Jimquisition: Why The PS4 Is Kicking Xbox One's Arse

[Thanatos2k]

You mentioned 'pc multiplayer service is a joke' and I'd like to know what planet you're living on that you think this is a logical sentence. It is most definitely not a joke. If you look at the steam statistics alone, you'll find evidence contrary. That's not taking Origin, LOL, GOG and Blizzard's services into account. PC multiplayer is not a joke, it crushes the consoles in every event, and in most cases it crushes them while not being a 'pay to play' service with gated content and restrictions on modding (not cheating, i'm talking custom maps, and games revived from the dead by the community), it's a free and open ecosystem, something Microsoft and Sony seem to hate and fear.

If you want you can pay 5$ a month, any community server would gladly welcome you and make you a premium member on their DEDICATED SERVERS for that cost. And this is the last and most important thing. DEDICATED SERVERS, something completely alien in the console world. And something that has ruined so many console games. A dedicated computer, just running the game server, consoles rely on Peer to Peer services. These giant servers you mentioned above? DO NOT RUN THE GAMES YOU PLAY. They host content and multiplayer matchmaking. Meanwhile, dedicated servers on the PC side mean that you have a stable connection to every game, and you can filter to find games where you will have very low latency when you play. If someone leaves the game it doesn't kill everyone's fun. And where consoles struggle to coordinate 16 players total, PCs and their dedicated servers have no problem hosting 32 or even 60+ players in the same game, because the machines that are playing the game don't also have to host it, that computational load is taken off of the client machines and put onto one large host machine called the 'dedicated server.' And remember, these are free on the PC side of things, so is everything else these consoles gate off.

This is something I call one of the biggest paradoxes in gaming. Microsoft should be doing everything in their power to promote the PC ecosystem as superior. Why? Because Microsoft is a company that makes the majority of its money making Operating Systems for PCs.

Microsoft should be doing everything they can to promote the PC as a superior gaming platform over consoles. The prevalence of gaming available exclusively for the Windows platform is one of the main reasons why Windows achieved its monopoly. Now that market share erodes daily over to Apple and Linux as Microsoft flounders in its support for PC gaming, offering half baked applications (Games For Windows Live, lol) and empty platitudes about how they "care" about PC gaming as they barely release anything there. Or if they do, it's shoddy PC ports.

It makes no sense for Microsoft to be in the gaming space. They are actively competing with themselves, and screwing their company over the long term. Gaming makes up a very small fraction of Microsoft's overall revenues, most of which come from Windows and enterprise suites for Windows. Fanboys rage whenever you say that Microsoft should be selling the Xbox division but any serious thought about the topic indicates it's something that must be done.

 

[DragonDai]

Is not a matter from "better than", is more like "less wrong", both consoles still doesn't have backward compatibility.

You do realise just how difficult backwards compatibility between completely different hardware is right? The only way to get it to function properly is to have previous gen hardware in the same box. That means buying two consoles in one, and bumping up the price quite a bit.

I generally just lurk, but I had to comment on this. And all I can say is PC! My PC with all new parts when it was bought 2 years ago runs games that are just now coming out at max settings at 1080p resolution with 60+ FPS, while also playing games from 1995 with little to no hassle (usually no hassle, as in, I install them, they work), and games even older than that with some to little hassle (dosbox is about as "hassle-full" as it gets and really, once you've take the 10-30 mins to figure out how it works the first time you use it, it's never a hassle after that).

So yeah. The only reason the consoles don't have backwards compatibility is because the people making the consoles don't want you to have it. It's as simple as that.

 

[mezorin]

Sony picked a pretty bad time to do this, as retailers in Canada are known for price gouging in the last five years when we had dollar parity. Everything else in this country also costs an arm and a leg, perticularly with books, clothing, food, and other essentials because they were priced when it was 68 cents to the US dollar, then again they conveniently 'forgot' to lower those prices when we got US dollar parity. There would be riots in the streets if Americans were suddenly forced to pay 24 dollars for a case of budweiser, or 1.30 per litre of gasoline (about 4.94$ per gallon), but those are the prices here. Its certainly not for the difficulty of shipping, as I can litterally see America from my damn house on a clear day and retailers are expecting me to magically believe it is easier to ship all the way to Florida than it is to British Columbia when it is all Chinese made anyways? Bull. Even the Conservatives are starting to give these retailers hell and setup parlimentary investegations, as there is likely going to be a leftward swing in the next federal election (or at very least a Conservative minority) and even Harper will throw the people gouging Canadians to the wolves to save his own skin.

