Games By James Plafke Dec. 27, 2013 1:37 pm
This holiday season saw the release of Sony’s and Microsoft’s new consoles. Though they’re the most powerful and advanced game consoles to date, purchasing a standalone unit won’t provide the optimal experience — you’ll need to make some supplemental purchases to take full advantage of your new console.
If you just got a PS4 and aren’t sure what you still need, go ahead and check out our guide. If you just got an Xbox One, perhaps from a benevolent gift-giver or as a present to yourself, you’re within reach of the full next-gen experience, but there are some services and items left that you need to get there.
[h=3]Rechargeable batteries[/h]Unlike the PS4 (and PS3, for that matter) controller, the Xbox One gamepads have yet to make the move to a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Instead, each gamepad uses two standard AA batteries. You can purchase Microsoft’s official Play and Charge accessory, but user reports from around the internet have not been overly positive — the battery life is short, and there is no indicator to let you know when it needs a charge. Some standard rechargeable AA batteries are your best bet.
The internet is fond of Sanyo’s Eneloop batteries, but you can waltz into your local electronics store or pharmacy and grab other popular brands, like Energizer or Duracell. Make sure you pay attention to the charge time, as it can wildly vary — the faster they charge, the more expensive the charger will likely be.
[h=3]A cable package[/h]If you don’t already have cable, your Xbox One is about to get much more expensive, but much more functionality. The Xbox One’s most unique feature is that a cable box can be plugged into it, and the console will act as a cable pass-through. Rather than just saving you an HDMI spot on the back of you television, though, the cable pass-through feature allows you to invoke a cable overlay. You can access your cable while playing games, perhaps docking that night’s marquee NBA matchup while playing*NBA 2K14. Now that your cable is hooked up to your Xbox One, you can also control it with the voice-activated Kinect, changing channels without picking up a remote control.
This is the feature Microsoft touted hard when it debuted the Xbox One, and it even allows you to pass-through any HDMI-capable game console, meaning you can play PS4 games while playing Xbox One games. It’s highly impractical — and too laggy to play anything that involves timing and precision — but amusing nonetheless.
Unfortunately, anything other than basic cable is quite expensive — and depending on your are, basic cable won’t be fun to pay for either. However, if you regularly use your Xbox One but were on the fence about getting a cable subscription, the pass-through feature should help you climb over that fence.
[h=3]Xbox Live Gold[/h]This isn’t news to Xbox fans, but you still need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play games online. A one-year subscription costs $60, and like PS Plus, it works across multiple consoles — the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Along with the ability to play games, a Gold subscription will allow you to use Skype, browse the web, and use the Xbox One’s Game DVR and upload feature. You don’t need Gold to play games, but to make the most out of your new console, it’s essential.
Check out the*subscription options here.
Next page: Subscriptions, second screens, and media streaming
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If you just got a PS4 and aren’t sure what you still need, go ahead and check out our guide. If you just got an Xbox One, perhaps from a benevolent gift-giver or as a present to yourself, you’re within reach of the full next-gen experience, but there are some services and items left that you need to get there.
[h=3]Rechargeable batteries[/h]Unlike the PS4 (and PS3, for that matter) controller, the Xbox One gamepads have yet to make the move to a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Instead, each gamepad uses two standard AA batteries. You can purchase Microsoft’s official Play and Charge accessory, but user reports from around the internet have not been overly positive — the battery life is short, and there is no indicator to let you know when it needs a charge. Some standard rechargeable AA batteries are your best bet.
The internet is fond of Sanyo’s Eneloop batteries, but you can waltz into your local electronics store or pharmacy and grab other popular brands, like Energizer or Duracell. Make sure you pay attention to the charge time, as it can wildly vary — the faster they charge, the more expensive the charger will likely be.
[h=3]A cable package[/h]If you don’t already have cable, your Xbox One is about to get much more expensive, but much more functionality. The Xbox One’s most unique feature is that a cable box can be plugged into it, and the console will act as a cable pass-through. Rather than just saving you an HDMI spot on the back of you television, though, the cable pass-through feature allows you to invoke a cable overlay. You can access your cable while playing games, perhaps docking that night’s marquee NBA matchup while playing*NBA 2K14. Now that your cable is hooked up to your Xbox One, you can also control it with the voice-activated Kinect, changing channels without picking up a remote control.
This is the feature Microsoft touted hard when it debuted the Xbox One, and it even allows you to pass-through any HDMI-capable game console, meaning you can play PS4 games while playing Xbox One games. It’s highly impractical — and too laggy to play anything that involves timing and precision — but amusing nonetheless.
Unfortunately, anything other than basic cable is quite expensive — and depending on your are, basic cable won’t be fun to pay for either. However, if you regularly use your Xbox One but were on the fence about getting a cable subscription, the pass-through feature should help you climb over that fence.
[h=3]Xbox Live Gold[/h]This isn’t news to Xbox fans, but you still need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play games online. A one-year subscription costs $60, and like PS Plus, it works across multiple consoles — the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Along with the ability to play games, a Gold subscription will allow you to use Skype, browse the web, and use the Xbox One’s Game DVR and upload feature. You don’t need Gold to play games, but to make the most out of your new console, it’s essential.
Check out the*subscription options here.
Next page: Subscriptions, second screens, and media streaming
More...
