The Next Gen Console Wars

[Jacob Roman]

Were now entering a new age where its near time for new game consoles to come out. We already have the WiiU out, and what we have coming out soon sometime around the end of the year are the new PS4 as well as what could be called the XBox 720. Ever since Sony revealed a nice 2 hour long presentation about the history of the Playstation as well as the PS4, everyone got pretty excited. So heres what I know so far about the 2 consoles on the way:

Playstation 4
The PS4 seems to be a powerhouse system in comparison to the WiiU. The system is gonna have much better graphics, allow you to play your PS4 games on your PS Vita screen when not using a TV, allow the ability to have a friend on another PS4 assist you anywhere in the world whenever you get stuck in a game, allow you to record what you are playing so you can share videos on social networks as well as YouTube, digitally download PS1, PS2, PS3 games, download content in the background so you don't get interrupted from the gameplay, have the ability to turn off the system in sleep mode, and turn it back on so it leaves you where you left off in the game right away, have a touch pad mouse on the PS controller, etc. etc. And last but not least which is a good thing is that you do not have to be online to play the games, as well as play used games as well as new (well get into that in a bit.) However the drawback of the system is the lack of backwards compatibility. I can understand that though since it'll lower the cost of the system. But some people are willing to pay for the convenience.

XBox 720
Now there are tons of rumors circulating about, and the XBox 720 may or may not end up being the official name. Microsoft is gonna reveal all the information on the system near the end of May over at E3. Supposedly the system has a lot of negative rumors about it. First of all it is said that the system is going to constantly be online. It needs to constantly be online no matter what, even if you are playing a one player game that really doesn't need an internet connection so it can download things in the background such as patches, updates, or what have you, and probably keep track of scoring, trophies, as well as of course multiplayer. If you are disconnected from the internet for more than 3 minutes, the game will pause until you reconnect to the internet. This holds true even for one player games! This is a major problem as to this day, not to many people have high speed internet, or live out in the boonies, or just don't have internet at all. And the spokesperson for Microsoft was Tweeting and basically made the system dead before arrival by saying "Most devices are constantly online. This is the world we now live in. Deal With it." Another big rumor circulating is that the system will not play used games. This is a big problem. Whatever game you buy for $60 that you pop into your new XBox 720, itll be tied to your system. You cannot play it in another XBox 720 after that, only yours. So there will no longer be you bringing your new copy of Halo or Call of Duty to your friends house. This also means that places like Game Stop, EBay, Craigslist, etc., can't resell the used copy of the game no more. On top of that, and this is a problem to this day for most PS3/XBox 360 games as well, but if a company desides to no longer support a particular game you spent $60 on 3-5 years down the road, or goes out of business, then you can't play the game ever again and you now have a $60 paperweight because the game required you to be online just to even play it, even if its just a one player game! And the only way it can be played, is if their damn servers are up. And now this is now going to be for all XBox 720 games? Wow! They also wanna push for people to download digital copies of the games rather than have a physical copy. This is bad, as harddrives / SD cards do not last forever, stores can't really stock digital copies on shelves, and you'll never have a physical copy to last you years to come. Most people would actually like to have the physical copy. This is very bad!

The good thing about the XBox 720 is that itll supposedly have a built in XBox 360 chip to allow XBox 360 games to allow backwards compatibility, have something similar to the XBox 360 controller only with 16% more battery power, have a built in Windows 8 RT so youre apps / games you created in Windows 8 can run on your XBox 720 by simply paying only $60 licencing fee, rather than 10s of thousands like before. This allows all sorts of developers to develope for the XBox 720 easily. Thats about all I know so far. Tell me what you think.

[FunkyDexter]

This is very bad!

Aaaargh. I hate the way the world is moving towards selling a licence rather than the product. Maybe it's a generational thing (because most young 'uns I speak to seem perfectly happy with it) but when I buy something I like to own it, not just have the right to use it for a bit. Still, I can whinge as much as I like, if that's the way the world's going to move (and it increasingly seems like it is) then I'll be forced to follow along.

One side effect you didn't mention, what happens if my XBox breaks and I buy a replacement? Will they have some sort of channel that would allow me to transfer my licences to the new machine or will I have to buy them all over again?

[Shaggy Hiker]

Ok, the summary is:

PS4: Some good things, some bad things.

XBox720: This product will suck the soul from every orifice in your body.


Fortunately, I lack the means to use either one unless I don't need a TV, which it sounds like I may not, but as long as I don't bother finding out an answer to that I'm fine. However, I'm also annoyed by the online ties that come with games. Most everything runs on Steam these days. On the other hand, I have ancient games, such as one of the early Id games (before Wolfenstein 3D they put out at least one side-scrolling 2D game). Some day, nobody will be able to say that anymore.

