Microsoft just value the comments and inputs of both users and third parties to its next generation gaming console that it has instantly made adjustments to the Xbox One in response to criticisms that the platform’s “Instant On” feature is an energy drainer.
Instead of the “Instant On,” Microsoft announced that it will give users the opportunity to activate the system’s energy-saving option so that gamers will have the chance to fully power down the console and get the real energy-saving mode they really want.
Users won’t have to manually select the energy-saving mode in the system’s menu but will be given the choice up front during the set up. Microsoft says that this unique feature of the Xbox One will enable customers to reduce their power bills even as they become more aware of their power consumption for the gaming device, reports IGN.
A response
Microsoft’s latest moves for its next generation gaming console is actually in response to the recent findings of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which criticized the power consumption of both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 in 2014.
Both gaming consoles have their resting states for features like background downloads of system updates and applications. However, even in resting states, the devices actually consume so much energy.
According the NRDC, the next gen gaming consoles consume two to three times as much power as their predecessors, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, and specifically singled out the Xbox One as particularly an energy waster.
Just last March, the NRDC supported its report on the excessive power consumption of the Xbox One by saying that the gaming console actually accounts for an extra $250 million in the energy bill spending of the US in the whole of last year.
Microsoft says that the energy-saving mode of its Xbox One does not have the same benefits as the “Instant On” feature because it comes with a slower startup time and update interruptions. But it shall definitely save consumers money.
Energy-Saving mode
Microsoft announced that it has made certain updates to the operating system of the Xbox One to also help reduce the power consumption of the “Instant On” feature by about one-third from its initial estimates.
The Redmondian company also confirmed that the “Instant On” or “Energy Saving” mode will be offered at the initial setup of the Xbox One in the US in the coming months, the way it has been in Europe in the past as part of the device’s compliance with European laws.
The “Instant On” feature is a mode customers need to choose to activate when they first set up the console, particularly in the US, where the feature is enabled by default.
Microsoft said that deactivating the “Instant On” feature and switching to the “Energy-Saving” mode would enable Xbox One users to save an average of $6 to $15 in energy consumption costs per year.