Xbox One: our first look at the new console, controller, and Kinect

After Microsoft’s big reveal, we’ve finally had time to get a closer look at the new Xbox One, the Kinect 2, and the new controller for the new console. For the most part, they’re more tweaks on the existing devices than huge changes to what already exists – the console is a big, wide, flat rectangle that looks more than a little bit like a VCR, though we have to say the two-tone look comes off better in person than it did during the keynote.

The all-black motif is refined and sleek, giving the Xbox One a slightly more serious vibe than the 360 — it’s harkening back to the original Xbox, in a way. The back is lousy with ports, from HDMI to an IR out jack — which may be the One’s hacky solution to controlling the various parts of your home theater system — plus the two prongs for what we can only assume is yet a pretty massive power brick. There are vents everywhere, too, making it clear that there’s an awful lot of power under the hood of the Xbox One. Instead of going smaller or thinner or lighter, Microsoft clearly went more.

The controller has been redesigned, though it looks like it’ll feel familiar to 360 owners. (We tried to pick it up, but got a fast and George Bluth-y “No touching!” warning.) The colored A, B, X, and Y buttons on black backgrounds look great, and nicely accent the otherwise mostly monochrome controller. The Kinect was a bit surprising, simply because it’s so big — from the 1080p camera to the many sensory recognition inputs, there’s a lot to fit in, but the Kinect is big and blocky and may even take up more space in front of your TV than its predecessor. Those hoping for the Wii-like sensor are out of luck here.

Of course, we should caveat that it’s all about the gameplay and the software, and while we were wowed at the event we’ve obviously not had a chance to go and really play with the One. But we’re pretty excited to get a chance.

Dieter Bohn contributed to this report.