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I'm New To Xbox Megathread : CHRISTMAS 2016 EDITION

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  • 21-10-2016 1:25pm
    #1
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Hey Everyone,

    Every Christmas, we get dozens of new threads, all asking for advice on buying an Xbox One. To stop all those threads from clogging up the main forum, we start the "I'm New To Xbox Megathread : CHRISTMAS 2016 EDITION" thread, a place to combine all the various threads into one place. We had some amazing posters on the forum helping out people with no clue about consoles in the past, and hopefully we'll get the same this year.

    Hopefully people coming into the forum will see this thread and ask their questions here, but if not, the way we'll deal with it is:
    1. Newbie posts new thread
    2. Xbox Sages on the Xbox Forum answer the questions in that thread
    3. After a couple of days, the thread is merged into this one

    Normally, I'd just direct people to the various Megathreads, but they can be pretty intimidating for people who are new to all this, so this is how we'll deal with it over Christmas.

    To everyone coming here for the first time, welcome! We hope that everyone here can help you. As a starting point, have a quick read of our FAQ, your question might already be answered there. It needs to be updated for stuff like the Elite Controller, the Xbox One S, and 4K Televisions, but it's still a good place to start out.

    In general, if you're looking for the cheapest deal going, you should be able to get an Xbox One pretty cheap, but there are also great deals on the Xbox One S, which is smaller, and has support for 4K.

    Here's the most important question from the FAQ, as it's by far the biggest potential problem on opening the Xbox on Christmas day:

    I’ve bought an Xbox One for my child as a Christmas present, do I need to do anything pre-Christmas?
    In order to have the smoothest Christmas morning, yes, you do. Connect the Xbox to your TV, and to your internet, and then turn it on. It will download and install the latest update, which can take some time depending on your internet connection. Once that’s complete, you should then install any games that you bought with it. In some Xbox One bundles, the game comes as a code that allows you to download the game.

    Some games are up to 50 or 60 GBs in size, which can mean a very long download time on slow broadband. If you have slow broadband, you might be better off bringing it around to a friends house with better broadband.

    Another thing to note is that even the controllers will sometime need an update. (Thanks Stone Deaf!)
    Here's a quick guide to kicking that off:
    1. Go to Settings.
    2. Select Devices & accessories.
    3. Select the controller you want to update.
    4. Select Update, and then select Continue.

    CatInABox


«13

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    #2
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Giving this a bump so folks see it, maybe a sticky for a few weeks?


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    #3
    Rorok
    Closed Accounts Posts: 699 ✭✭✭Rorok


    Is there any games going to be exclusive to the S and/or Scorpio, my aunties a bit clueless on these things and I want to make sure I'm give her the right information, and this seems to be the new place to ask questions for now


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    #4
    TitianGerm
    Registered Users Posts: 27,902 ✭✭✭✭TitianGerm


    Rorok wrote: »
    Is there any games going to be exclusive to the S and/or Scorpio, my aunties a bit clueless on these things and I want to make sure I'm give her the right information, and this seems to be the new place to ask questions for now

    Scorpio isn't out until next Christmas. All games should be playable on every model of the One.


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    #5
    ratracer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,226 ✭✭✭ratracer


    Hi folks,

    Thanks for this thread. I haven't bought a console, or used them much since the original PS1 :eek:

    Anyway, the young lad wants FIFA17 for christmas, ( to go with FIFA14, 15 and 16!!). He has an XBOX360, but really wants 'the journey' part of '17, which I understand is not available on 360. So Santa will probably have to make an XBOX One S I'd say.

    My question is regarding the HDD size. He mainly only plays FIFA at the moment, and doesn't play online games or download much yet. I realise that is likely to change in the next few years, so in the lifetime of a new console, ( ~5yrs) is the 500GB version big enough, or is the 1TB one required, or worth the money?? How much memory do games take up?

