Xbox One Can See, But Not Speak To, Xbox 360 Friends

[Karloff]

Xbox One Can See, But Not Speak To, Xbox 360 Friends

You can enjoy their rich presence, apparently. No, I don't know what that means either, unless it has something to do with hot fudge.

Come the happy day when Xbox One launches, there will be some folks with the new console that happen to have Xbox Live Friends on the old one. Yes, you will be able to see them, says Microsoft's Marc Whitten. You'll even be able to enjoy their "rich presence", which suggests that Whitten's friends aren't made of the same stuff as my friends, but life would be dull if we were all the same. However if you were hoping to do anything other than text and message those poor souls in Xbox 360 land, you can forget it. Live chat cross-console is out of the question.

The problem here is sound quality. Microsoft has gone the extra mile to ensure that Xbox One's sound is better than the best. "It is night and day compared to chat on the Xbox 360," says Whitten, with audio chat that streams 24 kHz at a 16-bit resolution uncompressed both downstream and upstream. Xbox 360 doesn't have anything like that capability, so anyone using the old console won't be able to voice chat with the new one.

Whitten went on to say something a little odd about seeing friends cross-console. You ought to be able to see what your Xbox One friends are doing even if you're on 360, but "if I go back to Xbox 360 and I have more than 100 friends, it will only show me the subset of my friends who are friends with me on Xbox 360," an issue that comes with the limited 360 friends list. It's a problem that presumably will only affect a subset of players, not the whole base, but it's peculiar to think that an Xbox One player will be able to see and text, but not talk, to 360 buddies, while - under certain circumstances - 360 players won't be able to see their One friends, and will never be able to talk to them.

The friends list hasn't had all its features revealed yet, Whitten notes. "You'll see us add more in this area in the future," he says.

Source: IGN AMA [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/05/ask-microsoft-anything-about-xbox-one]


Permalink

 

[Zeren]

All the more reason to not buy it.

 

[Monsterfurby]

I hate to be that guy, but the headline should have been "Xbox One Can See, But Not Speak To, Xbox 360 Friends" [with the "to" between the commas].

On-topic: more unnecessary complications from Microsoft. Boy, their communication is a joke.

 

[N3squ1ck]

If the pattern of the past weeks goes on ...

Next up: PS4 users can interact with PS3 users and vice versa.

 

[RikuoAmero]

And the reason they can't have either the 360 compress the audio stream once it receives it or better, have the One compress the audio or use a lower grade of audio when you connect to a 360 is because...?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

That headline is misleading. When I first read it I took it to mean you couldn't import your Xbox 360 friends list to your Xbox One. One reflection though, I'm not sure where I got that from.

Still as RikuoAmero said, the reason the Xbox One can't compress the audio at the lower grade when communicating with a 360 is...?

 

[TwoSidesOneCoin]

So, lets make bets as to how long it takes for them to reverse this decision. You'd think with all the 180's they've pulled they'd learn to shut up and just release the console as they like it and THEN deal with the backlash.

I forget who, but someone had said (on this forum btw) that at this point Microsoft is like a lost child in the mall, not knowing whether to stay put and start crying in the middle of the mall, or take the initiative and start looking for mommy on their own like a big boy.

 

[Eiv]

Shame, would love to sent shouty messages declaring everyone as plebs.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Is it technically impossible? Or do they simply not want those filthy 360 voices ruining the Xbone users' ears. Because that's pretty lame. A simple notification saying 'the sound quality in this voice call will be much lower than normal due to limitations on the Xbox 360' would suffice for me. And then we should get the option to turn the notification off for good.

Or maybe they just want 360 users to feel like they're missing out if they can't chat to all their friends on the Xbone?

Either way, it's stupid.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Microsoft release confusingly worded information on Xbox One feature, end their tirade of crap by saying "We'll explain it properly later"

History has taught me we will never hear of this feature again until they cancel it.

 

[Covarr]

This isn't a hard fix. Remove the 100-friend limit on 360 with an update, allow cross-console voice chat and simply make users deal with the difference in sound quality. These are artificial restrictions; they don't make for good excuses.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

If the pattern of the past weeks goes on ...

Next up: PS4 users can interact with PS3 users and vice versa.

Glad to see that I'm not the only one that noticed that particular trend.

Also: Damm ninjas....

 

[RikuoAmero]

Is it technically impossible? Or do they simply not want those filthy 360 voices ruining the Xbone users' ears. Because that's pretty lame. A simple notification saying 'the sound quality in this voice call will be much lower than normal due to limitations on the Xbox 360' would suffice for me. And then we should get the option to turn the notification off for good.

Or maybe they just want 360 users to feel like they're missing out if they can't chat to all their friends on the Xbone?

Either way, it's stupid.

Can't be impossible. If you're using Windows, go into Control Panel, and you can change your sound settings, including the quality of the audio picked up by a microphone. Surely the Xbone having a Windows based OS is capable of doing this as well?

CAPTCHA: smelly socks...yes they are in fact smelly. 'Scuse me, I've gotta do my laundry...

 

[Teoes]

Next week, on You Can't Do That On Xbox One..

I think folks here are right. This is obviously a ploy to increase the reputation of Xbone. Price it so the real plebs can't afford it, then make it so that the lovely rich folks who do, can't speak to said plebs. Not everyone's a winner, but the rich folks are and that's what counts.

Just wait for the price drop - there goes the neighbourhood.

 

[RJ 17]

Well I don't want to speak to anyone who would by an Xbox One anyway

Good, because according to the former president - Glorious Don "Smack My Smiling Face" Mattrick - they didn't want your business in the first place.

 

[Living Contradiction]

*sighs* Microsoft, I realize that you're trying to coax your audience into upgrading. You want consumers to buy your latest widget and are relying on the attraction of exclusivity to seal the deal. I get that.

What you don't seem to grasp is that most of us consumers are heartily sick of being told that we're obsolete if we don't keep pace and buy the latest widget. Saying "Buy our new console or you'll be out in the cold" will not be perceived as a reason to invest hard-earned cash in a sparkling piece of technology; it will be accepted as the latest dick move from a corporation that uses its consumer base as a beta-test group that pays for the privilege.

Just release the console. Please. Then it can break in new and interesting ways and the rest of us can get back to the business of mocking you mercilessly.

 

[Vie]

Wait what?

The 360 can't do 16 bit sound?

I'm sorry? What?

 

[Something Amyss]

Given Microsoft's authoritarian stance of late, we should probably feel lucky it doesn't ban us from ACTUALLY speaking to one another.