Guess who cracked the top ten at Popular Mechanics

[HeyCori]

The 10 Breakthrough Products of 2013 - Popular Mechanics

Some products are evolutionary, others are revolutionary. The Xbox One is both. The most notable improvement is the new Kinect sensor, which is integral to the operation of the console. It can see in total darkness, track the fine movements of your hands and muscles, and even sense your heartbeat. Gamers may have taken issue with the Xbox One's price ($500) and paywall restrictions (some features require a $50 per year subscription), but technologically it's a huge upgrade from its predecessor. The platform is so advanced that developers have barely begun to grasp all its possibilities.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

WPCentral reported on this, right?

http://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-one-wins-popular-mechanics-breakthrough-award-2013

 

[Keith Wallace]

In your opinion, what about the Xbox One is revolutionary? All I see is typical spec bumps, for the most part. The only thing that MIGHT be revolutionary is the offloading of calculations to their servers, but that's something we've seen with OnLive, among other products.

 

[BIGPADDY]

Seems more like they gave some $$$.

 

[HeyCori]

WPCentral reported on this, right?

Xbox One wins Popular Mechanic's Breakthrough Award for 2013 | Windows Phone Central

Then I have no choice but to destroy the front page!!!

 

[sinime]

I'd say the new Kinect is revolutionary on it's own... Aside from the Kinect, the One is just evolutionary, like the PoS4.

 

[Keith Wallace]

What makes the new Kinect revolutionary? It's an improved version of a previous product. It doesn't really offer NEW features, just improved one.

 

[sinime]

Well, improved would be higher resolution... It can now read your heart rate, control your cable box, track who has the controller, track muscle usage/balance, etc...

 

[Coreldan]

What makes the new Kinect revolutionary? It's an improved version of a previous product. It doesn't really offer NEW features, just improved one.

Well that word is used for that too. Apple didn't by your definition revolutionize anything, only improved on old stuff. Regardless even as a MS fan I think Apple revolutionized the mobile industry.

Although personally I don't think Kinect 2 is something I call revolutionary per se, but it CAN revolutionise new gen input methods, but it's too early to say yet. But i think the new kinect is really impressive, but revolutionary probably isnt the first word that comes to my mind.

 

[Keith Wallace]

I think that "revolutionary" is over-used with stuff is all. Apple did something to revolutionize smartphones, really. They were clunky and unpopular before. The Kinect 2 is literally just fine-tuning of its previous self. Yes, it can now do more, but it's all an extension of what it could already do (voice control, track physical players). Now, as a whole, the Kinect from its inception and moving on could be revolutionary, but the Kinect 2 is just an evolutionary spec bump of its predecessor and little more, in terms of how influential it will be on the tech world. It will carry the torch of the brand and offer new features, but it will not be THE DEVICE that started anything.

 

[Mystictrust]

I am personally fairly excited to be able to say "Xbox, On" and have it power on both my Xbox and my TV at the same time (I can see myself doing this as I am walking into the living room or from down the hall, depending on how sensitive the Kinect microphone is). I think it is quite awesome that Kinect has an integrated IR blaster that sends out signals that bounce off of walls and control your IR-based peripherals. I'm not contributing in any way to the evolutionary/revolutionary discussion, but I think having features such as this on the new Xbox make it an excellent feature for an entertainment device in the living room. I agree with it as a breakthrough product - in that it enhances the ways you can interact with and use entertainment devices (including your gaming) in the living room.

 

[Polychrome]

In your opinion, what about the Xbox One is revolutionary? All I see is typical spec bumps, for the most part. The only thing that MIGHT be revolutionary is the offloading of calculations to their servers, but that's something we've seen with OnLive, among other products.

OnLive, from my understanding, is the entire game running remotely over a streaming video connection, and is beyond laggy for most users.

Cloud computing on the Xbox One would be either large-scale swapping of content (Like Nintendo does with Animal Crossing) or offloading processes that handle things other than graphics. In a nutshell, think of how MMOs work. The server handles all the game processes and enemy A.I. while the PC handles mostly graphics and little if anything else. Very little data must be transmitted between server and hardware, usually positional stuff or button presses, and can even be played on dial up as long as the connection is "snappy" enough. This also explains how a PC running windows might be prepared to play the same game in the same way. It's the Xbox "live" experience that is exclusive, not the hardware in the box.

I once counted Everquest 2 using 10 megs in 10 hours. Yes, I'm a nerd. If all games could run server-side like MMOs could, it results in interesting possibilities.

TLDR: If the non-graphics stuff can be handled server side, the client side is free to concentrate on *only* graphics. Far better experience than attempting to play a game over streaming video.

 

[Keith Wallace]

What you did was pretty much defend the idea that it's NOT a revolutionary feature, I guess. And I understand that they are different, I'm more speaking to the general scope that the concept of using servers to shoulder the computational load is not new, not that the OnLive experience is 100% the same.

 

[Polychrome]

What you did was pretty much defend the idea that it's NOT a revolutionary feature, I guess.

It's something that to my knowledge has not been tried with single-player games before, or if it has, not on a large scale to the point that every developer would be able to use it. For multiplayer it's a natural idea, but for anything else, it's a very new way of thinking.

As for multiplayer, handling everything server-side would be something expected in a western MMO, but for Halo and the like? Well, imagine not having to worry about people hacking, packet editing, cheating, etc. The banhammer can only do so much. The more that is handled server side, the less opportunity there is for somebody to cheat their way into a leaderboard.