On Tuesday at 1pm EST on Spike TV they are going

[Timman_24]

Oh come on, don't play the wounded ego angle. Everything you wrote was only based on what you want, which is fine, there is nothing wrong with that. But don't try to make it sound like it isn't selfish. You plainly state that you don't care about other people's situations, that is also fine. Just don't play ignorant, I see things you write here and I know your intelligent enough to realize that you have inflammatory statements in there. You are not trying to have an actual conversation, you are either trying to have a rally behind you or start a flame war.

Why not discuss the points instead of posting a one liner? I don't see anything wrong with what I said. If you have some insight into people that will be affected then I'm curious to hear. I find it very hard to believe that someone with absolutely no access to internet would be in the market for an Xbox One, which is why I think the people that are upset about the online angle are being a bit dramatic about it. If its a principle argument, then that's one thing, but to hinge the argument on internet not being available has always struck me as strange.

What I really find fascinating are the people complaining on facebook and twitter... The hypothetical Arkansan gets dragged out quite often on the forums lol

[taggart6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=KbWgUO-Rqcw#!

This.


Its not a console, it's a TV that lets you play sports and Call of Duty.

EDIT: holy crap! so advertisement links are now being added to buzz words on posts. ugg...talk about going down hill.

[Timman_24]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=KbWgUO-Rqcw#!

This.


Its not a console, it's a TV that lets you play sports and Call of Duty.

EDIT: holy crap! so advertisement links are now being added to buzz words on posts. ugg...talk about going down hill.

Wow. I've practically stopped coming here since its dwindled down so much. Kind of sad. This site used to be the perfect size. Big enough to sustain a lot of diverse conversations, but small enough to feel friendly. Now its just ten of us guys haha. I had an asian anime banner on the side earlier today that showed a young looking girl sitting on top of a dudes crotch on a picnic blanket advertising some weird dating game. Down hill indeed.

[PowerCreep]

The hypothetical Arkansan gets dragged out quite often on the forums lol

Ahem....

I do agree about the internet thing though. We've already discussed it in another thread. I don't get the uproar over having to connect to the internet. The beloved Steam requires an internet connection and no one *****es about that. DRM on PCs usually require some sort of authentication to a server.... Why is it not okay for a console? Chances are high if you don't have internet access or a hdtv you probably aren't the target demo for Xbox One anyway.

[Timman_24]

Ahem....

I do agree about the internet thing though. We've already discussed it in another thread. I don't get the uproar over having to connect to the internet. The beloved Steam requires an internet connection and no one *****es about that. DRM on PCs usually require some sort of authentication to a server.... Why is it not okay for a console? Chances are high if you don't have internet access or a hdtv you probably aren't the target demo for Xbox One anyway.

My thoughts exactly. I finally hooked my PC up to my tv to try big picture mode and its great. So much snappier than my consoles. I never play 360 anymore.

[Snakespy]

Great point on the steam connection I didn't even think about that. I agree with Timman 100%. And I am also very uninterested in the new xbox at this point. Give me some E3 baby.

[Steven P Jobs]

I'm not going to buy a next-gen console for a while. The TV stuff isn't interesting to me at all, and the flagship games at the Xbox announcement were Fifa, Madden, Call of Duty, and a racing game. Not a single genuinely new game in the bunch. Apparently the trailer for the new Call of Duty was running on next-gen hardware. It looked just like current gen to me.

The only big thing in gaming that I'm excited for right now is Oculus Rift. If I make a gaming splurge in the near future, it will probably be a VR headset and a computer that's powerful enough to drive it.

[taggart6]

A major difference though is that steam is an all digital platform serviced pretty much exclusively through an online connection where as the new Xbox is a mix of digital and physical media.

If the Xbox One only used digital media then I think the online aspect would be a non issue. However, having to buy a physical disc and then needing an online connection to further validate that purchase is silly.


My console gaming is all single player. I don't even think i have my 360 online any more.

[Timman_24]

A major difference though is that steam is an all digital platform serviced pretty much exclusively through an online connection where as the new Xbox is a mix of digital and physical media.

If the Xbox One only used digital media then I think the online aspect would be a non issue. However, having to buy a physical disc and then needing an online connection to further validate that purchase is silly.


My console gaming is all single player. I don't even think i have my 360 online any more.

