The Next (Gen) Step

[TakeshiLive]

Righto, from the looks of things, my xbox 360 seems like it will become obsolete almost inevitably...

My question is where to from here? I've been following the news of the new consoles of the "eighth" gen and I'm a tad worried. The big hitters, Sony and Microsoft seem to be so worried about stuffing in DRM and social media gimmicks (that I know I'll never touch) and Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

The underdogs OUYA and the Piston seem like better choices but I really don't know. The OUYA is really nice and cheap but almost too cheap if you know what I mean. The Piston is a whopping 1000USD which I'm pretty sure I can't afford. However its features are very attractive.

At this point, you may ask, y u no PC?! I can't really afford a PC good enough to play many of the games I like. Also, I shit keyburd n murse. I'm a joystick guy.

EDIT: Don't you guys miss the old ideals of the sixth and seventh gen of consoles? When it was all about "ROAR, MOAR GRAPHICS + chek dis awesim gaems" None of this frankly, FUCKING IRRELEVANT SOCIAL MEDIA BULLSHIT.

EDIT2: Ya, k piston's just a pc made for the hd tellies. it's just sucked a little more now

EDIT3: Y U NO BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE & SECONDHAND GAEMS?! Not all of us can afford new ones all the time ._.

 

[BrotherRool]

I think this question can't really be answered right now. In a little under a years time we'll know what each console does, how much it costs and maybe even gauge how successful it is and you can actually buy the thing. At the moment we don't even know what the next xbox will be called, never mind if it has DRM.

Heck we don't know that about Sony yet. They said publishers can choose to make you type in an activation code for a second hand game if they want to, but thats pretty much what they were doing already. We don't know what the reality of the DRM will look like

 

[Christopher Fisher]

Righto, from the looks of things, my xbox 360 seems like it will become obsolete almost inevitably...

My question is where to from here? I've been following the news of the new consoles of the "eighth" gen and I'm a tad worried. The big hitters, Sony and Microsoft seem to be so worried about stuffing in DRM and social media gimmicks (that I know I'll never touch) and Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

The underdogs OUYA and the Piston seem like better choices but I really don't know. The OUYA is really nice and cheap but almost too cheap if you know what I mean. The Piston is a whopping 1000USD which I'm pretty sure I can't afford. However its features are very attractive.

At this point, you may ask, y u no PC?! I can't really afford a PC good enough to play many of the games I like. Also, I shit keyburd n murse. I'm a joystick guy.

-You can plug a 360 controller into the USB slots on your PC

-What kind of CPU does you computer have? If it's pretty decent, you could very easily convert it into a gaming PC. You would just need to buy a new power supply and a graphics card (and maybe some RAM). That would be pretty cheap--considerably cheaper than buying a new console.

 

[Savagezion]

Piston is honestly a joke from what I have seen of it. It is the price of a crappy pre-built PC that is non upgradable and cannot perform other tasks such as modding as far as I am aware. (Though you could download mods that are ON Steam.) I really don't get the point of the console. But maybe I am missing something as it seems ludicrously stupid as anyone with a brain wouldn't pay for what I just described when you can get a PC that is more powerful and upgradable for less money. You can buy pre-builts that are more powerful for about the same money. Please, someone, make this make sense to me. It's like a very expensive crappy PC that can only do 1 thing to boot.

Bwuh, anyway, as said you can play with a 360 controller on PC as easy as plugging it into a console. Also as said, nothing has been set in stone for the new consoles in regards to DRM. Social things, yeah, that's happening... it's quite dumb to post "Dave Thomas has earned the 'Red-Headed Step Child' Achievement in Dragon Age 4!" to all your facebook friend's walls but whatever, it's gonna happen regardless. Yay, advertising on social media posing as social interaction!

Probably best to wait it out and keep an eye on the PC market if I were you. It hasn't changed much in 20+ years - unlike the console market that shifts erratically every 2 generations.

 

[Uriain]

In my opinion, all "gaming" will be pushing the social aspects (don't understand why personally) and the online DRM is their way of A) combating "used game sales" (which is imo a terrible idea) and B) a way to control the experience if they need/want to (look at SimCity's issues as a prime example)

What you should be asking yourself is this - What games do you want to be playing

Personally, I want the exclusives from both Sony and Microsoft, so I will be purchasing the consoles. If the Wii U starts getting a decent line up which interests me I will also pick up that. Your console/PC/steambox/OUYA experience will be forever marred by the "social experience", micro-transactions and online DRM. Even Steam the "holy grail" of systems is online DRM so....

Look at the games as they are the, in my opinion, most important part of the equation. Though, and this is something I am doing now myself, wait a couple weeks before a purchase if you are any less then 100% sure you want it. Latest Jimquisition brought up a good point. First week sales are their "gauge" on how things are going for them, so hit them a bit in the digital jimmies but still get to play the games you want

 

[Uriain]

PC+Nintendo. Best combination. You'll get the majority of the multiplatform titles that'll make up the bulk of the libraries of the PS4 and Nextbox, whilst being able to play the exclusive games for PC and Nintendo that you won't get anywhere else.

I mean, unless you really want to play new Killzone or Halo?

Ouya's a fad. They've shot themselves in the foot by announcing that they're going to release annual models. Consoles aren't phones. You don't want to fracture your own market by splitting your consumers into different groups depending on which model of Ouya they picked up. And thus far, Android has nothing to show it off as a major must-have for gamers. Sure, if you like Angry Birds and Cut The Rope, you're sorted. But if developers don't make actual gamers' games for the system? You're stuck with a 99$ Android peripheral.

Piston? Why would you go for that? You could build a more powerful PC built to your exact requirements for less. And you'd still get access to Steam. I don't understand what Piston has that's supposed to set it apart.

I have to disagree with you on your "best combination". Each system (Nintendo and PC included) have their own set of exclusives, and while yes, there will be Killzone and Halo respectivly, there are also other titles like Gears of War, Last of Us, etc which can make the console worth while.

I will concede that not all of them will be available right off the hop, and will agree with you on getting the bulk of "multi-platform" games on either Wii U or PC is a do-able scenario (which I imagine will be primarly on PC) I just think that there is some good games to be potentially had (as exclusives) on each of the new consoles to be released

*edit*
I also I realized I double posted... sorry bout that

 

[Savagezion]

Sony admittedly have more exclusives, but even then... Are people really that desperate to play more Uncharted or Killzone? They're popular, sure, but they're also getting a bit samey. Killzone was never a system seller, no matter how much Sony may have wanted it to be, and Uncharted as started dipping in popularity, saleswise. And if you're into FPS or Action games, the PC already has hundreds of such titles to appeal to you.

God of War, Gran Turismo, Infamous, Team ICO games, Last of Us (Highly Probable a new IP series), Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid, Twisted Metal, Resistance, any JRPGs I have not mentioned because I don't follow them much - I know Valkeyria Chronicles is one, etc. Plus, I have left some out due to iffy sales numbers like Folklore and Time Crisis. We didn't see a Romance of the 3 Kingdoms this Gen, but it is still floating out there with Nobunaga's Ambition. However, even those aside, it offers quite a bit that can't be had on PC or Nintendo currently.

As far as I can see, Nintendo is the only one of the big 3 console makers offering exclusives worth a damn any more. Sure, people complain about them using the same 30 year old characters, but those 30 year old characters appeared this generation in games like Galaxy, Skyward Sword, Epic Yarn and Prime 3. Those games all offered something unique, and that's what Nintendo seems to strive for in its game design. You're not going to get anything like Pikmin 3 on PS4 or Nextbox. Uncharted 4? Gears 4? Third person shooters are ten a penny, only behind FPS games in terms of general ubiquity.

Nintendo offers action adventure games and platformers mostly. I don't care for platformers, which renders them moot to me. [Kinda like how you referenced Forza, if you like driving games - I do, but don't care about Forza] I also don't care for Nintendo's more juvenile approach to story telling. I understand its the gameplay you are talking about but, if I want an engaging story from Nintendo, where is it? Most is Japanese and as such becomes very juvenile in regards to relationships or, really, anything with more emotional weight than a paperclip.


To each their own, but Sony is a valid choice for exclusives just as much as Nintendo. Microsoft is competing with itself in the PC market because it wants the extra money for games released on PC with GFWL. Sony doesn't really deal in PC games and has no reason to, nor does Nintendo. So with most Xbox exclusives ending up on PC and Xbox, Xbox is the only bad pairing with a PC.

