The Official NextBox Thread!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 6, 2013, 3:58 pm

Aslanna wrote:
Is anyone surprised that it will be using Blu-Ray?

Not about the Blu-Ray, but it's nice to see mention of TV. Hopefully the info overlay stuff will be nice, even though I probably don't use it since I don't subscribe to TV Cable.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 6, 2013, 4:46 pm

The current Xbox 360 can also be used as a cable box for AT&T's Uverse.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 6, 2013, 5:14 pm

Boogahz wrote:The current Xbox 360 can also be used as a cable box for AT&T's Uverse.

The talk behind the scenes for the Nextbox is different than an app. The cable goes into your cable box, which then goes into your Xbox, which then goes into the TV. The Xbox is suppossed to do overlays and even provide interactivity with your TV. It all sounds pretty weird to me on paper, if the rumors are even to be believed. I need to see a live demo to wrap my head around it.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » May 7, 2013, 10:18 am

After the MS employee that got fired for commenting on twitter about how it would be required and he didn't see what the big deal is, and all of the uproar about it, I would guess that they had a change of heart.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 7, 2013, 10:41 am

I doubt it. It was stupid of Sony to announce a weak product so early on with just a lame controller to show and not decent games. That sort of backfired as the excitement over PS4 is non existent so far.

PS4's greatest feature (sharing videos?) can be shut down by the individual game companies according to the latest news. Not something you can rely on being available in every game.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 2:33 pm

XBOX ONE = XBOX Fail

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » May 21, 2013, 2:54 pm

If XBOX locks up Sunday Ticket within the next few years when DirecTV's exclusivity runs off, then its a real game changer.

I get what they're trying to do though, I mean you can only get so hyped up about a gaming console, faster processors, updated graphics, new titles, etc. Changing the way your entire multimedia set up operates is a huge step going forward.

Dakanaf · Post by **Dakanaf** » May 21, 2013, 3:02 pm

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 3:49 pm

No BC for xbox people, either!

The Xbox One won't play any existing Xbox 360 games, said Microsoft's Marc Whitten in an interview with The Verge.

The lack of backward compatibility results from the new console's hardware architecture, which is a significant departure from that of the Xbox 360. "The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn't really work from that perspective," said Whitten, corporate vice president of Xbox Live.

At least with the PS4 you might be able to stream older games. At some point.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 21, 2013, 3:55 pm

The PS4 has an almost 50% more powerful cpu and drastically better RAM. I will own them both, but on paper Sony wins this one easily.

I am really interested in the 15 exclusives and 8 new IPs that MS is touting. I don't really care about the TV stuff.

Sony stock is up 8% after the MS conference, lol.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 5:02 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:The PS4 has an almost 50% more powerful cpu and drastically better RAM. I will own them both, but on paper Sony wins this one easily.

Unfortunately that only really matters in exclusives since multi-platform games will have to conform to the lowest common denominator pretty much. Thanks MS for bringing game quality down!

Fairweather Pure wrote:Sony stock is up 8% after the MS conference, lol.

Almost 10% now. Microsoft down 1%. That was a terrible conference. Reminded me of something Nintendo would have put on. It seems Wall Street agrees!

The newly announced Xbox One will not require a constant Internet connection for single-player gaming as was previously rumored, Microsoft announced today

While an "Always On" function isn't a requirement, a connection is still necessary for streaming and accessing multiplayer through the new console.

I'm pretty certain they would have had it if it wasn't for the big uproar in the past couple months. But good news nonetheless for people who will actually buy an XBO.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 21, 2013, 5:09 pm

Can this be filed under 'No Shit' somewhere?

a connection is still necessary for streaming and accessing multiplayer through the new console.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 21, 2013, 5:41 pm

To summerize what we know so far from the conference and subsequent information:

Cons:
No BC for either disc or xbl games
Kinect 2.0 must be installed to start the system
All games install to HD in order to be played
Disc tied to your gamer tag (ie: no used games)
Less powerful than PS4 on all fronts

Pros/New features:
Improved controller
Improved TV I guess?
More powerful Kinect (which is a requirement to turn xbox on)
15 exclusives launching in the first year, 8 of them are new IPs
Gamerscore/Avatar imports from 360
Halo TV show
Launching this year with Forza 5 as a launch title

I think MS spread itself too thin by trying to do too much. It seems the sole reason I want a console, to play video games, is being shuffeled into the background. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, an always on Kinect 2.0 is a massive turn off for me. I simply have no place for it in my media room without it looking like shit. I really do not watch that much TV at all, so all those features, while nice, will have little to no value for me. I look forward to the games and a price. I may very well end up playing my 360 for the first year of Nextbox while next gen gaming on my PS4. After a year, I could get the Nextbox and the launch games/exclusives I missed should be in the cheapie bin.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 21, 2013, 6:03 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote: I think MS spread itself too thin by trying to do too much. It seems the sole reason I want a console, to play video games, is being shuffeled into the background. .

