Microsoft Walks You Through Xbox One's User Interface

Brother Dave has become TEXAS DAVE.

You need Xbox Live Gold to use Internet Explorer? I can do that on my PC at no extra cost (if Internet Explorer wasn't shit)

@snapifly said:

You're.

Makes me excited for Xbox One for sure

This all looks really cool, though the use of the word "magical" is just ugh.

My problem is that a lot of this functionality, with the TV stuff and whatnot, just won't work outside the US for some time, if at all. Even in Canada, we rarely actually get stuff like this -- there's no Hulu or Spotify here or any of these services that are important to US users (though I wish we had easier access to them).

@nashvilleskyline: subjective.

@saltank said:

I noticed that too. "And just like that, I can automatically be brought to a Skype call." *talks for 22 more seconds while Skype audibly works away in the background*

@vrplumber: Vinny is like the Helixsnake of the Bombcrew, he has some sort of magical glitch-attracting properties.

Me too in some weird way. Sure, the interface was ugly, but navigating it was really pleasant.

I fear most of these things will not be available outside the US, but it does look pretty good. Still, I will wait (like always with all generations) to see what and how which system I will buy first. As in the end I will buy all anyway. Even the Wii U (as it seems to be getting some good games soon for the kids).

I actually enjoyed this. That "on brand" comment may have been kinda dumb, but it made me smile, if only for a second. Also I loved the way Skype guy swung his leg over the laptop when he stood up. Suave.

Looks neat and I hope it runs as smooth as they are showing here. Still getting a PS4!

Anybody else feel very uncomfortable watching this? I honestly feel like I was watching a couple of casual gamers. I would have much preferred watching maybe Major Nelson and E doing this.

Well that was magical. Not new magic, but it was magical.

@atwa: Your an idiot

@atwa: Your an idiot

MAGICAL

Is there a video like this for the PS4's "dashboard?"

do they ever talk like humans or are they always in press conference mode

Like it or not this is the future. Burn off your fingerprints it's the only way!!!

Mmm....delicious Pizza Hut pizones

@slashdance said:

Or just play video games on the PC and you don't even have to do that. Look I get this is not all amazing for some, but people get their entertainment and information in different ways. Just because it is not appealing to you doesn't mean it is not appealing or useful to lots of other people. I have a laptop, I have a PC to game on. But I love this because I want to play my games on a big ass TV, be connected to my friends, be in the future and talk to my xbox and be able to watch Football and maybe get an invite to play a game. Who knows. It is just there if you want it. You don't have to use it. Granted, you have to pay for kinect but someone has to take a chance. You can't just put out a faster processor and gpu and think thats enough. Phones have touch screens now and I am sure you said they didn't need them if you have arrow keys. Or a trackball. There was a time when a graphics card to run a game was an absurd thing. I am just saying that trying something new is what it takes. The best example was when people were just making fun of Microsoft for putting out a console with a Pentium 3 and a Geforce 3 chip in it and a hard drive too! Haha! That is just a PC people said. And look at us now. basically playing on specialized PCs. Oh and how horrible Microsoft was when they made the Xbox ethernet only. Damn. They are trying to sell a better experience. Because guess what, this thing will have games just like the PS4 and PC and the PS3 and XBox 360 and consoles that came before so you gotta do something to stand out, to improve. I am not saying it will be amazing but at least try because the one thing I see people complain so much about is how someone is not innovative enough. Sorry to go on this rant, but I am just sick and tired of people being shortsighted or wanting things to stay the same.

@larrydavis: no worries, I'm sure whatever flaws are in the Xbox One's operating system, Vinny will find them in short order.

How on earth do they allow poorly animated popups to exist? Are they just poorly animated or does the machine actually use too much horsepower otherwise and slows down the popup? That seems really odd.

On the good side, I do like the whole "show my stuff" when more people are signed in.

I can't wait till these kind of features are just standard in our lives. It will be "magical".

I'm interested in knowing why the Skype call setup takes too long. FaceTime ftw.

Other than that, I really like the interface.

With the power of Xbox One you can watch videos of people playing PS3 and PS4 games on your machine!

I can't help but wonder if this was all shot in one of those fake living rooms that someone said during the E3 coverage that Microsoft has a whole building of in Redmond.

When they switched from one guy's TV guide to the other guy's TV guide - that was baller.

Imagine the fights that will ensue.

Otherwise, loved every minute of it. Both features and the nervous MS dudes in full makeup.

