Xbox One: The Midnight Launch

 

Initial Set up is relatively straightforward as there are only a couple of cables and they can only be plugged in to specific slots. There is an In and Out HDMI, so solving the 'lack of ports' on a TV gets a little easier if you route another HDMI through the Xbox One. The cables themselves are thick and chunky, they feel sturdy and good quality, unlikely to break, wear or bend. The Kinect Camera is square and solid, it feels sturdier and more robust than the predecessor (which I was never a fan of).

There is a software update required almost immediately before you can get going and it is 500 MB in size, so you may want to start it and disappear for however long that takes. The Kinect set up provides an odd message about Voice Control not being complete in "your area" and I have not quite figured out the Voice commands yet. The volume needs to be turned way up for Kinect calibration, so it's not something you can do discretely.

I was really frustrated and annoyed at the lack of ability of the Kinect previously, and the integration of it into games was abysmal. So far with this Xbox One I have only tried one Kinect game (Sports Rivals – Jetski) but encouragingly it works and other than voice controls, it works well.