I genuinely think Microsoft are out of the running

[pat34us]

Rather than bash on the OP, I am going to give my opinion on what Sony should do with a potential PS4.

If they learned from their mistakes they will.

Make it slightly cheaper with less bleeding edge tech (looks like $300 is the most people want to pay).
Make it easier to devolop for.
Give it more RAM (that's the excuse everyone uses for crappy ports)
Update graphics capability if it doesn't put it over the $300 limit.

 

[Karma168]

i wouldn't say the xbox is going anywhere anytime soon. from what i know about the ps3 library (which admittedly isn't much) it is mostly hardcore, mature games that tailor to an exclusive market whereas the xbox library has games that cater to a much wider audience.

from what i know the console market is generally:

Wii - small children who enjoy waving their hands around to make things happen (the demographic that kinect and move tried to capture), this has always been nintendo's target audience (think gameboy/ ds users)

PS3 - hardcore gamers aged 15-40, people who want lots of action in realistic HD. probably similar to the main audience on the PS2

Xbox 360 - basically a spread between the two main gamer demographics; casual/children and hardcore/adult with more effort spent on the hardcore players as they will be using the most of the console.

so xbox probably had the largest support base in the shops and can afford to risk a new console when the financial climate improves (plus MS has more money than god so it wont be to bad for them if it does suffer a flop in the markets)

 

[Netrigan]

Again. This is not what I've said.
It's not a question of personal taste. I enjoy shooting and driving as much as the next gamer, but the Microsoft don't exactly push the boundaries when it comes to Exclusives for their console. Halo is huge, no question, but Gears is not really that much of a departure.
When you consider the titles SONY is (finally) giving us purely for the PS3 then it's plain the PS3 has a far more varied library of genres. The X360 can sell a fuck tonne of HALO's, but they haven't given us anything comparable to LBP or Folklore.
And as for dismissing the PS2 library... I can only presume you've been gaming for all of about 10 minutes.

I'm not even sure what agenda you're actually trying to push here. That LBP and Folklore are somehow so unique and different that 360 exclusives like Lost Odyssey and Alan Wake aren't comparable? Because, let's face it, that's just not true [especially when you look at the middling reviews Folklore received] - nor for that matter - fair.
To be honest neither LBP or Folklore sold at all well either, so that reasoning is lost too, I'm really at a loss as to your point...

LBP has sold 4.5 million. Pretty solid showing.

 

[loc978]

Holy shit same here. But seriously, is there anything really wrong with Microsoft making a popular console? Before the PlayStation Sony made VCR's and TV's. Before the Xbox Microsoft made a lot of money with their intuitive software. I think it's good to have a stake in an industry that grows closer to home every year.

Don't you mean Xerox's intuitive software?

If you're talking about that company founded in 1906 that makes printers then, no.

Yes. The very same company whose employees created the first Graphical User Interface... which was stolen out from under them by two guys with the last names "Gates" and "Jobs".

 

[D_987]

LBP has sold 4.5 million. Pretty solid showing.

Link? All I know is that sales weren't as high as originally expected. Then again they did start selling the game with the console so maybe that'll have inflated the sales figures.

 

[Netrigan]

LBP has sold 4.5 million. Pretty solid showing.

Link? All I know is that sales weren't as high as originally expected. Then again they did start selling the game with the console so maybe that'll have inflated the sales figures.

On the sales reception for Wikipedia.

The first week sales were lower than expected, but that had to do with it coming out mid-week due to a recall or something.

That link is to a video, but this one claims 3 million in sales.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6261831.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B1

Here's a rather blunt article on LBP's initial poor sales, pointing out that its four day sales were just below SOCOM's two weeks' sales.

http://www.ripten.com/2008/11/15/littlebigplanet-sales-not-that-great-no-shit/

This one has it selling 611,000 in its first three months.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21937

 

[Netrigan]

I'd say console gaming is dying out as a whole.

You see what the current consoles can do now. Watch movies, surf the internet, check youtube... eventually people are going to realise, "Hey! This isn't a console anymore! This is a PC!"

Then I shall appear before the new PC users and lead them to the Promised Land of PC gaming as their savior! And there shall be free cookies every Sunday!

