Early Xbox One delivery reveals 500MB initial update, 17 second startup -- then banned

Now that there are Xbox Ones in the wild -- thanks to Target's apparently leaky pre-order system -- we're finding out more and more about the system. Moonlight Swami has been busy messing around with the console, and while not everything is available two weeks before the official launch, there are some things that we haven't seen before. He's timed the bootup at 17 seconds to get to the dashboard, and the update that downloaded during setup measured at 500MB. The listings for games on the Xbox Live Marketplace reveal some hefty downloads in store for next-gen -- interestingly NBA 2K14 is 43GB while EA's Madden and FIFA are 12GB and 8GB, respectively. Other notables include Forza 5 at 31GB, Dead Rising 3 at 19GB and Call of Duty: Ghosts 39GB.

Update: We've contacted Microsoft about the nature of the ban but have not received a response yet, however over at Sony, president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida responded to a question on Twitter indicating his company would not ban anyone who got online early with a PS4.

Update 2: Microsoft's Major Nelson has reached out to Moonlight Swami on Twitter saying he'll "get this sorted out" but so far there's no word on a change in the status of his console.

Update 3: A Microsoft spokesperson tells Engadget that the Xbox One consoles some consumers received by accident well ahead of launch on November 22nd cannot access Xbox Live until closer to launch. The statement says: "Due to a retail partner's system issue, a very small number of Xbox One consoles were shipped to consumers before the November 22 street date. We're pleased to see the initial response to Xbox One has been so positive, but given we are still putting the finishing touches on our games, UI and online services, as well as confidential partner and media agreements, these consoles units will be restricted from connecting to Xbox Live until closer to our launch date."


In his experience using the system, he's confirmed the ability to play games once they're 50 percent installed with a store-bought copy of Ghosts. After humping around the system in multitasking, downloading another game, and watching TV, he came right back to the game in standby. It's also clear that the Xbox One will have rotating "featured challenges" for certain games (as seen above), tied to performing certain activities during the set time period. Also responsive is the new Kinect, although a friend could control his system by voice even while on a call over Skype.

The only thing that's notched serious criticism so far, interestingly is the Game DVR feature. While it appears to work well, snatching the last 30 seconds at will or recording 5 minutes at a time on command, he called its quality just alright, and not quite up to par with his existing capture PVR-to-YouTube setup. You can see some of the footage captured in GIF form below, or check out the @Moonlightswami Twitter feed for further updates.

The bad news? Just as we posted this, Moonlight Swami indicates that his console has been banned. This after the YouTube video of his initial unboxing was taken down, apparently by Microsoft. Assuming that the report is correct, the system is properly purchased and paid for, we'll see if the folks at Redmond undo the block or can explain further.

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