More than just a gaming station

It was a tough choice. I could either play Gears of War 4 or

Halo5: Guardians. And before you snicker, let me just say this was necessary to take the Microsoft X box One X (~44,990) through it spaces.

Some 48 hours ago, Ihad unpacked the console. The first thing that struck me was the weight. Despite its handy size, the console was heavy. But it looked smart in matte black, and came with a 14-day membership to X box Live Gold and one-month subscription to X box Game Pass, absolute mus ts if you don’ t want to spend a packet on games each month. To this, I added an EA Access pass (~315 a month, excluding taxes). And I was set.

The first time I turned the console on, exhilarating music blasted though the speakers. Volume turned down, I got tot he business of playing Forza Horizon

3, where I could gape with wonder at the beauty Down Under. Next, I downloaded Rise of the Tomb

Raider. The play of shadow and light in this game, which is a good measure of the graphics hardware, was top-class on my Samsung 4KTV. That said, filling in password sin 4 K on the screen made me get up from the couch— I could read them only up close.

I had to wait awhile before I could get on with my favourite games— massive downloads stood in my way. Soon, Ihad nearly exhausted the 1 TB of space the console comes with, forcing me to make the choice. Finally, I played Halo 5: Guardians for a while before un installing it and opting for Gears of War 4. Hours of button-smashing left my fingers tired but mind refreshed. And I also liked streaming games from the console to my Windows 10 PC.

The XboxOneX, though, is more than just a gaming station; while I didn’ t have a UH D 4 K disc around, my 4K version of the original Star Wars trilogy was a treat. In the limited time I used the console, I was impressed with its 4 K and multimedia capabilities.

The X box One X is for those who want a butter-smooth gaming experience and a capable media centre. While it is possibly the most powerful game console at present, its rivals have more exclusive titles.