If the Xbox One isn't already near the top of your holiday wish list, it should be.

    With Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox One, due out this Friday, it's clear the company is gunning for the living room, marrying TV viewing, game play, and Internet-connected services to an unprecedented degree. At $499, it may cost $100 more than the Sony (SNE) PlayStation 4 that was released last week, but the extra cash nets users a next-generation user experience, including menu navigation and gameplay driven by voice recognition and gesture.

    With this device, Microsoft wants to own the living room in a way the company's previous products never could, with more advanced hardware and software that juggles everything from playing games to scanning a player's skeletal frame and musculature. It's the first time in a while you'll be excited to see the Microsoft logo when you rip open the wrapping paper.

    The hardware. One word: huge. The Xbox One is a beast, dwarfing the PlayStation 4 and Wii U and most other consoles of recent years. (It's so large in fact, it'll challenge old-school VCR boxes in sheer size.) There are some nice accents on the jet-back plastic console up-close -- a two-tone juxtaposition of matte and shiny textures, a grill top that covers half the device, some silver chrome, and a touch-activated power button doubling as a logo -- but the Xbox One's industrial design is more utilitarian than looker. The same goes for the new Kinect 2 motion-sensing bar, roughly the size of a Febreze can and meant to sit closer to the television.

    The controller bears a strong resemblance to the Xbox 360's, but the look and feel has been refined. The two handles on either end are slightly more contoured for holding. Buttons click in an appreciably more premium-feeling way. (In the particular, the direction pad has been redesigned and feels a lot less cheap and a lot more usable.) Microsoft also integrated four vibration motors instead of two this time around. So instead of the entire controller rumbling, developers can make the sensation more localized. It's a very subtle distinction but one that adds to the immersiveness of gameplay during games like Forza Motorsport 5, as players take corners. The controller isn't as ergonomic as the PlayStation 4's, which wins my personal award for best-feeling console controller ever, but players won't grouse about discomfort here, either.

    如果Xbox One还没成为你节日心愿单上最想要的礼物，那它应该占据这个位置。

    美国时间本周五，微软公司（Microsoft）将推出Xbox One。很明显微软这次是瞄准了客厅有备而来，将看电视、玩游戏和上网这三者以空前程度融为一体。这台设备售价为499美元，要比上周索尼公司（Sony）推出的PlayStation 4贵100美元，但是多出来的这些钱却能让用户获得下一代的用户体验，包括菜单浏览、用语音识别和手势驱动的游戏设置。

    微软的雄心是，凭借这台设备，以其以前产品从未做到的方式占领客厅，既靠更先进的硬件，也通过从玩游戏到扫描玩家骨骼和肌肉的无所不能的软件。这将是一段时间以来，大家第一次在撕开包装纸后因为看到微软的标识而激动万分。

    硬件。形容它就一个字：大！Xbox One就是一头巨兽，让PlayStation 4、Wii U和近几年出品的绝大多数游戏机都相形见绌（实际上它的净尺寸之大完全可以和老式录像机相匹敌）。仔细端详会发现，这台墨黑色的塑料游戏机颇有特色——它采用了哑光和镜面混搭的材质，覆盖机身一半面积的顶盖为格栅式，一些地方采用了银色的镀鉻层，触摸式电源开关同时也兼做品牌标识——不过Xbox One的工业设计更偏于实用，而不仅仅是为了美观。全新的Kinect 2动作感应操纵杆也是如此，它的尺寸几乎和除臭剂罐子一样大，就是为了和电视机离得更近些。

    手柄和Xbox 360很像，但外观和手感都进行了优化。两端的两个控键表面波纹处理得更到位，握持更舒适。按钮按起来明显感觉更高档（特别需要指出的是，方向垫经过了重新设计，感觉再也不是那么廉价了，实用性也强多了）。微软这次还把振动电机从原来的两个增加为四个，这样游戏开发者就不必让整个手柄都震动，而将游戏带来的震动感局限于局部。这是一个非常微小的调整，但它能让玩家在玩《极限竞速5》（Forza Motorsport 5）这类游戏时更加身临其境，比如过弯时就能体会到这种不同。这个手柄的人体工学不像PlayStation 4的那样到位，后者这方面让我觉得是所有游戏机中做得登峰造极的一款，不过玩家们也不会觉得微软的新产品太差劲。

    The software. In recent years, Microsoft has pushed a visual experience based on flat, two-dimensional tiles. Windows Phone pioneered it, Windows 8 followed, and so does Xbox One. It's clean, minimal and easy-on-the eyes. And while learning how to navigate around the PlayStation 4's menus took less than five minutes, getting around the Xbox One was even quicker -- it's just more intuitive.