15 exclusives launching in the first year, 8 of them are new IPs

um, what?

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 6:22 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote: Cons:
All games install to HD in order to be played

I don't particularly see that as a con. That's one feature I wish the PS3 had due to the slow ass Blu-Ray that's in it. Making it optional would be nice but I'm sure it's tied to piracy measures in some way. I could see it other ways as well especially if MS forces you to buy their overpriced HDD for the XBO.

Fairweather Pure wrote:Disc tied to your gamer tag (ie: no used games)

Hadn't read up on that. Nice! No wonder EA is giving up on Online Passes since it's a moot point anyway.

Fairweather Pure wrote:Pros/New features:
15 exclusives launching in the first year, 8 of them are new IPs

How many are shooters? That's key!

Fairweather Pure wrote:Halo TV show

Spielberg involvement.. Hope it turns out better than that Terra Nova flop he was in on.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 21, 2013, 6:46 pm

Winnow wrote:
Fairweather Pure wrote: I think MS spread itself too thin by trying to do too much. It seems the sole reason I want a console, to play video games, is being shuffeled into the background. .

15 exclusives launching in the first year, 8 of them are new IPs
um, what?

Less powerful system by a long shot. The RAM that it has is going to be eaten up by Kinect 2.0 and running the OS (3 in 1). They went cheap on the stuff that makes better games so they could include Kinect 2.0 so people can play Minority Report with their televisions. The Kinect is Microsoft's WiiU controller. The system itself is kneecapped for a gimmic. It eats into every resource from development to the actual system resources. All of that and they didn't show a single example/compelling reason how it is applicable to gaming.

E3 will shed more light on the games and hopefully give people something to be excited about. I hope they got all of the non gaming relatedcrap out of their system with this conference.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 6:54 pm

To be fair Sony's stock prices probably had no relevance to the XBO reveal.

Sony Corp. (6758) rose as much as 10 percent in the U.S after Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported the company’s board may discuss spinning off its entertainment division.

American depositary receipts in Tokyo-based Sony rose 9.5 percent to $22.97 at 3:39 p.m. in New York. Earlier the stock advanced to $23.10 for the biggest intraday gain since May 14, when investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC proposed selling as much as a 20 percent stake in the business, which includes Sony’s Culver City, California-based film and television studio, in an initial public offering.

However you'd at least think the MS stock would have went up. But it really was an uninspiring press event. More Kinect gimmicks, please!

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 21, 2013, 7:33 pm

More cons:

Cannot lend games to friends. They would have to purchase the game.

You have to input a serial number after you install to your HD and then be online to activate the game, even single player. Yay, more hoops to jump through! Got your brand new $60 home from the store but your Internet is down? Sorry!

The system itself is huge. It looks like a betamax player from the early 80's. it is laughably big.

Multiplayer still locked behind paywall.

More Pros:

AA batteries for controller (con to some!)

Every game gets dedicated servers

The Internet fallout is pretty amazing. People can see right through all of this anti consumer garbage and no one is happy about it. You'd be hard pressed to find a single person happy about the xbox1 reveal right now.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 21, 2013, 7:42 pm

Game Informer is reporting that 3GB is reserved for the OS, leaving only 5GB for actual gaming.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 21, 2013, 8:07 pm

Apparently the Xbox1 is required to be online at least once every 24hrs.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 8:57 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:More Pros:

AA batteries for controller (con to some!)

Definitely a con!

All in all it is as I said. Xbox One = XBOX FAIL.

If you want to play games then it' is PS4 all the way! If you want to fuck around docking your internet explorer to your video player... Get yourself an XBO.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 21, 2013, 9:03 pm

Looks good so far.

- UI kicks the crap out of whatever the PS4 showed.

