Mo' hardware, mo' problems

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G.Silver
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Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by G.Silver »

So I guess there was some kind of Xbox thing yesterday. Does the GHZ care about Xbox One? PS4? Did we already talk about that somewhere?

The big thing of course is that an internet connection isn't required at all times, but it "still requires" an internet connection, whatever that means.

A feature I'm a little confused on that both have been mentioning is that you can play games while they install. Initially I took this to mean "while they download," and I assumed it was a sought-after feature because maybe people weren't buying digital games because they'd have to wait to download them. It sounded like cool tech but not being able to play my game the moment I buy it has never stopped me from buying one. But you can also install games off the disc on both consoles, right, and it's actually mandatory for Xbox One (yeah?) so that must be what this refers to, right? I have never actually installed a game to either console, but I don't do much with my 360 and I don't own a PS3. (Don't think that makes me less of a gamer, guys! I use my Wii ALL THE TIME to watch Netflix.)

I'm really curious (morbidly curious) about how MS is going to make money hand-over-fist with its TV controls. I'm sure we're all familiar with the "crazy conspiracy" or whatever that the Xbox was always this stealthy "sneak into their living rooms" thing so that MS could be an all-encompassing living room gatekeeper? All the consoles (even the Wii, what with Netflix!) have been heading in that direction to some extent but I feel like this is a really brazen step. It's not as if you couldn't just flip video modes and leave your game paused before, so as a lot of people have observed, it's hard to know who this feature is for except that I'm sure somehow it involves MS serving us more ads.

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Gaz
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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Gaz »

Personally, I feel like I'm not really ready for the next-gen of consoles yet. There's still a lot of current gen games I haven't played and still new games on the horizon. I'm not interested in the Wii U at all at present and I don't really know enough about the upcoming consoles at the moment but it's probably safe to assume they're going to be overpriced and lacking in software to start with. I saw some of the Xbox One reveal but it just looked like a fancy multimedia device rather than a games console. This was probably because Microsoft chose to focus on those features rather than the games but it's a bit hard to get excited over something that allows you to tell your TV to change channels or whatever.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by big_smile »

Video game consoles just aren't exciting anymore. I remember when the Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast were first unveiled - There was so much excitement as it seemed like the start of a new era.
Even the original Wii managed to create some excitement around it.

These new consoles just seem like the old consoles but with TV features. Like Gaz says, it doesn't seem time for a new console (although I do appreciate that the current consoles lag behind PCs in hardware terms).

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Jingles »

Gaz wrote:Personally, I feel like I'm not really ready for the next-gen of consoles yet. There's still a lot of current gen games I haven't played and still new games on the horizon.
This pretty much sums up my view on the PS4/Xbox ONE. With the hardware capabilities of the current generation, do we really need new consoles?

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Radrappy »

As a lover of Japanese games and as someone who never touches sports games or Call of Duty, Microsoft made it abundantly clear that their new console isn't for me.

The Ps4 looks exactly like the Ps3. Seeing as how I only bought my Ps3 a year ago, I'm going to wait a while before I even think about upgrading. Launch titles always blow anyway. Maybe if Last Guardian finally shows up?

I bought a Wiiu mostly because I think Nintendo is the only hardware developer that gives a rats ass about games.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Crisis »

I would like to add that Xbox One (Xbox 1? Xbox ONE?) is a dumb name, right up there with Ouya.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Esrever »

I am theoretically interested in an all-in-one game/movie/music/tv/download/streaming multimedia livingroom behemoth, but not from Microsoft. Every one of their component services is either more expensive, less convenient, or more restrictive than an equivalent service offered elsewhere. (Assuming they even work in your country... the bulk of them don't in Canada.)

I can play Steam games on any computer. I can play iOS games on any i-device. But I can play my Xbox Live Arcade games on my 360 and that's it. They can't even be transferred to an Xbox One. So why would I ever want to buy digital content from MS ever again? This is right up there with "Why would I buy Sonic 1 on Wii for eight bucks when it is half that or less everywhere else?" There are just too many better options for this stuff.

I hated what the Xbox was forcibly morphed into while I owned it -- this ad-laden media-pushing MS money box is not what I signed up for! -- and I'm not interested in further evolutions of it. I've got a gaming PC and Steam for multiplatform games and I've got a WiiU for Nintendo exclusives and party games. I'm going to keep running with just that for as long as I can. (Maybe in a few years I'll be baited into a PS4 because I like Naughty Dog games, but I can stall.)

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Dr. BUGMAN »

"XBox One"? Is that what they're seriously calling it? For a moment I thought it was a nom de guerre for the original XBox. I can imagine the entitlement-fueled meltdowns when Santa brings the wrong vidja machine come holiday season.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by FlashTHD »

Henceforth, i'm calling this thing the DudeBro TVBox. Those are, after all, the only qualities Microsoft wanted to present about this machine to the uninitiated, right? Or are they trying to tell everyone they're a cable company now?

Seriously? I'm laughing at this mess, but I know i'd be doing just the opposite if I were a regular 360 user. I looked at Gamespot's news headlines this afternoon and every single published piece of information about this system was Microsoft's PR reps/clowns acting like bragging James Bond villains who also can't keep each other's stories straight. Maybe the writing was on the wall with Windows 8, but are they so committed to their anti-competitive business "image" that they don't care how many bridges they burn?

Their loyal customers are recieving no mercy here. Nothing, at all, from the 360 is compatible with One. Controllers, disc titles, XBLA games, hard drives, that shitty overpriced wireless antenna you might have had to use - I take from this that they expect their customers to be made of money. If you invested any sizeable sum into the 360, it's going nowhere else. The punchline is this PR jackweed who proclaimed "If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards." I'm just going to stop there because I am too awestruck by that statement to think of a fitting way to mock that.

