Author Topic: Next Gen Console Wars  (Read 20821 times)

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Offline VirtualStranger

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #15 on: January 25, 2012, 07:07:57 pm »
(I can't believe people are saying Game Cubes are retro.)

Where are these people and what blunt object should I hit them with?

Offline Osama bin Bambi

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #16 on: January 25, 2012, 07:45:30 pm »
(I can't believe people are saying Game Cubes are retro.)

Where are these people and what blunt object should I hit them with?

Mostly a bunch of obnoxious guys at school who trash talk each other on Halo: Reach.
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Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #17 on: January 25, 2012, 07:48:20 pm »
(I can't believe people are saying Game Cubes are retro.)

Where are these people and what blunt object should I hit them with?

I don't know where they are, but to answer your second question, a gamecube.

Personally, I don't know how the next gen is going to turn out.  I'm a Nintendo fan, always will be (they've brought me the most memorable franchises around) but I'm not a diehard fan.  I own a PS2, and I'm considering getting a PS3 when I have the money.  Microsoft's franchise doesn't interest me too much.

That's... just the reality of it, for me.

However, I do believe the Wii has been an extremely strong contender.  Sure, they haven't had the best spread of games, but what games they DO have a spread for are fantastic.  The motion controls are actually really intuitive, though not so disorienting that it's hard to play another console.  The Kinect, however, just doesn't compare to the Wiimote, which isn't JUST motion controls, but also standard buttons.  In that sense, I would actually say the Kinect is inferior to the Wiimote.
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Offline Osama bin Bambi

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #18 on: January 25, 2012, 07:50:35 pm »
I remember testing out a motion-control device for video games, very similar to the Kinect in function. This was years before the Wii was even announced.

I was disappoint.
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Offline Shane for Wax

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #19 on: January 25, 2012, 08:06:21 pm »
I heard a rumor on Twitter that the next generation of consoles will actively block people from playing used games.

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Offline TheL

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #20 on: January 25, 2012, 08:13:31 pm »

The Wii is a terrible concept though.  Just like the Wii U is also a failure.  Nintendo has yet again gone with technology that will be almost 5 years old come their release date if the details dropped at E3 last year have been confirmed.  I also think should again the rumors get confirmed, Xbox will be the winner in the next gen of consoles. Here is why, lets say they improve on the specs a bit and use a 7000 series card.  The graphics would be amazing. now the biggest killer for the Wii U is Kinect 2.  The Kinect 2 will make the Wii U obsolete and here is why http://www.techspot.com/news/46434-microsofts-kinect-2-will-be-able-to-read-lips-and-detect-your-mood.html  Nintendo just has motion detection from 2 joy sticks and soon a gamepad type device, but this is what will set Microsoft apart and smash the Wii U.  I don't even think Sony has something this advanced.

1. The Wii may not be state-of-the-art, but you don't win by having the shiniest toys, you win by selling more stuff.  The Wii did something that the other consoles weren't doing at the time, and guess what?  People liked the novelty of it.

2. There won't be any noticeable difference in graphics quality between a 360 and a 720, though.  The current HD 360 graphics quality is indistinguishable from reality, on most TV screens.  If I walk in on my brother playing a 360 game, the only way I know he's not watching a live-action TV show is the health/map/ammo meters in the corner.  What's the point in souping up the graphics if the human retina can't even tell the difference?  It's not like Microsoft is releasing a version for eagles.  Graphics improvements are not the way to go anymore.

3. Ooh, ahh, Kinect.  Call me back when it's actually able to calibrate your distance from the TV reliably, and thus your height.  I tried Kinect games on my brother's system, and it thinks I'm 2 1/2 feet tall.  No, really, my Your Shape: Fitness Evolved data said I was that tiny.  And I couldn't even fix the height data.  Not to mention that Kinect requires a rather large room to be at all usable.  My brother's 360 is in a 15x15' room and his Kinect still doesn't consider that enough space for much of anything.

