A disruptor of Android game consoles? The first test of the Big Chief game console

After the road for international game consoles such as Xbox One to enter the Chinese market was opened, domestic manufacturers were also eager to try out game consoles, a brand new field for the domestic environment.

This year, many smart hardware manufacturers, home appliance companies and even Internet companies have launched their own game console products. However, due to the lack of sources of game content and the fact that the products themselves cannot escape the shadow of TV boxes, the overall experience of domestic game consoles is still difficult to be attractive enough to real game players.

Recently, the news that Xiaocong Games and domestic Internet giant 360 have jointly launched a game console has also been widely circulated. Now, this game console named "Big Chief" has arrived first. As a terminal device that focuses more on gaming experience, can the Big Chief game console become a disruptor of domestic Android game consoles?

Exterior design: a tribute to classics

The outer packaging of the Big Chief game console is quite substantial, at least in terms of volume, it is much larger than game consoles derived from TV boxes.

The surface of the packaging is decorated with patterns similar to the game screen, with almost no text logos. The circle of red flames on the top is the logo of Xiaocong Games. The visual style of this packaging box is somewhat different from traditional game consoles that have always emphasized a sense of technology on their packaging. It also makes the product look more like a derivative product of a certain game, which should be more in line with the tastes of gamers. However, if you look closely, the pattern printing still looks a bit less refined.

Inside the package, the precisely positioned foam material provides excellent protection for the machine. The Big Chief gaming console consists of five major parts: the gaming console, camera, handle, remote control, and power cable. The packaging content is quite rich.

As for the design of the product itself, each part of the Big Chief game console looks more like it has absorbed the appearance elements of the "predecessors" in the game console industry.

First of all, the console itself, the angular body and the lighting design at the seams are similar to Sony's latest console PS4, but in terms of details and workmanship, the material processing is still not sophisticated enough.

The Big Chief console can only be placed vertically, and there are rubber pads on the bottom of the machine to stabilize the body. The overall shape is similar to the Nintendo Wii, and the 360 ​​logo can also be found in a conspicuous position on the machine.

In terms of interfaces, the Big Chief game console has three USB ports reserved, but the random camera and handle adapter both need to occupy USB ports, so there is only one USB port left that can be used for external storage devices. In addition, the machine is also equipped with a network cable interface and an HDMI high-definition output port.

Although the controller of the Big Chief game console has a nice name, "butterfly controller", its design is almost exactly the same as Microsoft's previous console Xbox 360. The only difference may be that the "X" logo is replaced by a flame. In addition, in terms of connection method, the controller does not rely on LAN or Bluetooth, but requires a USB receiver similar to the wireless mouse we mentioned above.

In addition to the handle, the "Ruyi Wand" remote control of the Big Chief game console also pays tribute to the Nintendo Wii console handheld peripheral. The two are very similar in size and shape, and even have additional control buttons on the back. The only difference is that in terms of button layout, the Big Chief's remote control is more like a simplified game controller that can be held horizontally for game operations.

Maybe the reason why the Big Chief game console in our hands is not the final version on the market is that the random camera is still a bit rough. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the power supply of the machine uses a power adapter similar to that of a laptop. In the final mass-produced version equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip, I believe that sufficient power supply is the guarantee to help the processor run at full speed.

Interface and system layout: game content dominates

As a "pure" gaming device that focuses on gaming experience, the Big Chief's system is undoubtedly oriented towards gaming, so much so that this is intuitively displayed on the homepage when the computer is turned on.

The homepage layout of the Big Chief game console is similar to that of current smart TV products, and the "Movie and TV World" function in the classification section has not yet been opened, so currently only pure game projects can be experienced on the device.

The overall interface style of the Big Chief game console is consistent with the outer packaging of the machine. Whether the style elements of "The Elder Scrolls" look good or not is a matter of personal opinion.

In the game section, there are currently about 150 games that can be searched, but without exception, these games have first appeared on mobile platforms.

