I managed to have a quick scan of the big news this morning before work, and while neither company has done anything to excite me sufficiently for a day one purchase, it has to be said that the PS4 stands as a more attractive prospect than the XBox1. Cheaper price point, ability to sell / loan games freely, more powerful specs, improved controller, more interesting and varied first party games...

I have to give Microsoft some credit though: the XBox One is a far more attractive looking machine than the PS4. Considering the great looking products that Sony have produced over the years with their TV and music hardware, arguably none of the Playstations have ever looked that great (I loved the look of the original Playstation back in the day, but it looks awfully plasticky when you look at it now).

Electric Crocosaurus wrote:I managed to have a quick scan of the big news this morning before work, and while neither company has done anything to excite me sufficiently for a day one purchase, it has to be said that the PS4 stands as a more attractive prospect than the XBox1. Cheaper price point, ability to sell / loan games freely, more powerful specs, improved controller, more interesting and varied first party games....

I gotta be honest & say, what more do you want?
Sorry if that sounds dickish but all those things you mentioned are reasons enough in my opinion.
MS came out with a stellar games line up, though still have the DRM restrictions.
Sony doesn't take away consumer rights, but had less games to show at the moment.
Again, no offence was meant in my comment mate.

Well, so far I'm really pleased to see Mirror's Edge 2 and I'm also pretty intrigued by The Crew (and I'm hoping it comes to PC).

It is definitely end of gen season, with loads of people turning to the PC over the last twelve months, and then E3 comes along with its shiny new consoles and us PC gamers are forgotten again

I haven't seen anything to change my plan of getting a new console about a year and a half in to the cycle, when I can really see how the dust has settled, but it looks like there will be some great stuff coming out. How does everyone feel about online play being part of PS Plus? It seems like people rate the service, so I suspect it won't be causing too much hoo-ha.

In terms of Sony's shots at Microsoft about DRM, I think that it shows Sony are coming into this generation with some really smart guys behind the scenes. Who knows if they ever had DRM planned, but if they did they have adapted really fast to change their approach, or if they didn't they have been on the ball to make it a selling point and get some excellent PR with core customer base.

Personally, all this DRM arguing goes over my head a bit because I already use Steam, so I've already kind of accepted the fact I don't really own games anymore. The major problem with the Xbox One is that I don't think Microsoft will pass on the benefits (such as cheaper games), but will use it to extract maximum $

I'm okay with online play being a part of PS+ Maybe it's just because I'm used to it with XBL, but the way I see it they have to pay for servers somehow. I know that point doesn't really stand up when you look at how it's free on other services, but I don't begrudge Sony charging for it now. There needs to be a consistent and reliable flow of money coming from somewhere for servers, and games themselves can't necessarily provide that. But regardless, the value you get with the rest of PS+ is well worth it. You get all those great free games that vastly outweigh what the cost of actually buying them would be. I hate the idea of games being seen as a "service" instead of products in and of themselves, but I can't deny that connection to online servers is a service, not part of the product of the game itself. It doesn't matter if I own a copy of a disc and the machine that runs it if the servers at Sony's end have to be shut down because they can't afford them.

Also PS+ was something I was probably going to sign up for anyway, because of all the great bonuses.

And as someone who is mostly a console gamer, I do really hate the idea that I can't own my own games. The way I see it, if I legally have in my possession what constitutes as a copy of the game, then it should be mine. It's a pretty simple concept and I find it pretty offensive that any company thinks they have the right to say that they still own that copy after I payed the money to have it in my possession. The transaction required for me to own that game has already happened. I payed for it, it's mine. The idea that a company thinks they still own something that they have willingly given up, and already been compensated for doing so, is infuriating. It's also symptomatic of the "games as services" idea, and pretty much why I hate it so much.

I think the idea of cheap games also comes in to it too. Nobody trusts MS to do Steam-like sales with their games. It is entirely selfish greed and control. They don't plan to do anything to compensate for that. They're just going to tell us we're getting "value", and they think that we'll believe them.

Scrustle wrote:...but the way I see it they have to pay for servers somehow. I know that point doesn't really stand up when you look at how it's free on other services...

Actually, I think you're right. If a game isn't peer to peer, then someone somewhere is paying for the server. A lot of people rent and run servers on PC as a hobby, so someone is paying for it. I think paying for reliable and good online connections on console is fair enough. I've paid for Xbox Live for several years to play with a couple of friends that game on console, and the service connects and works everytime we need it to. I just wouldn't want to ever pay a subscription to a particular game on that style service.

