XBOX ONE: A Year And A Bit On

So here we are a year and a bit on since the launch of the Xbox One - but it was just a year ago that I bought mine.


Not so much a games console but a social network machine with links to Facebook, Twitter, Twitch - you name it there has to be an app for it. All aimed to show off your gameplay to your 'friends' (most of whom you have never met). Still it seems that the Upload app is compulsory and I am forever deleting 'hang time' clips that are mostly boring and not worth the time or effort.


At the time of writing I have four games - well, three, as I'm waiting for Devil May Cry 4 to turn up. I just pre-ordered it. so will not see the enhanced gameplay until the 24th June.


Even so, I am just clinging on to my Xbox One in the hopes that some things will improve. Of the games that I had were 'Call Of Duty: Ghosts' and 'Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare' both games coming from Activision. Nothing wrong with the gameplay for campaign storyline but when it came to online multiplayer it was rubbish. About one minute in and I would be told that I needed an Xbox Live connection (which I had anyway) yet despite this message was, immediately, invited to find a game. With Ghosts I could play squads to my hearts content - but not multiplayer. To give them their due Activision did everything that they could to try and rectify the situation. The Xbox One was placed in various locations, even connected to an Ethernet, but with no joy. We logged in with different profiles - the message remained the same.
The same problem was encountered by my grandson when playing 'Destiny'.


Still, my experiences on the Xbox One were still hit and miss.


WWE2k15 - the maths in this game is atrocious. 100xp for reversing a move and countering with one of your own - so do it three times and 2k's maths makes that 167xp. Mind you that is the least of their problems for their voice over on the training session Is downright rude and insulting (in real life no one would take that) - so what, if there are ten others who want the place - well they can fight over it as I trade it in. That wasn't the only reason though - saved data kept disappearing along with created wrestlers.


Last week 'Forza Horizon 2' went into meltdown. Loaded the disc and was told to go to 'Games and Apps' as an update was needed. Went there and got the message that the game was ready to play - only to be told to return to 'games and apps' and follow instructions which I did only to be told that I needed to go to.....yes, this gets repetitive. Finally, it starts to load - but it is installing a game that is already installed - and stalls at 74%. And the whole thing starts again.


Despite these failures DMC: Devil May Cry is still playing fine as are online multiplayers Forza 5 and Titanfall.


Now that E 3, the big gamers techno expo, has started there are a few things that have my interest. Release dates have been announced for 'Rise Of The Tomb Raider' and 'Forza 6' - two reasons to hold onto the console.


Also announced is the Xbox 360 backward compatability. An interesting concept that creates an engine for players to play their 360 games on the Xbox One - and, no, no one has to pay for new games just shove in the disc and away you go. This became available yesterday but only for the chosen few. The first list is available but are Call Of Duty games, Silent Hill games; Tomb Raider series or the original Devil May Cry games on there - they are not on the list.
To my mind games along the lines of Call Of Duty, Battlefield and GTA would have been a much better 'come and get me' than most of the games on the list (and I don't have any that are on that list).
So when will we be able to enjoy this - well we are told that this is coming in the 'holidays'. And as this comes in American language I assume that this must mean around Thanksgiving or Christmas.


Instinctively, I would prefer to dump my Xbox One - sales of which lag well behind the PS4 - but with promises and the possibility that things could improve I guess a stay of execution is in order.
.