Xbox One "Day One 2013" Edition Hits Preorder

Microsoft's Xbox One is up for preorder, and gamers who act fast can reserve one of a limited number of Xbox One Day One 2013 Edition consoles. The "Day One" variant is for the most part identical to the console we've seen so far, with the same Xbox One core unit and Kinect sensor-bar. However, it comes with a "commemorative controller" which has "Day One 2013" marked in its center.

There's also an "exclusive achievement", though Microsoft isn't yet detailing exactly what that is. An HDMI cable rounds out the content of the box; if you want Xbox Live Gold membership, or the Xbox One gaming headset, you'll have to stump up for them separately.

Microsoft confirmed pricing for the Xbox One yesterday, at its opening E3 keynote, and ran straight into controversy. The company is asking $499 for the new console, which turned out to be $100 more than Sony wants for the PlayStation 4.

Admittedly, Microsoft includes the Kinect sensor-bar as standard, whereas all signs point to Sony asking an extra $59 for the PlayStation Eye webcam. However there are still many people unconvinced by the idea of giving Microsoft a permanent camera in their living room, and for whom the optional nature of the Sony peripheral is an advantage, not a drawback.

Microsoft has been slow to confirm which 21 countries will be getting the Xbox One from day one, though according to its pre-order help page the limit looks likely to be down to which locations have been updated to the new Xbox Live system. Those initial locations are as follows:

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Ireland

Italy

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Russia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

United States

There's more on Microsoft's Xbox One – and all of its E3 2013 announcements – in our full show wrap-up.