The PS4 (Orbis) and XBOX720 (Nextbox) Mega thread!

[radiator]

This rumour about second hand being locked out seems to come up every other week, so I wouldn't put too much store in it.

A few weeks back i remember rumours of Sony patenting a method of 'tagging' discs to potentially tie them to one console.

[Professor Bear]

This time it isn't rumor - Edge magazine reported it as an actual news story on the specs of the next Xbox after getting inside information on the console.  They've pretty much staked what reputation they have on breaking it, and given some of the industry reaction already (particularly the fall in Gamestop's share prices), it looks pretty much a done deal barring a humiliating climbdown for the developers that seems unlikely given they staked their last console on HDDVD being the dominant data storage format of the future despite inferior specs compared to blu-ray.

[radiator]

The 'always online' thing irks me far more than the second hand games thing.

My internet is at best unreliable. It's very, very slow, and it occasionally drops out altogether. And I don't live in the middle of nowhere, I live in London Zone 2.

So if my internet just drops out, what happens then?

[Darren Stephens]

A few weeks back i remember rumours of Sony patenting a method of 'tagging' discs to potentially tie them to one console.

That rumour was doing the rounds when PS3 was in dev too. I tend to agree with Thunders McQueen....I think Microsoft would have made a statement of denial by now, given the outrage it seems to have caused among gamers. Maybe they ate thinking about how best to confirm (or deny) the Edge story.....

[qtwerk]

I've bought the last two xboxes and never owned a Playstation in any iteration, so it is more likely that I will stay faithful, especially given that I prefer Western developers and Western-originated games, and dislike virtually everything Japanese in gaming.

So I like my RPGs made by Bioware and Bethesda (Skyrim, Oblivion, Mass Effect, Knights Of The Old Republic and Dragon Age) and FPSs by Bungie and Infinity Ward and Valve. And many of those titles were either originated on the XBox or were far superior on the 360 vs the PS3. And I have no interest in any of the usual PS3 exclusives, few as they are.

But I am a litte worried by some of the rumours around the "Durango" - always on the Internet? Why? - so the decision will be more considered this time

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I've bought the last two xboxes and never owned a Playstation in any iteration, so it is more likely that I will stay faithful, especially given that I prefer Western developers and Western-originated games, and dislike virtually everything Japanese in gaming.

So I like my RPGs made by Bioware and Bethesda (Skyrim, Oblivion, Mass Effect, Knights Of The Old Republic and Dragon Age) and FPSs by Bungie and Infinity Ward and Valve. And many of those titles were either originated on the XBox or were far superior on the 360 vs the PS3. And I have no interest in any of the usual PS3 exclusives, few as they are.

But I am a litte worried by some of the rumours around the "Durango" - always on the Internet? Why? - so the decision will be more considered this time

I agree, which is why I veer towards a Steam Box for me and a Wii U for the kids.

[Rog69]

I'm feeling a little underwhelmed by the PS4 announcement too, I don't think I'll be replacing my PS3 with one.

The always on internet requirement is a big stumbling block for me, look how well it worked out for Ubisoft when they tried to do the same thing for PC games, it proved to be about as popular as a turd in a swimming pool and they ended up scrapping the idea and have all but apologised for it now.

The rumours of the next gen consoles blocking used games is a concern too, I'm primarily a PC gamer so I find that console games are very overpriced, so no used games is a big issue.

[Professor Bear]

Not even Halo creators Bungie's Playstation exclusive works will make me shell out for one of Sony's overpriced doorstops for at least a year or two now backwards compatibility with PS3 is off the table.  I already have plenty of Skyrim and Mass Effect playing to get through before I'm remotely done with the current generation, and I hold out hope GTA5 will step it up from 4.

Even more filters on my FPS' would be nice, but I don't really feel the need to upgrade to a new console this time around.  PS2 was a huge jump up from PS1 (and gave us the 3D GTAs), while PS3 and 360 made online multiplayer mainstream - but with online tracking of trophies/cheevos and a huge contingent of online gamers, I don't see why people would abandon the current generation just yet, which is pretty much what they're being asked to do in upgrading to new consoles.

[qtwerk]

But they will abandon them, because all the new great games they want to play will only be available on the new generation.

I managed to last about 6 months (maybe less) before upgrading my big black box to the 360. I think Oblivion and Gears swung it. Same will happen this time. I'll see something by Bungie, Bethesda, or similar and that release will ensure the hardware purchase.

[Radbacker]

If MIcrosoft stay like last gen I cant see anymore big titles released on the 360 (aside from Gears can you name a big first party title due in the next 6 months?), Sony on the other hand alway support their old model for an extra couple of years.
This is the first generation I havent upgraded straight away (if you count Wii U as bext Gen), i think i might wait a while for the price to come down after launch instead of getting stung a bullshit high price for being an early adopter.  Now when Battlfield 4 hits the next gen I'll upgrade (as long as it 64 player, i despise the Xbox's current limit of 24 very nearly ruins BF3).

