Next Gen Consoles (PS4/XONE/WiiU)

[Tuffty]

So with all consoles now finally revealed, I thought it might be best to have all news/discussion on it in here.

Obviously the talk at the moment now is on the Xbox One reveal. Thoughts? The presentation was rather underwhelming to me. In part, because it seemed to cater more to the American audience and as a N.Irishman, I don't particularly care for NFL, nor do I get any sense of how these TV features will trickle down to Europe. Even then, as someone who doesn't care for NFL, sports games, TV on consoles or Halo in general, there was nothing for me in that presentation. Even the Call of Duty reveal was tame. Leaning? Sliding? These are your big innovations? Come on. Also disappointing is the fact that you must pay a fee to play second hand games and it isn't backwards compatible.

Maybe though that is the time for it to get the features out of the way and E3 will be the time for them to talk about actual games. For both Microsoft and Sony. I hope.

[coachie]

Watched the whole presentation live and as I was expecting ... uhm no thank you Microsoft.
They "improved" everything I do not like about the current Xbox (including the fugly green on the dashboard)
Also call me paranoid but I find the idea that this new hd kinect "watches" me stalk around the living room highly uncomfortable.
Hell I'm the person who put a big fat sticker over her laptop's webcam (just in case )
At the moment I can't think of any game, that would make me want to buy a XONE.

WiiU also a big NO.

As it stands now I can see myself only with a Ps4, but not for the next few years.
I'm getting a Ps3 first and catch up on some "old" games.

[Tuffty]

^ See that's what I was thinking of doing too! Was a bit unsure considering the PS4 is out soon and maybe waiting when I realised two things. One, console launches always tend to suck pretty hard, with better games coming out maybe a year into the consoles lifecycle. And secondly, the PS4 probably won't be out in Europe until this time next year anyway! So I figured I would pick up a PS3 on the cheap and play these PS3 exclusives I've always wanted to e.g. Demon's Souls,  Yakuza 4, Journey, Uncharted, MGS4 etc

[Asmodai]

I'll probably buy a PS4 at launch~ish (in January after I get back from vacation), neither of the others interest me from what's been revealed so far.

I've also got an Ouya coming sometime this summer - not really next-gen, but I may get more hours of gameplay out of it.

[winner]

^^^That's exactly what I swayed my cousin to do this month, when he couldn't decide. Now he's got a nice PS3 and having fun with games like LBP, and a huge library of games to look forward to. next-gen is gonna be a waiting-game for the first 1-2 year anyways. Might as well have fun now.

[Datalanche]

Honestly, the Xbox One reveal was about what I expected. The first thing I thought was "wow, that thing looks like a VCR from 1985". Aesthetically it's pretty bland if not kinda ugly, but I could give zero fucks. Hopefully they've thrown away the aesthetics in favor of functionality and a case that adequately supports the temperature needs of the hardware. The 500GB drive annoys me. It's 2013, it really should have been 1TB at the minimum, especially since we're going to have to install games with this console. A blessing and a curse, really, since Bluray data speeds are pretty terrible. The other specs are pretty nice. I kinda liked what I saw of the TV/Satellite box integration and multitasking features, but I'm not sure how much I would really use such things, but it could be pretty awesome. The most exciting news for me came in the form of a Spielberg-produced Halo TV series. As a bigtime Halo fan, quite thrilled with that. Call of Duty Ghosts looks pretty cool, maybe it can pull me back into the CoD franchise. I'll definitely buy one eventually, but depending on price/availability, I may not jump onboard until Halo 5 comes out.

PS4 doesn't interest me at all. I've never been a Playstation guy having had an xbox since 2002. I got a used PS3 a few years back and it's been a great media extender and bluray player. I am somewhat interested in WiiU for Mario and friends, maybe when the price goes down a tad I'll pick one up just for that, but seeing how my Wii has sat for nearly 2 years now, not going to throw too many coins at it.

[pikapikapika]

The thing you have to remember with new consoles is, they all suck at launch, no matter what company makes it.

