xbox one’s best feature and how it can be applied to business and education

I recently obtained an xbox one. After a few weeks of playing around I have found what I believe is an awesome feature with tons of potential in gaming, education, and business. The feature? The Kinect recording feature. Essentially this is basically like an in game DVR service. So when I am playing a game and I do something that I believe is cool I can say ‘xbox record that’ and it will automatically record the last 30 seconds of play and put that away in my stored videos. Now this is awesome because it does not interrupt my gameplay at all. I dont need to press a button, stop playing, or go back and watch a clip later on to choose a part I want to have.

Now how does this apply to business and education? Well in all of my classes there is an archive that is basically a recorded video of the class. The problem? Its 3 hours long each week. Just imagine a student looking for one chunk of information from that class and having to sort through all of that video. Just imagine if during the class the student could place some kind of marker on the class so that they could come back? This would be like taking notes without having to actually take the notes and thus not distract the student from listening. This exact thing could take place during business meetings and such. Now I realize that there are recording devices out there that do this kind of thing but its not seamless and as easy as xbox’s kinect.

Xbox One’s Cloud

There are many people who either do not understand the cloud or wonder what it is. Here is a great article that explains it. Also, here is an infographic that visually explains it. In a nutshell:

– There will be 300,000 servers to power your games
– These servers will be dedicates. That means that microsoft will host matches so there will be less lag and less pauses in game from a host switch. Current PS3/xbox360 relies on p2p or host matches.
– There will be unlimited cloud storage for xbox live users
– Worlds will continue when you stop playing. So just like WoW on the PC, there will be a world on the server and gameplay will continue even when you are not on.

How does this compare to Sony’s cloud? Well Sony has been rather quiet about it. We do know:

– It releases in 2014
– They are using Gaikai but this is only for streaming ps1-3 games. – Will they have the same functionality as xbox 1? We honestly do not know. Rumors are that they will not. This comes from the titanfall developer who said ps4 does not have the technology to play their game. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen but Sony really needs to make it clear what their cloud is and is not. Unfortunately if it was more than what we know I am sure they would have said so. Better to not say anything when its not as good.

xbox one cloud

Xbox 1

So MS announced their new xbox today dubbed xbox 1. Thus far it seems pretty cool. Nothing I didnt expect though so no surprises. Seems like a great upgrade to the xbox 360. Actually this round of consoles all feel like upgrades rather than whole new systems.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xboxone/meet-xbox-one

Xbox 720 rumors

Many know that I am a fan of video games so I keep up with these latest rumors. Here is the latest from the xbox 720 and my thoughts on them:

Xbox 720 will:

*Support TV feeds similar to Google TV – I would definitely say this is true. Xbox already supports netflix, amazon prime, etc.

*Cost $500 (or $300 for subscription version) – This price point is off. $399 max for the best console should be what they go for. Most people are not going to shell out $500 for a gaming console. I know I will not be.

*Release in November – This makes sense. A release for the holiday season seems about right.

*Need to be online 24/7 – Not sure why this would need to be. Why would it need to be on when I am not using it? I shut mine down and unplug it when I am not on it now.

*Not be backwards compatible – While I could really care less about this, there are many people that like this sort of thing so supporting it is always a good idea but I understand not doing it if it can reduce the price of the machine for the end user.

Sources:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/10/next-xbox-will-reportedly-integrate-broadcast-tv-feeds

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/08/veteran-tech-blogger-spills-xbox-720-reveal-date-pricing-and-more

Xbox 720 sold on Ebay for $20,100???

It appears that someone who claims to have a development kit for the next xbox sold it on ebay and it went for over 20k.

Here is the link but keep in mind this will disappear in a few days so I am taking a screen shot as well.

So is this real? No one knows. If it is, this person will probably get in trouble because MS knows who has these. Unless of course it is a publicity stunt by MS, which in my opinion is pure genius.

Click image to see full size:

Xbox 720

 

If I get more info, i will post. I really wonder who this buyer was? Was a prototype of the next xbox worth 20k?

Parents: What you need to know about video games in the classroom

Here is a great link from Wow in school that highlights a bunch of good resources for parents who are concerned about a ‘video’ game being used in their childs classroom. Even my undergrads just think video games are ‘mindless’ entertainment until I show them how games can be used to promote all types of learning objectives while motivating the students. Anyway here is the link: http://wowinschool.pbworks.com/w/page/5268739/Parental%20Involvement

Here is some same sources from the site that I really liked:

Tips for Smart Video GamingĀ – by Connect Safely
http://www.connectsafely.org/Safety-Tips/smart-tips-for-videogaming.html

Guide to Parental Controls on the XBox 360
http://www.getgamesmart.com/tools/setcontrols/

Powerful Play: A Mom and Son in World of Warcraft
http://www.netfamilynews.org/?p=31128

Why Kids Love Video Games and What Parents Can Do About It
http://www.netfamilynews.org/?p=31146

The Serious Need for Play – Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-serious-need-for-play

The Video Game Revolution (PBS Series)
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/index.html

8 Myths About Video Games Debunked (by Henry Jenkins, MIT)
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

xbox 720 rumors

This is pretty interesting. A document found online, which is now removed via a law firm, has some interesting info about Microsoft’s next console. Here are some of the rumors:

– Bundle with Kinect: $299
– Blu Ray Player
– Tablet integration
– Cloud network/integration for games and media
– Glasses and virtual reality code named Fortaleza

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/16/xbox-720-price-features-revealed-in-rumored-document