Cu Radbacker

[qtwerk]

If MIcrosoft stay like last gen I cant see anymore big titles released on the 360 (aside from Gears can you name a big first party title due in the next 6 months?), Sony on the other hand alway support their old model for an extra couple of years.
This is the first generation I havent upgraded straight away (if you count Wii U as bext Gen), i think i might wait a while for the price to come down after launch instead of getting stung a bullshit high price for being an early adopter.  Now when Battlfield 4 hits the next gen I'll upgrade (as long as it 64 player, i despise the Xbox's current limit of 24 very nearly ruins BF3).

Cu Radbacker

No, I don't know of much. Is Bungie's "Destiny" next-gen?

I think back to last gen and the only thing I bought in the last knockings of the original XBox was the brilliant "Black". I spent the next few months looking at screenshots of the first Gears Of War and then caved in when I saw a preview of Oblivion.

[Mardroid]

I only bought a PS3 pretty recently so I doubt I'll be upgrading for a good while yet.

I use it mainly for watching Blu-rays, and gaming on occasion. And despite being old tech now... it's new to me, behind as I am. (I thought Assassin's Creed looked smashing!)

And if I get more into gaming in future (which is possible. I've enjoyed the bit I've done.) there'll still be  a large back catalogue. Enough to keep me occupied even when they stop producing new games!

I'll admit to feeling a bit like kicking myself when the PS4 announcement came out so soon after getting this though, even knowing before hand it'd still be year (and probably more in the UK) before it comes out. Just a psychological thing I guess.

[JamesC]

Can't say I'm too bothered personally about 'always on' internet (my 360 is always connected anyway) or blocking second hand games.

If this had happened in the days of the NES or Megadrive though I'd have been screwed. Just about every game I owned had about 3 previous owners and cartridges used to be swapped between friends fairly frequently. It'll be a bugger for the 'retro' market in the future too!

Having said that, I still think gaming is fairly good value compared to Blu-Rays, Cinema etc.

[qtwerk]

Can't say I'm too bothered personally about 'always on' internet (my 360 is always connected anyway) or blocking second hand games.

If this had happened in the days of the NES or Megadrive though I'd have been screwed. Just about every game I owned had about 3 previous owners and cartridges used to be swapped between friends fairly frequently. It'll be a bugger for the 'retro' market in the future too!

Having said that, I still think gaming is fairly good value compared to Blu-Rays, Cinema etc.

Totally agree. I will admit that a few of the games I buy are second-hand, so it will be a bit annoying to not have that option to pick up more "impulse" purchases, or those games that aren't quite must-buy on release, but are worth picking up 6 months (or more) later at a reduced price.

But the likes of Elder Scrolls, Halo, Fallout etc are always bought on release, and they offer amazing value for money. I paid £40 for Skyrim (and another tenner for the guide - first time I've ever done that!) and I played it for nearly 6 months and 100 or so hours.

That is a bargain.

[Professor Bear]

Apologies if posted elsewhere, but the NuXbox has been announced:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/21/xbox-720-microsoft-reveal-console-live-blog

It is called Xbox One, costs around 400 quid, isn't as powerful as the PS4 (I imagine it's because there seems to be an emphasis on being a multimedia hub over being a gaming machine), runs three different OS' at once, has zero backwards compatibility with any existing Xbox or Xbox 360 games, it looks like a VCR and Microsoft are "65 percent certain" it will not set fire to your house (ARF!  I am obviously joking there - I am almost certain it is a higher percentage than that).  You won't have to be connected to the internet permanently, but you will have to let the machine connect to the web at least once a day, and the thing about second hand games is true: games are tied to individual Xbox Live accounts, so you can buy a second hand game from someone but you'll still need to purchase a licence from Microsoft to play it on your profile and other profiles on the same machine have to buy their own licence.
The thing I am probably most impressed by is the inclusion of a traditional d-pad rather than those fucking awful rounded-edges versions that they've had on the last two iterations of the consoles' controller, which were a bloody nightmare for navigating hard drive content or menus on the OS - if they've also manufactured controllers that are not the dimensions of a child's toy this time out of the gate, I think they might finally have cracked it... which just makes it all the more baffling that they are shifting the interface with the machine towards support of the Kinect controller bundled with the system to emulate the touchscreen experience of Windows 8.  It's kind of good news/bad news in the same way their inclusion of an internet browser is: you get an internet browser on the machine, but it's Internet Explorer.

A mostly hostile response from the internet, but that's hardly news, though I did laugh at "big and ugly: it's the Brienne of Tarth of consoles" because I am a big nerd, and "for only 4 dollars and 99 cents a month, you'll be able to access the cable TV that you're paying 75 dollars a month for", though most of the bitching seems to me to be cut and pasted from the bitching about the 360 launch, so I'd take it with a pinch of salt, much like the talk of it being less powerful than the new PS4, as it usually takes developers a while to get the feel of Sony machines.