On top of it all, everything around here magically went up 10% again the moment the CDN/USD weakened. They sure seemed to be in a hurry to jack the prices, but not actually lower them. I'll bet 50 bucks that Sony will conveniently 'forget' to lower the system price when the CDN gets to parity again.

EDIT: this pisses me off because I really, really have been wanting to get a PS4. I haven't been able to find a single one on the shelves in three months, and now a price hike has been announced. Not a happy camper on the matter.

 

[Iwata]

... and hopefully one day we'll have a proper discussion on the matter without some elements of the PC fanbase just making me give up reading from all the 'but we are SOOOOOO much better' speeches going around.

The subject was X-Box One and the PS4. Did you REALLY need to come here and *AGAIN* state how superior the PC is to both?

I can't believe I once used to be like that...

 

[Thanatos2k]

... and hopefully one day we'll have a proper discussion on the matter without some elements of the PC fanbase just making me give up reading from all the 'but we are SOOOOOO much better' speeches going around.

The subject was X-Box One and the PS4. Did you REALLY need to come here and *AGAIN* state how superior the PC is to both?

I can't believe I once used to be like that...

Some people haven't realized that if they're asking the question "Why would I ever play this on a console when it's better on PC?" that you are NOT THE TARGET AUDIENCE FOR CONSOLES. You have a PC. You can afford a PC. You know how to use a PC.

Things make so much more sense when you figure that out.

 

[The White Hunter]

XBLG's $15 a month.

Holy crap! Did I miss a massive price hike or something? Gold was always 60 euro for a year, when did it hike to 180!?

Anyways, I think Titanfall is THE system seller and THE CoD killer. It's enough of a reason to buy the One over a PS4. Watch One sales increase rapidly over the next couple months.

I have no doubt that sales of the Xbone will increase as Titanfall for Xbone has been hyped up like balls (walked into Gamestop the day of release to see a long line of Titanfall Xbone bundles) but interestingly, it isn't an exclusive, I'm grabbing my copy for PC and I know a few friends who are waiting for the 360 release.

It already has made a big leap in sales:

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/67457-xbox-one-console-sales-boosted-96-per-cent-titanfall-launch/

Not entirely sure, I think people were just really ready for the next gen, and it has mostly been pushed as X1, particularly on IGN and Gamespot, and in more widespread marketing such as TV spots, which is where the vast majority of the market is. Most people are not what you would describe as an enthusiast, they certainly aren't going to be found on the Escapist, if you're lucky they may check IGN every now and then.

 

[Mr_Terrific]

Jim forgot to mention the fact that the X360 was abandoned by MS years ago and people are probably taking notice that the best they have to offer for their new console are games that are basically re-purposed 360 games. Can't imagine being a 360 only gamer and watching another platform offer 4 times the content AND access to year long trials of games.

 

[Toadfish1]

To prove you're no fanboy, Jim, how about one on why the Xbox One is absolutely crushing the WiiU?

Because many people are unaware it bloody exists, I talked to my aunt about it and she thinks the Wii-U is an expensive peripheral for the Wii, my mother thought the same, many potential buyers are unaware its a whole new console and its lack of marketing is not helping. If the Wii-U had a different name (a reason why many see it as an add-on) and had more solid marketing, it would likely fare much better.

The 3DS is selling well because I see commercials for it and those commercials show off the 3D technology, something the DS didn't have, it shows the distinction between the systems.

Yes, that is one reason that it is a massive failure, but there are a lot of others. It might help to go through all of them. Pissing off all game devs and focusing on an unimpressive gimmick that raises the price too high are also reasons.

I would struggle to say the Wii-U is a massive failure, hasn't reached expectations sure, but its not a failure, if you want failure, look at the N-Gage...

