adopter or already invested in Xbox Live’s social ecosystem, think of it more as the jumping off point for a fascinating experiment. It’s a risk, but then all product launches are risky. If it’s successful — and I’m not saying it will be; ask me again in four or five years — it has the potential to change everything about TV and streaming media and the living room as we’ve known it for over half a century. Note: I haven’t yet tested Surface and SmartGlass integration; I’ve only glanced at apps like NFL and Machinima and TED and Fox Now (and as noted above, I haven’t been able to play with Music yet); I haven’t tried the Xbox Fitness app (or tested the system’s hyped ability to accurately measure my heartbeat); and I’m the only Xbox Live user in my household, so I can’t vouch for claims the system can juggle up to six people simultaneously. Stay tuned for answers to those questions and further review impressions soon. Update: Sometimes we assume things in the press we shouldn’t. Case in point, I’ve been asked by several people since this review went live whether the Xbox One is backwards-compatible with the Xbox 360. It’s not (nor is the PS4 backwards-compatible with the PS3), in part because Microsoft wants you to buy new games if you pick up an Xbox One, in part because the Xbox One’s architecture is radically different from the Xbox 360’s. Could MS fold this feature in down the road in emulation? Don’t bet on it. Emulation is tricky business — so tricky Sony dropped it from the PS3 entirely. If you want to play Xbox 360 games, you’ll need an Xbox 360, and that’s the only safe bet going forward. ( MORE: Watch TIME’s behind the scenes coverage of the Xbox One Launch Event) Matt Peckham @mattpeckham. Matt Peckham is TIME's video games, science tech and music tech correspondent based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His work has appeared in Variety , The Washington Post , The New York Times and others. Subscribe Popular Among Subscribers. Japan's Booming Sex Niche: Elder Porn. Young Kids, Old Bodies. Benedict Cumberbatch Talks Secrets, Leaks, and Sherlock. Obama's Trauma Team. Most Popular. Connect With TIME. More videos Videos. Embed Email Share. Quick Gmail Trick: Pre-Write Email Messages with Canned Responses. Quick Tech Trick: Use Your iPhone as a Flashlight. Quick Tech Trick: Search a Specific Site with Google.