Indiana747 wrote:

Electric Crocosaurus wrote:I managed to have a quick scan of the big news this morning before work, and while neither company has done anything to excite me sufficiently for a day one purchase, it has to be said that the PS4 stands as a more attractive prospect than the XBox1. Cheaper price point, ability to sell / loan games freely, more powerful specs, improved controller, more interesting and varied first party games....

I gotta be honest & say, what more do you want?
Sorry if that sounds dickish but all those things you mentioned are reasons enough in my opinion.
MS came out with a stellar games line up, though still have the DRM restrictions.
Sony doesn't take away consumer rights, but had less games to show at the moment.
Again, no offence was meant in my comment mate.

Don't worry, none taken! The reasons I gave have definitely swayed me towards PS4 rather than XBox One, and if someone were to appear and offer me the choice of the two for free I'd go for Sony's machine of wonders without hesitation. However a Day One purchase means giving me something that I can't currently do on the current console that I have, and none of the confirmed launch titles seem to advance beyond the current generation mode of drive here / shoot this / jump over that.

I do agree that the portfolio of games on both games for the future is strong, but I'll be sticking with my original plan of spending 2014 working through my backlog of current generation and indie games before making the jump to next-gen Christmas 2014. However I reserve the right to do a complete u-turn if Half Life 3 is announced for either console, in which case I'll see you at the midnight launch!

magicjoef wrote:In terms of Sony's shots at Microsoft about DRM, I think that it shows Sony are coming into this generation with some really smart guys behind the scenes. Who knows if they ever had DRM planned, but if they did they have adapted really fast to change their approach, or if they didn't they have been on the ball to make it a selling point and get some excellent PR with core customer base.

I'm still amazed that Sony have so emphatically ruled out Microsoft-style DRM measures and any need for online connectivity. Though it's hard to believe that Microsoft wouldn't have been complicit, I always got the impression that the major publishing houses were just as much in favour of these measures. To have two consoles on the market with such wildly differing approaches in this respect is really interesting, especially given that it doesn't seem to have made a huge difference to the number of exclusives each console has, or third party games published on their platform.

Personally, and this is pure speculation, I don't see how Microsoft can compete in a market where their main competitor is cheaper and far less restrictive. Even casual consumers are sure to eventually get the idea, through word of mouth, that the PS4 makes more sense as a buyer. Right now the 'Why's' of buying an XBox One amount to:

* It has Kinect
* It allows you to run your TV through it (if you have Sky)*
* The Cloud *might* mean that your console gets more powerful over time

Sony are just trolling MS now. This is hilarious...

Nintendo Direct has started, but the stream is garbage. Not working at all for me.

Yeah, it's shaky but it's a solid collection of games so far. First 3 have been amazing! Edit: Spoke too soon (Wii Party U)...

Nothing to worry about, that was a love letter to me for getting a Wii U somewhere between The wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 release dates.

That " how to share games on PS4" is brilliant. My mind was pretty made up already, but a cheaper price, no DRM bullshit,no second-hand/rental doubts, and it's clear I'm going PS4. Should be able to Day One it hopefully.
Microsoft have put themselves into a very dodgy corner before they've even started. Will certainly wait and see how that pans out, at the moment a Wii U would be a more preferable second console.

The MS conference was plain embarrassing in places. Pushing that tank battle game as a system shifter? Good lord... I cringed.

With that World of Tanks announcement I was actually pretty apprehensive before they revealed what it was. They said it was a game that had never been on consoles before, and they hyped it up to look like it was something huge. I thought every Valve fan in existence was about to have a stroke.

But I think the game is actually a relatively big deal. I'm not interested myself, but I've heard the game is huge in Russia and similar areas. It's been extremely successful, and perhaps people from that part of the world will be interested.

Yeah but why would Russians give a damm about a game they already have free on PC?

oh Bayonetta 2 looks amazing and so does X.

Still not tempted to get a wii u after that.

Can't say i'm surprised by anything shown at the Nintendo Direct but i'm still happy of what I saw.

A Link Between Worlds for 3DS
A Wii U sequel to the amazing Mario 3D Land, announced
Mario Kart 8 features nice graphics and anti-grav/F-Zero style tracks
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze for Wii U
Wind Waker HD looks superb but we knew that back then, didn't we?
Smash Bros 4 looks bat-shit insane, as always. Two new characters get involved!
MonolithSoft makes a new JPRG? It seems so!

Todinho wrote:Yeah but why would Russians give a damm about a game they already have free on PC?

oh Bayonetta 2 looks amazing and so does X.