    Getting set up was a thoroughly simple, though lengthy process, with a series of software updates that required installation before I could get going. (A spokesperson for the company indicated consumers won't have to download the same updates or wait nearly as long.) With the Xbox 360, the Kinect was only required for a subset of games. Here, the Kinect is technically not mandatory either -- a change in policy from a company statement this spring. But given how each unit comes packaged with one, not to mention that the Xbox One and several launch games use voice recognition, and the Kinect feels all-but-essential to get the most from Microsoft's new device. It's not mandatory that users issue voice commands to navigate around, but in some cases, it's actually easier. For one, commanding the device to power up by saying "Xbox On" -- which it does in around 10 seconds -- sure saves me the small hassle of walking back-and-forth across the room. The same goes for the other tasks like movie playback. Telling the Xbox to fast-forward and turn on closed-captioning is easier to do via voice than fiddling with the controller and for once, feels less like a gimmick.

    In other cases, voice recognition still doesn't quite cut it. For now, the Kinect seems fine with basic commands -- going to the console's main screen, switching between apps, and actual video playback -- but getting from Point A to Point B in Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu entirely by voice sometimes felt like it took twice the time it normally would if I had stuck with using the controller, even after Microsoft recommended I re-calibrate Kinect to better pick up my voice. There are clearly kinks to be worked out, so for now, the best way to get around may yet be a combination of button presses and voice.

    Microsoft is pushing the Xbox One not just as next-generation gaming device but as serious home entertainment hub. By hooking up a cable or satellite box to the console, users can browse programming, change channels, as well as raise and lower volume by issuing basic voice commands such as "Xbox, volume up." A new software feature called "Snap" serves as Microsoft's interactive take on TV's "picture-in-picture" feature. It's a vertical pane summoned by voice or controller to the right side of the television screen where users can have something else running at the same time: TV, music, video and so on. It worked mostly as advertised, although in a few tests, the movie Man of Steel seriously stuttered in the Snap pane, while I played a game on the main screen. In other cases, the film played smoothly. (Microsoft says the performance issue will be fixed by launch.)

    No new console would be compelling without a solid stable of games. As I mentioned last week in my PS4 review, many of that console's initial titles, including Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Battlefield 4 will also be available for Xbox One on the first day, and indeed, the former is already available for older consoles, too.

    软件。近年来，微软一直在推广依托于扁平化的二维图块的视觉体验。Windows Phone是开路先锋，Windows 8紧随其后，Xbox One也亦步亦趋。它简洁干净、易于识别。如果说浏览PlayStation 4的菜单用不了五分钟，那掌握Xbox One的就更快了——它的菜单更加直观灵敏。

    设置是个非常简单、但比较费时间的过程，运行前需要安装一系列软件更新（公司发言人称，消费者将不需要下载这些更新或等这么长时间）。对Xbox 360来说，只有一些小游戏才要用到Kinect。对Xbox One来说，Kinect在技术上也不是必备的——从公司今年春季的一个声明看，这是政策上的一个改变。但考虑到每台游戏机包装里都带有一个Kinect，更不用说Xbox One和几款首发游戏都要用语音识别，要想从这款设备中获得最大乐趣，Kinect感觉就是必不可少的了。用户并不是非要用语音命令才能浏览各种功能，但在某些情况下，这确实更容易些。比如，说一句“Xbox启动吧”就能让它开启——它需要约十秒钟执行这一命令——这确实能让我免去为了开启它而必须在房间里前后走动的小麻烦。对其他任务，如回放电影，也可以使用这个功能。通过说话让Xbox快进，同时开启隐藏字幕要比用手柄操纵更容易，而且这时候会让人感觉这项功能不是那么徒有虚名。