    TIA

    ratracer


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    #6
    TitianGerm
    Registered Users Posts: 27,902 ✭✭✭✭TitianGerm


    ratracer wrote: »
    Hi folks,

    Thanks for this thread. I haven't bought a console, or used them much since the original PS1 :eek:

    Anyway, the young lad wants FIFA17 for christmas, ( to go with FIFA14, 15 and 16!!). He has an XBOX360, but really wants 'the journey' part of '17, which I understand is not available on 360. So Santa will probably have to make an XBOX One S I'd say.

    My question is regarding the HDD size. He mainly only plays FIFA at the moment, and doesn't play online games or download much yet. I realise that is likely to change in the next few years, so in the lifetime of a new console, ( ~5yrs) is the 500GB version big enough, or is the 1TB one required, or worth the money?? How much memory do games take up?

    TIA

    ratracer

    500GB should be fine. You can always plug in an external drive once the main drive fills up.

    Max posted this over in the Bargain Alert Thread

    Xbox One S (500GB) with FIFA + Forza Horizon 3 + Rise of the Tomb Raider https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MQEB3VR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_friiybM2BKPQ0


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    #7
    2012paddy2012
    Registered Users Posts: 2,880 ✭✭✭2012paddy2012


    Son wants to get Xbox one for Xmas. He has a perfectly good Xbox 360. These Xbox one's from what I can see googling are over a year old. Is it necessary to have a Xbox one just as his online friends have one? Do they not do the same thing as regards playing on line etc


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    #8
    claiva
    Registered Users Posts: 767 ✭✭✭claiva


    2012paddy2012 wrote: »
    Son wants to get Xbox one for Xmas. He has a perfectly good Xbox 360. These Xbox one's from what I can see googling are over a year old. Is it necessary to have a Xbox one just as his online friends have one? Do they not do the same thing as regards playing on line etc
    If his friends are playing online with the one, he will need a one to play with them. The platform's are not playable against one another except for backwards compatible games which I think can play against one another


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    #9
    maximoose
    Registered Users Posts: 9,197 ✭✭✭maximoose


    Yep, he can't play with his friends apart from select games.

    Xbox 360 is 11 years old at this stage and new games are grinding to a halt.

    Black Friday should have some great deals on the Xbox one, there's a thread here that is usually updated pretty quickly with the best deals:

    Xbox Bargain Alerts (Games/Hardware/Accessories)


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    #10
    baby and crumble
    Registered Users Posts: 8,512 ✭✭✭baby and crumble


    In all honesty I felt quite like you, had an old 360 that was grand, had it for years. Thought upgraded would be a bit of a waste. I recently bought a second hand XBox One and I am so delighted. It's like a whole new world. If his mates are all on it, he won't be able to play them. And technically I do believe that the 360 is actually discontinued as of earlier this year. So it makes sense to upgrade for him, especially if it's a hobby.


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    #11
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    This one has been pretty much answered in those few posts 2012paddy2012. For what it's worth, I feel it's worth the upgrade, particularly if his friends all have an Xbox One.

    There's two models of the Xbox One now, the original model and the Xbox One S. I'd recommend the One S at this stage, as it's more future proof that the original. Slightly more expensive though.

    If he has Xbox Live Gold(I'd say he does iff he's been playing with friends), then you should make a point of downloading the free Games with Gold each month. There's two free 360 and two free Xbox One games each month. You can find out more here.

    I've moved this thread into our Christmas mega thread, where anyone looking for Christmas advice can ask anything. It'll also stop loads of the same type of thread from cropping up over and over!


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    #12
    ratracer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,226 ✭✭✭ratracer


    I'm quite happy to have picked up an Xbox one s in Argos today. I got the blue console with FIFA17 and a second controller for €289. This was a pretty good deal I think, and I was checking Black Friday offers in a lots of places yesterday.


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    #13
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,994 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    Just to drop this in here, if your child has asked for an Xbox one, the in all likelihood that's what their friends have. If you're getting on for then as a surprise, it might be worth sounding them out to see where their friends are playing. A lot of folk moved from the 360 to the ps4, and it'd be a shame if they had to go making new friends all over again.


    Plus, kids can be little gits. I remember from my own youth how we slagged the one lad in class who had a snes when all the rest of us had mega drives.


