Xbox One

[Grega]

I could think of a number of things that require lots of calculation power but relatively small framerates for which that would be interesting. Like realistically simulating the movement and behavior of huge crowds (audiences in the stadium of your favorite sports game, people walking around the city in Assasins Creed with actual goals (e.g. wanting to buy X cheap), people fleeing the trainstation you just set on fire), more realistic economic/human behavior simulations (think SimX games), smarter behavior of AI in strategy games even when the player's troops are not near, better pathfinding, etc etc.

You mean what Sim City 5 (yes i am calling it that) said it would do, but failed miserably at. They claimed their calculations would simulate people, yet they are equally as stupid as they were in the previous game. Not paying attention to traffic, not returning to their homes, having ALL 20 police units chase 1 guy while there are 5 others escaping, having the fire department with ALL vehicles travel to a fire on the other end of town, while the building across the street started burning just a second after the first one.

Sorry hars, while i see the potential in simulating complex behavior patterns outside on a server for it, you have to agree, that what they claim and what they do are totally separate things.

As for the uses of an Xbox. It has all the functionality of a smart TV, while keeping a constant eye on you.

 

[Zeonix]

It has all the functionality of a smart TV, while keeping a constant eye on you.

Let's see how observant it is when I play games while covered with a sheet.

 

[DaRkOwNs]

Please. All you'll have to do is cool your body temperature below 90 degrees and it won't be able to see you.

I agree though, I can see some really cool things being done with cloud connectivity, but that shit belongs in an mmo. Definitely not in our single player assassins creed game. I'm still on the fence about both PS4 and Xbone, depending on how they treat the used game issue and what changes they'll be making to their policies. Especially the movie watching crap using kinect.

 

[Zeonix]

For me, the issue is my consoles are single player game-only devices unless I'm way too good at a game and want some kind of challenge e.g. Injustice. If I want multiplayer, if I want to chat with people, movie-watching capabilities and so on, I have my pc. It's my One. I don't need another One. So a console that focuses primarily on all the things I don't give a shit about needs to have some killer exclusives and play multiplatform games better than the competition in order for it to rate being bought. Right now, purely based on conjecture and specs made a available, the PS4 seems like its going to win the multiplatorm arena. I'm not really into anime anything, so that may save the XBone.

 

[Deverz]

There's a campaign to make sony change their mind about used games.

Some execs commented positively but no official word

As for Xbone's kinect I read it can be turned off it desired

 

[Zeonix]

You just have to press the button that pricks your finger, takes a blood sample and sends it to their database for analysis.

 

[DaRkOwNs]

Then they changed that. It was originally said to be required on at all times.

As for the used games, a -small- fee wouldn't be a big deal to me. I know that the used game market is currently crushing developers, but there needs to be some give and take there. We, or I at least, buy used games because most 5 hour long games are not worth 60 dollars. Soon to be 70, I hear. And being very restriced on my budget, it's either used or nothing at all.

So, a few dollars per used game would be fine and would get the job done.

 

[Grega]

Speaking of single player. According to an interview i read, while the PS4 does not need a connection to work, the Xbone will try to connect to the server in certain intervals to synch up. There is no info of what happens if it cant connect, but chances of it not working are high.

As for the used games thing. Personally im primarily a PC gamer. Meaning used games dont exist for me. I see no reason for their existence to begin with. Heck even the AAA titles are sold for cheaper on the PC because there is no used games market to cut in.

 

[Zeonix]

If games are $70 a pop, I'm done with console gaming. Even 60 bucks is a ridiculous amount for a game, considering most are less than 20 hours long.

I don't see the console not working if it can't sync up. You'd be cutting off a good portion of the userbase who have shitty connections, or no connection at all. Used games make sense on consoles because you almost never see sales where games are 75% off a month after it comes out. PC games have those kinds of sales all the time, either via steam or amazon or newegg or whatever, where you can not only buy new games for fairly cheap but, in the case of steam, by a publishers entire catalogue for pretty damn cheap. Those same games will still be 40-50 bucks on consoles in 3 or 4 years. Two different animals. It makes sense for used games to exist for consoles. As a kid, I used to go to Funcoland, which eventually became gamestop, and buy cheap games all the time, which only increased my love of games and made me want to buy more.