    而在其他方面，语音识别还是不怎么管用。Kinect现在似乎只对一些基本命令有反应——到游戏机主屏，在应用间切换以及视频回放——但在网飞（Netflix）或Hulu的视频上要通过语音下令从A点到B点，有时候感觉比我用手柄操作要慢上两倍。甚至就在微软建议我重新调校Kinect、让它能更好地识别我的声音之后，它也还是老样子。显然它还需要进一步解决这类问题，就现在而言，最好的操作方式可能还是得把按键和语音结合起来用。

    微软并不只是把Xbox One当成下一代游戏机来推广的，它是真正的家庭娱乐中心。通过将有线电视或卫星机顶盒和游戏机相连，用户可浏览节目、换频道，也能用“Xbox，调大声音”这类基本的语音命令调高或调低声音。一项名为“快照”（Snap）的软件新功能充当了微软类似电视“画中画”功能的互动模块。它是一个位于电视屏幕右侧的垂直面板，可通过语音命令或手柄来使用。用户可用它来同时运行几种内容：电视、音乐和视频等等。它基本上如广告所宣称的那么管用，但在有几次测试中却不尽如人意。比如，有一次我在主屏幕上玩游戏，快照面板中正在播放的电影《钢铁侠》（Man of Steel ）出现了严重的拖影现象。在其他情况下，电影的播放十分流畅（微软表示，等到这款设备正式推出的时候，这种性能问题将会得到解决）。

    任何一款新游戏机，如果没有一批靠谱的游戏，它都没法让人趋之若鹜。正如我上周在PS4的测评中所提到的，这款游戏机上首推的许多游戏，包括《刺客信条4：黑旗与战场4》（Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Battlefield 4），Xbox One发布首日也会有。而实际上，这款游戏也推出了针对老款机型的版本。

    Xbox One has two killer exclusive titles. Ryse: Son of Rome starts off feeling like a deceptively simple and predictable hack-and-slash action adventure but gradually layers on more complex gameplay, introducing new moves and strategies for players to earn experience, customize their warrior's skills, and execute entertaining execution kills. And car aficionados will likely spend tens of hours racing and tuning up their cars in Forza Motorsport 5, where the gameplay is as superficial or as deep as the player's skill level.

    The verdict. A new console may live or die based on its initial games, and here is where the Xbox One trumps the PlayStation 4. Both Ryse and Forza Motorsport are the kind of graphical showcases that should move consoles throughout the holiday season.

    Microsoft and Sony are positioning their consoles as multi-purpose entertainment hubs for the living room, and some consumers may make their decision simply based on price. (After all, the PlayStation 4 is $100 less.) But if Microsoft can iron out some performance quirks around voice recognition and Snap, the decision won't be too hard: it's far easier to glimpse the future potential in the Xbox One, starting with 10 seconds of time and the simple two-word voice command: "Xbox on."        

    Xbox One有两款杀手级的独家游戏。《罗马之子》刚开始比较具有迷惑性，似乎只是一个简单的、可以预知情节的砍砍杀杀的动作游戏。但渐渐地，随着图层的不断展开，它开始变得复杂起来，逐渐推出让玩家获取经验值的新动作和战略，让他们的战士获得度身定制的技能，执行有趣的砍杀任务。而车迷们可能会花上几十个钟头在《极限竞速5》里赛车和改装车，它可以随着玩家技巧水平的不同而变得同样简单或深入。

    结论。一款新游戏机会因为始发游戏而遭遇热卖或滞销两种不同的命运，这正是Xbox One胜过PlayStation 4的地方。《罗马之子》和《极限竞速》都是极其出色的经典游戏，它们应该有希望让这款机子在假期大卖。

    微软和索尼都将自己的游戏机定位为专为客厅打造的多功能娱乐中心，但是有些消费者可能只会根据价格来做出决定（毕竟PlayStation要便宜100美元）。但是如果微软能消除语音识别和快照功能的一些性能问题，要做出选择也并不困难：要看清Xbox One的未来增长潜力要容易得多，只需要10秒时间，再说出一句最简单的指令：“启动吧，Xbox！”。(财富中文网）

    译者：清远