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[Updated] Xbox One Facts: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, And The Unconfirmed

With the dust settling from Microsoft's lackluster Xbox One reveal earlier this week, we now have a relatively clear picture about what the company has in place for their next generation console. With that said, there are still plenty of important questions that remain unanswered. Below we have separated all that we know about the Xbox One into four categories; The Good (or at least, The Not Horrible), The Bad, The Ugly, and The Unconfirmed.

The Unconfirmed

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  • Exact release date – [Update] Sometime during November 2013
  • Price – [Update] The Xbox One will launch at $499 US, €499 in Europe, and £429 in the UK
  • Number of SKUs
  • Exactly how long the Xbox One can function when not connected to the internet — [Update] The console has to connect to Microsoft’s servers once every 24 hours.
  • Microsoft has not officially and fully detailed exactly how used, or borrowed games will work on Xbox One (early reports indicate there could be a fee that runs as high as the full price of the game) — [Update] No lending, and reselling only at “participating retailers”, and only with publisher approval.
  • Microsoft has not addressed how Xbox One will handle rented games, or even if renting will be allowed — [Update] No renting games.
  • The required internet connection combined with the required Kinect (camera and microphone) raises privacy issues that Microsoft has, so far, not specifically addressed, other than to say that “strong privacy protections” will be in place — [Update] There will be privacy settings, Kinect must be plugged in.
  • [Update] Microsoft holds a patent that describes a DRM system where Kinect watches users to determine if there are too many people viewing a piece of licensed media. It is not confirmed that Microsoft will use the patent in the Xbox One.

Hopefully, Microsoft will fully detail all the remaining questions we have about the Xbox One at E3 next month. If any new information about the console comes to light before their E3 press conference, we will update it into this post.

[Update] Microsoft has reversed all of their used game DRM and online requirements for the Xbox One.
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