I'm thinking that the physical disk is really just a bandaid for a console that is actually entirely online. Its the same principle as being able to buy Skyrim on Steam or walk into Walmart and pick it off the shelf. You still have to authorize the physical copy through Steam to play it. The Xbox One was entirely developed to be like Steam with a disk drive tacked on so people can still pop a disk in it. All games must be installed to the HDD. The disk is just a medium for that data to be copied to the HDD. Once installed, it is validated through a key.

Xbox One disks are exactly the same as PC disks now. They are nothing but the installation data. If you give it to a friend, they must either play on your account or pay the new game price to install it. Its absolutely identical to how PC games operate. MS did say they are going to offer a second hand market, but I'm betting it will be through their service.

[Timman_24]

I'm not going to buy a next-gen console for a while. The TV stuff isn't interesting to me at all, and the flagship games at the Xbox announcement were Fifa, Madden, Call of Duty, and a racing game. Not a single genuinely new game in the bunch. Apparently the trailer for the new Call of Duty was running on next-gen hardware. It looked just like current gen to me.

The only big thing in gaming that I'm excited for right now is Oculus Rift. If I make a gaming splurge in the near future, it will probably be a VR headset and a computer that's powerful enough to drive it.

I'd say wait until E3 to make the final judgement. This press conference was for press and late night news, so Call of Duty and a shiny racing game were going to be there no matter what. They said 15 new exclusive games and 8 new IPs were going to be released within the first year. They said E3 is where they will show their games. I guess we will see.

Anandtech did confirm 4K support for the Xbox One though which was expected (I doubt in games.)

EDIT: It looks like the PS4 is going to be significantly faster:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6972/xbox-one-hardware-compared-to-playstation-4/2

Note that unlike the Xbox 360 vs. PS3 era, Sony's hardware advantage here won't need any clever developer work to extract - the architectures are near identical, Sony just has more resources available to use.

[toolfan]

Now knowing that digital purchases on all three systems are not going to be carried over to new system, I think I'm going to use Steam exclusively for multi-platform titles (I don't know what Im going to do about EA titles yet). I will still end up buying all three systems eventually, but they will most likely be for exclusive games and video playback only. I think the Xbox really loses out, in this scenario, as they have the worst exclusive game lineup, imho. I rarely buy games day one, so waiting for the PC port for a year long exclusive game isn't a big deal. The only thing that could change my mind is if the new achievements system is really engaging. Right now it seems as it will just be used as advertisement to get people to play your game, i.e. get 100 kills this weekend and get 100 gamer points. What I would like to see is a more organic achievement system. Say developers see 95% of people playing the game one way i.e. playing as a pyromancer in Dark Souls. They then can create achievements to start steering people to play using a different style that they had originally designed for but not many people actually used i.e. a faith build, thereby bringing new life into the game. Some would say that this is just bad game design but I feel it could be applied in a way that could keep the game fresh.

What I was really hoping from Microsoft was to include a CableCard reader in the device and then partner with Tivo or create their own DVR system. If the XBOX could eliminate the $15 a month I pay for renting my cable box, it would have been a day one purchase. I doubt the TV integration they showed will be that useful and snappy as they made it seem. The NFL partnership, also, seems gimicky.

I agree that the online requirement is not that big of a deal. Always online could have been a big problem based on server load, i.e. SimCity and Diablo III, server mainteance, or connection drops but the once per 24 hour limit should be easy to maintain for 99% of users. I'm pretty anti-used games/pro digital distribution, but I worry that the savings that the publishers will see from the lack of used games won't be shared with the consumer. I am expecting a pretty fluid pricing structure now for games, in which, a game that may orginally be released at $60 drops down to $15-$20 swiftly if it does not sell. I'm hoping publishers will now have the forsight and power to see that not all games are worth $60 and they should price their respective game where the demand dictates.

[taggart6]

I'm thinking that the physical disk is really just a bandaid for a console that is actually entirely online. Its the same principle as being able to buy Skyrim on Steam or walk into Walmart and pick it off the shelf. You still have to authorize the physical copy through Steam to play it. The Xbox One was entirely developed to be like Steam with a disk drive tacked on so people can still pop a disk in it. All games must be installed to the HDD. The disk is just a medium for that data to be copied to the HDD. Once installed, it is validated through a key.

