I have a whole lot to say about where everyone is placing their battleships, and this is just a bit that I've been thinking about since the XBox One announcement. I want to resist any comment until after E3, but I'm not convinced a lot of this will change, so here goes.

Microsoft is obsessed with this new one being the "one box to rule them all", the way they're pitching it. Their keynote was fuill of "TV" this and that. Their pitch is not so fundamentally and functionally different than that of the PlayStation 4. Microsoft's edge is theoretically in console-exclusive content.

They've been easier to develop for since the beginning of the past generation, too, which helps...but indies are leaving them in droves since XBox 360 XBLA games won't work on the new rig, which is sheer insanity on their part. You're telling me their beast-like new console can't run an emulator runtime so you can play Super Meat Boy? Why kneecap the biggest opportunity for new user adoption in a space where you're already leading?

The move to curb used game sales is not a surprise, and isn't something consumers can do much about if they choose the XBox One as the box in their house.

That's a big "if", and not because hardcore gamers are screaming about used games, nor because it isn't backward compatible.

The true test to how complacent and fully owned their current and future audience is will come in users' acceptance that the new XBox Kinect is "always listening":

In response to a question about whether that functionality means that Kinect is always on, Link said that Kinect is always listening, but in a limited capacity. It also helps ensure developers can count on the peripheral, he said.

"The Kinect has a variety of settings," he said. "You know, it's always available to the system, so ... you can count, as an application developer or a game developer, [that] everyone's going to have a Kinect. You always have that stream available. And then, you know, there are settings, obviously, in the console to be able to change the settings of how your Kinect is used, if you're interested."

The always-on functionality even when the console is powered down comes courtesy of "multiple power states," he said. At its lowest setting, which Microsoft refers to as "wake on voice," the peripheral is "listening" for specific commands.

That creeps the hell out of me, and means I won't have one in the house.

Die-hard Halo fans (along with other XBox-only titles) may very well accept XBox Big Brother One because "that's where Halo is". I desperately want this to be Topic One for this weekend's Critical Path #86.

Oh yeah, Spielberg is doing a live-action Halo TV showthat XBox Live users get some sort of exclusivity on in a way that hasn't been 100% confirmed.