Okay, maybe not the last bit there, but can someone give me free cookies every Sunday anyway?

As much as I agree, there will be some (like me) who cannot, for the life of them, get used to a mouse and keyboard for anything other than rts and would much prefer a controller. Then again, I guess a pc controller could be used.

Seeing how there's really not anything driving the PC arms race anymore, I wouldn't be surprised to see consoles become more like PCs and perhaps taking some of the market away from Windows. Especially when you consider the lack of innovation on the OS side of thing.

Biggest problem with PCs is the wide range of hardware specs involved. This is also a strong point, but from a purely consumer POV, not have a set platform to operate from creates all sorts of conflicts. But there's such a wide variety of software available on the PC, that it's the defacto standard.

Apple avoids a lot of these problems by setting the hardware specs. This leads to more stable performance, but the biggest downside from a gaming POV is that the Mac is rarely more than an afterthought.

Put a little more thought into the user interface, get a better suite of basic computing programs, push keyboard & mouse support a bit more as optional devices, and I could see a lot of people ditching PCs in favor of a gaming console.

 

[MercurySteam]

Holy shit same here. But seriously, is there anything really wrong with Microsoft making a popular console? Before the PlayStation Sony made VCR's and TV's. Before the Xbox Microsoft made a lot of money with their intuitive software. I think it's good to have a stake in an industry that grows closer to home every year.

Don't you mean Xerox's intuitive software?

If you're talking about that company founded in 1906 that makes printers then, no.

Yes. The very same company whose employees created the first Graphical User Interface... which was stolen out from under them by two guys with the last names "Gates" and "Jobs".

Thanks for the history lesson, gramps.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Seeing as how there are already 6 pages of discussion, I feel that anything I say will no doubt be the same as someone else, however there's a couple comments that I'd like to respond to, particularly the ones in regards to this post. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.252452.9378497]

Or, people say "Hey, this is a PC without DRM or any assosciated hassle, you don't have to check system requirements that aren't always accurate before playing a game, and it can be played from a couch or similarly relaxed position! Sweet!"

And consoles can even have mods, most games just don't support it.

You mention DRM, which I admit is hassle for some games, but I hardly think that checking system requirements is such a daunting task. You also mention being able to play from a couch or a similarly relaxed position, however I don't see how that's an advantage to the consoles; I actually prefer sitting in a computer chair than on a couch when gaming.

Also, I don't know where you got this but consoles cannot have mods.

Checking system requirements isn't really a hassle, I kind of phrased that wrong. What I meant was, you just look at the box, if it says PS3, and you have a PS3, you're good to go. No worries about you having some bizarre operating system it might not work with, or anything like that. Impulse buys are much simpler.

Maybe it is a matter of opinion, but the people I've talked to (admittedly only five) say they prefer to game "relaxed" which is hard to do with a PC.

And Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3 had mod support.

 

[Kabutos]

Checking system requirements isn't really a hassle, I kind of phrased that wrong. What I meant was, you just look at the box, if it says PS3, and you have a PS3, you're good to go. No worries about you having some bizarre operating system it might not work with, or anything like that. Impulse buys are much simpler.

Maybe it is a matter of opinion, but the people I've talked to (admittedly only five) say they prefer to game "relaxed" which is hard to do with a PC.

And Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3 had mod support.

I don't see how shopping for PC games is any different than shopping for console games. If the box has GFWL on it, and you have Windows, then you're good to go. I don't know of any 'bizarre OS', as there are only three (well, three if you count all of GNU/Linux as a whole), and really only one with a number of available games for it. As for impulse buys, well that's a whole other matter about different kinds of shoppers.

As far as playing while being 'relaxed', there's nothing stopping someone from just hooking up his PC to a TV and plugging in a controller, although like I said before, I prefer sitting in a good computer chair.

I'll admit I was wrong by saying that consoles can't have mods, however you have to agree that mods for console games are very few and far between.

 

[Mozza444]

Its the guys/gals opinion.. Chill.

I hate it when people say this.