-Controller is no contest. The weirdos that freaked out over the "d-pad", the only feature questionably better on the PS3 controller has been improved. One of the most important pieces of a gaming console, the controller, is hands down better on the Xbox One. PS4 controller still employes horrible ergonomics which zero other controllers adopt while everyone else and their mothers copy the joystick layout of the 360 controller for a good reason.

-The feature that took a huge chunk of the presentation time for the PS4 (recording videos) is available on the Xbox One as well and only warranted like 5 seconds of air time. (PS4 was desperate to pimp a "feature" I guess)

-Kinect 2.0 > "Eye" Whether you'll use it or not. The voice and motion/gesture commands are better on the Xbox One and better integrated with the complete system's multitasking UI.

-300,000 servers. It can't be understated that Microsoft knows it's shit when it comes to Online and database management. Sony is merely a pretender in this area. No doubt about it that Microsoft is more reliable and capable handling online game play and everything else associated with it on a massive scale.

-TWO Female presenters (of course a non factor unless you don't have one...demonstrating the asinine things that the bloggers write about)

-Steve fucking Spielberg. Xbox has him. PS4 has some JPOP singer in a schoolgirl uniform....OK, that's a push! I grew to like Tera Nova so am actually hopeful the Halo series could be decent.

System Specs. Fairweather is losing his grip over posting specs. I'm sure he was impressed with the PS3's honeycomb processer that was 100 times more powerful than Superman as well. How'd that work out? When it comes down to it. The specs on these systems will not make a significant difference in high quality performance. Wii U is the only laughable system when it comes to specs and shouldn't even coun't as a "next gen" system this round.

Name: Xbox One. meh. Not bad or good. Pretty simple which leads to:

Looks: The box is pretty bland but at the same time, it's not meant to attract kids anymore. It's designed to fit in with your living room's home electronics which it will now do nicely. No funky George Foreman grill design. I hope to hell it's quiet. Considering how big it is, I think they went for size allowing for very good cooling as opposed to super small with potential overheating issues. No word on the a power brick? If the brick is gone. that's also another good thing and I'll take a little larger size if that's the case.

Games: we have to wait for E3 for that shootout between the two systems.

Pros/Cons between the two systems: Can't think of anything that is better on the PS4 besides the DDR5 memory. Xbox One has better UI, better online support including massive server farm and expertise, controller weighs massively in favor of the Xbox One.

Time to root around for some more details.

Nice that Microsoft actually showed their system and not just a controller and didn't bring out the drama and orchestra to do it.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 21, 2013, 9:19 pm

Winnow wrote:Pros/Cons between the two systems: Can't think of anything that is better on the PS4 besides the DDR5 memory. Xbox One has better UI

Its got Windows 8 for its UI/OS. That's a fail right there.

better online support including massive server farm

How can you possibly even know that? Sounds like speculation.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 21, 2013, 9:30 pm

Aslanna wrote:
Winnow wrote:Pros/Cons between the two systems: Can't think of anything that is better on the PS4 besides the DDR5 memory. Xbox One has better UI
Its got Windows 8 for its UI/OS. That's a fail right there.

You and others that bitch about Windows 8 complain mostly about the "start screen". Xbox One is designed for Gesture and Voice controls. Hows is it bad? Windows 8 is a rock solid architecture/UI that Sony can only dream of having available to them for their system.

Aslanna wrote:
better online support including massive server farm
How can you possibly even know that? Sounds like speculation.

Microsoft mentioned it right in their announcement today. Did you not at least watch the hour long presentation? Weak!

----

re controller from Verge:

The Xbox One console is nice, but what really matters is the controller: after all, it's the thing you hold in your hands the whole time you're using the console, and if Microsoft has its way that's going to happen a lot. We had a chance to spend a few minutes using the new controller, and while we can't say our minds are blown, Microsoft's definitely thinking in new ways about the new Xbox.

The controller's design is mostly the same as the Xbox 360. It's a little smaller, since the company was able to retract the removable battery into the device itself, so there's no bump on the back. It's also a little more refined, with black buttons instead of colored ones, and Microsoft says it's also improved the analog sticks and triggers. (Reps made a big deal out of saying they tested the buttons at least two million times.) Those are hard to test without really digging into a game over time, though the analog sticks are certainly grippier and more textured. But one thing was immediately apparent: the new "impulse triggers" on the back of the controller.

