Which console are you most interested in getting?

[Silent_Buddha]

I just fail to see why suddenly people who were never interested in the Xbox brandname before suddenly will be, now that it offers more features centered around the TV.

With regards to TV, I'd say that is more about attracting people that might have thought about buying a console but never have. Basically anyone that hasn't seriously thought about a console before.

It may or may not make a few people switch, but certainly isn't the focus. The focus is entirely upon expanding the market for Xbox.

It's basically the same trajectory as with Kinect. You continue to take care of the customers you have while implementing features to attract new customers.

Until we actually see games on both platforms, multiplatform to compare graphics as well as exclusives to gauge potential system sellers, no one can realistically claim that Microsoft has abandoned the core gamers.

This gen people are complaining that there isn't a lot of new IP. Microsoft then announces that the majority of their 15 exclusives (8) will be new IP and they get absolutely zero credit for that.

Sure, the paranoid people out there will claim that they could all be casual Kinect games, but there's just as much chance that they aren't casual Kinect games. We won't know until E3 at the earliest.

And that's when we'll all likely have a much better idea of where Sony and Microsoft stand in relation to games and gamers.

Regards,
SB

 

[Sigfried1977]

I'm so confused about the "tv features are useless in Europe" narrative. I haven't really seen a good description of the reasons why. Is it because people tend not to have external tuners and use the tuners built in to their tvs? Or OTA antennas plugged directly into the tv?

I won't get cable, or satellite or anything. I'm done with that. But the features they demonstrated would be nice while using Netflix, the xbox video service or whatever. I'm not even convinced I'd skype on my Xbox, but multitasking apps or web browsing is cool.

You are pretty much spot-on regarding the cable tuners.

Then there's of course the fact that a lot of the media stuff MS was presenting isn't even available in many parts of Europe, and what's there is often severely watered-down. Heck, there's still no Netflix in Germany. (and if the current gen consoles are any indication, that giant gap in quantity and quality between available media services in different parts of the world isn't going to change anytime soon)
This may have been a worldwide unveiling, but it was also one that really didn't seem to give a single fuck about a very large chunk of said world.

I mean huge box, mandatory Kinect (just perfect for people who rent city apartments), and a host of stuff we don't have and probably won't be having anytime soon - if that's MS's plan to wrestle the European territory away from Sony then good luck with that.

 

[Lightman]

I will wait for E3 to decide which interests me more (none of them is a must buy at this point).

To be honest I'm PC gamer and played Xbox360 games occasionally and it was more my kid console than anything, but he now gets older (11 soon) and so his interests are starting to shift to PC gaming (Minecraft, modding, content creation) and eggsbox is maybe used for an hour every month if at all.

I'm big fan of Forza Motosport and this might convince me to get new One. I also like a lot of system stuff they showed, or though as SkyTV user with SmartTV recognizing gestures and voice commands, what MS shown is not impressing me the slightness regarding TV centric stuff. My HTPC is running W8 and if only they made Kinect 2.0 for W8 PC's then I would have all functionality I want from XBONE provided by my HTPC.

I do see big opportunity for SteamBOX if they execute it well and provide better than average console hardware ...

Oh, and BTW I'm one of them XB360 users who is considering switching to PS4 to support company making more of a console for gamers than the other is doing.

 

[warb]

My dad would love the simple X1 TV stuff for not having to faff about with 3 controllers to switch on his TV, then flick through every channel to get to where he wants. He does that.

That's an interesting point about TV tuners, with people abandoning cable/sky boxes, how will it work. Streaming HD freeview is possible in the UK, but would that work in the same way (there is already a SKY app on the 360)? There doesn't seem to be any way to overlay the UI with a TVs internal tuner even if you could still use X1 to change channels, it doesn't come through the HDMI in.

