November saw the release of Sony’s Playstation 4 and
Microsoft’s Xbox One, two gaming consoles that, along with Nintendo’s
previously released Wii U, make up a new generation that will continue to push
game creativity and design to greater limits. While Sony and Nintendo have gone
the more traditional route of offering devices built primarily around games,
Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet on the “war for the living room,” hoping
to be the only set-top box a family needs to play games, watch television, Skype,
and more. While the Xbox One is an impressive piece of equipment, the overall
changes in the modern gadget market—many of them brought on by mobile
devices—may make the Xbox One’s offerings less attractive than Microsoft hopes.
Live Television Viewing Is On The Decline Around The World
One of the most impressive aspects of the Xbox One is the
ability to change television channels with voice commands. No longer needing to
pick up the remote and constantly switch between inputs, the Xbox One lets you
pause a game with your voice, then seamlessly call up live television. If
you’re feeling particularly antsy, you can split the screen between live TV and
gaming, jumping back to Forza or Dead Rising during each commercial break.
While this is an impressive and wonderfully futuristic
feature, the reality is that live television viewing is on the decline in the
industrialized world, with more consumers than ever before using recording
devices such as TiVo and dvr, as well as streaming video via Netflix, Hulu, and
others. The developing world fares even worse for the traditional cable market,
with many areas bypassing television entirely to favor video streaming on
mobile devices as the sole access for television and movies. If the number of
cable subscribers continues to decline in the upcoming years—and the remaining
consumers continue to favor dvr recording to live television—Microsoft may find
itself with an impressive feature in need of an audience.
Skype Is Already Wildly Popular On Mobile Devices
Another oft-touted feature of the Xbox One’s Kinect camera
is the ease with which it allows a user to Skype on their giant living room
flatscreen. Will this feature find a market with consumers who’re interested in
pausing their gaming or television-watching to videochat on their 50-inch
Samsung? It certainly remains a possibility, but with the ever-present
availability of Skyping via smartphone, tablet, or laptop—along with the
increased privacy these devices afford—Xbox One’s ability to video conference
in your living room may be another feature that’s appreciated from a
technological standpoint but rarely utilized.
Xbox One Strives To Be The Dominant Set-Top Box In A World That
Seems to Be Moving Away From Boxes Entirely
While it’s unlikely that the mobile revolution will
de-centralize the living room completely, the fact remains that consumers are
attracted to increasingly portable and personal devices for their entertainment
needs. Regarding the set-top boxes that are still in popular use in the living
room, they appear to be smaller, streaming-based devices (such as the Roku
player, Google Chromecast, and others), or dvr recorders (which the Xbox One
can’t as of yet replace). Being able to ditch your digital cable box is
certainly nice, but with the size and weight of an 80’s VCR, the Xbox One won’t
win any space-saving awards anytime soon. As the world’s tech becomes
increasingly smaller and more mobile, Microsoft’s newest console sometimes
gives the appearance of being the futuristic fantasy of an older, extinct
decade.
As consumers gear up for another round of console wars,
Microsoft has been clear from the beginning that the Xbox One offers more than
just gaming. But only time will tell if the goal to conquer the living room is
a goal still worth having, or if the all-in-one multimedia box is a throwback
from a simpler, gentler, non-digital era.
Author bio:
John is a blogger who still remembers the first time he
streamed Netflix through his Xbox 360. He writes for gadget
insurer Protect Your Bubble, who can give you an extended warranty on your
new Xbox One, even if you never use it to Skype with.