Until the room size issue is dealt with satisfactorily, Kinect is a bad choice.  Also, Kinect is an add-on, not something that comes with the console out of the box.  A very expensive add-on, might I add.  Why would I buy a console and a $150 add-on to get motion games, when I could just buy a Wii and have it right out of the box?  Hel, if you still had a PSEye left over from the PS2 days, then upgrading to Motion Plus controllers on your PS3 was actually cheaper than buying a Kinect.

Another example: Child of Eden, one of the few games with full controller and Kinect compatibility.  I wasn't able to beat Level 1 until I switched to controller, then suddenly it became extremely easy.  It's not that the Kinect controls weren't easy to pick up--they were, and the motions themselves were fairly simple ones.  But the sensors kept interpreting my hand movements wrongly, so that I had to avoid any pretense of precision and resort to flailing around.  That is not how motion sensors are supposed to work at all.

Both Sony and Nintendo did a better job with the whole motion-sensor thing than Microsoft this time around.  I can't picture things being THAT much different 2 years after the first Kinect.

Now, let's look at the winners of every console war Microsoft has participated in, shall we?

6th gen:  PS2
7th gen:  Wii

You'll notice none of those are made by Microsoft.  Microsoft has released exactly two consoles thus far.  The original Xbox came in second in the sixth-gen console wars by about 125 million units (barely edging out the Gamecube, and beating that console isn't saying much).  This time around? Sure, the 360's doing better, but it's still 28 million units behind the Wii.

Unless Microsoft changes tactics, it's not going to fare much better this time around.  Free online multiplayer for some of its games wouldn't hurt, either, as both the Wii and the PS3 offer free online multiplayer for compatible games.  With both Xbox consoles, you have to have a Gold (paid) subscription.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2012, 08:32:08 pm by TheL »
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Offline Shane for Wax

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #21 on: January 25, 2012, 09:04:58 pm »
Sorry, hun, but I have to disagree about the one who sells the most wins. It also comes down to how many are actually being used. A lot of people I talk to say they have all three consoles- Wii, PS3, 360 and they mention how little the Wii gets used compared to their 360 or PS3. You can't just take into account units shipped. If nobody is buying games for it then it's dead in the water and a useless item. Sure, you got a profit from the initial sale of the console but... nobody is appreciating the work. How is that winning anything? When developers see that their games aren't selling they stop producing. And thus a cycle is born.

Also, when it comes to online you get what you pay for. I think we all saw what happened with PS3 (multiple hackings, so much downtime, etc.,) and we still hear how much the Wii lacks when it comes to an online community. Nintendo is stuck in the 'local multiplayer' mindset still. They have a very weird way of doing their online multiplayer which shoots them in the foot. Whereas the 360's community is very robust and always growing.

The Move and the Kinect are both gimmick band wagons, though. I have no love for motion control.

Graphics are more than just pretty pictures. If you don't have the frame rate to back it up you've got a dead console and a dissatisfied gamer who can't play anything.

I hate getting into console wars. Each console has its positives and negatives. For the most part it depends on preference. But if more people are preferring specific functionality and a console fails to deliver it will be dead in the water and this is not a debatable thing.

I personally love my 360. I will be getting the next generation of Microsoft console. I may not get it right away but I will get it because it has the functionality I desire that other consoles cannot live up to. It has the games that other consoles do not get or if they do get they might be buggier than the 360 version, have a slower patch push-out or poorer graphics.

I will say this: Even Nintendo is worried about how the Wii U is going to sell. That says something.

PS. Microsoft is thinking of dropping both Microsoft Points and Xbox Live gold being a necessity for most games and apps. They could stand to drop the price on the subscription but I know quite well that going free to play on a console would be difficult to do and still have a community that can be sustained and have a good uptime (ie very little maintenance, hacks, etc.,)
« Last Edit: January 25, 2012, 09:07:26 pm by Shane for Wax »

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Offline Yaezakura

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #22 on: January 25, 2012, 09:50:51 pm »
It's very true that each console has its positives and negatives. But you're overlooking something: Who are those people that are saying their Wii doesn't get much use? Those would be the hardcore gamers, and I won't deny the Wii has supplied very little outside of first-person flagship titles that have the appeal to draw those types in. But again, that's not really Nintendo's fault. Companies would rather make Call of Halo: Band of Mercenary Brothers With Honor 50, with the exact same controls and bullshit as the last 49, because they know it will sell. It's safe. And it's depressing.