 

[Gubbi]

That's an interesting point about TV tuners, with people abandoning cable/sky boxes, how will it work. Streaming HD freeview is possible in the UK, but would that work in the same way (there is already a SKY app on the 360)? There doesn't seem to be any way to overlay the UI with a TVs internal tuner even if you could still use X1 to change channels, it doesn't come through the HDMI in.

If you don't have box, you'd need a standalone DVB-C tuner to plug into the HDMI-in. You can get a standalone box w. remote for as little as $50. I hope somebody makes a cheap dongle-like tuner to plug into XB1.

Cheers

 

[Arwin]

I'm interested in getting both. There's a good chance too I'll get them at launch, if money isn't a big issue.

I have some reservations, but they are not very likely to hold me back from getting either of them.

For Xbox, the hope is that the new Kinect can read both me (1.90m) and my son (1.10m) at a distance of 1.6m. The biggest worry is Live, but it would be slightly more bearable if Live is paid for your console, and anyone can use Live Gold on that console at no extra expensive. Live has been pretty barren here in terms of features, but combined with WinRT support, it could still become an interesting device, that may integrate well with my Win8 PC etc.

I've never been disappointed with a Playstation in my life yet, and I'm looking forward to the PS4 - it looks like they're really on top of their game this time, both easy to program and really powerful, with a team in charge of the device that has a better understanding of modern requirements. Questionmarks are mostly in how well they handle the DS4 / PS Eye 2.0 / Move thing - even a really good, unified vision will make it harder to make that work cleanly, and it would definitely require every box to include all three (still hoping), but I have my doubts.

The old Xbox never made it into my livingroom, but the new one has a much better shot, especially if WinRT applications end up working well with Kinect, for instance.

As for the Wii U, I don't know. I have a 5yo son, so a Nintendo product is never out of the question, but it's still a bit of a mess right now. It's all about the software - something like Lego City is definitely a big draw, and Nintendo's platform has many other really cute games that I can see my son fall in love with. I personally hate the base aesthetic for most Nintendo games about as much as I hate plastic surgery ... it just doesn't match with my taste, however much I can enjoy their gameplay focussed designs otherwise.

 

[James Car]

I just fail to see why suddenly people who were never interested in the Xbox brandname before suddenly will be, now that it offers more features centered around the TV. And to those that are interested in the Xbox brandname, are mostlikely gamers. And in that department, it just doesn't seem all that focused on that (not if a lot of computational resources are being devoted to live switching between interfaces etc).

Very well said.

I think this is exactly why the poll will be lopsided, and reflective of initial sales.

Most xbox gamers initially bought in as it was the most powerful console. xb360 was again the most powerful at the time of release and had 3rd party library parity for most franchises that mattered. By the time ps3 launched, (at a prohibitively high price) many xbox gamers didn't see the paper specs translate into a real performance advantage due to complexities of ps3 design which limited that power advantage from materializing. Not to mention the fact that xb360 architecture was easier to code for and available sooner, so it became the default developer machine to code on first (more games, and those games generally running better on xb360).

And this brings us to the present situation:

• Both consoles launching at the same time.
• Both consoles using roughly the same architecture.
• (Projected) price parity (ie there won't be a $300 console vs a $600 console).
• Both consoles will likely share 3rd party library parity. (increased dev costs and all)

All of this leads me to believe this poll isn't representative of b3d Sony bias, but rather a fair representation of how this generation will pan out based on how previous ones were formed.

The above touches on the similarities, but does not touch on the negatives which are seemingly all one sided at this point, but again, reflected in the poll.

 

[Billy Idol]

A question for those that choose the last option:

Where do you find the time to dedicate to 2 consoles?
No really I have time only for one gaming machine so teach me your secret, please.

Both consoles offer great exclusives that is for sure, I am not interested in all this gimmick tv bla bla stuff, and multiplatform titles on my PC...to be honest, I wonder how you guys can only chose one console!! That feels crazy

I even think about a Wuu, if F-Zero releases and is good.