People can use the "opinion" shield all they want, opinions can still be horribly wrong, misinformed and contain more bullshit than Peter Molyneux

OT: All the consoles are pretty decent, and according to the numbers Microsoft are actually doing rather well, so I don't think they're even close to being out of the running.

Wait? In the world i live in..

In my opinion Microsoft are dead.

and

Fact: Microsoft are dead.

Are two completely different things..

 

[Mozza444]

Its the guys/gals opinion.. Chill.

I hate it when people say this.

People can use the "opinion" shield all they want, opinions can still be horribly wrong, misinformed and contain more bullshit than Peter Molyneux

OT: All the consoles are pretty decent, and according to the numbers Microsoft are actually doing rather well, so I don't think they're even close to being out of the running.

Wait? In the world i live in..

In my opinion Microsoft are dead.

and

Fact: Microsoft are dead.

Are two completely different things..

I don't know how I can explain it without being condescending or using an extreme metaphor.

If I say something blatantly untrue such as *It is my opinion there is no such thing as the sun* just because it's my opinion, doesn't mean I'm not completely wrong.

It's the same thing.

Saying *my opinion is that Microsoft is dead*, when the facts say otherwise, is an uneducated and stupid opinion.

Such as i said earlier, these small things do not bother me.
Lifes too short to start arguments with people over the internet, go bother somebody else.
I wish not to be involved in these things, but to sit back and watch people squabble over such an insignificant part of life such as a games console, or in this case.. somebody's opinion.

 

[northeast rower]

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that this is a fanboy thread.

 

[xXDeMoNiCXx]

Which console is the best of the 3 varies from person to person, it isn't set in stone so pick which one is the best to you and ignore anyone who says you're wrong.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Checking system requirements isn't really a hassle, I kind of phrased that wrong. What I meant was, you just look at the box, if it says PS3, and you have a PS3, you're good to go. No worries about you having some bizarre operating system it might not work with, or anything like that. Impulse buys are much simpler.

Maybe it is a matter of opinion, but the people I've talked to (admittedly only five) say they prefer to game "relaxed" which is hard to do with a PC.

And Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3 had mod support.

I don't see how shopping for PC games is any different than shopping for console games. If the box has GFWL on it, and you have Windows, then you're good to go. I don't know of any 'bizarre OS', as there are only three (well, three if you count all of GNU/Linux as a whole), and really only one with a number of available games for it. As for impulse buys, well that's a whole other matter about different kinds of shoppers.

As far as playing while being 'relaxed', there's nothing stopping someone from just hooking up his PC to a TV and plugging in a controller, although like I said before, I prefer sitting in a good computer chair.

I'll admit I was wrong by saying that consoles can't have mods, however you have to agree that mods for console games are very few and far between.

Here's the difficulty with posting in multiple topics at once!

I meant to say graphics card instead of OS, my bad. I'm not a huge PC gamer, but according to a friend of mine there's all different graphics cards and some of them aren't always supported. Granted, he's one to make things sound a lot more complicated to make himself seem smarter.

I wasn't aware you could hook up a PC to a TV, again my bad.

And console mods are few and far between, which is a shame.

 

[Kabutos]

I meant to say graphics card instead of OS, my bad. I'm not a huge PC gamer, but according to a friend of mine there's all different graphics cards and some of them aren't always supported. Granted, he's one to make things sound a lot more complicated to make himself seem smarter.

I would say that they're a lot less complicated than your friend makes them out to be. While it's true there is a large variety of cards to choose from, it really just boils down to a select few for each price range.

As for not being supported, there might be some errors with specific cards or driver issues, but for the most part it's fine.

 

[loc978]

Holy shit same here. But seriously, is there anything really wrong with Microsoft making a popular console? Before the PlayStation Sony made VCR's and TV's. Before the Xbox Microsoft made a lot of money with their intuitive software. I think it's good to have a stake in an industry that grows closer to home every year.

Don't you mean Xerox's intuitive software?

If you're talking about that company founded in 1906 that makes printers then, no.

Yes. The very same company whose employees created the first Graphical User Interface... which was stolen out from under them by two guys with the last names "Gates" and "Jobs".

Thanks for the history lesson, gramps.

You're quite welcome, ya little whipper-snapper.