Xbox One S 500GB Console - Minecraft Bundle [Discontinued]

I'm a late-comer to gaming and was really excited about getting this system, even though I absolutely loved my old Xbox 360E. There are so many pluses to upgrading to the Xbox One S, especially since the price on these bundles have gone down since the original Xbox One's release. The bundle I bought is the Minecraft bundle and it comes with codes to download Minecraft for Xbox One, plus the Favorites and Builder's packs. It comes in white, which was the color I wanted, and the slim size fits perfectly in my entertainment center, which was a major factor in choosing the S over the full-size console since my space is limited. The Xbox One S has a faster processor and downloads games much faster than my Xbox 360E. It also has 4K video capabilities and will play Blu-ray, another plus since I don't own a Blu-ray player. I don't have 4K television yet, but the fact that the capability is there for the future is another plus. I subscribe to Xbox Live and, if you're coming from the Xbox 360, you'll notice that the interface is a bit different (it's Windows 10), but not that hard to get used to once you start exploring. All my old profile information was right there as soon as I signed in and, as I understand it, you can actually be signed in to Live on both your Xbox 360 and the Xbox One at the same time. Although I haven't actually tried that yet, I definitely see that as another plus if you plan on keeping your old Xbox 360 for the kids or grandkids to play on.I was a little concerned about storage space because this bundle comes with the 500GB console, rather than the terabyte or 2 terabyte versions and Xbox One games are a lot bigger than Xbox 360 games. But with the Xbox One being made by Microsoft, you can use just about any external USB hard drive over 256GB, simply connect it, auto-format it and you have more storage. I figured out the size requirements for the games I definitely know I'm going to be buying and playing (you can look up how many gigabytes each game requires in the Microsoft online store) and I'll still have about 150GB of storage left over, so I'm good to go for awhile. An easy off-the-top-of-your-head formula is to figure anywhere from 20 to 35 GB for a large open-world game like Witcher III: Wild Hunt or Skyrim Definitive Edition, 1 to 2 GB for games like Minecraft and 2 to 7GB for basic platformers and other games. Downloaded games will need even more space than games you play off disc.Another plus for me is that many of the games that have been remastered for Xbox One (like Skyrim Special Edition and Minecraft for Xbox One) have much of the DLC and extras included for free. Also, many mods are available for Skyrim and also Witcher III: Wild Hunt that you can download for free. On Xbox Live, I now get four free games per month with my Games with Gold subscription, instead of just two - two games for Xbox One and two for Xbox 360 - because the monthly game selections for Xbox 360 are backwards compatible. (I save space by only downloading the games I really want to play, because the free games can eat up your gigabytes really fast.) My biggest reason, however, for upgrading to the Xbox One is that there are several games exclusive to Xbox One, like Styx and Far Cry Primal, that don't have an Xbox 360 version and I wanted to play them. Backwards compatibility was also a factor because I'd invested so heavily in games for the 360.This bundle also comes with a free 14-day trial of Xbox Live, which I highly recommend trying. I don't know that you absolutely need it to get system updates to your console and controller or game updates, but I love Live because there is a lot of value-added content that you don't get without a membership. Like the four free game downloads each month (Games with Gold), plus your game stats and all your game information are saved in the Cloud. So if you get a different console you can just connect to your account and everything's still there. The one downside I can see is that if you decide not to keep your Xbox Live Membership, it's my understanding that you lose access to any downloaded through Games with Gold or any indie games you've purchased, which is kind of a bummer, whereas on Xbox 360 you only lose access to the indie games. As far as the expense of an Xbox Live membership, I just always wait for a sale on the yearly memberships. If you keep your eye out on Gamestop, Amazon or eBay, you'll find Xbox Live cards on sale at time for as low as $40 instead of the regular $59.99 a year. The yearly membership is totally worth it and much cheaper than forking out $9.99 for the monthly membership. You will need a good internet connection, like cable or fast broadband, to fully enjoy it.Xbox 360 games with backwards compatibility are being updated often with more games being added. So many of my Xbox 360 games, including ones I downloaded on my 360, I can now also play on the Xbox One. But I know there are some that likely won't ever be updated (at present, it looks like Far Cry 4 will just be on the 360), so for now I'm keeping my Xbox 360. But, for me, this console was totally worth the upgrade and a great pal for my 360. If you don't already have an Xbox 360, you're not likely to miss anything because you'll totally love this Xbox One S, especially if you play Minecraft or have kids in the family who do!UPDATE: I've since found that Far Cry 4 is available for Xbox One. I also wanted to point out that the actual hard drive space you're getting on the Xbox One S Minecraft bundle is a little over 364 gigabytes because of the space the OS and system files take up on the hard drive. That's still a lot of space for games, but not actually 500 gigabytes as advertised. In fact, there is always a certain amount of hard drive space allocated to system files and for formatting. Also, I forgot to mention another feature of the Xbox One S is its an internal power supply, rather than an external brick, like on the Xbox 360. While this has its advantages, if the internal power supply were to fail, I can't simply go out and buy a new power brick like I can for my Xbox 360. Not a deal-breaker for me, but I just wanted to point that out. I have noticed, though, that my Xbox One runs cooler than my Xbox 360. I'm still very satisfied with my choice to upgrade and would highly recommend the Xbox One.

The Xbox One S is a good buy if you're buying an Xbox One anyway. It's not really much of an upgrade over the Xbox One, as it's simply a slimmed-down version with a few differences in the port configuration, slightly faster hardware (not noticeable), and the new BlueTooth game controller. As well, it does play videos and Blu-Ray movies at 4K and HDR. This does NOT mean that it plays games in 4K - it doesn't. Additionally, 4K and HDR support are a bit dependent on the TV you have. If you're looking for 4K and HDR support, find out if your TV is capable of making use of it, and verify that the TV and the Xbox One will work together well with regard to it. There have been reports by some that their particular 4K/HDR TV doesn't work well with the Xbox One. Bear in mind that this can change with console updates.In case you don't know, 4K is a term that describes a set of standards for video resolution. Essentially, it provides a screen with at least four times as much detail as a regular 1080p HD screen (the normal TV standard most people have at this point). There are different 4K standards, so be sure this console supports the one your TV uses.HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. HDR essentially makes it possible to see more detail in the really bright and really dark areas, provides better contrast for more "pop", and makes it so highlights aren't blown-out and lowlights aren't washed-out. True HDR requires specific standards to be met, and some specific TVs that claim to support HDR actually don't meet those standards. Because of this, if you're wanting to get an HDR television in conjunction with the Xbox One S, make sure it meets all HDR standards. Also, it's important to understand that HDR only works on games and movies made to support it.Both 4K and HDR were a bit buggy when the Xbox One S was first released months ago. They've gotten better, but understand that a dedicated 4K Blu-Ray player will likely do a better job if that's all you're after.As a console, the Xbox One S is amazing if it has the games you want to play. As a media center, it's pretty good, with most of the "Smart TV" apps like Netflix, Amazon, Crackle, Pandora, Hulu, Plex, etc. As a 4K HDR Blu-Ray player, it's capable, but falls short of a standalone player.

I am an old school gamer. . . grew up on Atari and Nintendo. When I got to college I got a Play Station, and spent endless hours playing NCAA football and GTA San Andreas. Well years have passed and I haven't had a gaming system for about 10 years. My kids however have gotten addicted to Minecraft, so for their birthdays I got them an Xbox. This is a great system, very easy to setup. I read some reviews about being mad because they had to create Microsoft Accounts for their kids, but if your kids were already playing Minecraft on their phones/tablets you probably created them an account already. If not, it takes two seconds to create one. For my kids it was the way to go, since they already had Microsoft accounts, and thus it pulled in all of their friends lists, etc. They love playing the Xbox, and all they play is Minecraft. It only comes with one controller, and the controllers only run on AA batteries, so I would recommend buying a rechargeable battery pack/station (about $20 on Amazon). The best part is I can play video games again as well. . . since this is not only a great system for kids, it is great for adults like me who still enjoy video games. My kids are 8 and 5 and play it just fine, no issues. Please know if you want your kids to be able to play online, it is an extra cost of about $60 per year. I hope this review helped you out, but feel free to ask any questions if I can help.