This is a bigger strength with Xbox One, thanks to its multiple OS’s. Learning to work ‘snapping’ takes a little bit of time, but once you learn how to ‘snap’ features like the Game DVR, Skype and the television functionality, multi-tasking on Xbox One is not only pretty simple, but also very cool!
Even if the Xbox One has slightly inferior specs compared to the competing PS4, the console’s ability to multi-task is something never before seen in a game console! Juggling the ability to take Skype calls, watch TV, record game footage, arrange for Smart Match to find you an online session, watch a Netflix movie, and other things, as long as they come in three’s, immediately sets Xbox One apart from the competition! The fact that this multi-tasking is so easy to do with Kinect only makes it all the better!
Also commendable is how well the system maintains stability, even when multi-tasking. Rarely did we run into animation hiccups when navigating the dashboard, and, while heavy Xbox Live traffic did occasionally strain the console’s smoothness, ultimately, it handles numerous tasks without needing to slow down. The only serious slowdown we encountered was when managing clips in the Game DVR and Upload Studio, but, again, this is likely due to heavy Xbox Live launch traffic, and shouldn’t be a permanent flaw.
Pressing the Xbox Button, or simply saying, “Xbox, Go Home!” also immediately returns you to the dashboard, even faster than Xbox 360! Xbox One pulls up Xbox Live Marketplace options, friends lists, achievements and more with even more speed and smoothness than Xbox 360 as well! The Xbox 360 doesn’t feel as slow and clunky compared to Xbox One as the PS3 now does compared to PS4, but Xbox One does perform noticeably more seamlessly, especially considering the very minimal latency with using Kinect’s voice commands!
Unlike PS4, we didn’t experience total hardware crashes at this point with Xbox One, even if the Game DVR sometimes got pretty sluggish. Since Xbox Live Marketplace is not separated into its own app like the PlayStation Store or Nintendo eShop as well, we didn’t have any trouble quickly and easily selecting and making purchases, without the hassle of being kicked out or denied access to paid wares. This is one big advantage to the way that the Xbox One dashboard is set up, allowing it to get around the heavy Xbox Live traffic that is a necessary evil to put up with during the console’s launch.
Strangely, the Xbox One doesn’t currently seem to have the ability to access Xbox Live Marketplace’s selection without quitting out of an active game, whereas the PS4 allows you to do this pretty easily, but perhaps that will be sorted out with a dashboard update.
All in all, Xbox One boasts a bit more stability and consistent performance reliability than PS4 does at present, which helps to compensate for its dashboard feeling a tad messier.
Yes, we come to the Xbox One’s latest popular sticking point. It’s true too. Xbox One visuals seem to currently max out at 720p, even on the dashboard. If we’re being honest, the Xbox One’s current slate of games don’t render much more effectively than what you could already see with games like Halo 4 or Forza Horizon on Xbox 360. Yes, they’re launch titles, but when Xbox One’s game library doesn’t look as good as certain games you can already play on Xbox 360, that’s not a good start.
Forza Motorsport 5 remains a standout launch title in terms of its visuals, but frankly, it’s virtually the only one. Even first-party Microsoft offerings like Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct and Dead Rising 3 will likely underwhelm people in terms of graphics and resolution, feeling simply like Xbox 360 games that can render a few more environmental effects and character sprites, and little else… And are stuck at 720p resolution, for that matter.
Yes, you’ll see upgrades in environmental textures and physics when you play games like Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and the various EA Sports offerings on Xbox One compared to Xbox 360, but that’s about it. Not only that, but you’ll likely notice the improved resolution integrity on PS4 when you run the Xbox One versions of these games alongside their PS4 counterparts.
The Xbox One is capable of 1080p, of course, and at the very least, you can witness true 1080p resolution when you share Skype calls, since Kinect is able to output in 1080p resolution pretty easily. For now however, the games’ resolution integrity are noticeably worse than those of PS4 and Wii U, and even worse than Xbox 360 in many cases for that matter!
Of course, this is something that will no doubt improve with time. Even some PS4 games had to receive better resolution support with updates, likely because developers haven’t figured out the internal workings of these new consoles yet. At this point, it seems like Xbox One is slightly less developer-friendly than PS4, which could also be playing a part in Xbox One launch titles taking a hit in resolution integrity compared to their PS4 counterparts.
Like we said, gaming isn’t all about counting polygons though. Still, if you’re expecting a big leap in graphics over Xbox 360, then you’re going to be disappointed during the launch window. Xbox One’s current launch lineup struggles to keep up with the graphical fidelity of Xbox 360’s top visual champs, which will likely leave early adopters failing to notice the boost in graphics, even if the vast majority of Xbox One’s visual potential no doubt has yet to be explored.
On the bright side however, at least framerate and performance are just slightly more reliable on Xbox One versus PS4 with the majority of both consoles’ launch titles. Slightly.