Xbox One: Xbox Reveal Event Breaks Viewership Records

While reaction to the Xbox One has been mixed, there's no doubt that plenty of people were paying close attention to Microsoft when it introduced its next-gen gaming console last week at its Xbox One reveal event.

Microsoft said that more than 8.45 million people watched the live stream of the event in its first 24 hours. Microsoft also said that the number of people watching the live stream tripled the previous record.

According to Akamai, Microsoft's streaming partner, the Xbox One's concurrent online viewership numbers topped those set by the 2010 World Cup, the Royal Wedding in 2011 and Election Night 2012. Television ratings firm Nielsen reported that 1.73 million watched the Xbox One event on SPIKE TV.

Considering that new generations of consoles are released once every five to seven years, we're not surprised that the Xbox One event had so many viewers. Most of those who watched the event online were gamers who tuned in to see which new features the Xbox One will include. One such feature, however -- rumored always-on connectivity -- was not addressed at the event, and it's still not known if the new console will feature this technology.

What did you think of the Xbox One reveal event? Did you watch the event? If so, what did you think? Did you watch on the Xbox site or on SPIKE TV? What Xbox One questions do you want Microsoft to answer? Sound off in the comments below.