Microsoft, what happened?

Microsoft. The computer giants. Responsible for some of the most brilliant operating systems ever. Responsible for some of the finest computers the world has ever seen. Responsible for the XBOX 360, the second greatest console (PS2 takes the win. No contest). Responsible then, you would be inclined to believe, for the Xbox One, the greatest console going forward into a new era of gaming.

I originally was all about the Sony consoles, with the aforementioned PlayStation 2. This great console left me under the impression that PS3 would be exceptional. So I went and bought a PlayStation 3. And it was alright, I'm not going to degrade the system. It was a decent machine, like it's predecessor it was extremely easy to use. Sure, it had a curved top which meant you couldn't put anything on it. But overall it was a pretty good successor to the second generation console.

However. It all changed when a friend bought his Xbox 360 over and Forza Motorsport 3 and quite frankly, I was blown away. The graphics were similar but FM3 was so much better than anything Gran Turismo had ever put out. And the console itself? The features. You could have party chats (not something you could do on PlayStation) you could have music on in the background. You could do so much more than the PS3 could manage.

This meant within a week I had myself a 360. and FM3 obviously. It was great fun, and over the years I've treasured my 360. It's getting old now and is showing signs of it's old age. The disc tray is knackered and it's recently got into the irritating habit of simply shutting down unexpectedly for no good reason. But I still use it a lot of the time. Since then I've never looked back, I've never regretted getting rid of my PS3 and I didn't mind paying for online features.

With this in mind, when the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were announced, it was an obvious choice. However, with all the not so great publicity that came with the Xbox One leading up to it's launch plus it's pretty extortionate price-tag, I refused to buy either until the prices came down and there were some decent titles for them.

But back in October, I took a punt. I went for the Xbox One. Project CARS was near to release, Grand Theft Auto 5 was due to release on the newer consoles so for me, the time was right to invest my hard-earned cash in a new console.

6 months on, and the verdict? I wish I hadn't bothered.

I wish I'd bought myself a PlayStation 4. Project CARS still isn't out, it's rumoured to be out for mid-may... we'll see. Even if it was released, there is one fundamental problem.

The Xbox One, is the most useless piece of crap I've ever bought. I invested over £300 for a console that I rarely use. I still use my 360 more than the One. Firstly, there are still no decent games on the One. It's all arcadey crap that I can't be arsed with. Every game I have bought for the One so far, is a game I already owned on the 360.

Comparing the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One is a bit like comparing your local chippy to the finest restaurant in the land.

The Xbox One is undoubtedly the most complicated console ever to be produced. The graphics are amazing, no question, but everything else is just a pain in the arse. The snapping thing is cool, but it's slow, and constantly pops up with a 'You are not signed in' thing, which is quite obviously a lie when I am. Achievements are so slow to unlock, as in, you can be waiting a day before it decides you've got it.

Trying to get into a party with friends is easy, but then trying to get in their game? Aha, now that's a different story. It's just a faff. It's a pain in the arse and so unbelievably irritating.

It's like Microsoft took the concept of the 360, had a really good look at it, and wondered how they could make it far mare difficult and ridiculous in every way.

For example, to listen to music off a USB whilst playing on the 360 goes like this:

1. Plug USB into Xbox 360.
2. Press the Xbox guide, go right once, scroll down 'Select Music'
3. Click 'Portable Device'
4. Play All

Done. 

From there you can skip, shuffle, pause, play, and change volume to an infinite level with a scroll bar so the music isn't too loud or too quiet, you can set it just so. You can also modify the playlist so you can re-arrange songs, take out the ones you don't like. On a side note, you can even rip CD's onto the 360 hard-drive, so you don't have to use a USB and you can save the playlists. Not something you can do on the One.

To listen to music off a USB whilst playing on the One goes like this.

1. Plug USB into Xbox One.
2. Wait for device to be acknowledged, hold the Xbox guide button to go to device.
3. Click 'Portable Media'
4. Do you want Music or photos and videos?
5. Do you want to play all? 
6. This will then snap the 'Portable Media' to the side of the screen, thus reducing your gameplay size.

Also, if you 'un-snap', the music stops. You can't modify the playlist, you can't scroll down to pick another song without going full-screen. Volume? Ah well there isn't volume. What you have to is the following.

1. Press the guide, hold the lines button, go to 'Settings'
2. Find 'Display/Audio' (I think, I'm currently listening through my 360)
3. Go to 'Mixer'

Then what you have, is like a 7 notch scale, where you move the volume balance according to whether you want the main app (game) to be louder or quieter than the snapped app (Portable Media) However the settings screen replaces the main app, you can't actually tell at the time whether the snapped app is louder than the main app or not because it's just silence on the main app. So you have to press the guide again, go back the game, see how the balance is, if it's not right, press the guide again, go to settings, go through the whole rigmarole again.

Ultimately, it'll be too loud or too quiet. You'll never get it right, not like something you could do within seconds on the 360.

Had enough ranting about this stupid console.

Buy a PlayStation 4 folks. Or a PC. Just not a Microsoft one, they can't do simple things.

Cheerio,

Stevie