32 days ago, I managed to buy an Xbox One console at a local GameStop store in Greenville, South Carolina. I joined the many people who bought over one million units of Microsoft's latest game console in its first 24 hours. Since then I have been using the Xbox One every day and on the whole I am still very pleased with my $500 purchase, with a few caveats.
Here's my break down on the good and bad about my Xbox One experience one month after its launch.
The Good
No hardware issues: This may sound like something trivial but the first shipment batches of a new game console can have a few lemons, as a few buyers experienced with the Xbox One thanks to some faulty disc drives. Of course, many gamers still remember the Xbox 360 launch in 2005 when far more poorly made units were shipped at first, resulting in Microsoft taking a $1 billion charge to fix the problems.
I personally had two Xbox 360 consoles fail before getting one that worked reliably during its first year. Thankfully, the Xbox One bought a month ago has not exhibited any such glitches. Hopefully, the console will stay as functional as my seven year old PlayStation 3 unit that I purchased at its launch.
The TV integration is very cool: Being able to watch my Denver Broncos on the big screen TV while checking up on the rest of the league every Sunday with the snapped NFL app is pretty sweet. I was expecting to see some visual lag when connecting my cable TV box to the Xbox One but so far the picture quality on my 42-inch plasma has been solid.
New games and updates keep popping up: I will admit to being a big fan of Peggle 2. Popcap's casual game was released a few weeks ago as a timed Xbox One exclusive and trying to achieve all of the objectives for each level is a near obsession. I have yet to download and purchase Max: The Curse of Brotherhood yet but plan to do so over the Christmas break. I am definitely looking forward to playing the just released Halo: Spartan Assault Xbox One port with the new two player co-op mode.
New content updates to Xbox One launch titles are welcomed as well, including the new Ryse: Son of Rome maps that were released last week and the changes to the Forza Motorsport 5 economy that should make it easier to gain access to the faster cars,
Family and friends are enjoying the new console: It's one thing to play the Xbox One by yourself in the living room. It's quite another to have family and friends drop by to play games as well. At the moment, the favorite titles are Just Dance 2014, with its six player Kinect support, and Zoo Tycoon, which is a hit with the younger family members that drop by to play.
This article is brought to you in partnership with Neowin.