Instead of having two vibration motors, one in the base of each grip, there are four inside the Xbox One's controller: two in the grips and one in each trigger. The pads of your fingers are incredibly sensitive, Microsoft told us, and the vibration in the triggers adds to the immersion of the whole experience. To prove it the company showed us six demos, involving things like a car revving its engine and firing a laser gun. With each came unique, applicable vibrations, and the extra motors really do add to the effect: you feel the recoil on the gunshot more, and the whirring engine made my whole body start to shiver as if I were really in a rumbling car.

Microsoft says there are forty improvements to the controller with the Xbox One — we're not sure all forty are exactly game-changing, but they might not need to be. Microsoft did it pretty well last time.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 21, 2013, 10:42 pm

And from Kotaku:

Xbox One Controller Hands On: Rumbling Triggers Are Freaking Awesome

You probably heard Microsoft mention that the new Xbox One controllers have 40 new features to make them easier to use. That's true! But a few really take the cake. And the rumbling triggers are going to be the biggest.

After holding one for a few minutes, I can say officially that the Xbox One controller is very nice. It's just more comfortable. This comes from a variety of alterations, like moving the batteries into the controller itself to making the back one solid piece, but the biggest change is moving the center of gravity closer to your body, giving you less to prop up on the far end. Think of holding out a baseball bat with a 10 pound weight on the very tip versus right up on your hands. It just makes sense.

The improved D-Pad is far, far easier to use than the current version's, the analog sticks have an easier to handle give to them, and the center Xbox button is moved farther up, which feels a little more natural (though it'll be more of a pain to use if you use it often like me). Overall, it's supposed to fit in more hand sizes more comfortably.

Sounds like the isolated rumble triggers are a hit, unlike the six axis faggotry introduced by the PS3 controller (minus rumble altogether which they felt people didn't want). Xbox fine tuned their controller while Sony still can't even get basics like joystick placement right.

One thing I don't understand is the two-type finish on the front and top of the Xbox one. That's ugly as fuck. Who in the hell thought that would be attractive to anyone? I mean, the box itself will be out of sight for the most part but that's almost trying to make it look bad on purpose. It looks like two shoe boxes stuck together. One or the other finish would have been fine by itself. It's almost as if it's a joke and they were going to remove the case to reveal the real finished product. I'm curious how they came to the conclusion, given a completely open slate, that this look would be what customers wanted...shape is fine...the texture combination is incredibly bad.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 22, 2013, 12:01 am

Winnow wrote:
Aslanna wrote:
better online support including massive server farm
How can you possibly even know that? Sounds like speculation.
Microsoft mentioned it right in their announcement today. Did you not at least watch the hour long presentation? Weak!

The first part, obviously. Let me bold it for you.

It's also a little more refined, with black buttons instead of colored ones

Oooo.. BLACK BUTTONS INSTEAD OF COLORED ONES! Award winning stuff there.

Face it the press event was a total snoozefest. You know what people found more interesting than the XBO? The new dog in Call of Duty. They built no excitement whatsoever.

And yeah if that's the final finish of that console that's another fail. There's no way the PS4 will be as hideous as that thing.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 22, 2013, 12:07 am

Aslanna wrote:
It's also a little more refined, with black buttons instead of colored ones
Oooo.. BLACK BUTTONS INSTEAD OF COLORED ONES! Award winning stuff there.

If that's all you managed to pulled out the comments about the controller then there's really no hope for you. That wasn't even mentioned in the presentation so obviously you care little enough about products to adequately research them.

Microsoft said it was going to be about the HARDWARE with E3's focus being on the games. At least Microsoft showed all of their hardware and not just a controller. They also didn't waste 3 hours of your time like Sony did. One hour managed to get the job done just fine without the added bullshit of Sony spending 30 minutes about recording games.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 22, 2013, 12:24 am

Winnow wrote:If that's all you managed to pulled out the comments about the controller then there's really no hope for you. That wasn't even mentioned in the presentation so obviously you care little enough about products to adequately research them.

Why should I research a product I have zero, nay, NEGATIVE, interest in? That's what would be known as a waste of time.

Microsoft said it was going to be about the HARDWARE with E3's focus being on the games. At least Microsoft showed all of their hardware and not just a controller.

Unfortunately for the world what they showed was hideous! Whoever designed that was probably the same genius who butchered Windows 8 with the Metro interface.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 22, 2013, 12:50 am

I'm dumbfounded by the look of the box. It's jaw dropping bad. It has zero impact on my purchasing decision but I can't believe how ugly it is. What fucked up test group picked it? How could anyone possibly think that's a good look?