 

[Darquenaut]

The sad fact of the matter is that I can see that this upcoming generation being called the "social generation." All 3 of the big consoles companies, in their own way, have made it clear they want to incorporate more of a social "togetherness" of whatever buzzword they wish to use. They already use tools to push product and give it more a self-inflated importance (achievements, ranks in multiplayer games), and they have found it profitable, esp. when forcing it onto a social enviroment. Due to that, we have bigger game developing companies trying to convince us that multiplayer is the way to go, that you must pre-order this game to get the unlock to get an early head start against the competition, etc. Whine whine whine whine whine...

 

[TakeshiLive]

-You can plug a 360 controller into the USB slots on your PC

-What kind of CPU does you computer have? If it's pretty decent, you could very easily convert it into a gaming PC. You would just need to buy a new power supply and a graphics card (and maybe some RAM). That would be pretty cheap--considerably cheaper than buying a new console.

I've currently got an old iMac but wil NOT be bringing that with me to Uni, it means I'm getting a new laptop but probably a medium/low range one because for where I'm going, it's gonna be fuckin' expensive.

 

[TakeshiLive]

PC+Nintendo. Best combination. You'll get the majority of the multiplatform titles that'll make up the bulk of the libraries of the PS4 and Nextbox, whilst being able to play the exclusive games for PC and Nintendo that you won't get anywhere else.

I mean, unless you really want to play new Killzone or Halo?

Ouya's a fad. They've shot themselves in the foot by announcing that they're going to release annual models. Consoles aren't phones. You don't want to fracture your own market by splitting your consumers into different groups depending on which model of Ouya they picked up. And thus far, Android has nothing to show it off as a major must-have for gamers. Sure, if you like Angry Birds and Cut The Rope, you're sorted. But if developers don't make actual gamers' games for the system? You're stuck with a 99$ Android peripheral.

Piston? Why would you go for that? You could build a more powerful PC built to your exact requirements for less. And you'd still get access to Steam. I don't understand what Piston has that's supposed to set it apart.

I see your point...

And I for one don't really feel like getting the new Halo games, Halo 4 already seemed phoned-in. I really wasn't sure about the "other" consoles myself, I was just exploring other options since the PS4 and Nextbox seemed not too good.

 

[TakeshiLive]

In my opinion, all "gaming" will be pushing the social aspects (don't understand why personally) and the online DRM is their way of A) combating "used game sales" (which is imo a terrible idea) and B) a way to control the experience if they need/want to (look at SimCity's issues as a prime example)

What you should be asking yourself is this - What games do you want to be playing

Personally, I want the exclusives from both Sony and Microsoft, so I will be purchasing the consoles. If the Wii U starts getting a decent line up which interests me I will also pick up that. Your console/PC/steambox/OUYA experience will be forever marred by the "social experience", micro-transactions and online DRM. Even Steam the "holy grail" of systems is online DRM so....

Look at the games as they are the, in my opinion, most important part of the equation. Though, and this is something I am doing now myself, wait a couple weeks before a purchase if you are any less then 100% sure you want it. Latest Jimquisition brought up a good point. First week sales are their "gauge" on how things are going for them, so hit them a bit in the digital jimmies but still get to play the games you want

I wouldn't know much about what games I want to be playing cos I don't know much about them cos FEELSPOLYGONSSOCIALMEDIASHAREBUTTONDRMDRMDRMDRMDRMDRMDRMBLLLARARARAARG

(Lookin' forward to Watchdogs though )

 

[Guffe]

Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

I have no idea what you're supposed to do really if you're not excited by the new era.
but I'll give you a question about the quoted part;

Have you tried the WiiU?

Because so far I've played on my WiiU, and the amount of motion in the controls: NintendoLand = Pretty high (but nowhere near as using a Wii controller just slight up and down and to the sides in slow motions], ZombieU = Low, Batman Arkham City = None, Darksiders II = None, FIFA 13 = None.

Then again you own a Xbox and most games so far are re-realeses of the good games on that console (mass effect, batman, assassins creed etc) but the motion thing is greatly reduced from the Wii days, just sayin', no jumping and swinging so far. And I am greatly enjoying my console at the moment!

and to answer the actual topic (again), I haven't read about PS4 or NextBox or whatever they call it so I'm not of too much help here, sory

 

[TakeshiLive]

The sad fact of the matter is that I can see that this upcoming generation being called the "social generation." All 3 of the big consoles companies, in their own way, have made it clear they want to incorporate more of a social "togetherness" of whatever buzzword they wish to use. They already use tools to push product and give it more a self-inflated importance (achievements, ranks in multiplayer games), and they have found it profitable, esp. when forcing it onto a social enviroment. Due to that, we have bigger game developing companies trying to convince us that multiplayer is the way to go, that you must pre-order this game to get the unlock to get an early head start against the competition, etc. Whine whine whine whine whine...