As a Wii-U owner, I can say that the console itself is fine, I like some of the things you can do with the game-pad, I think there are quite a few games worth owning on it, but unless they show the world it actually exists, it likely won't pick-up anytime soon, the PS4 and Xbone get tons of marketing, hence the strong sales.

I've never seen devs express outrage over the Wii-U's gimmicks, do you have a source?

It is the worst performing console in the last three generations, and is presently performing equally to the Sega Saturn. So yes, it is a massive failure.

And I'm sure Xbox One fans say the its showings justify it. But we're talking about outside perspective here.

The number of devs who flat out said they're not making ports cause they don't want to work with it doesn't tip you off?

 

[doomed89]

I don't think jim is wrong persay but he left out alot of other reasons which could be bigger influences the more powerful hardware maybe not but the cheaper price point and better first party devs/offerings currently should have been mentioned.

 

[aliasCrucial]

I'm going to add this because it seems to be over looked often. Microsoft has always been getting it's @$$ whipped globally because of it's abysmal market share in Japan. You can't just ignore one of the three major market segments for the industry.

 

[RavenTail]

What? Playstation Plus and the PS4's indie library are why Sony is kicking ass? I disagree.

I believe it's the $100 price difference and the "softcore" gamer's conception of the PS4 being more "powerful". Anecdotal evidence; my roommate who plays CoD and only CoD every once in a while plans on buying a PS4. He still thinks PS4's multiplayer is free. I'm not going to correct him because it'll piss him off when he finds out for himself and that'll be funny. It's only funny because we're such good friends and he's poor and going through university. Don't worry, his parents are rich as shit, he just wants to do it on his own.

Anyways, I think Titanfall is THE system seller and THE CoD killer. It's enough of a reason to buy the One over a PS4. Watch One sales increase rapidly over the next couple months.

But see, if your friend is poor then he'd be better off with PS+ since it's only $5 a month vs. XBLG's $15 a month.

I mean if your friend is in such a financial predicament that he can't even afford what amounts to a cup of coffee from Starbucks once every 30 days then perhaps spending hundreds of dollars on a new system isn't the wisest thing to do.

If he's looking for a CoD fix he should buy a PS3 since the price for even a new system would save him hundreds compared to a new PS4. Also he'd still be able to play the PS3 versions of CoD online for free.

As a 'good friend' I'd think you'd want to help him with such suggestions instead of letting him spend so much money only to be upset with what he bought.

Just jumping in to say I have no idea where in the world that you find Xbox Live to be $15 a month. I don't think I've ever paid maybe more than $3.50 a month for the service. Just curious on where it's that crazy expensive.

Sounds like you've been using special 1 month codes for that $3.50 cost. Doing a little research perhaps I was wrong as the recurring price seems to be $10 a month though I could have sworn I was paying $15 just a year ago. Still, PS+ is cheaper and doesn't shove every online service behind that pay wall.

 

[RavenTail]

XBLG's $15 a month.

Holy crap! Did I miss a massive price hike or something? Gold was always 60 euro for a year, when did it hike to 180!?

Anyways, I think Titanfall is THE system seller and THE CoD killer. It's enough of a reason to buy the One over a PS4. Watch One sales increase rapidly over the next couple months.

I have no doubt that sales of the Xbone will increase as Titanfall for Xbone has been hyped up like balls (walked into Gamestop the day of release to see a long line of Titanfall Xbone bundles) but interestingly, it isn't an exclusive, I'm grabbing my copy for PC and I know a few friends who are waiting for the 360 release.

I was wrong. Only $10 a month for 1 month of XBLG.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Regarding ps+, as soon as it was announced that ps4 was gonna need PS+ to play games online, I instantly bought a yearly subscription. This was back last September. I did so to build my ps+ library of free games as I decided I would need the PS+ membership to play competitive 2D fighters online.


In the elapsed time, for my 50 bucks I obtained:

Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen
Bioshock Infinite
Boarderlands 2
DMC:devil may cry
Tomb Raider
Xcom
Uncharted 3
Hotline Miami
Brothers Tale of two sons
Remember Me
Payday 2
Metro Last Light
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Darstalkers 3, Metal Slug XX for psp


I'm sure I'm forgetting some too. All of these games just for 50 bucks and who knows what will come until it's September again.