All I can say is that is has a lot of vents. It looks like random parts from like five different boxes were pieced together. It might not be possible to make an uglier box than that.

Holy Christ it hurts my eyes to look at. This thing better be whisper quiet. I better not hear a fucking peep out if it. It has to be some sort of top secret design to produce zero decibels.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 22, 2013, 1:41 am

Here's a summary in case you missed it.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » May 22, 2013, 7:10 am

I'm reading this morning that apparently only 1 xbox live gold account will be necessary for all accounts on your XBO.

With the new Kinect, the system knows if you and another swap controllers and adjust accordingly. Really slick.

Major Nelson also blogged that a lot of the information regarding used games on the XBO hasn't been revealed yet and a lot of the stuff out there was rumor.

Personally, I'm more interested in this than the PS4. Not having to change tv inputs ever again is nice dream. (although I doubt that pvr access will be available).

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 22, 2013, 11:22 am

Animalor wrote:Major Nelson also blogged that a lot of the information regarding used games on the XBO hasn't been revealed yet and a lot of the stuff out there was rumor.

Which goes to show what a shitty job they did. Lot of conflicting info. Oh and also that Major Nelson is a dumbass.

Animalor wrote:With the new Kinect, the system knows if you and another swap controllers and adjust accordingly. Really slick.

Personally, I'm more interested in this than the PS4. Not having to change tv inputs ever again is nice dream. (although I doubt that pvr access will be available).

I suppose if you want a media center console it may have benefits. However for me the sole purpose of a console is to play games so all that other stuff just gets in the way. I don't care about Kinect. Or Television. Or sports.. Or Call of Duty. And definitely don't want to subject myself to the crappy Metro Windows 8 UI. So there's nothing the XBO gets me that I wont get on the PS4 or my PC for that matter.

Knowing if you swap controllers? I can't even believe that was an issue before.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 11:24 am

Francis nails it! He summed up the entire Xbox One reveal pretty well IMO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyD1VlQdj2s

Btw, Francis kind of looks like me if I were morbidly obese.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » May 22, 2013, 11:31 am

Aslanna wrote:
Animalor wrote:Major Nelson also blogged that a lot of the information regarding used games on the XBO hasn't been revealed yet and a lot of the stuff out there was rumor.
Which goes to show what a shitty job they did. Lot of conflicting info. Oh and also that Major Nelson is a dumbass.

Animalor wrote:With the new Kinect, the system knows if you and another swap controllers and adjust accordingly. Really slick.

Personally, I'm more interested in this than the PS4. Not having to change tv inputs ever again is nice dream. (although I doubt that pvr access will be available).
I suppose if you want a media center console it may have benefits. However for me the sole purpose of a console is to play games so all that other stuff just gets in the way. I don't care about Kinect. Or Television. Or sports.. Or Call of Duty. And definitely don't want to subject myself to the crappy Metro Windows 8 UI. So there's nothing the XBO gets me that I wont get on the PS4 or my PC for that matter.

Knowing if you swap controllers? I can't even believe that was an issue before.

I agree with you a lot nowadays. It kinda sucks.

Anyhow - I'm about in the same position. I don't care about kinect, or tv (I don't and won't be subscribing to cable anytime soon). Lightroom looks kinda cool, but it seems like the novelty would wear off pretty quick. Same disinterest in sports and CoD here.

The controller is a point of interest for me, but it's not going to be what pushes me one way or the other. And dick waving about exclusives isn't what I wanted to see, I'd prefer them to have announced that "we aren't going to play children's games with Sony anymore, so most games this generation will be cross platform". I don't care about racing games, sports games, or poorly designed shooters so the first 6 months lineup is probably missable on either console for me.

I'm leaning towards forcing myself to wait for these to have both been out for like 6 months and then seeing how I feel. But we'll see how that goes.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 11:42 am

As of right this minute, my plan is to skip the Xbox1 at launch. Perhaps I will buy it a year down the line and then get the launch exclusives I want when they are in the cheapie bin. My plan is to get a PS4 at launch and use it as my Next Gen system where all of my Sony first party as well as 3rd party games will be purchased and played. The Xbox will be regulated to exclusives only. This is pretty much the opposite of what I did this gen. In the meantime, I have a couple hundred Xbox 360 games to play and catch up on.

