PS4 vs XBox 1... I think Sony has won me over

[Argyle King]

I've been a big fan of XBox ever since the original machine. I reserved the 360 pre-launch; no questions asked; I knew it was a product I wanted. However, I feel as though the day is quickly approaching when Microsoft may have lost me as a customer. I watched the press releases; I watched and then re-watched the E3 presentations of today, and I checked the available facts online. Thus far, I believe the Playstation 4 will be the first Sony product I've owned since Playstation 1.

First, I'll hand it to XBox; many of the games they revealed looked great. Many of the features they advertised looked great as well. They put on a show that was even better than I expected. However, there are concerns I have about their product which bother me. The fact that the Kinects (which is now required for the system to work) is always on and always listening is somewhat scary given the recent NSA/Verizon scandal. Microsoft is currently heralding a used/borrowed game policy which is -imo- overly restrictive as well. There's also the fact that they seem too concerned with things which don't appeal to me as a gamer. I completely understand wanting to transform your product into a media center and the center piece of a living room, but don't forget that I'm buying your product to play games. Lastly, some of Microsoft's new policies when it comes to dealing with independent publishers are overly restrictive as well; there's been something of a mass exodus from XBLA (XBox Live Arcade,) to other systems.

I wholeheartedly expected to be amped up for the next XBox, but -after coming away from the presentation feeling negative- I tuned in to see what Sony had to offer. Games were showcased that looked every bit as good as what I saw on the XBox presentation; sometimes slightly better. Beyond that, I was told that Sony has no plans whatsoever to restrict what I do with a physical disc once I purchase it. They also confirmed that the system will still work perfectly fine even if I don't sign online once every 24 hours. Being intrigued by such prospects, I kept watching, and I came away from the presentation feeling very positive toward Sony and the Playstation 4. The games looked good, and the priority of the company seemed to be to enable my experience as a gamer; not restrict it. I like that. When it comes to a new console purchase, I believe it likely that I purchase a Playstation 4.

Did anyone else watch E3 today? Thoughts?

 

[Janx]

I haven't seen any briefings on the PS4. So here's my take on the situation.

Sony pooched the PS3. They are a hardware company, so it had good hardware. But they a NOT a software company. Their OS lacked the common APIs and features that Microsoft knows how to do well. As such, their UI sucks. Their player connectivity sucks. Xbox Live Party is light years beyond Sony. And that's just a basic feature.

Here's why games don't matter in this discussion: Because games are inherently a "duh" feature. Everybody knows how to make a good game and make it look good on a console. That ain't the problem anymore. A customer can take it for granted that his New, Non-Nintendo will play games and do it well.

The real choice differentiator is does it make setting up that game easier (Xbox Live Party) or handle other useful tasks.

It is possible Sony hired some Microsoft or Apple guys to learn how software is done. But I doubt it.

I own an original 60GB PS3 and several Xbox 360s. The 360s get way more usage. The problem was never the games. Everything else about the PS3 was just clunky.

 

[Janx]

An addendum:

I've now seen some official blurbage on the PS4. They did get the pricing right. MS may have reached too far with a $500 price tag, and Sony may have gotten the memo on pricing with a $400 price tag for the PS4.

That's going to be a big decider for people.

We'll have to see how the used game thing plays out. There's a lot of FUD surrounding that. given that in actual practice, there's no used game market for the PC or mobile OSes, consumers can and will accept a no-resale model.

That said, those same platforms don't tend to see new titles for $60, some of which could be offset by reselling the game for $20-30 after you beat it quickly enough.

I think marketing will massage that problem out of the system.

I'm not worried about the stupid Kinect camera spying on me. That's just not a probability to be an actual problem. More annoying is the Kinect itself. While it's a great premise that every TV will have a camera so we can all have Video Phones that AT&T promised us in the 70's, the Kinect flail-control and retarded voice control leave much to be desired. Unless it's a huge improvement over the current model, I would probably just leave mine disconnected. The current model Kinect mistakenly hears things and takes off doing stuff my my movies when I have most certainly not addressed it.

I'm still not inclined to give Sony more of my money, as there are more synergy bonuses for staying with MS than switching back to Sony.

However, I'm also not pleased with the $100 increase on price to get in the game.

I will probably just wait a year, to see if the price drops on the Xbone. that will also reveal if it suffers from any hardware defects.

 

[Mallus]

My take:

Both consoles are virtually identical in terms of the hardware. In theory the new Playstation has the edge graphics-wise, but we'll see how than plays out in real world situations. I doubt many titles will show a marked difference in visuals.

Microsoft's PR campaign, so far, has been disastrous. I think their design decisions re: requiring an Internet connection and the used-game policy are bad, but everything they've released publicly explaining and defending those decisions have been much, much worse.

Sure, we live in an age of "always connected" devices. But single players games on my phone and tablet work just fine without an Internet connection. To expect less from a box that sits in my living room and plays $60 games-on-disk is ridiculous.

We also live in age with a robust secondary/tertiary/and so on market for console games. To restrict that at all is also ridiculous. To restrict that partially, in a complicated way, when said restrictions are entirely arbitrary, makes Microsoft look like it doesn't understand the way it's core audience uses their products.

(and Sony just went for the throat with their pricing. $100 less, plus you own the games you buy)

I'm not in the market for a new console at launch. I'm going to wait for the next Dragon Age or Mass Effect. But right now I can't see going with Microsoft. Not unless their used-game policy changes and/or there are some significant user benefits to their always-connected strategy.

