Xbox One Won’t Function Without Day One Patch, No UK TV Guide Until 2014

Blair Inglis 64 Comments

In a bit of a double whammy of bad news, the Xbox One day one patch will be required to do basically anything with the console and even then, if you’re in the UK, you won’t be able to use the TV features – a core part of the system – until next year.

Speaking to Engadget, Microsoft’s senior director of product management Albert Penello said “Functionally, you will be able to do very little without taking the day one update,” before explaining exactly what you could do when asked. “Nothing. You need the Day One update.”

Nothing. You can’t do anything with your Xbox One unless you’ve got an internet connection handy once you’ve bought it. You see, the console contains a rather dated version of the operating system, and the console has been worked on until the very last minute.

So, that means you can’t even come home with your new console, plug it in and start gaming without connecting it to your router and going through the update process. “You’re gonna need to take this update. It’s not gonna be really an optional thing”  further explained Penello.

The PS4 will feature a similar day one update, which adds a host of features, though you’ll still be able to play games and do other things without that.

Meanwhile, TechRadar are reporting that the Xbox One TV Guide won’t be available at the UK launch, and it’ll take until next year before you can use Kinect functionality to control your television channels.

The reason for that is because they’re still working out deals with providers, in order to make the best integration possible. “We’re testing all the boxes. You can imagine how many there are in the UK” said Xbox senior project manager Terry Farrell.

You can still use the HDMI pass through to hook up your box with your Xbox One, but you won’t be able to utilise the Xbox Guide functionality until some time in 2014.

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64 Comments

  1. Can you play games on it though, I’ve not heard much about this?

    • Nope, nothing.

    • The article says “Nothing”. Looks like its an expensive paperweight until its patched

    • nope, it’s literally a paperweight with no functionality at all

      • Ah but it is an electric paperweight though.

    • Not until you’ve installed the day one patch, no. This is getting ridiculous now from Microsoft, it seems they’re releasing their console 6 months before its ready.

      • THat is ridiculous. What if you don’t have the internet and only play single player? I know it’s very unlikely but I bet there are people out there like do this.

      • Think of all the crying kids who get an Xbox for Xmas and find out they can’t play any games cos the internets gone down or Grandad’s fell over after a few too many whiskeys & smashed the router, shortly after Rex has pee’d on it and blown the circuits. I’d be keeping my distance if I was Santa.

      • The PS4 has the same thing, and the Wii U did aswell. It’s to stop anyone from breaking the releasedate by making sure it won’t operate until then.

      • Not to play games though

      • Kennykazey

        It’s not the same thing at all, PS4 is still playable out of the box with no connection to the internet needed (only extra added on features) I don’t remember anything about the wii u not playing games out of the box…never owned one, Microsoft fucked up all those months back, they’ve had this long to sort it out, but they are leaving it up to their customers to sort out, there will be a lot of parents out there that don’t keep up with gaming news, and might not have internet access, who will be pretty pissed off on release day to find that they just bought a plastic breeze block for their kids.

        I mean they could at least put the OS on a disc and ship it in the box for those who don’t have the internet…but why would they want to help anyone out?

      • Remote play, online multiplayer, bluray and DVD playback, all sharebutton functionality, voice chat, background musicplayer, second screen and play as you download all require a patch on PS4.

        Yes, you can play discbased games but it’s still really limited, and for the same reasons. I wouldn’t say it’s “not the same at all”.

        Those without internet access who buy One count as uninformed consumers and I find it hard to feel sorry for them.

    • Unless it’s good news, Microsoft are slapping NDAs on anyone and everyone it seems, in a MASSIVE damage limitation exercise.

      http://www.cinemablend.com/games/NDAs-Prevent-Devs-From-Saying-PS4-Stronger-Than-Xbox-One-60406.html

      Pretty desperate.

  2. Just shows how quick of a turnaround microsoft made, it’s amazing they made the launch! It’s not right that the console has no functionality at all without the update, with the Wii U (and presumably the ps4) you could at least play a game while the day 1 update downloaded.

    Also microsoft stopped letting people install updates from USB drives a long while ago, so if there’s server problems on day 1 you’re scuppered. Hopefully sony will let people download the ps4 update on their pc a few days before the launch, would speed things up.

  3. Wonder how big the update will be, file size wise.

  4. Internet access shouldn’t be a problem for most but it does mean that even if they can background-download the update, they still can’t do anything while they wait for it. And apparently the update is over 1GB.

    • can’t even watch telly and tell kinect to stop turning over the channels while they wait…oh wait…they can’t do that even after the update

  5. This is madness. Total madness. Why hasn’t Jonathan Ross fixed this yet?

  6. i guess the truth about whether this day one patch is actually needed or if it’s just to force users to go online and agree to their license before using the machine is whether machines released in the months and years to come still require a patch to allow most of the functions.

    same applies to the PS4, but at least you can get some use out of the PS4 if you can’t download the patch.

  7. I thought this was common knowledge. They announced you’ll have to download a day 1 patch to turn off the 24hr sign-in and the game sharing DRM stuff etc when they reversed their decision months ago.

    • If I remember correctly, the patch is aimed for every console which was pre-orderd before release day as I guess they were already programmed or packaged and it was too late to do the update.

    • Indeed.

      In it’s default state the box requires an internet connection – since they originally planned for any games to tried to play to be registered online and linked to your Live account.

      So not sure why people seem surprised that the Day One patch is not optional.

  8. XB1 in “all that TV stuff only works State-Side” shocker…

  9. It’s just as well that they asked what “very little” meant otherwise there would of been a few disappointed console owners on day one.Both Sony and Microsoft should of released their consoles next year,instead of being first out the gate.

  10. Pretty sure they said this ages ago? And I’m not surprised with the tv guide not being ready given the number of different providers in Europe.

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