New PS4 specs

We’ll see.

A better source with reference to an actual press release instead of “some random guy I talked to”:

It’s been confirmed. Check the Xbox’s FAQ, it’s been updated.

@madjack said: It's been confirmed. Check the Xbox's FAQ, it's been updated.

Yep… and my previous post included the press release from MS itself.

For the past week there have been plenty of jokes running around the web about Microsoft doing various things related to their console… and as staunchly entrenched and unwaivering as they were at E3, I wasn’t going to believe a 180 degree reversal until I heard it directly from the horse’s mouth.

It’s still a little unbelievable… further proof that their marketing department and business development have completely imploded. I mean, the announcement comes from the same guy that literally told people if they wanted to play offline then they should buy an XBox360. o_O

Naw, you’ve got it wrong. This is business as usual for Microsoft. (Mostly kidding. Mostly…)

MS has never listened to their customers before launching a new product, or if they do, they’re listening to the wrong crowd. At least they didn’t wait for the following generation before switching hat. It wouldn’t surprise me AT ALL if they’d taken the time to properly and fully explain their roadmap that it would’ve been better received by the community, maybe even embrace it (if, as they say, it was a good plan).

Despite this, Sony is still the lesser evil.

Microsoft can’t really explain their roadmap. They have always been reversing anything if they found their approach didn’t get the necessary traction - which means that if they goof up on anything, they will do an 180° reversal (which is good) and don’t have a reliable roadmap (which is bad).
HOWEVER, they tend to push their original agenda via salami slicing. Always-on always-online no-resale was a bit too much at a time. They’ll start with one of these things next version.

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@toolforger said: Microsoft can't really explain their roadmap. They have always been reversing anything if they found their approach didn't get the necessary traction - which means that if they goof up on anything, they will do an 180° reversal (which is good) and don't have a reliable roadmap (which is bad). HOWEVER, they tend to push their original agenda via salami slicing. Always-on always-online no-resale was a bit too much at a time. They'll start with one of these things next version.

“Next version” being “next system update” after people have already bought it.

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Yep. You never know what they might “reverse” next. Best is to be safe and go with the other console, and by other I mean Wii U of course.

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@Momoko_Fan said: Yep. You never know what they might "reverse" next. Best is to be safe and go with the other console, and by other I mean Wii U of course.

I think the Wii U is kind of poorly priced. Nintendo has kind of set expectations by now with the Wii but the Wii-U is pretty expensive. At least judging by my wife’s reaction in Target the other day… and she’s the one who bought our original Wii. It’s currently cheaper to buy a PS3 which is still kind of viewed as a higher end system and less of a “toy”.

What is also worrying is the hard stance of “Oh no, it’s not possible to revert those, you just don’t understand!” – Major Nelson in an interview on Angry Joe Show asking if it would be possible to reverse course on the DRM. And then two days later MS makes a 180 switch.

It shows a complete disconnect from reality, from they customers and between their own employees. A hard case of “left hands not knowing what the right hand does”. This has scared many people. It’s a whole lot worse than their usual “I know what I’m doing, herp derp dur dur!”

As far as reverting those changes after launch, I’m not sure on how hard a ground they would stand legally. You would have to be extremely careful of how you word anything on the box. Because if this happened, they have no idea the kind of shitstorm they’d have to face. If it does happen, I’ll get the popcorn, because it’ll be entertaining as hell.

<cite>@wezrule said:</cite> For example there are restrictions on used games, and it requires as internet connection to play any games (I guess will help piracy, but seems like a big hassle!). Its also gonna cost about $100 more.

I find it funny how alot of the gaming community is hating microsoft for the DRM, yet Steam with a similar DRM ( though arguably not quite as extensive ) is widely loved, just the same where Origin is hated, even though it is a steam clone ( just missing ‘go offline’ mode IMO )… Though I must admit I have jumped right on the bandwagon, when it comes to hating xbox1 - I always was a PS fanboy - never had a microsoft system.

In a way it is good that the PS4 and Xbox One are so different, hopefully that will show what the market really wants - something I guess they already did.

The difference with steam is it only adds features (for most use cases) and people got used to the limitations gradually…and it has offline mode…

The fact i can get a game I haven’t played for 5 years, go into steam, and play it … without having to try and find disks etc, is valuable.

Getting a new computer and being able to again get all your games on that one is valuable.

Chat/voice/comms etc is valuable.

And the list goes on…

…So it offers a lot of incentives to accept the DRM.

I just hope that all the M$ bashing makes them embrace the Indie and Homebrew community. XNA is a joke and just giving the X.DK to an exclusive circle is unacceptable. I think the Kinect 2.0 will be far superior to the Eye Camera and I love it’s possibilities (except spying). So I would choose an XBox One if it is open. If not… I guess I’ll give the PS4 a try. But I’ll definitely wait until all cards are on the table.

<cite>@nihal said:</cite> I find it funny how alot of the gaming community is hating microsoft for the DRM, yet Steam with a similar DRM .

Oh boy.

You are so wrong. Steam has drm, yes, you are right, but there’s a difference between pushing a button to start your car and having to unlock doors, having your eyeballs scanned, fingerprints checked, your DNA analyzed and finally you can push that button… Yes, I am exagerating.

But there’s more. When you look at things like Origin, UbiPlay, etc, they have no value. Zero. It’s been that for years (Crapigin and so far UbiPlay isn’t worth more as far as features go). On Steam, as long as you’ve started a game once, you can launch it in offline mode. That’s provided it’s not a MP title obviously, and that it’s a title released on Steam. In other words, linked games that were installed from disk not supporting Steamworks don’t need to be run once from Steam.

Steam has values. Ton of values. Valve is constantly added to it, improving it. All your games are linked to your account and, from the latest rumors, you might probably be even able to trade your games in the future (that’s all I know).

In short there is a HUGE difference between all those systems and Steam. They want your money for their games but they don’t offer you anything of value to use their software. They day they will start offering things that are not available on steam (I’m not talking about games here) is the day I will probably use their products.

There is one thing though that many people forget with Steam and it’s that many publishers can ADD to the layer of DRM on their Steam release. Always check the DRM on any given title before buying on Steam. Always.

As for MS… Well, it is unknown why they wanted it the way they had it set up. Because, as usual, MS never gives their roadmap, never informs its customer base and is a staunch believer in obfuscation, lies, deceit and corporate drivel. And, once things are done, blame the customer for not understanding. Yeah. That sums it up pretty good.

The thing is, MS never does things in a clear manner. You have 10 things pointing in a direction and 10 others pointing elsewhere.

You can liken this to the Always-on shitstorm that is constantly being tried on the desktop. Think SimShitty and it’s “Cloud Use” and always-on crap. Think of Diablo III. You get the idea. It doesn’t work. Also, games on the consoles are OWNED by the buyer. There’s no EULA to sign or crap like that. Effectively, MS was telling their customers, you can’t do what you want with you games anymore. You can’t lend it, sell it, etc. Actually, you might have. Sort of. But, it’s nebulous… Sort of.

You see? That’s the piling of all those that made people go crazy. In this case, customers are right.