 

[kagemaru]

At this point, I speculate those most interested in the console as a games machine are interested in PS4, and those more interested in an entertainment box are picking XB1.

Edit: Oh, and AlStrong's giving up consoles! No more Live! butt-kickings for him, I guess. Myself, waiting and seeing. PC has a lot more value, Sony always offers great games, and I don't game too much these days anyways. Seems hard to justify the expense of a box that gets so little use.

I'd love to get both for the gaming aspect. Xbone being weaker and having more multi-media capabilities doesn't bother me, I loved the ps2 even though it was much weaker than the xbox. The fact that they are investing so much into exclusives for the Xbone bothers me even more that they have these stupid anti-consumer policies planned.

Not surprised about Al dropping consoles, hopefully I'll have a gaming PC sooner than later and we can still play that way.

 

[warb]

I don't know, I can see the advertising push for Xbox One being quite effective for the not so "core gamers".

If they have the quality games they're promising and show well at e3, they'll probably still sell as many as they can produce at launch, and then they can push for some of that larger market.

 

[kagemaru]

Well according to Aaron Greenberg, I'm assuming I understand how the online policy will work:

"@z0mbiepixel A lot of assumptions but very little based on facts. We will share more at E3. We will get it right."

https://mobile.twitter.com/z0mbiepixel/status/337452128614354944?p=v

So maybe I'll get it after all, thought I'm not getting my hopes up...

 

[Xalion]

I'll probably end up getting both. I have owned all 3 for the past several generations. However, my gaming time has been decreasing, so this might be the first generation since the PS1 where I don't own every console out there.

If I have to choose one, I'll get the PS4. The PS3 has been the center of my home entertainment system for some time now. We use it for Netflix, BR / DVD, Hulu, and gaming. We also are looking to use it for NFL Sunday Ticket because there is no other way we can get it. While the XBox 360 can do all of those things, we would have to pay for an Gold subscription while it was free on the PS3.

The one thing that could sway me strongly to the XBox One's side would be finding out more about the NFL stuff on it. If it is just a glorified fantasy football league I don't care. If it is the equivalent of NFL Sunday Ticket, I'm in. Microsoft is making a great move by using the NFL as part of their services.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I'm getting the PS4. just to continue the Killzone saga. I've always been about the games and not the hardware on which they rest. I'll probably get an Xbone for Halo. As long as I don't have to get involved in all the layers of crap they showed at the reveal.

On a side note out of a poll of 76,000 over at IGN, 75% were disappointed by the Xbone reveal. Looks like MS have a fight on their hands at E3.

IGN Here.

 

[Billy Idol]

I'm getting the PS4. just to continue the Killzone saga. I've always been about the games and not the hardware on which they rest. I'll probably get an Xbone for Halo. As long as I don't have to get involved in all the layers of crap they showed at the reveal.

On a side note out of a poll of 76,000 over at IGN, 75% were disappointed by the Xbone reveal. Looks like MS have a fight on their hands at E3.

IGN Here.

Yeah, if you ask gamers...of course they are disappointed by the show. But the show was obviously not targeted towards gamers. Just read the mainstream press after the event to get an idea...

 

[Phil]

Can someone explain to me what's so special about the NFL stuff on a console?

I'm from Europe - and as a European as excited about sports (particularly f1, icehockey, but also football [soccer ] and tennis), but I really don't see what kind of features a console or live-tv could offer to get my excited.

Perhaps this is because overhere, you either go to see the matches in person or you watch the live coverage on television. We don't get all that much additional information in the broadcast though, but I'm not sure that is really necessary too.

The only thing I could imagine great would be for F1 - like to have the actual broadcast and have the live-timing with sector times ready to fade in if I wanted to. That's only because F1 is a difficult sport to follow accurately though - since you have 20+ cars on track and can only view one car at a time. Due to different strategies, it's good to know the live-timing ticker because it gets you a closer look at the different strategies. This however is quite different to any ball sport where the focus is purely on the ball, so no different views required.