 

[Janx]

I'm not in the market for a new console at launch. I'm going to wait for the next Dragon Age or Mass Effect. But right now I can't see going with Microsoft. Not unless their used-game policy changes and/or there are some significant user benefits to their always-connected strategy.

And that'll probably give this new generation's victory to Sony. No resale isn't entirely shocking (sony was considering the technology just a few months ago), but given the choice, why pay more AND lose a percieved feature. that's 2 strikes against the Xbone.

My wife is still against sony (she hasn't seen any PS4 press, and didn't like the PS3). but her big game title (Dragon Age 3) ain't going to be here for a year, so there's time. She might have warmer feelings for the PS3 if the CD laser hadn't died right before the final battle on DA:Origins...

 

[jonesy]

PS4 vs Xbox1 = Nintendo won.

If I want a powerful system I'll get a PC. If I want a console I'll go Nintendo from now on.

 

[Derren]

Imo the hardware isn't all that important any more. Games are so expensive to make, everyone is going for multi platform releases, so it doesn't matter if your hardware is much more powerful than the competition.
And because of this reason I will likely also skip this generation of consoles like the last one. There are hardly any games on consoles which interest me I can't also get on the PC, yet a lot of PC games never make it on the console because of the mouse requirement.

Now if they bring back all the PS2 asia RPGs I might reconsider it.

 

[Argyle King]

An addendum:

I've now seen some official blurbage on the PS4. They did get the pricing right. MS may have reached too far with a $500 price tag, and Sony may have gotten the memo on pricing with a $400 price tag for the PS4.

That's going to be a big decider for people.

We'll have to see how the used game thing plays out. There's a lot of FUD surrounding that. given that in actual practice, there's no used game market for the PC or mobile OSes, consumers can and will accept a no-resale model.

That said, those same platforms don't tend to see new titles for $60, some of which could be offset by reselling the game for $20-30 after you beat it quickly enough.

I think marketing will massage that problem out of the system.

I'm not worried about the stupid Kinect camera spying on me. That's just not a probability to be an actual problem. More annoying is the Kinect itself. While it's a great premise that every TV will have a camera so we can all have Video Phones that AT&T promised us in the 70's, the Kinect flail-control and retarded voice control leave much to be desired. Unless it's a huge improvement over the current model, I would probably just leave mine disconnected. The current model Kinect mistakenly hears things and takes off doing stuff my my movies when I have most certainly not addressed it.

I'm still not inclined to give Sony more of my money, as there are more synergy bonuses for staying with MS than switching back to Sony.

However, I'm also not pleased with the $100 increase on price to get in the game.

I will probably just wait a year, to see if the price drops on the Xbone. that will also reveal if it suffers from any hardware defects.

The problem there is that the Kinects is now required. If it's not plugged into the system, the system doesn't work. ...at least that is what Microsoft currently claims.

To be fair, I do believe Microsoft has the better network. It's one of the main reasons why I've felt comfortable paying for XBox Live all of these years even while my friends have had Playstation Network for free.

PS4 vs Xbox1 = Nintendo won.

If I want a powerful system I'll get a PC. If I want a console I'll go Nintendo from now on.

For me, all of the things Microsoft is now doing are the reasons why I left PC gaming. When I look at the business model for the XBox One, I see all of the restrictions I have with PC gaming, but none of the benefits.

As for Nintendo... I cannot currently take their console seriously; at least not until they start making games I want to play. I had considered getting a Wii U for my kids, but I've been told there are some glitches which crop up when trying to use two of the special tablet-controllers at the same time. That may or may not be true, but it's something I've seen reported enough times to believe that it is at least partially true. For me, it wouldn't be a huge issue, but trying to tell two small children that only one of them gets to use the 'cool' controller leads to problems I'd prefer to not deal with as a parent. I've also been told that the Wii U still struggles with quite a few problems when it comes to interacting with Nintendo's online service. With a price drop, I may consider a Wii U as a secondary purchase; I'm just not convinced my family would actually use it.
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At the end of the day, I want to support Microsoft. They are the company I've been happy with. However, their performance has been rather lackluster during the reveal of their new product, and their attitude toward their customer base has been slightly antagonistic. I wouldn't have even bothered to watch the PS4 presentation if I hadn't come away from Microsoft's presentation feeling so negative. Thus far, the only benefit Microsoft has shown me is that I can watch tv and change the channel using my voice... not exactly compelling.

 

[jonesy]

For me, all of the things Microsoft is now doing are the reasons why I left PC gaming. When I look at the business model for the XBox One, I see all of the restrictions I have with PC gaming, but none of the benefits.

What all restrictions do you have with PC gaming that are the same as the Xbox One business model? How are you equating Microsoft with PC gaming?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'm with you. I'm a 360 fan but based on the comparison between the two I'd buy a PS4 were i in the market. The new Xbox1 seems to be not about the games but about the other media, and has a bunch of features I neither need nor want. I don't do multiplayer, and don't want a device that needs to go online.

I don't want to get back on the PC hardware treadmill for gaming, and I much prefer the Xbox controller to a keyboard and mouse, but this might just push me back that way for new games. Sad, because I'll miss the new HALO releases, but then Call of Duty has turned to crap and I have enough Forza to last a lifetime; Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age are multi-platform so I'm OK there.