From the Xbox One UK Launch event at Leicester Square, London

By Rich Edmonds
published

It's certainly no secret that Xbox One has launched in a number of markets, one being the UK. We went along to the launch event at Leicester Square, London last night to enjoy some live music and video game demos. We were also able to grab a day one unit from GAME at the indoor section of the evening (thank goodness as it was bitterly cold outside).

Head on past the break for some images and details from the evening as it progressed.

The evening kicked off promptly at 7pm with SWAY taking to the stage. The artist brought on-board some young, local talent to help get the crowd warmed up in the freezing cold environment. Following SWAY were Katy B and finally Plan B, both performing after an Xbox One title was shown off on-stage.

These title demos featured members of the public who competed for a free console, but they also earned respect from the crowd for competing under such pressure. The overall presentation was top notch, and to make the occasion that much more special, this was the first live music event held at Leicester Square.

It was empty at the beginning, but this became a battleground.

Microsoft managed to set up a gaming area for select folk from the crowd. UK retailer GAME was present to sell Xbox One consoles there and then (limited stock available), while handing out units to those who already pre-ordered. This occurred at 12am, leaving 3 hours for everyone to get some game time under their belts.

Cue the DJ, zombies from Dead Rising 3 and the Roman Legion from Ryse.

It was an interactive experience with numerous Xbox One stations set up, covering all the launch titles. There were local multiplayer games of both Battlefield 4, FIFA 14 and Call of Duty: Ghosts. You then had Ryze, Dead Rising 3, Forza 5 and more. There was something for everyone. 

The concentration, oh the concentration.

Did we mention there was free pizza and Mountain Dew? It was a well-presented evening and Microsoft certainly drummed up attention both in the square with the live music (with free attendance) and the exclusive club.

And here's what everyone has been waiting for:

The Xbox One in all its glory.

Check out some more shots of the night below. How did your launch go? Be sure to share photos from your evening in the comments!

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

20 Comments
  • Absolutely going to be my 1st Xbox. Great going Microsoft.
  • This is my first Xbox... AND IT WONT TURN ON!!!! :'( Still waiting patiently for Xbox support to call me, they said 12 minute wait... 45 minutes ago...
  • Sounds like there's a lot issues if you're waiting that long. Just return it and get another one laters man, which is probably impossible right now. Anyways while you wait, here's a couple of links for XBOX ONE issues to keep you occupied :) Xbox ONE - Day one user replaces broken X1
    Xbox ONE - Day One v2.0 X1 replaced is also broken
    Xbox one fan noise
    I got a broken Xbox One. Freezes on startup
    Xbox One - Day One Disc Drive broken
    Microsoft - Xbox One - BROKEN DISC SLOT DRIVE / TRAY
    IMG 21121
    Xbox One not working.
    Broken Xbox One (Day One Edition)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=DXGGLllHX4s
    MY XBOX ONE BROKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - START SCREEN OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!
    Xbox One Ultimate Fail! Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves.
    Xbox one defect. Disk tray problem
    Xbox One Disc Failure
    XBOX ONE HARDWARE / DISC DRIVE FAILURE
    COD Ghosts - Unreadable disc error (Suggestions?)
    Xbox One Disc Fail, Predator
    Microsoft Xbox One Broken Disc Drive Day One
    Xbox One Disc Drive Problems
    software
    http://s1043.photobucket.com/user/CheWinki/media/EOL5011_zps45cb339c.mp4.html
    Xbox One not working.
    Xbox One100% Failure Rate...Still The Original DRM Vision
    Xbox One Issue (Resolved)
    Xbox One banned after EOU update
    MULTIPLE XBOX ONE CONSOLES BROKEN (VIDEO PROOF, MUST SEE!)
    XBox One Start auch Problembehaftet - News Quicky - Konsole zeigt Fehlermeldung beim Download
    Xbox one interface problem (germany)
  • Having watched them, almost all of those are the same one issue, except for the one with the noise from the fan, which was probably caused by it getting dropped in transit. I'm still seeing a vastly lower number of people complaining about problems than the PS4 had, and that is only out in the US, whereas the XB1 is out in many countries across the world. I guess we will see more ones the america's get it, but so far I think it's going pretty well considering. And at least they know that the drives may be a problem that needs to be looked into, with the PS4 they have all sorts of random faults, (the drive being one of them). So I think MS are in a better position from a repairs standpoint.
  • Disc tray is the most common, but there's power supply issues, freezing(so much for the bigger fan), controller, updating issues, E100 and E350 errors( Stuff not yet on youtube or social sites.)
  • My p4 works flawlessly
  • So does my XB1 now that it's plugged into a working socket :-)
  • Lol. That's a good thing.
  • lol i had that "issue" with my rice cooker once as well
  • It started!, I don't know what happened exactly, but I pressed it again and it just worked this time. Initial update took around 20 seconds to get up to 37% then slowed down to about 1% every 5-6 seconds on a Virgin Media 120meg connection.
  • Having watched them, almost all of those are the same one issue, except for the one with the noise from the fan, which was probably caused by it getting dropped in transit. I'm still seeing a vastly lower number of people complaining about problems than the PS4 had, and that is only out in the US, whereas the XB1 is out in many countries across the world. I guess we will see more ones the america's get it, but so far I think it's going pretty well considering. And at least they know that the drives may be a problem that needs to be looked into, with the PS4 they have all sorts of random faults, (the drive being one of them). So I think MS are in a better position from a repairs standpoint. I actually figured out the problem with mine, it was plugged into a dodgy extension lead, although the light on the power unit looked like it was on it was just residual current from the times when there was power going to it.
  • It's amazing how much difference that makes. I replaced an XBOX 360 twice because it acted like it was possesed...Turning on and off...ejecting disc tray etc. I learned that it didn't like being plugged in to the power surge. I plugged it in to the wall and Voila, never had an issue again.
  • Dodgy UK power?
  • I think the extension cord was made in China :-) But in all fairness it is many years old, probably time to throw it out. It's plugged into a new one now, which is a plugged into a UK power socket, which ofcourse carries the correct amount of current and doesn't take several years to power up a hairdryer :-)
  • Love that word Dodgy
  • Made the line at Dadeland mall here in Miami. My first console launch party. Didn't even preorder but 3 of my friends did so I went anyway, and of course rich guy Microsoft giving out free stuff every 10 minutes from 10pm until midnight lol I won Forza Unlimited :) for my nonexistent Xbox One lol oh and PIZZA, PIZZA everywhere! xD
  • I got some free swag in the form of light-up foam sticks that had a clear Xbox one plastic cover and some premium posters. The pre-order folks got beanie hats, and foam fingers. For an out of the way best buy launch in Talleyville, DE it was nice. Got my Xbox one and stayed up until 4am eastern, trying to get in as much as I could before my body said, fuck you I'm going to sleep!
  • Any information on how the sales were? I hope I see high support for it.
  • I watched it live from New York on Spike TV.
  • Cool, would of loved to be at one of these shows/parties...