"Trying to convince cus that multiplayer is the way to go..." Keyword there is "try". I've probably sunk just more hours into Fallout NV and Skyrim than Halo 4 and Black Ops 2 combined. The future of gaming looks pretty bleak to me, not very objective about the games anymore.

so yeh, imma whine with ya, only so much we can do right now

 

[TakeshiLive]

Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

I have no idea what you're supposed to do really if you're not excited by the new era.
but I'll give you a question about the quoted part;

Have you tried the WiiU?

Because so far I've played on my WiiU, and the amount of motion in the controls: NintendoLand = Pretty high (but nowhere near as using a Wii controller just slight up and down and to the sides in slow motions], ZombieU = Low, Batman Arkham City = None, Darksiders II = None, FIFA 13 = None.

Then again you own a Xbox and most games so far are re-realeses of the good games on that console (mass effect, batman, assassins creed etc) but the motion thing is greatly reduced from the Wii days, just sayin', no jumping and swinging so far. And I am greatly enjoying my console at the moment!

and to answer the actual topic (again), I haven't read about PS4 or NextBox or whatever they call it so I'm not of too much help here, sory

I enjoy games that require the least movement possible, I like being able to do precise movements on the joysticks on the xbox, that's just me

I played some Wii games and just didn't feel immersed in it at all.

(Also switched to wired controllers so no more batteries needed and I don't see that with the Wii or the Wii U)

 

[Guffe]

Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

and to answer the actual topic (again), I haven't read about PS4 or NextBox or whatever they call it so I'm not of too much help here, sory

I enjoy games that require the least movement possible, I like being able to do precise movements on the joysticks on the xbox, that's just me

Joystick on Xbox
Never heard or seen that before

As for movement, as said the amount is nonexistent in the ported "good" games (Batman, Darksider etc) so far and I'm having my WiiU controller connected all the time so battery doesn't run out in that one either

I would defineatly give it a try if you ever get the chance (not buying, just trying at a friends or a store or something) whilst at the moment it seems it will be "vastly outpowered" by PS4 and NextBox? Not sure since I don't read too much about all the speculation going on so I have no idea how much of the social media or othe gadgety things their throwing into them :/

 

[TakeshiLive]

Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

and to answer the actual topic (again), I haven't read about PS4 or NextBox or whatever they call it so I'm not of too much help here, sory

I enjoy games that require the least movement possible, I like being able to do precise movements on the joysticks on the xbox, that's just me

Joystick on Xbox
Never heard or seen that before

As for movement, as said the amount is nonexistent in the ported "good" games (Batman, Darksider etc) so far and I'm having my WiiU controller connected all the time so battery doesn't run out in that one either


I would defineatly give it a try if you ever get the chance (not buying, just trying at a friends or a store or something) whilst at the moment it seems it will be "vastly outpowered" by PS4 and NextBox? Not sure since I don't read too much about all the speculation going on so I have no idea how much of the social media or othe gadgety things their throwing into them :/

I'll give it a try sure, only thing is, none of the game stores around here demo the Wii U nor does any of my friends have one.

(Joysticks I'm referring to are the left and right sticks the grey stick things with little circular hats for movement and camera)

 

[Guffe]

Nintendo's Wii U just isn't my thing. Motion controls and me don't mix.

and to answer the actual topic (again), I haven't read about PS4 or NextBox or whatever they call it so I'm not of too much help here, sory

I enjoy games that require the least movement possible, I like being able to do precise movements on the joysticks on the xbox, that's just me

Joystick on Xbox
Never heard or seen that before

(Joysticks I'm referring to are the left and right sticks the grey stick things with little circular hats for movement and camera)

Well that explains it
I was only thinking about the traditional joystick xD
Well then the movement / camera will be the exact same on the WiiU as the Xbox if that's what you are refering to
Now I can sleep in peace knowing I had just a slight misunderstanding