If you buy one right away, you're going to a) spend a ridiculously large amount of money b) probably be left with it gathering dust for months until something good finally comes out c) force yourself to buy launch titles and pretend it's fantastic, but really, you just bought 4 forgettable shitty Ubisoft games.

The WiiU and the Vita are like this just now, I expect WiiU to recover eventually, or at least do well enough to hang around and do just fine. But Sony doesn't even seem to care about the Vita that much, especially outside of Japan.

The no backwards compatibility thing in recent years makes this worse I think, before if your PS2 or PS3 had a shitty launch lineup and you didn't want to buy more than one copy of Ridge Racer, you could fill the time playing older games, but not anymore, or in the Vita's case you can, but you have to buy them all again digitally.

The XOne to me looks really similar to the 360, especially the UI, more of a "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" approach, which is fair enough, but with so much of the same stuff (and forced use of kinect) it was really hard to get excited for it.

They appealed to the masses with the COD & NFL/FIFA stuff, who make up most of xbox live's "community" who will eat it all up, and presumably are the most likely to pay the premium to get the new console.

But for me, there was no excitement, Forza didn't look any better than GT6 on the PS3, a lot of the stuff was prerendered like the PS4 controller announcement. No cool games like Watchdogs or GTA5, all the good stuff is going to be on the previous gen.

The thing that stuck with me the most was actually the size of the thing, it's GIGANTIC, even more hueg than the original xbox. When I saw it next to the presenters on the little after show thing I was shocked at how big it is, I would struggle to find space for that.

Which leads me to another thing, I think PS4 and XOne are going to be extremely expensive, which probably gives the XOne the edge due to the discounting you get by using it as your TV box. Also I think WiiU might even do well out of that as parents would be more likely to buy it, than something 2 or 3 times it's cost.

[frblckstr1]

For me it depends on the games which machine I'm playing on, if it requires a XOne so be it, if it requires a PS4 so be it.

And if I read it correctly, the Kinect can be turned off.

Seeing what is in the machines, I expect the price to be around a medium PC, no major problem to me.
All those live-things with NFL and Skype and Comcast ... I also do not care about, I tried a few MBL videos on the current X360, not currently my type of thing to watch.

So: if MS can release it world-wide this year (I think one of the games has a release date of Nov 5?) and Sony not, then XOne it is.

Steven Spieldberg doing Halo 4 Series I'm going to have a look at.

[zoolander]

For the xbox reveal, I actually like the look of the system and the controller. I don't get the "TV! TV! TV! TV! TV!" stuff. Do you really want another device that is 100W+ just to switch between a game and channels? I can already do that with my TV remote. Unless it has some kind of DVR features it seems like more of a novelty than something practical. And it is kinda surprising they apparently don't currently have plans for gameplay share stuff like PS4. That is the kind of feature which would actually be pretty useful. Overall it seems there still isn't much clarity and still a lot of unanswered questions after the reveal.

I already mentioned how scummy I feel limiting used sales is. And it has been proven time and time again used game sales stimulate new game sales. Restrictions will only hurt that. You are chopping down millions of customers that supplement new game purchases through selling old games, not to mention services like RedBox and Gamefly that buy tens of thousands of games just to get a cut from the gamestops of the world. I wish there were some reporters that would not pull punches or let company scripts get by. I remember Luke Smith being brutal with Phil Harrison during the while PS3 599/no games stuff.

That said it's all about the games. I got a 360 so I could play Mass Effect, I got a PS3 so I could play MGS4, I got a Wii so I could play Super Mario Galaxy and golf/bowling. The games we have seen for the new systems haven't 'wowed' me (in fact most have looked kinda crap) Hopefully we will see the interesting stuff come E3.

[CrisisReversed]

Did anyone else here find it interesting what happened to Sony's stock after the Xbox One was revealed?  It actually shot straight up which might mean that more people are interested in the PS4 than the Xbox One.  I actually am leaning towards the PS4 myself, but in due time I'm sure I'll own all three eventually once the prices go down.  I can't wait for more games to be announced soon as it seems like it's always in the fall when the major games get released.