If I could upload to YouTube, share with my social network of choice, use the video conf service of my choice, have Chrome on it and search with Google, I might be interested. As it is, this is a giant pile of "platform play" and "ecosystem lock-in." Screw that.

I quite liked how the blade UI was an extension to the actual physical form of the console itself. I miss them too. The cynic in me thinks Microsoft dropped them because they didn't have enough advertising spaces.

I'm still on the fence about the Xbox One. I'll wait for the smoke to clear before investing in it - if I do at all. I could be a 360 veteran for a bit longer.

I'm glad they made the video, but the whole thing felt awkward.

I like how Yusuf fidgets a bit when Beyond: Two Souls comes on screen right at the end.

Some cool features but nothing I really need in a game system..... Recording some video can be fun for moments where the game glitched and did something unexpected but other then that most is kinda cool but I'm more interested in the gaming features.

Also what if your not a gold member does most of this stuff not work lol.

The year of the dog continues...

@marokai: There is a high likelihood, nearly a certainty, that this system will either not work as fluidly as it appears in marketing or be missing features, especially by region. This is generally the case and I expect it.

The particular point of view that I am perhaps not so much surprised to see as baffled by is the frequently expressed point of view that these ideas that are ostensibly implemented in this OS and hardware are conceptually bad, stupid or of poor design. I know it will probably not function exactly as advertised; regardless the interface and functionality they are targeting look incredibly cool.

I can't speak for the other person.

@mrsmiley said:

Why is this so difficult for some people that you've concocted these weird psychological theories about people you don't know? Has everyone forgotten the Kinect? That similarly magical thing they claimed would work great and change how we used the Xbox 360? And then it wasn't actually all that responsive, could break under a ton of circumstances, and was slower than using a controller? And people are supposed to be swept off their feet because of another marketing push promising the same things?

I'll admit to not being a fan of Microsoft, but it doesn't take some sort of psychotherapist or sociologist to understand why people are chilly toward Microsoft at the moment, particularly toward promises of how the Kinect will function. These videos are well and good, but real world circumstances, with millions of people beating their head against the device in un-optimal conditions, will tell the real tale.

This is under a very heavy controlled environment which doesn't show how it will really work in the real world. That said it does look pretty cool, but it still doesn't make me want a Xbox One. Plus the voice/facial recognition that Microsoft stores so you can log into other xboxes is very intrusive to me.

Now that you've revealed you're delusional, paranoid, possibly insane, and have an inflated sense of self importance, what exactly do you have left to hide? haha

Please be sarcasm. If that was genuine, then know that you, and people like you, are the actual worst.

hmm, looks good.
But not for me.

I can't believe the dude that set this video up and scripted it has a job that pays him cash. Vinny should go work for them and make their biz work. They could back up a truck and pour money on him.

"The commands weren't perfect, though — I had to repeat myself a few times, and there's definitely a small learning curve to the exact cadence that works best. You can't be in the middle of a sentence and just say "Xbox, watch TV," for example — you have to pause before issuing the command. Henshaw says picking up the right flow takes most people about 30 minutes."

Makes me wonder how it deals with differentiating between multiple voices speaking at once. If you have to go "EVERYONE SHUT UP! I'm trying to change the channel over here!"

Or between people in the room and people on TV as well, I suppose. With games I think it can filter out game audio well as it knows exactly what sounds are coming out of those.

I don't even know when launch is. Would appreciate it if Microsoft was nice enough to tell us Tier 2 peasants when we're allowed to buy a crippled version of what US people are getting. Wonder if price drops will be delayed as well?

Notice what it says at the end there. It's not guaranteed any of this will function as they're showing it, depending on where you're located and whether or not you're a Gold member (Spencer doesn't care about silver people).

I expect none of the TV stuff will work whenever in 2014 it launches, which would be quite ridiculous on account of it being a significant pillar of their marketing. And while I consider live TV to be pretty much dead to me anyway, Microsoft is spending resources on this that could otherwise have been used on stuff I could/would consider of value.

That value probably will reach a threshold eventually, as the price goes down and games get released, but it is and will remain shoddy that the Xbox One is so obviously geared towards the US market. They have lots to prove in order to convince me they particularly care about the one I'm in.

@pj: So long as I can turn notifications off and on easily I'm OK with it, preferably it will be a voice command. As for it being the same as somebody calling you, I turn my phone on silent whenever I'm watching sports or a movie.