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    #14
    ratracer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,226 ✭✭✭ratracer


    So I picked up the console. Can I just power it up and download any updates and FIFA17 without having to log in to Xbox servers?

    I want to help Santa by having the console ready to play on Christmas morning, without using kids Xbox ID's if possible. Also my home internet speed is terrible so I'd hope to download at a friends house.

    Thanks for help and advice so far


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    #15
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    ratracer wrote: »
    So I picked up the console. Can I just power it up and download any updates and FIFA17 without having to log in to Xbox servers?

    I want to help Santa by having the console ready to play on Christmas morning, without using kids Xbox ID's if possible. Also my home internet speed is terrible so I'd hope to download at a friends house.

    Thanks for help and advice so far

    Not entirely sure if you can download games without being signed in unfortunately! Pretty sure updates can be though. You'd also want to apply the FIFA 17 code to whichever account he uses, but it may show up as owned in an email or something.


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    #16
    WarpAsylum
    Registered Users Posts: 481 ✭✭WarpAsylum


    ratracer wrote:
    So I picked up the console. Can I just power it up and download any updates and FIFA17 without having to log in to Xbox servers?

    ratracer wrote:
    I want to help Santa by having the console ready to play on Christmas morning, without using kids Xbox ID's if possible. Also my home internet speed is terrible so I'd hope to download at a friends house.

    ratracer wrote:
    Thanks for help and advice so far

    If you want to download the game beforehand (which is a good idea considering what can happen Xmas day connection wise) whichever XBL account the game is downloaded with will "own" the game.
    So it'll have to be your kid's one...

    I'm in the same position with my 9yo daughter.

    I'll be updating the Xbox and putting her live account on it before Xmas. As far as Santa goes, any questions asked about how her got her profile on there, I'll just say "Santa's magic".

    With regards to installing games, I'll leave that as close to Xmas as possible.

    She'll have a digital download of Minecraft. As I don't have that installed on my Xbox One, if I was to install it on her XBox One, then whenever she signed into mine between now and Xmas, she'd see Minecraft in her "ready to install" section.

    I don't know if it would show up for her when she's logged into her Xbox 360.

    So anyway, I think you could turn on and update the Xbox with any account, one that you make up yourself, but when it comes to installing the game, it'll need to be done under you kid's account, to make sure they "own" it.


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    #17
    WarpAsylum
    Registered Users Posts: 481 ✭✭WarpAsylum


    CatInABox wrote:
    You'd also want to apply the FIFA 17 code to whichever account he uses, but it may show up as owned in an email or something.
    Good shout!!!

    What kind of access do you have to your kid's account?

    Like, I've access to my daughter's XBL account and her Gmail, so I could do this while she's asleep and just delete stuff....


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    #18
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Jesus lads you're giving me nightmares of whats to come in a few years time for me, all I have to do this year this keep a peppa pig dolly and a few wee bits hidden and there yee are talking about 9 year olds spotting stuff on their ready to install lists :eek:


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    #19
    ratracer
    Registered Users Posts: 3,226 ✭✭✭ratracer


    WarpAsylum wrote: »
    Good shout!!!

    What kind of access do you have to your kid's account?

    Like, I've access to my daughter's XBL account and her Gmail, so I could do this while she's asleep and just delete stuff....

    Thanks for this. I have access to his email, I presume I'll just have to reset his XBL account password and then delete any emails sent, its risky though, trying to keep the 'magic' alive.


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    #20
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Oh yee could always say maybe santy is pre-installing should the worst come to the worst, if they are cute enough to be spotting emails etc then they'll buy that santy has to pre-install stuff for them.


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    #21
    WarpAsylum
    Registered Users Posts: 481 ✭✭WarpAsylum


    Deleted User wrote:
    Oh yee could always say maybe santy is pre-installing should the worst come to the worst, if they are cute enough to be spotting emails etc then they'll buy that santy has to pre-install stuff for them.


    Or, maybe the kid could include their gamertag and password on their Santa letter so that he can install everything they need beforehand?
    If they've sent it already, maybe suggest a follow-up letter?
    That is, if it isn't a surprise altogether...