[wolfomibu]

Did anyone else here find it interesting what happened to Sony's stock after the Xbox One was revealed?  It actually shot straight up which might mean that more people are interested in the PS4 than the Xbox One.  I actually am leaning towards the PS4 myself, but in due time I'm sure I'll own all three eventually once the prices go down.  I can't wait for more games to be announced soon as it seems like it's always in the fall when the major games get released.

Awesome! I think PS has got the greater games and stuff hands down. What caught my eye is the new Kinect! If we could combine that with the PS4 we would get a hell of a console haha

[Tuffty]

Did anyone else here find it interesting what happened to Sony's stock after the Xbox One was revealed?  It actually shot straight up which might mean that more people are interested in the PS4 than the Xbox One.

In the grand scheme of things, I think that means little. Stocks fluctuate all the time and we haven't got all the information on the consoles from Microsoft and Sony yet.

The latest talk at the minute still remains around Microsoft, specifically around how the Xbox One will handle used games because when employees were asked about it at their press conference, nobody had a clue. The quotes from one of the head honchos at Microsoft is that buying a game will tie it to that particular user profile and console. So there's nothing to stop say, your brother or sister going onto your Xbox One under your name and play the game. But if you wanted to bring it over to play with a friend, it would seem that they can't do that. On top of that, buying a used game requires you purchase an additional activation fee with a price quoted as £35 (though I doubt it will be that high).

Sorry but I think it's a poor idea. My brother came over today with his copy of FIFA 13 so we can play on my PS3 and now, if these rumours are true, it would seem that scenario couldn't happen anymore without me having to pay money. No thanks. While Sony haven't mentioned anything on used games yet, the internet is already praising them as a savour for not having it, which is rather premature. Don't be surprised when they eventually will announce something similar regarding used games.

The other factor which could sway people's opinion from PS3 to Xbox is the asking price. No prices listed yet, but you feel whoever is the cheapest will be leading the pack for a long while.

[Tuffty]

So Microsoft cancelled all their roundtable interviews with the press after their E3 conference and instead put up more information on the restrictions regular customers will face. Taken from their own site:

With our modern architecture, Xbox One games will load more quickly, will be always accessible from the cloud, and there is no physical limit to the size or scope of the content provided.

Here are our platform policies and capabilities for game licensing – all of which will be made available when Xbox One launches later this year:

•Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release. Discs will continue to be a great way to install your games quickly.


•Access your entire games library from any Xbox One—no discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud. So, for example, while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games.


•Share access to your games with everyone inside your home: Your friends and family, your guests and acquaintances get unlimited access to all of your games. Anyone can play your games on your console--regardless of whether you are logged in or their relationship to you.


•Give your family access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere: Xbox One will enable new forms of access for families. Up to ten members of your family can log in and play from your shared games library on any Xbox One. Just like today, a family member can play your copy of Forza Motorsport at a friend’s house. Only now, they will see not just Forza, but all of your shared games. You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.


•Trade-in and resell your disc-based games: Today, some gamers choose to sell their old disc-based games back for cash and credit. We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers. Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games.


•Give your games to friends: Xbox One is designed so game publishers can enable you to give your disc-based games to your friends. There are no fees charged as part of these transfers. There are two requirements: you can only give them to people who have been on your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once.



In our role as a game publisher, Microsoft Studios will enable you to give your games to friends or trade in your Xbox One games at participating retailers. Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers. Microsoft does not receive any compensation as part of this. In addition, third party publishers can enable you to give games to friends. Loaning or renting games won’t be available at launch, but we are exploring the possibilities with our partners.



As we move into this new generation of games and entertainment, from time to time, Microsoft may change its policies, terms, products and services to reflect modifications and improvements to our services, feedback from customers and our business partners or changes in our business priorities and business models or for other reasons. We may also cease to offer certain services or products for similar reasons.



