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Ten months ago, we tested the media playback functions of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 extensively, using the feature-set and the quality of the veteran PS3 as the standard. Our verdict? PlayStation 4 passed muster, albeit with a few serious issues on specific applications, while Xbox One was close to an abject failure owing to fundamental deficiencies across the whole media offering. But in truth, neither of the new consoles could supplant the PlayStation 3 as the media centre of choice. Ten months on, has anything changed?A quick heads-up before we continue: a lot of this article is going to centre on the Xbox One experience, as it's fair to say that Microsoft has rolled out an impressive range of significant upgrades in the intervening months. The console was designed from the ground-up as a gaming multimedia centre, which made its poor performance in our last test all the more disappointing. However, things have changed. The plain and simple fact is that those upgrades have paid off - Xbox One still has some minor issues, but in the here and now there is no competition: the Microsoft media offering works and the OS integration is impressive, if a little inconsistent. Perhaps the real question now is just how relevant that is in an era where media playback apps proliferate across a multitude of devices.
But let's begin by addressing the major gripes we had with Xbox One back in February: Netflix was virtually unwatchable owing to hideous skipping, BBC iPlayer was conspicuous by its absence, while Xbox 360 upgraders might have been dismayed to find that the new console lacked the Sky Go functionality of its older counterpart. On top of that, Blu-ray 24fps playback didn't work properly and 3D functionality was absent. Meanwhile, TV integration in European territories was ruined by the console steadfastly sticking to a 60Hz output, producing horrible judder owing to a lack of support for our native 50Hz content. And let's not forget that the OneGuide didn't work at all outside of the USA, while those of us who don't want to give Rupert Murdoch or Richard Branson a monthly ransom for TV services were left with no TV integration at all - unless we went out and bought a set-top box for terrestrial digital transmission.
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