Hi everyone!
Recently, I had the chance to play the Xbox One and its launch games on an event floor at an Xbox Tour event in my region. I returned being highly disappointed in the system: Even knowing the Xbox One isnt going to be the most powerful of consoles, I expected much bigger a graphical improvement than I got to see with my own eyes.
Even Ryse's and Forza 5's gameplay visuals didn't strike me as a breakthrough, they seemed more of a refinement of current generation graphics than the great leap that I expected to experience after eight years. Battlefield 4 looked downright terrible (and Kinect leaning constantly interfered with unimpeded gamepad gameplay - I finally put a carton in front of the sensor to get a good go at the game), FIFA 14 didn't seem noticeably different from current gen and even Dead Rising only looked so-so.
Another thing to dislike about the Xbox One was the controller: The shape of the lower grips made it uncomfortable to hold, the sticks seemed too tiny and the bumpers were just strange (the amount of force needed to press them just didn't seem right/comfortable).
The Kinect only games on display were on an equal footing with current gen Kinect in terms of gameplay. The increased recognition fidelity wasn't immediately noticeable or beneficial in these games. The console itself seemed pretty clunky and big, and Kinect is a huge monster of a camera bar.
People that recognize my username on this forum may realize that I've preferred the PS4 to the Xbox One for a long time now for rational reasons (better performance, more interesting line up, cheaper): Even then, I didn't expect to get this negative an impression out of this event its kind of shocking, really.
What were other Gaffer's impressions of their play experience? Do you expect people will be disappointed at launch time with the general lack of a visual fidelity leap?
Edit: As people were asking for more detailed information, I'd like to add some additional impressions.
In general, the most obvious graphical flaw: Aliasing absolutely everywhere. Of the "graphical powerhouses", I noticed it the least in Ryse and FIFA (anything but impressive on any other front), most of everything else was marred by it (Forza certainly, BF4: OMG aliasing is everywhere!)
These were the games on display:
Battlefield 4 - was playable in a local multiplayer configuration (8 vs. 8 on a warehouse type conquest map with a bit of an outside area. The game seemed like a huge mess, extremely noticeable aliasing as well as huge amounts of pop in were maring the experience. The already mentioned leaning-interference by Kinect (which can probably be disabled) further soured me on this version of the game.
Crimson Dragon - didn't seem like my type of game, only played it for a short while
Dead Rising 3 - had a free-roam demo without any stated aim, I quickly tired of the gameplay (slaying hundreds of zombies, combining items). Graphics didn't impress either, but didn't notice any performance problems. Could display a huge amount of enemies present, although they never felt all that threatening. Driving over zombies in a car was fun for a short while
FIFA 14 - really hard to see what's "next gen" about this title, there's absolutely no reason to upgrade for this game. Could almost pass for an Xbox 360 or PS3 title, except for the higher resolution (that isn't really a huge factor to the overall impression)
Forza 5 - looked nice, even though I expected more out of it as a graphical showcase. It seemed less of a leap than I was hoping for. The impulse triggers (individual vibration for both triggers) were put to great use in this game, you can kind of "feel" the brakes, which is pretty cool.
Just Dance 2014 - didn't play, just watched - I think what you expect is what you get
Killer Instinct (with gamepads as well as fight sticks) - seemed fun, but I'm not really qualified to judge fighting games. Not something I would ever play were I to own an Xbox One.
LocoCycle - graphics are very plain, as is obvious from all the existing media on the game. In game talk (commentary by mechanic and main character hanging out of motorcycle) seemed rather annoying and unfunny. Gameplay was not complex from what I saw, shooting and beating cars, other cycles and flying enemies.
Ryse - reminded me of a prettier Uncharted in terms of graphics, suffered some small stutters that interrupted gameplay which was wave based arena combat ("horde mode") that got tiresome very quickly as combos are very repetitive and tasks (emptying cauldrons, defeating catapults) to complete among fighting enemy waves in the arena were repetitive in terms of required player action (walking/rolling over to direction marker and pressing a button).
Zoo Tycon - a limited management game, didn't seem to offer much creative freedom in terms of park layout. Certainly don't expect fine-tuning and building on the level of a Roller Coaster Tycoon. This title suffered extreme performance problem, and certainly didn't look pretty in return for stuttering.
Kinect Sports: Rivals - Very reminiscent of Kinect Adventures, gameplay seemed equally uninspired (leaning and opening/closing hands for jet skiing, and stretching and grabbing as well as jumping for climbing. Pretty graphics for games of this type.
Peggle 2 - it's Peggle!
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood - didn't play this one
Edit 2: The event location
This Xbox One Tour event (in Vienna, Austria) was at an event location called "Metahall", still part of the city and urban area but not really located in what people would consider the "city core" (but not hard to get to at all).
I didn't take any photos at all, as the Xbox staff present was averse to it (I probably could have sneaked a few pictures). As part of the (free) attendance ticket, I received one voucher for a free beverage (half liter) as well as a snack (there were multiple options available, bangers with mustard and bread, for example). The atmosphere was pleasant, all stations were very easy to get to (relatively few people were present, many free stations).