Jeez. Adam Parr's twitter tirade really was the tip of the iceberg.

On a more upbeat note, here's a real "recap" of the press conference that I think we can all agree to love. (It's the sequel to this.)

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Neo »

FlashTHD wrote:this PR jackweed
You mean the President of Interactive Entertainment Business? No seriously, he's the man in charge

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Crisis »

The PR dance trying to avoid describing the online requirements is really great. I actually have some sympathy with the decision to axe backwards compatibility, but way to insult your existing customers who've invested in your ecosystem by labelling them "backwards".

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by G.Silver »

I think they meant backwards from a business standpoint, I'm sure that quote was taken out of context to make it ripe for misinterpretation. I have the impression that with the new system architecture for both Xbox One and PSN that backwards compatibility will be a thing going forward, or at least it should be, if they're just using PC architecture (I thought the Xbox did that already?)

The thing that really bugs me about the lack of backwards compatibility is XBLA. If those games aren't going to be compatible with Xbox One, then that means there's going to be a point where MS just pulls the plug on all of them, and they'll be gone. I forget if they require an internet connection to play (XBLI games do) as well as buy, in which case it's going to be even worse. Admittedly the Wii has the same problem, but their online market was pretty crappy so I don't really consider it a loss. All those perfect Sega arcade ports! I'm sure some will be back, but all of them? Hard to say.

As for the PR dance, check out this incredible sentence:
MS Rep Via Kotaku regarding time between required online logins wrote:"There have been reports of a specific time period — those were discussions of potential scenarios, but we have not confirmed any details today, nor will we be."


"Nor will we be?" Lollerskates! Makes it sound like they're never going to tell us, but I'm sure they meant on that specific day.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Majestic Joey »

It feels like a big fuck you. I can't wait to see what PS4 will have...

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Crisis »

Backwards compatibility has really hamstrung Windows so I can't blame them for wanting a fresh start with Xbox. Plus it's a problem that tends to solve itself eventually, either through publicly available emulator projects or commercial ports.

It is kind of weird that they have such strength of conviction on backwards compatibility but not for always-online or for used game fees. I guess those are two features that they know will blow up.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Malchik »

They're obviously removing backwards compatibility so they can provide all their old titles on the virtual arcade, for a fee. They probably want to do what Nintendo is doing.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Esrever »

For me, if there's no backwards compatibility, then I'm not using a digital marketplace. Period. I'm not spending $60 for a virtual game license that can't even be transitioned to the next gen of hardware. This is 2013. Apple and Valve have trained us to expect all our stuff to work on all our devices going forward. That's the deal. That's what makes us comfortable dropping money on an intangible product... that it's something we'll still "always have."

There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of thing whatsoever. Not if you want to be taken seriously as a competitor to those services. Nintendo and Sony's digital delivery is just as bad, but at least they don't force you to use it.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Yami CJMErl »

The disaster that has been the Xbox One reveal is nothing short of delicious to me.
Majestic Joey wrote:I can't wait to see what PS4 will have...
If I remember correctly, Sony can't do backwards compatibility because of that Cell processor the PS3 uses (and PS4 does not); however, they ARE trying to work on adding it through that streaming company they bought a while back, before their reveal conference. Gaikai, was it?

Also, I seem to recall their big push being online connectivity, but with a larger focus on communities/friends and streaming and game SHARING (i.e. live Let's Plays and even having someone remotely take control of a game you were playing), functions that Sony went on record to say were completely optional for players if they didn't want them. Compare that to Microsoft's "it has to be online at least ONCE a day or else it won't work properly" and "the console will not function without a Kinect unit" and even "you may have to pay a fee if you're using someone else's game".

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Malchik »

Kinect for Xbox One: An always-on, works-in-the-dark camera and microphone.

Jesus fucking Christ, this thing watches us... In the dark! I bet this system has facial recognition software so it can shutdown until you pay a fee for your friend to play.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by FlashTHD »

There was a news report I don't know how many months ago that MS was filing a patent for an advanced camera apparatus, which had tracking capabilites of that sort and (IIRC) would collect data based on detected movement. Glad to see nobody over there had the foresight to think better of this in all that time.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Yami CJMErl »

Malchik wrote:Kinect for Xbox One: An always-on, works-in-the-dark camera and microphone.

Jesus fucking Christ, this thing watches us... In the dark! I bet this system has facial recognition software so it can shutdown until you pay a fee for your friend to play.
From what I've heard, it actually CAN detect how many people are in a room--AND the MPAA may or may not have been involved in that part of the new Kinect, so the possibility is most assuredly there...

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Majestic Joey »

I'm really sad they are getting rid of xbox live indie games. Some of my favorite games that came out in the last years are indie games (check out Bleed and Super Wagon Adventure they are fucking awesome and cheap).

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by Segaholic2 »

If you like indie games then check out basically any platform that isn't Microsoft or Nintendo, who are both notoriously difficult to work with for independents. (Nintendo has attempted to rectify this in the past generation. Microsoft hasn't.)

PC, Steam, iOS, Android, and Sony all have lots of great indie stuff, and Sony especially has been championing and funding interesting indie projects in the past generation. There's a reason indie studios are flocking to the PS3/Vita/PS4.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by G.Silver »

Microsoft was very easy to work with given that you just made use of their essentially automated system and never expected anything beyond that. You know, like promoting the service or not making it super hard to find on the new dashboard.

Maybe Xbox One DOES have XBLI support, it's just buried in the dashboard so deep that the developers themselves can't even find it anymore.

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Re: Mo' hardware, mo' problems

Post by FlashTHD »

"Microsoft’s new Xbox meets the definition of a surveillance device under some Australian laws". I take it this contraption is not likely to face a warm reception by their government.

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