Nintendo is the one major game company that actually still takes risks, and they take those risks because their absolute domination of the handheld gaming market allows their consoles to fail without risking the company. The GameCube was a monumental financial failure, but Nintendo itself stayed strong thanks to the GBA. The DS allowed them to take risks with the Wii, and the PSP proved no one is a threat to Nintendo's handheld market.

But seriously... graphics improvement can go no further. We're talking pixil counts and frame rates beyond human ability to distinguish that existed in this generation. There might can be a few small improvements to processing power to make those frame rates more stable, but graphics are going no where until we get full-immersion virtual reality. But that's all Microsoft seems to care about. More power. More power. More, more, more! Even though all that added power will contribute jack shit to the gaming experience itself.

Offline Mantorok

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #23 on: January 26, 2012, 04:44:12 am »
And now here's Microsoft spouting nonsense about 3D (which is terrible on anything but a personal screen like the 3DS) and multi-display.
Actually, the 3D and multi-display stuff is just media speculation based on what an equivalent AMD graphics card allows. If console specifications were based purely off that, we would've had multi-display support on the original Xbox.

What do you all think of the current specs that are being projected?
It's too early to say anything, but using an older graphics chipset isn't necessarily a bad move. If MS use a smaller fabrication process (like 28nm) they can increase the core and shader clock speeds.

Offline Yla

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #24 on: January 26, 2012, 05:18:23 am »
The issue is, you can't blame Nintendo for 3rd parties avoiding their system. Nintendo gave them a platform, they couldn't force them to work from it.
That may be, but it's still Nintendo who has to suffer the consequence of not having notable titles for their console.
That said, I've stopped trying to anticipate what people around here want a while ago, I've found it makes things smoother.
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Offline syaoranvee

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #25 on: January 26, 2012, 05:28:50 am »
Screw consoles.

Handhelds all the way.

Offline StallChaser

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #26 on: January 26, 2012, 06:13:42 am »
Game sales are more important than sales of the consoles themselves.  Consoles are often sold at a loss (at least early in a generation), and royalties from games quickly close that gap.  From a business perspective, it's a lot better to sell tons of games than tons of consoles.

I heard a rumor on Twitter that the next generation of consoles will actively block people from playing used games.

Which would be a very effective way to prevent me from ever buying any games from them.  Hopefully, that stays just a rumor.

Offline Mantorok

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #27 on: January 26, 2012, 06:22:34 am »
It'll probably be like the online passes we're getting with new releases now. Every game will have some feature locked out unless you enter a single-use code. If every game does this, retailers will know to offer less for trade-ins. So you'll still be able to buy used games, you'll just have to pay for the code to get the full experience.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2012, 06:25:19 am by Mantorok »

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #28 on: January 26, 2012, 07:44:51 am »
But seriously... graphics improvement can go no further. We're talking pixil counts and frame rates beyond human ability to distinguish that existed in this generation. There might can be a few small improvements to processing power to make those frame rates more stable, but graphics are going no where until we get full-immersion virtual reality. But that's all Microsoft seems to care about. More power. More power. More, more, more! Even though all that added power will contribute jack shit to the gaming experience itself.
Not at all. Photo realistic graphics aren't the end of what can be achieved. There are still areas like maximum resolution, draw distance and rendering speed (especially rendering speed, ever played Oblivion on Xbox 360?) that can all stand to be vastly improved.

Now don't think I'm trying to say that graphics are what makes a game good, or that the console that can pull off these improvements will "win" the console war, just pointing out that the whole "graphics can't be improved any further" shtick is bullshit.

Offline Osama bin Bambi

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Re: Next Gen Console Wars
« Reply #29 on: January 26, 2012, 07:59:06 am »
Screw consoles.

Handhelds all the way.

I admit I don't play console games nearly as much as I play computer games. ;)
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