In the system's built-in "Game Center", the games provided by the product are also listed in the form of categories. Several popular games and masterpieces are also displayed in the form of covers. However, there are obvious errors in the cover images of related games. "Asphalt 8" "became" the PC racing game "Race to the Finish Line", and the cover of "Era 2" became "Halo"... Although it does not affect the use, professional gamers still find it uncomfortable. Maybe the engineers who made the UI don't know much about games.

The system setting options of the Big Chief game console are also extremely simple. In addition to the most basic system update items, users can only adjust the two options of network connection and screen adjustment.

In terms of scalability, the system supports reading the contents of mobile storage devices, but does not open up installation permissions for third-party APK files. Even the APK files in the USB flash drive cannot be displayed directly, so we cannot use hardware detection tools to obtain relevant parameters of the product, which is relatively regrettable.

In addition, there are some things in the system design of the Great Chief that users need to understand in advance. For example, if the user wants to check the remaining available capacity of the device, he can only obtain relevant information in the game installation interface, so that we have always thought that the system does not have the function of querying available capacity. This operating logic is quite different from other devices developed based on the Android system.

Game operation experience: Somatosensory gameplay has advantages

It is worth affirming that Big Chief has done a lot of thinking on the operation of the game console, unlike most domestic game console manufacturers who just use a handle. The function of the "butterfly handle" needs no further explanation. The "Ruyi stick" remote control equipped with it not only has an integrated gravity sensor, but also can be used with a camera for body tracking operation, which sounds exciting.

In the actual game session, we selected four mainstream and common games, "Shadow Blade", "Fruit Ninja", "Drift Racing" and "Asphalt 8" for testing. From the opening of the game, it is not difficult to find that the game source of the Big Chief game console is also "Mozhiwan" and other common domestic Android game download sites. Before entering the game, there will also be corresponding operation prompts.

First of all, both Shadow Blade and Drift Racing run and operate perfectly, and both games can be controlled directly through the Ruyi Stick remote control.

In Shadow Blade, the "Ruyi Stick" remote control becomes a horizontally controlled game controller. The real-time response speed in the game is very fast, and the overall experience is not even inferior to traditional consoles.

When playing "Drift Racing", the "Ruyi Stick" remote control becomes an external gravity sensing device. Users can control the direction of the car by tilting the remote control left and right, just like controlling a racing game on a mobile phone. This feeling is still very interesting through the large TV screen.

In addition, "Asphalt 8" cannot be directly entered when the device is connected to the Internet because data needs to be updated. The relevant person in charge of Xiaocong Games also stated that the game version will be updated in the near future. Of course, players can still choose to play the game offline.

The gameplay of "Fruit Ninja" is not much different from what we experience on mobile phones and tablets, but the biggest advantage of replacing finger touch with a somatosensory remote control is that the range of body movement is increased, the game field of view is wider, and it is more suitable to be placed in the family living room as a popular game that most family members can participate in.

Therefore, although the games on the Big Chief game console are not considered "fresh" at the moment, changing the display method and the operation form can still make the experience more fun.

The best of Android game consoles is yet to come

We have always been looking forward to Android game consoles being able to truly shine, allowing us to see the advantages of this type of product in other aspects besides price.

Xiaocong Games CEO Zhang Weiming once said that traditional game consoles are on the decline, and Sony will not even develop PS5 anymore. The future of living room entertainment equipment will inevitably be dominated by Android game consoles.

Most people may not fully agree with this view. The current Android game consoles on the market cannot be compared with the Xbox or PlayStation consoles with a longer history in terms of game quality or market positioning. However, from chip manufacturer NVIDIA, game engine provider Unity to game developer Gameloft, all parties are pushing Android game devices forward, and no one can predict the future situation.

In the future, the mass-produced version of the Big Chief gaming console will also be equipped with the more powerful NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip, bringing users more exclusive games based on top hardware platforms, which will truly become the core competitiveness of the product.

Therefore, with the console, handle, remote control and camera, Big Chief has already done enough, but how to make the product "good" enough based on these high-end hardware may be yet to come.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.