This can change based on price, launch date, and based on actual games available at launch. Christmas is also a wild card because I'm sure my wife will buy me one if I get the other and they are both available.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 11:45 am

Great GIFs coming from the conference though!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 22, 2013, 1:47 pm

So when it comes down to it, the games are the most important part of what people want.

Three most important things when it comes right down to it:

1. controller, because you use that on every game
2. actual number of quality games
3. Online experience as most games involve online game play

1 Xbox One easily has the advantage
2. TBD at E3
3. Xbox One has the advantage

So, ignoring all the complaining about extra features Xbox One offers, even for purist game play, the Xbox One is a very solid choice.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 22, 2013, 1:56 pm

Winnow wrote:So when it comes down to it, the games are the most important part of what people want.

Three most important things when it comes right down to it:

1. controller, because you use that on every game
2. actual number of quality games
3. Online experience as most games involve online game play

1 Xbox One easily has the advantage
2. TBD at E3
3. Xbox One has the advantage

So, ignoring all the complaining about extra features Xbox One offers, even for purist game play, the Xbox One is a very solid choice.

1. Subjective. I prefer the PS3 controller.
2. Subjective
3. Subjective. With the exception of cross game chat, which the PS4 will have, there was no difference in the "online experience" between the PS3 and the 360.

With a PS4, and a non-Windows 8 computer, I can't see an XBO ever finding it's way into my house. For me it's a pointless device.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » May 22, 2013, 2:14 pm

I'm at the other end of the spectrum. Kinect in my house has been used almost daily since launch day. Either minor use for voice control or sign in/recognition to full on games and exercising. (Your Shape FE or Nike + Kinect).

The video streaming from the PC, the movie rentals, Netflix etc etc etc. For all of those, the machine is worth whatever they ask for it. Not having to deal with my atrocious telco Scientific Atlanta UI is just more icing on an already awesome cake.

Of all the downsides that people have been complaining about, there are very few that affect me directly.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 2:18 pm

Winnow wrote:So when it comes down to it, the games are the most important part of what people want.

Three most important things when it comes right down to it:

1. controller, because you use that on every game
2. actual number of quality games
3. Online experience as most games involve online game play

1 Xbox One easily has the advantage
2. TBD at E3
3. Xbox One has the advantage

So, ignoring all the complaining about extra features Xbox One offers, even for purist game play, the Xbox One is a very solid choice.

Same can be said for the WiiU.

1. It's tablet controller is fantastic. It really does everything, including operating your TV/inputs/cable box, and it's tablet is a good companion for sports and a slew of other TV watching activities with TVii (if that's your thing - it's not mine).

2. Nintendo has great games. The system has about 5 must own titles right now (subjective, I know), with big hitters being announced at E3.

3. The WiiU online experience is better than the 360 or PS3. There is a variety of communities and ways of communicating that are unique to the console and really fantastic. Plus, no pay wall for any of it's online features. Miiverse, WiiU Chat, and Nintendo TVii are all unique and engaging.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 2:27 pm

Animalor wrote:Of all the downsides that people have been complaining about, there are very few that affect me directly.

Completely legit response. My close friend shares your opinion for the very same reasons. He cannot wait to have all his games on a HD, instantly accessible. The no used games policy and always online with Kinect 2.0 always connected doesn't phase him in the least and technically shouldn't really affect me any differently when it comes right down to it. He thinks I'm being a bit of a Luddite for the sake of it with Kinect 2.0 always watching me and the system always having to be connected. His opinion causes me to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.

I guess all of that combined with how underpowered it is compared to the PS4 really makes the choice obvious for me (not that I even have to make a choice!). Honestly, the power difference alone puts PS4 in the lead if we're simply talking about games.

I think the no used games policy will impact game prices and sales in a rather drastic fashion, and not in our favor.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » May 22, 2013, 3:28 pm

No Used Games is the one thing that will probably keep me from buying it. I don't have the disposable income to throw at random games that I will probably end up not liking. I use Gamefly now to help determine what games I want to actually buy. Gamefly's rental system would just be gone with that restriction.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » May 22, 2013, 3:36 pm

I was kind of apprehensive of the used games thing too but then I got to thinking how many used games I actually bought in the last gen and I think it's only been like 3 or 4.

Anything I don't want to pay full price for, I generally wait until it goes on heavy sale somewhere or buy it in the 20$ bin at WalMart on impulse.

