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Your new Xbox One won't do much without the day one patch
Imagine it's November 22nd: You've got your shiny new Xbox One from the local games merchant, you've got it home, and it's time to video game. Aw shucks, the internet is out! But that's okay, as you've got yourself a physical game disc ready to go. Sadly, it looks like you've got yourself a $500 paperweight until your ISP comes back online. "Functionally, you will be able to do very little without taking the day one update," Microsoft senior director of product management Albert Penello told Engadget in a recent interview. We posed just such a scenario to him, and asked what we could do with an Xbox One out of the box. "Nothing. You need the Day One update," he said. We've known since June that the Xbox One would require such an update, but not how comprehensive it will be. "A lot of the apps come with the day one update because they wouldn't have even been done," Penello added. "You're gonna need to take this update. It's not gonna be really an optional thing'." Essentially, the Xbox One currently being manufactured contains a relatively old version of the console's operating system, and thus the need for such an update. That even games are unplayable may seem a bit extreme, but it's a measure of the system's software being updated until the very last minute. Fingers crossed your internet service is strong as we head toward launch later this month!
Sony's PlayStation 4 will require a Day One update, mobile app to be released pre-launch
Sony's PlayStation 4 US launch is now less than a month away and -- surprise, surprise -- it's going to require a Day One system update. The company just announced today that a significant software patch (about 300MB in size) will be necessary to enable a slew of functionality, like Remote Play on PS Vita and the Share button, that Sony's been championing through the year. Also going hand-in-hand with this patch is the release of Sony's second screen PlayStation App, which will be available on November 13th in the US (just two days before launch) and on the 22nd in Europe on both Android and iOS.
PSA: Nintendo Wii U day-one patch now live, includes entire online infrastructure
It's well past midnight, you're home with your brand new Nintendo Wii U -- now what? Well, you've got yourself a hefty firmware update to download should you wish to do anything other than play disc-based Wii U games. Say, for instance, you wanna check out Nintendo's Mii-based social network, Miiverse? You're gonna need that update. Or you want to check out the digital storefront, the eShop? Update. Browse the internet? Up ... you get the picture. The file download clocks in at just over an hour (at least on our retail units ahead of launch), and the install takes another five minutes, so we'd suggest you grab it ASAP before the rest of the world is trying to hungrily snap it up as well. Remember: your brand new Wii U can do literally nothing outside of build Miis and play disc-based games before the update, so don't go freaking out when your console seems to be missing a few key functions out of the box. And no, this doesn't include Nintendo TVii, which Nintendo says won't arrive until some time in December. We'll update this post with more specifics as we explore the update further, so keep an eye out! Update: The update includes, from what we've seen thus far, the entire eShop, Miiverse, an internet browser, and access to Netflix. Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and YouTube remain conspicuously absent, but should be available "in the coming weeks" (per Nintendo's update earlier this week). Backwards compatibility is also packed in the update, in form of the entire original Wii menu (which makes us feel like we just downloaded the entire Wii console to our Wii U -- the future!). The Wii U actually fully resets to launch the Wii menu, and can only be navigated using a classic Wii remote control. Kinda bogus, but it sure is nice having a full Wii built in to the Wii U. Update 2: Netflix is a separate download required (an update) for use.