In the months ahead, we will continue to listen to your feedback as we meet with our partners in the ecosystem to bring additional detail about our policies.



We are excited about this new generation of games and entertainment and look forward to sharing more news with our fans.

Gee, I love how being able to let others play my games in my household is now a feature. Thank you soo much MS. It's not like I can't do that already. Oh wait....I can. In fact, my brother was able to take a game from his house, bring it to mine, play on it and be able to take it back. Apparently you can't even do that anymore.

Instead of answering all the questions, they've just confused the matter further still. Loaning or renting games not even available at launch? It's also a big middle finger to those in rural areas or those without access to high speed internet. I had a situation where I transferred from one ISP to another which took a number of weeks. Playing games then kept me entertained and passed the time. But apparently you can't even do that with Xbox One, if it's checking every day for authentication, otherwise you can't even play single player games offline ffs. Does all this not just scream anti-consumerism? I mean, nothing of what they've revealed is an improvement! It's also ridiculous that they have all these restrictions but none of that applies if you want to watch TV or blu ray movies. Fuck's sake! Basically we'll now live in an era where you don't own a game anymore, you rent it. Far further on down the line, when the Xbox One servers go off because of the Xbox Three or whatever, what happens to all those Xbox One games? *sigh* I don't think Sony will be that much better tbh, they're still keeping quiet. Thoughts?

[pikapikapika]

Haha, I'm not likely to buy one, but if I did, that mandatory Kinect sensor would be in the dusty void behind my tv.

...until they figure that out and say KINECT MUST BE ABLE TO SEE YOU AT ALL TIMES.

They do have a history of this too, if you remember their "control" over controllers and how everything on 360 had to be "official".
While I'm happily using Dreamcast and PS2 controllers on my PS3 with no problems.

That's also why so many of us are stuck with official 360 controllers for our PC games

[shirenuファクトリー]

I read the green picture before and I can't believe how much BS is in it. Who really wants to support this type of business? I just completely agree with your points Tuffty, this is ridiculous. It's like going BACK in time instead of going forward, since things are being taken AWAY. Ridiculous.

Good thing I'm mostly a PC player? Hahahahah

[Tuffty]

The Giant Bomb crew dissect the Xbox DRM press release and what it could mean. Conclusion: It takes experienced video game journalists 40 mins to try and break down a number of bulletpoints and even then, questions aren't answered. The comparison they do with fruit at the very end (from 38:40 onwards), to compare it to the Xbox One DRM, is both hilarious and sadly tragic at the same time. Love Vinny's line at the very end, "Buy a PC"

[winner]

Give the chinese a few months and they'll make a chip to bypass all of that shit. hehe, it's like my SNES days all over again.

[Hart]

So.....Xbox One will be in stores November 2013; 499 US, 499 Euro, 429 UK.

Also, newer Xbox 360 consoles will small and sleeker, looking like the Xbox One. In stores, starting today.

From July 1st until Launch Day of the Xbox One, Xbox Live Gold members will be getting 2 free Xbox 360 games each month; starting with Assassins Creed 2 and Halo 3.

Still no word on DRM.

Oh, and Halo 5 will be coming out next year.

[coachie]

M$ showed nothing interesting for me.
I'm half in a mind to get up at three tonight and watch Sony's Presscon live as well

[Tuffty]

Geez. £429 is pretty steep, it must be said. And that's on top of all the DRM bullshit it brings? The most interesting games, purely from my perspective, would be Dark Souls 2, The Witcher 3 and MGS 5. All of which I can get on other systems. And Dark Souls 2 is out for 360/PS3 as well so......yeh. The Sony conference hasn't started yet but you would feel that, even if it had the same DRM bullshit as the Xbox One (which could be very likely), it might just have the advantage if it has a cheaper price point and that would be the deciding factor for a lot of people.

But make no mistake about it, MGS5 and The Witcher 3 are supremely good looking games. Oh lordy.