Xbox One disks are exactly the same as PC disks now. They are nothing but the installation data. If you give it to a friend, they must either play on your account or pay the new game price to install it. Its absolutely identical to how PC games operate. MS did say they are going to offer a second hand market, but I'm betting it will be through their service.

That's a great point and I'd like to see if digital options for new games will be avialble. If so then I think you have a comparable example. However, if you still need to buy a disc then I think its a awkward setup that's really there to make the brick and mortar stores willing to carry the hardware components like consoles and peripherals.

The more I chew on it the more I think that next-gen consoles are basically restricted PCs. It functions just like a PC but you are limited to a single hardware vendor that now has ultimate control over the software, community network, interface, and multimedia content.

[Timman_24]

That's a great point and I'd like to see if digital options for new games will be avialble. If so then I think you have a comparable example. However, if you still need to buy a disc then I think its a awkward setup that's really there to make the brick and mortar stores willing to carry the hardware components like consoles and peripherals.

The more I chew on it the more I think that next-gen consoles are basically restricted PCs. It functions just like a PC but you are limited to a single hardware vendor that now has ultimate control over the software, community network, interface, and multimedia content.

I think the disc is there for three reasons. Brick and mortar like you said for sure is one. MS still needs big box stores to get consoles into the hands of customers and be able to prominently display the games to catch the impulse purchasers. Secondly, a 40GB download (or whatever the future size of games will be) is large today. The difference between being able to authorize a game, which 56k could do, and download a 40GB file is night and day, so the disc has to stay for now. Lastly, a lot of people still aren't comfortable with all digital downloads, especially when the downloads cost $60. Joe Call of Duty wants some dog tags in the box and a feeling of ownership that a digital item can't give. On a smaller note, MS is pushing this thing as the "All-in-One" system, so they have to have a bluray drive or it feels pointless. You can't tout that you can do everything and then not be able to play movies.

I've heard some fringe cases being discussed where the online activation window of 24 hours could be very restricting. They include moving to a new house, fighting games in hotel rooms (yup a lot of people actually hold tournaments in hotel rooms for high end competition), or internet outages. I think an increase to weekly or so would be more appropriate, but its all new so we will see how they react to what happens when these things are out in the wild.

I'm actually happy to see the used market disappear. It kills me that people will give gamestop 60% markup on used games to save 5 bucks. Hopefully developers can be better paid and we see more games come out. This is a GREAT thing for mostly single-player games (which are traded in most often) and maybe we will finally stop seeing the gross use of preorder DLC that publishers had to tack on to try to stave off used purchases.

[SewerUrchin]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/fea...adline:default

Windows XP operating system
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Time, and Call of Juarez
Xbox Hat—Say the words “Xbox Hat” out loud and a large image of a hat will appear on your TV screen
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Ability to capture live game play, edit it, and send it to your pathetic friends
500 GB of added system memory you can buy separately for more ****ing money
Color green probably in there somewhere
Kinect motion sensor capable of responding to what you consider movement
Preloaded with episodes of Get Smart
Gumball dispenser

[taggart6]

I don't understand the dislike regarding used games. As a society, we resell used items like cars, homes, furniture, clothes, and pretty much anything that's non perishable. Why are games any different? Other forms of used media are constantly resold but rarely if ever do you hear people argue about it.

IMHO, reselling of used consumer items is perhaps the truest reflection of a free market. I will not buy a product at a full price because I honestly don't think its worth it for the cost the owner wants. It's really as simple as that. Offer it to me at a price I think its worth and I'll gladly pay. If I can't get the product for a price I want then I'll move on. Stopping used sales isn't going to magically increase the owners's revenue because i have no alternative. I just won't buy it and will look for something else to spend my money on.

I can understand a person's desire to want to support the creators of things they love. I do it all the time for a variety of items including games. However, I think its humorous that people will focus on this particular market and cry bloody murder when the subject of used games comes up because they feel games are unique and special when really they aren't. Its amazing because MS isn't even getting rid of the used game market but rather monopolizing it for all future xbox games. Used games sells will still be there but under the name of "game transfers" and will be controlled by a single company who will set pricing and policy. I think that's more frightening then the general discussion over used items.

Used games on consoles wouldn't even be an issue if the console gaming market offered more sales like their PC counterpart. However that will never happen as long as console games continue to have a big presence in brick and mortar stores and the additional cost for physical media. Personally, I rather see all consoles die and have all games move to the PC where the market is more competitive and more digital options exist to keep prices low.