    There's a few ways to get creative with it.


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    #22
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Jesus lads you're giving me nightmares of whats to come in a few years time for me, all I have to do this year this keep a peppa pig dolly and a few wee bits hidden and there yee are talking about 9 year olds spotting stuff on their ready to install lists :eek:

    Speaking of, if you are going all out and trying to hide everything until the big day, you can select the game in the ready to install list and click "Hide from the list". It'll only hide the game, so to install it, you'll have to find it in the store and install it from there then.

    The full on sneaky way to install a game and have it ready to go on the big day would be to attach an external drive, install the game to that, then disconnect and hide the external drive. On Xmas morning then, just reconnect the external and hey presto, game is installed straight away.


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    #23
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,994 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    Jesus lads you're giving me nightmares of whats to come in a few years time for me, all I have to do this year this keep a peppa pig dolly and a few wee bits hidden and there yee are talking about 9 year olds spotting stuff on their ready to install lists :eek:

    Wait till you're tracking down things like a hatchimal. I'd have found it easier to source an ak47 and a pound of c4.


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    #24
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »
    Wait till you're tracking down things like a hatchimal. I'd have found it easier to source an ak47 and a pound of c4.

    You can always tell the parents who've been asked for the must have toy, they're the ones walking around town with a haunted look on their face, going into every shop, even ones that have no toys, asking "Just thought I'd check, do you have the frozen doll/hatchimal/whatever my kid wants? No? You're a sandwich shop? Ah, that explains the lack of toys.... but you're sure you don't have one?"


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    #25
    Max Mafioso
    Registered Users Posts: 2,247 ✭✭✭Max Mafioso


    ratracer wrote: »
    Thanks for this. I have access to his email, I presume I'll just have to reset his XBL account password and then delete any emails sent, its risky though, trying to keep the 'magic' alive.

    Excuse my ignorance but I thought if you reset a password you have to create a new one, wont they know something is up if they try to logon to their email or account and their password no longer works?


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    #26
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,994 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    I'll drop this in here as well as the general thread - when you're setting up the console for the first time, bear in mind that the controllers may also need an update. This can be done from the settings menu - devices and accessories.

    I had an issue with my controllers lately where they'd unpair whenever I turned off the console. The update has fixed this.

    Its a bit annoying, as you never see a popup telling you theres a controller update available (at least I haven't seen one)


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    #27
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »
    I'll drop this in here as well as the general thread - when you're setting up the console for the first time, bear in mind that the controllers may also need an update. This can be done from the settings menu - devices and accessories.

    I had an issue with my controllers lately where they'd unpair whenever I turned off the console. The update has fixed this.

    Its a bit annoying, as you never see a popup telling you theres a controller update available (at least I haven't seen one)

    I've lashed that into the first post, thanks Stone Deaf!

    When I set up my One S just recently, I was prompted to update the white controller that came with it twice, so it does do it, but maybe only for the new controllers?


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    #28
    Andrew76
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,191 Mod ✭✭✭✭Andrew76


    It'll also prompt you to update the controller if you plug the MS chatpad accessory into it (or did for me with the Elite controller anyway).


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    #29
    Macy0161
    Registered Users Posts: 9,318 ✭✭✭Macy0161


    Santa brought the children an xbox one last year, along with Now That's What I Call Sing microphone pack. Santa this year is bringing Now That's What I Call Sing 2, and more microphones. What microphones do I need to be looking at? I thought they were generic, but then reviews on Amazon suggest otherwise... So what do I need to get?


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    #30
    Max Mafioso
    Registered Users Posts: 2,247 ✭✭✭Max Mafioso


    Do they have Smartphones?
    I think I read that there is an app you can get to use your Smartphone as a microphone


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    #31
    Macy0161
    Registered Users Posts: 9,318 ✭✭✭Macy0161


    Max Mafioso wrote: »
    Do they have Smartphones?
    I think I read that there is an app you can get to use your Smartphone as a microphone
    No, and not for many more years! Will any USB mic do? Such as these... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AFQ5ZPY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE


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