Buying Xbox One for Kinect games and Retroarch - is it worth it?

[Blythe93]

I've recently purchased an XBOX 360 and I'm yet to mod it since I'm still waiting for the necessary tools to arrive, so I've decided to take a look at what Xbox One has to offer.
I've noticed that the original model is probably the best for what I'm going to use it with, mainly because it's nearly impossible for me to find an official Kinect adapter for the Xbox One X model.

Before I buy it, I have a couple of questions:

1. I'll probably play only the Xbox One exclusive games on it along with some Kinect games. Are there any notable mentions that you could recommend to me?
2. I plan on purchasing the activation for the dev mode. I've noticed that some people managed to get it for much cheaper if you change the region to Turkey? Provided that I manage to buy it that way, is there any downsides to purchasing it from my real country? Will I be stuck with Turkish language on my console's dev mode or something?
3. I've noticed that Netflix apparently still works on Xbox One. I wonder how's the performance on the original launch model, with the Kinect port?
4. I've noticed that MyTube is an ad-free solution for YouTube, how does it work nowadays?

Thank you for your time!

 

[Wolfy]

Funny enough I'm in the same boat, bought an original from a friend for $15 with a One S controller included so I'm probably gonna get the dev mode setup for Retroarch since that's really all I've found that you're able to do.

Would love to backup OG Xbox games to play on it over breaking out the OG, but pretty sure there's no development on that front.

 

[Blythe93]

I'm probably gonna get the dev mode setup for Retroarch since that's really all I've found that you're able to do.

Indeed. I'll probably look into buying some of the games since there's no way to run backups, but I'll have to check the reviews and some gameplay footage on YouTube before I commit to purchasing them. My girlfriend and I love those weird accessories and Kinect is one of them.

bought an original from a friend for $15 with a One S controller included

That's really cheap! The one I'm about to purchase is around $130 or so, but it comes with the Series S|X controller instead and two FIFA games (physical copies). It looks really good on pictures, almost in a mint condition. I'll have to purchase Kinect separately and the dev mode activation, though.

I have an older Panasonic TV that I've purchased in order to connect my Wii to it via component AV cable. It's also an old smart TV that has 3D features as well, which is cool. Unfortunately, the other day I saw that my Netflix app will stop working on 9.9.2024., therefore using Xbox One for NF (and YouTube while I'm at it) should prove useful in the meantime, until I find some Kinect games for it.

 

[InsaneNutter]

The Xbox One still works fine today, certainly as a 1080p media device its great.

You can play Blu-rays, in addition Netflix, Kodi and Plex all work great on it, I suspect any other streaming service app on the Microsoft store compatible with the Xbox will also.

Emulation wise to use dev mode you have to reboot the console in to dev mode which is a bit inconvenient. You can't use retail games or apps when in dev mode. The Xbox One is quite slow to boot as the OS runs from a SATA hard drive.

As to how good emulation is on the Xbox One I couldn't answer that its not something I use my OG Xbox One for.

The Xbox Series S and X makes fantastic emulation devices though, especially for newer consoles:



For a pure emulation or streaming device the Series S is great value, sadly no DVD drive so you can't buy cheap Xbox One games on disc. The Kinect adaptor is also an issue as you mentioned.

Kinect wise, sadly you can play 360 Kinect games on the Xbox One. The Kinect didn't really do that well on the Xbox One.

Fruit Ninja Kinect is one of my all time fav Kinect games, theirs a Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 for the Xbox One which is probably worth checking out if its anything like the original.

 

[Blythe93]

In the end, I've purchased the original Xbox One and so far so good. I'll see about setting up dev mode to see how emulation goes on it and report back in the upcoming weeks or so.

You can play Blu-rays, in addition Netflix, Kodi and Plex all work great on it, I suspect any other streaming service app on the Microsoft store compatible with the Xbox will also.

I gave Netflix and YouTube a try and they work perfectly fine, better than they'll ever play on my old Panasonic 3D TV. The only thing I'm sad about is that it seems that there's no MyTube available in the MS Store nowadays and it seems that the development stopped a while ago. Any decent alternatives to the ad-free YouTube on Xbox One? On dev mode perhaps?

The Xbox One is quite slow to boot as the OS runs from a SATA hard drive.

It surely is... I might swap the internal HDD with an SSD to boost it a little bit. Sucks that it has SATA2 interface, but it is what it is...

 

[InsaneNutter]

I gave Netflix and YouTube a try and they work perfectly fine, better than they'll ever play on my old Panasonic 3D TV. The only thing I'm sad about is that it seems that there's no MyTube available in the MS Store nowadays and it seems that the development stopped a while ago. Any decent alternatives to the ad-free YouTube on Xbox One? On dev mode perhaps?

I watch YouTube from within Kodi with this addon: https://kodi.wiki/view/Add-on:YouTube

You have to create a personal API key as instructed on the Wiki, after doing so it works great.

If you are subscribed to channels you get a list of videos in your subscriptions by upload date. It now also shows recommendations based on what you have watched, or you can simply view all the channels you are subscribed to.

 

[Blythe93]

You have to create a personal API key as instructed on the Wiki, after doing so it works great.

Unfortunately, the guides I've found online for that are all outdated but, fortunately, I managed to piece them together and figure out how get those three things you need: API key, Client ID and Client Secret. After a bit more fiddling, it does seem to work, I just need to set it up. Kodi's YouTube plugin isn't the prettiest but, hey, it's ad-free and it works. I'll get used to it. Thanks for the suggestion!

Post automatically merged: Sep 4, 2024

Is it possible to block updates? Because it seems like as soon as I go online, i get an update prompt and the only option is to skip and stay offline.

 

[InsaneNutter]

Kodi's YouTube plugin isn't the prettiest but, hey, it's ad-free and it works. I'll get used to it. Thanks for the suggestion!

I did think you might say that. I started out using the BBC iPlayer Plugin before using YouTube on Kodi, so appreciated they essentially looked the same. I've certainly got used to the simplicity of it, its nice just having a list of my subscriptions with a tick next to what I've watched.

In regards to blocking updates no, when an update is pushed out you either have to update or stay offline. You can enable an option to download install updates when the console is in standby, generally doing this the Xbox One is always ready to go and your games are always updated also.

I think the most you can do staying offline is tricking Edge to still work: https://xboxoneresearch.github.io/wiki/exploits/browser-access-while-offline/

I suspect if you setup a proxy on your local network you could allow Kodi to still have internet access while the Xbox is offline.

 

[Corlin]

IMO, Fru's probably the best Kinect Xbox One exclusive, a neat little puzzle platformer that uses your body to control the game world. Unfortunately, it was only available digitally and got pulled from the store a few years ago, but, pretty uniquely, keys can still be obtained by donating $15 to charity and emailing [email protected] with proof. I got a key from them late last year, so while I'd email them first to make sure the offer still holds, I can confirm it at least was a legitimate offer.

 

[Blythe93]

Two months later and everything's working as smoothly as it can, I'm really satisfied with the way my XBOX One is working. I've also managed to get a Kinect and a couple of games for it: Kinect Sports Rivals and Fighter Within.

I do have a question, though: My XBOX One came with two FIFA games, 16 and 18, and I wonder if they work on Series X? I've seen some mixed answers on the Internet. I wasn't able to find it on the official website, so I guess that it won't work on Series X? But I've seen some sellers on eBay saying that the game works on Series X, therefore I have no clue what's true. Is the info on the official website obsolete or the person on eBay is making a false claim.