Ah true. Russians aren't exactly known for being generous with their money.

Bayonetta 2 and "X" do look brilliant. Bayonetta was always going to be brilliant though. I just watched the full trailer now. Looks great, although I'm not sure about her new look. Also, the credits at the end showed that Hideki Kamiya is only working as a "supervisor", not actually creating the game himself. No problem though. I'm sure Platinum know exactly what they're doing. It's from the same producer as Metal Gear Rising. Don't see any other name that I recognise from any other game though.

X kind of surprised me. The teaser for it before got me interested, but not really excited. Didn't really show much and I've never really got on well with JRPGs. From what I've heard about Xenoblade, I'm not so sure I would get along with that game either. This looks like it might have more action game style combat, and the visuals and aesthetic are certainly stunning.

Really hyped for WW HD too. Still kind of unsure on the added bloom though.

dezm0nd wrote:Can't say i'm surprised by anything shown at the Nintendo Direct but i'm still happy of what I saw.

A Link Between Worlds for 3DS
A Wii U sequel to the amazing Mario 3D Land, announced
Mario Kart 8 features nice graphics and anti-grav/F-Zero style tracks
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze for Wii U
Wind Waker HD looks superb but we knew that back then, didn't we?
Smash Bros 4 looks bat-shit insane, as always. Two new characters get involved!
MonolithSoft makes a new JPRG? It seems so!

Looks a good list to me, and it will be a lot of stuff in HD for the first time for Nintendo, they should be able to do some stunning stuff considering how good SM Galaxy looked on the Wii in SD.

I've been taking a look at some E3 developer walkthroughs/interviews, as they tend to be way more informative and interesting than anything during the conferences. Thought I'd make a list of stuff that really impressed me and why, that I'll update as new video footage comes out of E3:

Multi-platform

Watch Dogs - Potential really interesting take on action and stealth.
Destiny - Kind of building on the foundations of Borderlands, and taking it to the next level. Great art design.
Dark Souls II - Having now put 47 hours into the original Dark Souls, and fallen head over heels in love with it, I couldn't be more excited for this. The combat, which is already better than every other action RPG, looks even better in 2. Visually it looks a lot more crisp than the original. The game its self will still be just as challenging as the original, but they're trying to make learning the fundamentals of Dark Souls easier to pick up. Which I think is a good thing.
Transistor - Not just Bastion with a different coat of paint. There are a lot of really interesting new mechanics here.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - Takes the solid mechanics of the original, and puts them in a Metroidvania structure. GREAT!

Wii U

Sonic Lost World - It really is Super Sonic Galaxy...but so what, that's an awesome direction to take Sonic. This honestly looks like a GREAT Sonic game. They have seeming dropped all the BS, and made this a GAME game. Nintendo's direct involvement with this probably had an affect on the design direction.
Super Smash Bros. - I adore this series, so this was an easy sell. But it was great seeing the project lead talk through the new moves and changes to certain characters, and how Mega Man, The Villager and The Wii Fit Trainer would work. (Seek out the Wii Fit Trainer SSB trailer, it's hilarious!)
Bayonetta 2 - Was already sold on Bayonetta 2 before I even saw it. Great watching a walk through of the gameplay though, they have made some cool changes.
Wonderful 101 - I've actually already had hands on time with this at Eurogamer, so I already know it's quite amazing.
Mario Kart 8 - They're taking a lot more risks with this entry than the conference footage would suggest.
Wind Waker HD - ...It's Wind Waker in HD

PlayStation 4

Infamous: Second Son - I liked Infamous 1 and 2, but nothing about this grabbed me at first. Then I saw the demo walk through, and I was impressed. Seems like changing the nature of the characters powers has given them a lot of room to experiment. They showed off some neat non-lethal stealth tactics. Also the enemies are showcasing some interesting A.I. When they see you, they don't immediately attack you. They'll shout "freeze," and if you stop moving, they'll calmly walk towards you. It made the enemies feel more like real people, which is great.

3DS

Pokemon X & Y - Haven't played a Pokemon game since Red and Blue. While mechanically pretty similar to every pokemon game, the new 3D polygon paint is enough to bring me back.

Games I want to see more of at E3

Metal Gear Solid 5
Mirror's Edge 2 - There probably isn't a demo of this at E3.
Below
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Rayman Legends
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Super Mario 3D World
Xenoblade Sequel
Final Fantasy XV
Kingdom Hearts 3
Tearaway
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt