Xbox One Q&A with Major Nelson reveals new details about the console

Written by Brandon Hofer on May 23, 2013

News: Microsoft was fielded many questions about Xbox One, and a few of them were answered in a live chat with company spokesperson Major Nelson.

Xbox One Q&A with Microsoft’s Major Nelson

Xbox One is the hot topic of conversation around the internet and early Wednesday afternoon Microsoft’s Major Nelson participated in a Yahoo live chat to try and answer some questions. Of course, he couldn’t answer everything, but there were a few tidbits that came out of the conversation.

One of the questions that was posed to Major Nelson was in regards to using multiple accounts on the same console with Xbox One. There have been people wondering (myself included) whether my younger brother can play Halo 5 on my console under his profile, or whether he would have to play under my gamertag.

“Our goal is that it would work like it works today on Xbox 360,” answered Major Nelson.

So can we assume that Xbox One will indeed function as the 360 does in terms of letting multiple users on the same console play a game? It seems like it might work similar to how XBLA games worked on the 360. If I download an XBLA game on the 360 then my younger brother can still play it using his gamertag since it is on the same console. Only time will tell about how this works but Major Nelson’s response there should give everyone a little hope.

Another person posed the question of why gamers should buy Xbox One. Major’s response to that was, “Today’s gamers want access to great games...the Xbox One will have great games powered by Xbox Live. We’ve worked hard to create the ultimate All in One Console. BTW: We have a LOT more gaming news to share at E3 :).”

Obviously Xbox Live is going to be crucial for Xbox One but it is important to note that, once again, Microsoft has stated that there will be a lot of games on display in Los Angeles during E3 in June.

For those wondering why Microsoft chose to name the console “Xbox One,” it is due to the fact that it is the “ultimate all-in-one entertainment system,” according to Major Nelson. If you are someone who enjoys indie titles than Microsoft has something store for you too as Major Nelson had the following to say about indie developers:

“We’re working on a plan for Xbox One as a platform that allows all creators, including those who work on games and apps, regardless of team size, funding, biz model, etc. to be a part of the future of Xbox One.”

It was also revealed that the new Xbox One controller will take two AA batteries and that the buttons on the controller that are in the traditional “Start” and “Back” locations will perform similar functions but Microsoft hasn’t settled on final names for them yet. Additionally, Major Nelson confirmed that your gamerscore and achievements will all carry over to Xbox One.

One thing that hasn’t really been covered is the use of 3D and the emergence of 4K. Even though we are a long ways away from widespread 4K adoption, Major Nelson confirmed that the Xbox One will indeed support both 3D and 4K. I seriously doubt that any developers will make games in 4K so, similarly to the PS4, I’m sure the Xbox One will probably only do 4K video.

Unfortunately for those of you who enjoy your Xbox 360 library the Xbox One will not be backwards compatible. You will have to find additional room in your gaming space to keep both systems plugged in. The reason for that? Major explains below:

“Xbox One hardware is not compatible with Xbox 360 games. We designed Xbox One to play an entirely new generation of games. Games are architected to take full advantage of the state of the art processors and infinite power of the cloud.”

As far as Kinect is concerned it was revealed at the Xbox One event that Kinect will be bundled with every system and is required. Some of the specs for the new Kinect are pretty interesting and seem to indicate it might be what we were all hoping for from Kinect for Xbox 360. Kinect on Xbox One has a 1080p camera which provides for a much wider field of view. This will allow Kinect on Xbox One to work with only three feet of space as opposed to the 8-9 feet of space you needed for Kinect on Xbox 360. The processor is also much more powerful this time around with Kinect on Xbox One being able to keep track of six people at a time on screen, being able to distinguish limbs and other parts of the environment. It is supposedly powerful enough to detect small enough details such as whether your shirt is wrinkled or not but only time will tell if that is actually true.

Another question that was posed during this session was whether Microsoft feels they have done enough to satisfy the core gamer. Major’s response is below:

“The hardcore gaming audience has given us some great feedback, and we watch that feedback carefully. I think they’ll be happy after E3.”

It would seem that Microsoft is monitoring reactions carefully and that might help to decide policy for the Xbox One. Six hours ago (as of the time of this writing) Major also posted a tweet stating,

“We are months away from the launch of #XboxOne & policy decisions are still being finalized. When they are, we will let you know.”

Those last two comments should indicate that Microsoft, at the very least, is aware of the skepticism towards Xbox One. It appears that they are trying to listen to gamers but the internet also has to be respectful and level headed. If you pose a question to someone on Twitter, Facebook or wherever you are more likely to get an answer if you are polite instead of being the standard internet jerk. If you have a valid concern than tell Microsoft in a respectful manner and if enough people do it then maybe that will help to influence their policy. Perhaps your suggestion won’t be given the time of day but you never know, right?

After the live chat was over it was nice to see that some new details were revealed, even if they were small details. The moderator over at Yahoo said they received over 7,000 questions throughout the chat and, obviously, they couldn’t get to all of them. No doubt some of the harder questions were asked (I certainly sent some myself) but Major couldn’t give any further details at this time. The same thing would happen if you tried to get new info out of Sony for the PS4 or Nintendo for the Wii U at this time last year.

Right now it really is hard to tell fact from fiction on the internet. Different sources seem to have different stories and have talked to different executives. Once the console launches in November I doubt it will be as bad as everyone fears. I am hoping some of the items and policies aren’t as bad as they seem. Personally speaking I still have some concerns over Xbox One but I’m waiting to see what Microsoft has to say over the coming days, weeks and months.

What do you think about the Xbox One? What do you think about Major Nelson’s comments? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and please be civil about it.