When the Xbox One released it was, well, there’s no beating around the bush: there’s a reason why the PlayStation 4 has sold over twice as many units as the Xbox One. The original Xbox One was an oversized, clunky box everyone compared to a betamax player, and the console came bundled with the Kinect. You know, that universally-panned sensor bar that never functioned as intended, drove up the original Xbox One’s price by $100, and spawned a million “Microsoft is Big Brother/Always Watching You” memes? Oh, and the console’s E3 reveal didn’t do the Xbox One any favor thanks to unwelcome policies such as always requiring an internet connection and forcing gamers to pay a fee to play used games.
Luckily, history has been kind to the Xbox One. Microsoft has learned from its mistakes and done away with most of the console’s draconian and bafflingly backwards policies and features. I would even go so far as to say that the Xbox One might even be a must-buy console thanks to cross-play functionality and the absolutely beastly power hiding under the hood of the Xbox One X. But, the Xbox One still lags behind other consoles in a few key areas, and I don’t just mean its (current) lack of exclusive titles.
(Rechargeable) Batteries Sold Separately
Xbox One “Features” We Still Hate
Picture if you will, an online match of Fortnite. You have surpassed all expectations, and it’s down to you and one other player. Suddenly, your character stops moving. You jiggle the control sick and press the buttons, but your character doesn’t respond. You look down at the controller and see that the home button light is turned off, the controller’s batteries dead. Before you get a chance to search a nearby drawer for a fresh pair of AAs, your opponent strolls up to you and attacks you, winning the match. This isn’t a scene from the Twilight Zone; it’s a real life situation Xbox One owners have to deal with on a daily basis because the Xbox One controller doesn’t come with rechargeable batteries.
Most controllers these days come standard with a built-in battery. All you have to do is plug a power cord into a controller. Then you can go about your day and come back to the controller several hours later when it has a full charge. But the Xbox One controller? It still relies on AA batteries. Sure, you can always buy a rechargeable battery (and charging cable) for the controller, but that’s the key word: buy. If you want to plug the controller into the console to give it a charge, you need to shell out anywhere between $25 and $50 on top of the controller. As for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch controllers, the rechargeable batteries and charging cable come free with admission.
All I Want to Do Is Share My Videos
Xbox One “Features” We Still Hate
We’re all about sharing these days. We share our opinions regarding the color of a dress; we share pictures of mouth-watering food, and we share videos of the world’s most impressive Call of Duty killstreaks. We used to rely on capture devices, but now consoles are being designed with sharing in mind. Well, at least they have built-in sharing functionality; I never said the sharing functions were easy to use.
The PlayStation 4 controller has a button devoted to taking screenshots and recording videos: the share button. Hold down the button to take a picture, and press the button twice to start taping. Quick, easy, and perfect for anyone who’s playing a game he or she can’t pause. How do you take a screenshot on the Xbox One? Double tap the home button, wait for the screenshot menu to pop up, and then press Y. And what about recording a video? Press X instead and pray that whatever you wanted to save happened within the past 30 seconds. Not only does the Xbox One’s screenshot and video functionality take you out of the action — something that should never happen under any circumstances in a multiplayer game — but it involves anywhere between one to two extra button presses. Chances are by the time you’ve got the Xbox One’s screenshot menu up and running, the moment you wanted to save has probably passed you by.
If you thought your troubles ended with just recording pictures and videos, think again. You can only save and share screenshots and videos if you have an Xbox Live Gold account. That’s right. Even if you’re playing The Witcher 3 and want to record how you epicly beat down a boss without taking any damage, not a single person on the planet will see that video unless you pay at least $10 for an Xbox Live Gold subscription. Or you shell out even more for a capture device.
Not Always Online, but Not Always Offline Either
Xbox One “Features” We Still Hate
The Xbox One almost required a constant internet connection to function. It doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. A lack of internet still locks you out of a few features on the Xbox One, some of which are important.
While you’re offline, you don’t have access to features like the Xbox Store, numerous apps like Netflix, and any multiplayer functionality in games. That is all to be expected, but when you’re offline, the pins on the Xbox One home page are also gone. If there’s an app or game you love to play and is in your pins for quick access, it’s no longer there. You’ll have to search through your library of apps and games (hopefully you won’t have too many) to find it while you don’t have Internet access. And speaking of games, you can only play games you actually own while offline. Any trials and demos you’ve downloaded are completely useless without an Internet connection. But don’t worry, it gets worse.
Achievements are everywhere in video games these days. You get them for completing story missions, killing X number of enemies, finishing mundane tasks, and completing difficult challenges. Achievements are a staple of every modern game and are yet another box on any completionist’s checklist, but if you play your game offline, you won’t receive any achievements. Not a single one. Sure, they will usually unlock when you finally get back online, but that’s only if the achievements are still in the Xbox One’s cache. If you wait for too long and add too many achievements to the cache, some will be irreparably lost. This wasn’t the case with the Xbox 360. Maybe it’s a remnant of Micorosft’s original “always online” DRM policy? Whatever the cause, it sucks.
About the author