So what makes NFL so different? I'd really like to understand...

 

[DJ12]

What makes it different is the 5 seconds of action followed by at least a minute of rest and realignment of players referee conversations and adverts.

Where as us unlucky europeans have to suffer through a full half at least of none stop action.

We are doing sports wrong hence why we won't get this nfl stuff ;-)

 

[dagamer]

Can someone explain to me what's so special about the NFL stuff on a console?

I'm from Europe - and as a European as excited about sports (particularly f1, icehockey, but also football [soccer ] and tennis), but I really don't see what kind of features a console or live-tv could offer to get my excited.

Perhaps this is because overhere, you either go to see the matches in person or you watch the live coverage on television. We don't get all that much additional information in the broadcast though, but I'm not sure that is really necessary too.

The only thing I could imagine great would be for F1 - like to have the actual broadcast and have the live-timing with sector times ready to fade in if I wanted to. That's only because F1 is a difficult sport to follow accurately though - since you have 20+ cars on track and can only view one car at a time. Due to different strategies, it's good to know the live-timing ticker because it gets you a closer look at the different strategies. This however is quite different to any ball sport where the focus is purely on the ball, so no different views required.

So what makes NFL so different? I'd really like to understand...

NFL in US is like FIFA in Europe. Most watched sport in the region, everyone cares about stats. And I'm sure there are often multiple games on at a time (or even just multiple sports), so you are constantly switching between different channels to see if you missed anything. Also, fantasy leagues are pretty huge here too.

 

[DJ12]

Read my post.

They are nothing alike. Some may care about stats when watching football but as the action rarely stops long enough for you to google it you tend to just enjoy the moment and the game not frantically checking the last time messi scored with a header

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So what makes NFL so different? I'd really like to understand...

Americans turn sports into numbers. NFL, NBA and MLB are all about player and team stats, constantly. In Europe, we don't really care about the stats other than the occasional commentator telling us such-and-such a player has scored x amount of goals in however many matches. In the US, football would be broadcast with player stats like FIFA for fuelling comparisons.

Without such numerical analysis over here, there's little value to sports-stats-based TV services, and I've never met anyone who laments the difference. Although maybe if all football broadcasts started to come with Tops Trumps style stats attached, people would start to care in Europe too. After all, it's hard for human beings to resist comparing numbers when they're available.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Can someone explain to me what's so special about the NFL stuff on a console?

I'm from Europe - and as a European as excited about sports (particularly f1, icehockey, but also football [soccer ] and tennis), but I really don't see what kind of features a console or live-tv could offer to get my excited.

Perhaps this is because overhere, you either go to see the matches in person or you watch the live coverage on television. We don't get all that much additional information in the broadcast though, but I'm not sure that is really necessary too.

The only thing I could imagine great would be for F1 - like to have the actual broadcast and have the live-timing with sector times ready to fade in if I wanted to. That's only because F1 is a difficult sport to follow accurately though - since you have 20+ cars on track and can only view one car at a time. Due to different strategies, it's good to know the live-timing ticker because it gets you a closer look at the different strategies. This however is quite different to any ball sport where the focus is purely on the ball, so no different views required.

So what makes NFL so different? I'd really like to understand...

Well, they haven't really given any details on the deal, so I imagine we'll see more on E3. But to understand how big the NFL is in North America, and how fantasy football and sports betting was a huge part of that, all you need to do is watch The League. It's a tv show about fantasy football crazies, and a pretty funny one at that. American football is a cult in many regions of the United States. I've seen the huge college stadiums in west Texas, built in the middle of absolute slums. Friday Night Lights is pretty much spot on in that regard. Some people love the sport, and some people just love fantasy football. But the NFL appeals to a very diverse group of people in the USA. I don't know what the hook is going to be to make people feel like they need this thing to enhance their NFL viewing. If they find something, it could be a huge deal in the USA.