 

[DaRkOwNs]

Funcoland. Hahah, that's a name I haven't heard in years. It used to be a retail/slash arcade in the local mall.

Yeah, Steam and digital retailers is a little different. I got the entire star wars collection over christmas for like 30 bucks.

I would have no problem with used games going out -if- retailers were to do weekly sales/deal on games like Steam or even Origin (blech) does. Otherwise, yeah, very few games are actually worth 60 dollars. I think that's about the 4th time I've said that?

 

[Grega]

Funcoland. Hahah, that's a name I haven't heard in years. It used to be a retail/slash arcade in the local mall.

Yeah, Steam and digital retailers is a little different. I got the entire star wars collection over christmas for like 30 bucks.

I would have no problem with used games going out -if- retailers were to do weekly sales/deal on games like Steam or even Origin (blech) does. Otherwise, yeah, very few games are actually worth 60 dollars. I think that's about the 4th time I've said that?

Thats the point of digital distribution. No second hand market cutting in to the profits, which means that you can sell for cheaper, since you can be expecting more sales.

As a little side note. And more relevant to the topic than used games.

Microsoft will be investing 1billion bucks in to games (including exclusives) for the xbone -> http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/29/microsoft-investing-1-billion-into-games-on-xbox-one/

Also the connection thing. Seems like microsoft decided that its only "one of the possible scenarios" they were talking about -> http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109

 

[DaRkOwNs]

Eh, they could invest a trillion for all I care. Budget doesn't make a good game. And the current ones they have planned don't remotely interest me, either.

I'm expecting alot of the announced..."features" to be changed somewhere down the line, so I'm still with-holding final opinion on the Xbone.

 

[Zeonix]

Big budget games sell. Sorry, Dark.

 

[Grega]

True, but in reality, they only need 1 game to sell. Since they are focusing on a lot of exclusives, that will mean that as long as 1 game sells, their console sells.

 

[Zeonix]

I don't know about that. Most people don't buy a 500 dollar console because of 1 game. I know that I wanted to play Infamous 2 the new GoW and a few other games, but 5 games couldn't justify me buying another console.

 

[DaRkOwNs]

Big budget games sell. Sorry, Dark.

No, they do. Not denying that. I'm just not gonna be buying them unless the gameplay/story manages to blow my ******* mind.

Halo 5 probably. That's gonna be a console seller, unfortunately.

It's gonna be mostly kids begging their parents buying it for christmas. So the CoD multiplayer community.

 

[Grega]

I don't know about that. Most people don't buy a 500 dollar console because of 1 game. I know that I wanted to play Infamous 2 the new GoW and a few other games, but 5 games couldn't justify me buying another console.

Youd be surprised. While you, myself and many others dont think like that, the majority of people do go that way. All they need is 1 or 2 good exclusive titles to jump on the band wagon. Those are usually the die hard fans of the console who proclaim it to be the best thing to ever happen to this planet, since they have to some how justify that purchase.

 

[pumadace2000]

Those are usually the die hard fans of the console who proclaim it to be the best thing to ever happen to this planet, since they have to some how justify that purchase.

Or who want to justify the fact that they have to pay monthly for online services. Seriously with that thing alone I have no idea how the Xbox is still relevant at this point because that is just ridiculous. But hey good thing stupid people have money right?

 

[DaRkOwNs]

I still do hate the online fee.

But either way, I don't see PS4 or Xbone taking off like the 3 and 360 did. The consoles are gonna price drop very hard, or they're gonna come out with less expensive bare-bones consoles very quickly.

I'll just sit and chuckle while I play Pokemon X in my underwear come release time next year.

 

[Zeonix]

@Pumaduce: It's 40-50 dollars a year for a better online experience than the PS3. I honestly don't understand why anyone is complaining about that.