[Jacob Roman]

IMO I think the next console generation will be the death of consoles, especially if Sony follows what MS does later down the road. Well end up repeating the video game crash of 1983.

[JuggaloBrotha]

Aaaargh. I hate the way the world is moving towards selling a licence rather than the product. Maybe it's a generational thing (because most young 'uns I speak to seem perfectly happy with it) but when I buy something I like to own it, not just have the right to use it for a bit. Still, I can whinge as much as I like, if that's the way the world's going to move (and it increasingly seems like it is) then I'll be forced to follow along.

One side effect you didn't mention, what happens if my XBox breaks and I buy a replacement? Will they have some sort of channel that would allow me to transfer my licences to the new machine or will I have to buy them all over again?

I'm inclined to think that the games you buy will be tied to your xbox live account and not tied to a particular machine, meaning if your xbox 720 breaks and you buy a new one, you'll log into the new one using your ID and just have to download the games again. That's how Steam works and has been very successful for 8 years now (ever since they started getting it right). The whole no-need for the physical disc(s) anymore is one of the things I like about steam, discs tend to get scratched (or lost), plus when I do a format & clean install of my Win7 system I don't mind downloading the games each time. Most games today have patches that are so big it's like downloading the whole game anyways, the digital copy ensures when you do download it, it's already up to date.

That being said, I'm a fan of the PS3 (I originally bought it for the bluray player as well as the games) and I might get a PS4 if my PS3 dies before they make a PS5 (though my PS2 slim still runs strong.)

Long story short, other than the xbox720 not having an offline mode for single player and non-internet multiplayer games, I don't think there'll be much of an issue with it tying games to your xbox account, Steam & the Playstation Network already do that and are quite successful.

[Jacob Roman]

But the problem is that Microsoft is making it to where the games you bought and paid full price for are only to be used temporarely. And all the major companies can pull the plug anytime so you can no longer play the game you own. Which means they control the product you own rather than you, the consumer. This is bad business practice and if the gaming community doesnt stand up to these clowns, then the entire game industry will become like Steam. That means itll be the death of owning the games for years to come, the death of reselling them, the death of collecting for that console if you are a game collector, the list goes on.

[Shaggy Hiker]

It's the holy grail for software, though: A product that pays more often than just once.

Providing new versions, paid add-ons, and the like are all very well, but they entail real costs to the company to extend the profit of a piece of software. If you can get the consumer to pay subscription style for some software, then you are in the money long term. So, as loathsome as this practice is to those of us who grew up in the 70s-00s, it is a goal that lots of software companies would like to get to. It is becoming increasingly common outside of the gaming world, too.

[FunkyDexter]

Yep, don't even get me started on e-books.

[InvisibleDuncan]

Dex, please tell me your thoughts on e-books.

[FunkyDexter]

Caution... Impending Rant...

Basically, I don't have much of a problem with e-books (I personally prefer paper but each to their own) but rather with teh terms they're sold under. Like games, you now buy a license for the book rather than the book itself. We no longer get to own anything and, while it may be convenient not to have shelves and shelves of books, I'm also uneasy that our right of ownership is being undermined. Somehow that seems worse to me where books are concerned. It's not really rational but there's just something about books that's precious in a way that games, cds etc aren't. Somehow I can't picture anyone passing down a first edition pdf to their children.

[Jacob Roman]

Bookstores are closing down due to the fact people are reading books off tablets now. Our Barns and Noble is closed cause of the lack of sales. But he is right. The right to truely own something that we paid for is disappearing. If the internet goes forever, how will people in the future read about us and our history without real books?

[Shaggy Hiker]

Bookstores are closing down due to the fact people are reading books off tablets now. Our Barns and Noble is closed cause of the lack of sales. But he is right. The right to truely own something that we paid for is disappearing. If the internet goes forever, how will people in the future read about us and our history without real books?

My understanding is that B&N is actually doing pretty well in most places. However, having lived in South Florida for several years, I'm not surprised to find that it closed down there. It'll probably be replaced by either a shoe store or a clothing store, and in either case the colors will all be pastel. Heck, B&N probably closed down because they shade of green is too dark for South Florida. Had the brand used more of a turquoise color they would have been fine.

[wossname]

GTAV is apparently hitting the shelves in September 2013. I personally find it annoying that such a great deal of time lies between now and then.

Contrast that, if you will, with the impending release of Splinter Cell Blacklist (August 20, 2013).

I have followed both franchises with what can best be described as "rabid enthusiasm" for the last decade or so. I think Ubisoft will find it very hard to compete with the avalanche of creativity that Rockstar are about to unleash.

I fear for the Splinter Cell franchise... but I'm excited to see what the GTA series will bring. GTAV will literally be a game changer.

Time will tell.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Ah, the reference to GTA cleared that up. Before that I was thinking that the game might be Grand Theft Audio Visual, where you break into high schools to steal A/V equipment.