I'm pretty sure that I know what I'll be doing this fall but I'll wait until E3's over and done with before making a decision.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 22, 2013, 4:25 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote: I guess all of that combined with how underpowered it is compared to the PS4 really makes the choice obvious for me

Care to give me some quotes from developers commenting on how underpowered the Xbox One is? You seem to be pulling this data out of your ass without any benchmarks. I haven't heard a peep from anyone about concerns of the Xbox One being underpowered.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » May 22, 2013, 5:04 pm

Winnow wrote:
Fairweather Pure wrote: I guess all of that combined with how underpowered it is compared to the PS4 really makes the choice obvious for me
Care to give me some quotes from developers commenting on how underpowered the Xbox One is? You seem to be pulling this data out of your ass without any benchmarks. I haven't heard a peep from anyone about concerns of the Xbox One being underpowered.

I think a lot of this chatter is coming from Gaf and that one website that does all the side by side video comparisons of PS3/360 games.

I'm fairly sure that most devs will build for the lowest common denominator and tweak for the cheap wins graphically if it's within the budget/time frame.

This whole relative power of the console thing was such a non-issue this gen when you think of all the posts that were written on the subject, it isn't really worth the time to debate again for the new gen.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » May 22, 2013, 5:08 pm

My favorite shitty feature is that you can't take a game over to a friend's house and play it on their setup.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 22, 2013, 5:10 pm

Leonaerd wrote:My favorite shitty feature is that you can't take a game over to a friend's house and play it on their setup.

You can take it to your friends as long as you sign in with your profile on their Xbox One.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 6:36 pm

Winnow wrote:
Fairweather Pure wrote: I guess all of that combined with how underpowered it is compared to the PS4 really makes the choice obvious for me
Care to give me some quotes from developers commenting on how underpowered the Xbox One is? You seem to be pulling this data out of your ass without any benchmarks. I haven't heard a peep from anyone about concerns of the Xbox One being underpowered.

It's kind of hilarious that you can go from such a tech know it all to full blown clueless when it suits your purpose.

Both consoles make use of an eight-core AMD Jaguar processor. The PlayStation 4 features 1,152 GPU cores vs Xbox1'd 768 cores. The PS4 drives 1.84 TFLOPS as a result, compared to the new Xbox’s peak shader throughput of 1.23 TFLOPS. The PS4 also 8GB of 5500MHz GDDR5 vs 8GB of 2133MHz DDR3 RAM in the Xbox1. You also have to keep in mind that the Xbox1 only has 5GB of that set aside for gaming and the other 3GB running the 3 OSs.

Do you require a further technical breakdown? I would think pretty much anyone on this site can look at those specs and draw their own conclusions, but there are lots of tech sites out there doing a line by line break down if you really want to see how wide the gap is. Developers are also Tweeting the differences too if you want to go that route!

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » May 22, 2013, 6:39 pm

Winnow wrote:
Leonaerd wrote:My favorite shitty feature is that you can't take a game over to a friend's house and play it on their setup.
You can take it to your friends as long as you sign in with your profile on their Xbox One.

After your required install of course. And an Internet connection is also required before you can play the game.

These are completely unnecessary obstacles and they suck.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 22, 2013, 7:58 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote: You also have to keep in mind that the Xbox1 only has 5GB of that set aside for gaming and the other 3GB running the 3 OSs.

Do you require a further technical breakdown? I would think pretty much anyone on this site can look at those specs and draw their own conclusions, but there are lots of tech sites out there doing a line by line break down if you really want to see how wide the gap is. Developers are also Tweeting the differences too if you want to go that route!

What I want is benchmarks. Dude, PS3 was more powerful than the Xbox 360. You can throw some amazing stats at me regarding the honeycomb processor. Now, lets get back to the real world...how did the PS3 compare to the 360? Almost always, the 360 games looked and performed better or at worse the same in FPS and textures.

Why not give me how freaking amazing the honeycomb CPU was in the PS3? It had like a bagillion cores compared to Xbox's 3 cores. How'd that work out?

I haven't seen any comments from developers saying the PS4 will be a superior platform to develop for. At least show me something worthwhile because the stats you mentioned don't mean much by themselves, the same as PS3's supposedly superior specs meant jack shit last gen when it came to actual game quality. Both systems will be much easier to develop multi platform games for as they are similar to PCs this gen. Xbox One runs on Win 8 core. Can't hurt it's chances for PC/Xbox games.

I'm looking forward to more detailed comparisons after geeks get access to them.