How To Justify Splurging on an Xbox One (With an Xbox 360 Already in the Living Room)

The next generation of video game consoles is here. The Xbox One hit shelves Nov. 22, and it’s truly been the next evolution in gaming. But how can you justify spending hundreds of dollars on a new console and games when there’s a perfectly good Xbox 360 sitting in your living room?

There’s no easy answer to that question, but to make up for that there are a lot of answers. At least ten, in fact. And trust us—once you hear the facts, it’s not going to be hard to justify anymore. You’ll have plenty of excuses if anyone challenges you on your decision. Not that they will. They’ll be too busy sucking up to you so they can come play your new Xbox One.

Here’s a great reason to get an Xbox One even if you already have an Xbox 360: Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall. It’s from a new studio headed by former Call of Duty developers, it’s got on-foot and in-giant-mech combat, and it’s definitely the hottest game coming out on Microsoft’s new system, even if it won’t be out in time for launch.

It’s also coming out on Xbox 360, but the XB1 version is guaranteed to be a superior experience. And if that’s not enough, there are a ton of other announced Xbox One exclusives that won’t be found on Xbox 360 at all, like Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Forza 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Killer Instinct, D4, Quantum Break, Sunset Overdrive, Crimson Dragon, and more.

One of the most exciting new features coming to Xbox One is the evolution of cloud gaming. Microsoft dabbled in cloud tech on the Xbox 360, allowing users to store their game saves online for easy backup and retrieval. But Xbox One takes the cloud to higher altitudes than ever before.

The gaming cloud won’t just be for saves anymore. On Xbox One game developers are able to offload part of the processing of the game itself onto Microsoft’s cloud servers. That means unlimited potential for games, especially as developers get used to it. No doubt Xbox One games will ultimately surpass the best the Xbox 360 could ever offer.

There’s a lot to love about that new Xbox One controller: the sleeker shape, the more subtle color scheme, and the improved d-pad and shoulder buttons come to mind.

But our favorite part is absolutely the new forced feedback (also known as “rumble”) capabilities. The Xbox One controller features not one or two, but four separate feedback motors. Two of them are in its triggers, something shooting games and racing games have already proved to take full advantage of in our testing. It may not seem like much, but it totally changes the feel of what you’re playing.

You like sports, don’t you? Of course you do. That’s one great reason to get an Xbox One, even if you already have an Xbox 360.

The integration between the new Xbox and the NFL will be deeper than ever before, thanks to a new partnership between Microsoft and the football league. The ESPN app for Xbox One is all new, and integration with Surface tablets and Xbox SmartGlass has never been better.

Plus all your favorite sports games are coming out on Xbox One. That includes NBA Live 14, the first new entry in the series in years—and that one won’t be available on Xbox 360.

Why stop at sports? The Xbox One, unlike the Xbox 360, will become your entire entertainment center. It will actually deliver on what Nintendo promised with the Wii U when they said it would become your default TV guide, and it will do it painlessly in comparison.

That’s because unlike the Wii U, the Xbox One has HDMI-in. So you can plug your cable box or other HDMI device into the console and switch to it without having to mess with TV settings. This will also allow the Xbox One console to interact with these devices in ways that aren’t possible on any other console.

You can even connect your Xbox 360 through it and switch inputs on the console instead of messing around with your TV if you want.

Kinect for Xbox One is technologically superior to the existing Xbox 360 Kinect in every way. It recognizes voice commands with greater accuracy (you can finally turn the console on with a couple of words!) and can finally pick up on minute movements of your hands and arms. You can even use it sitting down with greater accuracy now, and it will detect faces and voices, as well as who’s holding the controller at any given time.

Microsoft is so confident in the new Kinect, in fact, that the camera peripheral isn't even an optional extra like the old Kinect was for the Xbox 360. Every single Xbox One console comes with a Kinect, because Microsoft is positive that you'll want to use it.

How do you justify upgrading from an Xbox 360 to an Xbox One? There are plenty of reasons, but one thing you shouldn’t do is use the fact that you already own an Xbox 360 as an excuse to not get an Xbox One. In fact, you’re the best audience for the new console.

Upgrading from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One will be easy. You’ll get to use your same account, and you even get to keep the same Gamertag. And achievements will be even more addictive on the Xbox One, thanks to the fact that they can be updated, added to or altered by developers on the fly.

So you already splurged on a Microsoft Surface, or even an iPad or Android tablet. How are you going to justify that? By telling people that you needed it to go with your Xbox One. On the other hand, if you don’t have a tablet yet, you can use the Xbox One purchase to justify getting one of those as well! It’s a win-win.

Microsoft’s SmartGlass app, which lets tablets interact with Xbox game consoles, will play a huge role on the Xbox One. Tablets and the console will work hand-in-hand to make everything from gaming to watching sports to flipping channels easier. And for gaming purposes you can even use 16 tablets at once, reportedly with super low latency, if you have that many friends and any developers actually choose to take advantage of that.

Okay, this one may actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy—although that probably depends on how persuasive you can be and how hardcore your friends are. Either way, the Xbox One is Microsoft’s console of the future, and you don’t want to get left behind.

Your Xbox 360 can stay where it is—it will still be there, and you can always tackle that backlog later. Live in the now! And make all your friends so jealous that they go buy Xbox One consoles too.

Why splurge on an Xbox One when there’s already an Xbox 360 sitting in your living room? Here’s a better question: Why do you need to so thoroughly justify everything you do? Why not just look at the obvious reasons?

The graphics are better. The games will be better. The controller is better. The console even looks better sitting there in your entertainment system. It’s more powerful. It’s the future. It’s new and sexy and you know you want it. Do we need to go on?

How are you justifying your Xbox One purchase? Let us know!