Sure, I'd need to renew it if I were to want to play these games after next September. Thing is, most of those games are the kinda games you play once and are done with. Maybe a couple like DMC you replay but other than Boarderlands 2 none of them do you really keep playing endlessly.



I don't even have a ps4 yet, I plan on getting one eventually when stuff like FFXV and Guilty Gear Xrd are out, still, ps+ has been amazing for my ps3 experience.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I still dont understand why indi games cant be system sellers...

Well they can be, but would you buy a PS4 for an indie game? Any available now?

(also, Jim perhaps that lighting's a bit too luminuous)

 

[Xyebane]

Why do you say Scientific fact? What is scientific about it? Did you perturb the system to test a hypothesis? Did you use proper controls? Did you do any statistical analysis regarding the significance of your observation?

Is calling things a scientific fact the new 'literally'? Where people use the expression to try to add emphasis while completely devoid of its actual meaning? Just say it's a fact if you want to add emphasis! You're not being scientific Jim!

 

[Tono Makt]

Amusingly, I'm more likely to buy the PS4 than the XBone even though I'm currently an XBox 360 gamer exclusively for the exact same reason I decided to buy the XBox 360 over the PS3, even though I was a PS2 gamer waaaaay back: I'm buying a GAME system, not an ENTERTAINMENT system. I don't care about Netflix, or browsing the internet on my TV, or watching cable TV through my game system. I want to play a game; ironically all those commercials and ads touting the non-gaming stuff is actively turning me off of the XBone every time I see them. With the PS3 I didn't care about having a BluRay player so that selling point worked against the PS3 to the point that I never purchased one.

With the current generation of games I'm more likely to go out and spend $1000 or so on a nice gaming rig that will connect directly to my TV and simply play games from Steam or from disc, rather than buy either of the systems. Most of the games I'm interested in will be available on the PC anyway, eventually, and I don't need to buy them on Day 1. (After Mass Effect 3 I'm not likely to buy ANY games on Day 1 or maybe even Month 1)

Which brings up a bit of an interesting question - related to previous console launches, how well are the new ones doing? I could probably google it and find out the answer for myself, and I probably will. Just brainstorming out loud here as it were.

 

[FFMaster]

I think its been pointed out already that Nintendo are actually on the indie bandwagon as well, they are pushing indies in there own advertising dumps (which is great i guess for a lot of indies, more advertising than they would normally be able to get) and there's some rumors about unity licenses being paid for (and easier access for most to Dev kits, as long as you have an office)

MS are dropping the ball with indies, mostly over there launch parity clauses.

However i do think the PS4 has some of the same problems that the XBox One has, it has a lack of games, even with the indies. The 2 indies mentioned are games that were already out on PC, and this months one is a HD remake of a game they gave out for free already, and with the rumors that Driveclub is being held back further (possible bait and switch there if true, as they did kinda promise they would give it out with PS plus at launch so some people might be annoyed if they don't get it).

There hasn't been a lot since Christmas out for the PS4 and after second son, not a lot to look forward to either, they are both (Sony and MS) heading towards a bit of dry spell, the sort of dry spell that everyone declared was damming and reason to not buy the WiiU.

Not to say that Sony aren't doing well, the PS4 is a good bit of kit, OS is nice and the updates work well, it all just works and works nicely. Even if the touch pad is the most pointless thing since the one legged arse kicking competition. But i think they are getting a bit of deserved flak towards them (wheres the promised firmware upgrades, wheres the next games, why is twitched locked to Sony games only, whens HDCP being removed) directed away just because of how badly MS screwed up the launch, this gen won't be won by Sony, it will be lost by MS but when we look back we will see that Sony should have been called to question on a few things.

[EDIT] With regards to the Xboox One UK sales, notice they are using percentages not actual numbers, we don't know how well its selling since we don't know how well it sold last month. Using percentages tends to mean it sold less than they hoped but still did well (they clam up if it was abysmal), but it might just be that hey ain't put the numbers out yet (as many people pointed out frequently during the WiiU threads)