It is a games console, they even said "its a games console for gamers made by gamers and the core has always and will always remain games". There is a video on XBL to watch, the behind the scenes one where this is categorically states. E3 is around the corner, this announcement was to show the new platform off as a preview to E3 to steal any of Sony's perceived thunder.

The new features are nothing really new, its just a maturity of the current interface. It already has TV on demand, films, social media but the system was designed before the current wave of social interaction existsd. The new platform capitalises on the "gaming" advances and now has a polished user interface to rival anything out there.

I'm pretty sure I read that it will be able to do this from launch

I seriously think that the Steambox is going to provide a serious threat to this generation of consoles.

1. It's a boxed product not a PC (yes I know it will actually be a PC) so it's in the same ball park as PS4/Xbone
2. Massive amount of content from day 1
3. Lower cost, games are cheaper on PC, there is more variety and they drop the prices quite quickly.
4. It looks like the 2nd hand market is gone, at least for the Xbone so this is no competition.
5. It's basically a PC so you can potentially get all the flexibility if you want/need it.

And dead in the water a year down the line when developers move to DX28 and no new content is available. Or do we simply rip out the inards and upgrade? Wait, tahts just a PC isn't it. Or will they limit new game development to what the box can cope with in which case its a console and I think MS have a better idea on how to do things.

You seem to have a real chip on your shoulder over PC's.

My gaming machine is now 7 years old and I am only just considering changing it. It still plays recent titles ok, not with all the bells and whistles but at an acceptable framerate. Yes, it's a bit slow to load sometimes but I have not had to spend more time fiddling with it than I have my PS3 (of which I've owned two in the same timescale). It auto updates most of its drivers and software automatically (like a console).

Any AAA cross platform game is going to still be developed for 1080p HD as its primary resolution. The Steambox will be able to push those pixels around day one (like the PS4 and Xbone). Ok so after a few years you won't be able to switch on all the shinies like a full sized PC but neither will the consoles.

Finally, look at the size of the market place. A little research puts but xbox and steam active users around 50million active accounts. Steam has significant market share to ensure that they get a good deal for their users. You simply don't need a beast of a PC to compete anymore. The whole constant fettling thing ended years ago (unless you want to) and with something like this a locked down environment would be even more user friendly.

I think he means Horace

I have to admit, this may be the first console generation I skip entirely. I was firmly in the MS camp but the recent announcements on used games and consoles having to check in regularly along with the Kinect watching you constantly, it's put me off a little and I don't think Sony are going to be any different (after all, they patented that RFID tag in discs).

I guess we'll see what E3 brings.

That's not actually proper 4k though, is it? And after whatever percentage of people have replaced their DVD collection with Blu-Rays, they aren't going to want to do that again for 4k content!

And it's going to be an age before we start to see 4k content broadcast and the infrastructure isn't there to stream it (VirginMedia for example have just introduced even more draconian STM on all their tiers).

I just don't think it's something to worry about right now. Why bother including something that's going to be irrelevant for some time but likely to push the price of the console up?

I think the trick with Xbox One will be to hold off purchasing until the UK content partnerships get sorted out. A media hub is no use without media. Once you find out that you can hook the Sky box through it and watch F1 with data overlays from your favourite team etc etc … then maybe it gets bloody interesting.

This, times a million. No piece of consumer electronics has ever sold on hardware specs (NeoGeo, I'm looking at you) so all this talk about 4k vs 1080p and whether a Steambox will be upgradeable is entirely irrelevant.

People buy content, not hardware. The system with the best games, with the most interesting and innovative content, the most seamless delivery system and the best user community will win. It's as simple as that.