Some pictures by the company owning the space:
Recently, I had the chance to play the Xbox One and its launch games on an event floor at an Xbox Tour event in my region. I returned being highly disappointed in the system: Even knowing the Xbox One isnt going to be the most powerful of consoles, I expected much bigger a graphical improvement than I got to see with my own eyes.
Even Ryse's and Forza 5's gameplay visuals didn't strike me as a breakthrough, they seemed more of a refinement of current generation graphics than the great leap that I expected to experience after eight years. Battlefield 4 looked downright terrible (and Kinect leaning constantly interfered with unimpeded gamepad gameplay - I finally put a carton in front of the sensor to get a good go at the game), FIFA 14 didn't seem noticeably different from current gen and even Dead Rising only looked so-so.
Another thing to dislike about the Xbox One was the controller: The shape of the lower grips made it uncomfortable to hold, the sticks seemed too tiny and the bumpers were just strange (the amount of force needed to press them just didn't seem right/comfortable).
The Kinect only games on display were on an equal footing with current gen Kinect in terms of gameplay. The increased recognition fidelity wasn't immediately noticeable or beneficial in these games. The console itself seemed pretty clunky and big, and Kinect is a huge monster of a camera bar.
People that recognize my username on this forum may realize that I've preferred the PS4 to the Xbox One for a long time now for rational reasons (better performance, more interesting line up, cheaper): Even then, I didn't expect to get this negative an impression out of this event its kind of shocking, really.
What were other Gaffer's impressions of their play experience? Do you expect people will be disappointed at launch time with the general lack of a visual fidelity leap?
Edit: As people were asking for more detailed information, I'd like to add some additional impressions.
In general, the most obvious graphical flaw: Aliasing absolutely everywhere. Of the "graphical powerhouses", I noticed it the least in Ryse and FIFA (anything but impressive on any other front), most of everything else was marred by it (Forza certainly, BF4: OMG aliasing is everywhere!)
These were the games on display:
Battlefield 4 - was playable in a local multiplayer configuration (8 vs. 8 on a warehouse type conquest map with a bit of an outside area. The game seemed like a huge mess, extremely noticeable aliasing as well as huge amounts of pop in were maring the experience. The already mentioned leaning-interference by Kinect (which can probably be disabled) further soured me on this version of the game.
Crimson Dragon - didn't seem like my type of game, only played it for a short while
Dead Rising 3 - had a free-roam demo without any stated aim, I quickly tired of the gameplay (slaying hundreds of zombies, combining items). Graphics didn't impress either, but didn't notice any performance problems. Could display a huge amount of enemies present, although they never felt all that threatening. Driving over zombies in a car was fun for a short while
FIFA 14 - really hard to see what's "next gen" about this title, there's absolutely no reason to upgrade for this game. Could almost pass for an Xbox 360 or PS3 title, except for the higher resolution (that isn't really a huge factor to the overall impression)
Forza 5 - looked nice, even though I expected more out of it as a graphical showcase. It seemed less of a leap than I was hoping for. The impulse triggers (individual vibration for both triggers) were put to great use in this game, you can kind of "feel" the brakes, which is pretty cool.
Just Dance 2014 - didn't play, just watched - I think what you expect is what you get
Killer Instinct (with gamepads as well as fight sticks) - seemed fun, but I'm not really qualified to judge fighting games. Not something I would ever play were I to own an Xbox One.
LocoCycle - graphics are very plain, as is obvious from all the existing media on the game. In game talk (commentary by mechanic and main character hanging out of motorcycle) seemed rather annoying and unfunny. Gameplay was not complex from what I saw, shooting and beating cars, other cycles and flying enemies.
Ryse - reminded me of a prettier Uncharted in terms of graphics, suffered some small stutters that interrupted gameplay which was wave based arena combat ("horde mode") that got tiresome very quickly as combos are very repetitive and tasks (emptying cauldrons, defeating catapults) to complete among fighting enemy waves in the arena were repetitive in terms of required player action (walking/rolling over to direction marker and pressing a button).
Zoo Tycon - a limited management game, didn't seem to offer much creative freedom in terms of park layout. Certainly don't expect fine-tuning and building on the level of a Roller Coaster Tycoon. This title suffered extreme performance problem, and certainly didn't look pretty in return for stuttering.
Kinect Sports: Rivals - Very reminiscent of Kinect Adventures, gameplay seemed equally uninspired (leaning and opening/closing hands for jet skiing, and stretching and grabbing as well as jumping for climbing. Pretty graphics for games of this type.
Peggle 2 - it's Peggle!
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood - didn't play this one
Edit 2: The event location
This Xbox One Tour event (in Vienna, Austria) was at an event location called "Metahall", still part of the city and urban area but not really located in what people would consider the "city core" (but not hard to get to at all).
I didn't take any photos at all, as the Xbox staff present was averse to it (I probably could have sneaked a few pictures). As part of the (free) attendance ticket, I received one voucher for a free beverage (half liter) as well as a snack (there were multiple options available, bangers with mustard and bread, for example). The atmosphere was pleasant, all stations were very easy to get to (relatively few people were present, many free stations).
Some pictures by the company owning the space: