The Xbox One is getting bigger. Well, its internal storage is, at least.
Rumors of another version of Microsoft's latest gaming console were stirring in preparation for an announcement next week at E3, but it seems the company will have a lot more to show at its annual press conference. This week, Microsoft announced a new model of the Xbox One sporting 1 TB of storage and a brand new controller.
With games taking up more and more space, especially big titles like Halo: The Master Chief Collection, users could add to the base 500 GB storage by using a external hard drive. Although any hard drive with USB 3.0 support will do, Western Digital came out with a model two months ago for this exact purpose, featuring 2 TB of extra storage for $139.
The new Xbox One, on the other hand, will feature 1 TB for $399, $50 more than the original Xbox One at $349. The low price point, introduced last November as a promotion for holiday sales, is now a permanent fixture, with the 1 TB model hitting shelves on June 16.
More storage isn't the only thing that's new with the Xbox One. The 1 TB model also comes with a redesigned Xbox One controller, now featuring a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The jack was already implemented on the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller, but Xbox owners had to buy an adapter to work with specific headsets that used the 3.5 mm jack. This new controller removes that obstacle and should place it on par with its rival's peripheral.
Other updates to the controller include improvements in the audio quality, better performance on the bumper buttons, and wireless firmware updates to the controller so you don't have to connect it to the console via a microUSB cable.
Even with the focus on the Xbox console, Microsoft is also working on integrating it with Windows 10 next month. Part of the preparation involves new components to work between the two areas, so it's also releasing the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows. Instead of a wired connection to your PC, the adapter can be plugged into a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port and then linked to the controller wirelessly.
It will be available as a standalone product for $24.99, or as a bundle with the new controller for $79.95. Customers will also be able to buy the new controller in standard black or with a new variant called the Xbox One Special Edition Covert Forces Wireless Controller, which features a silver patterned design.
At its original release, the Xbox One was priced at $500, $100 more than the PS4. The low price point was introduced last November just before the holiday season in an effort to sway customers into buying Microsoft's new console. However, sales reports from March showed that the PS4 sold 20.2 million units worldwide. The last time Microsoft released its sales numbers, last November, it reported 10 million units sold. Combine that with an extra five million units sold during the holiday quarter, and Microsoft still has a lot of catching up to do.
Bringing the base model down to a lower price point was a sound move, but making a new version to compete with the PS4's price with double the storage is even better. We'll have to wait and see if Sony has a response to the new model next week at E3.
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