Despite the initial outrage emanating from the gaming community, Microsoft’s new entertainment system, the Xbox One, is not a bad move for the company. The One will be an entertainment system, not a gaming console, which is why this new piece of hardware has great potential to sell in a lot of markets.
Traditionally, the Xbox has been a gaming console that offers a few other types of media consumption, such as video streaming or social networking. Even with these additions to the Xbox 360, the console is still primarily made to play Xbox 360 games, and gamers like it that way. As far as any devoted gamers go, most could care less if their console streams Netflix.
However, Microsoft is attempting to shake the “gaming console” label and has shifted its focus toward offering a complete entertainment system.
Like any other drastically redesigned product (cough, Windows 8, cough) the One is raising a lot of eyebrows and catching a lot of flak for being different. However, the redesign of the One makes a lot of sense.
While the gaming community comprises a large group of people who vary in age, it’s still a niche market for Microsoft to target with such a major piece of hardware. In the wake of the implosion that is Windows 8, Microsoft needs a product that appeals to everyone, not just gamers. The One’s ability to access a cable box and the Internet at all times, respond to voice commands and gestures and play video games exponentially expands its marketability.
To gamers, this feels like a betrayal. Old games will not play on the new system, and individual games will need to be licensed to whichever console they are downloaded onto. What these gamers are likely missing, though, is that these “backstabbing” requirements play right along with every other feature that has been added into the Xbox One — the features that truly make it an entertainment system. Because nearly everything on the Xbox One is account based, it makes sense to adjust the gaming so that it follows the same guidelines.
If someone wants a product that controls the television with voice commands, the Xbox One is there. If someone wants a product to play Blu-rays, DVDs, video games and Hulu, the Xbox One is there.
Gone are the days of Xbox as a gaming console. Xbox — the jack of all trades — is here to stay.
Connor Tarter is a 21-year-old communication studies senior from Dallas, Texas.
