Next Gen consoles. What console looks promising?

I think I'm going to get the Xbox One. I pretty much ONLY play online (never play offline for over 24 hours), I don't bring video games to my friends house (especially one with no internet connection, this isn't 1990) and I so rarely buy used games it's not even funny--maybe I bought two all of them this entire generation. I don't care about the discs, I hate having to change games, as in having to change the disc and I like not having to go to the store to buy any game I want.

It's INSTANT GRATIFICATION, that's what it's all about these days. You get what you want instantly without having to leave the living room. At the end of the day, I think that that business model is going to win. If all you want is the digital content, why waste paper, plastic and gas to make, and transport, a disc to you if I can give it to you with zero waiting right on your couch. People are going to see what I'm seeing, maybe no immediately but soon. Now, you can go to your friends house and play any game you own over the cloud, that's fucking dope, that's the future, not merely the present.

You can look at Xbox One as anti consumer, but you could also look at the benefits of digital distribution. Sony decided they're going to do it the old way, but if you think about it, they tried to do it the old way last time and everyone moved to Xbox because PS3 didn't have a good online service on par with XBL and it cost them. I can see a similar scenario brewing already. No matter what MS is going to have superior online capability. 300,000 servers is a lot, Sony can't match that. If they wield that advantage correctly, I don't think Sony will be able to knock Xbox out of the game so easily.

 

Both Sony and Nintendo are offering digital downloads along side retail. Sony is also claiming that downloaded games will be ready to play instantly. So not sure this a thing that's unique to Xbone.

 

The Grand Wall of "fanboyism":​

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From what i saw from the pre E3 sony press conference (which it seems like many missed due to emphazising xbox features which already have similar (if not more interesting) alternatives on the PS4.​

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"Exclusive" is also a much watered down term nowadays with all the "timed exclusives" that MS (and perhaps Sony to a lesser extent) has spent time bying.​

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From the back of my (not the best at memorizing sometimes) mind:​

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PS4:​

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. "Cloud"-tech, for:​

. playing PS1/2/3 games​

. playing PS4 games while they download​

. ? possibly to enhance PS4 games in the future.​

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. Media Library/Video/TV-Series availability:​

. Netflix​

. Sony Pictures/Studios Content​

. Other providers​

. ? The same DLNA niceties as PS3 had,​

. ? mkv/xvid/x264 native support and other codecs​

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. "Sharing":​

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No matter what you think about "social features" (and i do myself, never got facebook even), what they showed in the pre-show was very promising to me, the way friends can instantly join in (watch or even take over/co-operate with you) in a gaming session was - very - nice.​

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Also in the same way how it seems to only be a matter of pressing a button (the share button) to get options for recording and uploading gameplay right where you are, is also a very handy thing - i can only dream on how great this would be for virtua fighter matches if PS4 ever gets it!!​

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. Ye Old Exclusives:​

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The talk about exclusives in the past here and there grows tiresome,​

it is actually quite apparent to me that xbox360 had less of that then PS3,​

and that the original xbox had less then PS2.​

No matter how you bend it, xbox360 games are quite often coming out on both that and PS3, and also to a large extent PC.​

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. Online:​

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Other then that, i reasonably think that online will improve this time around​

- and also that they are not as dumb as to not have noticed that their customers want improvement in that area.​

That will probably be one of the reasons (besides wanting cash as any other company)​

behind their plan to move the multiplayer-gaming to the PSN Plus subscription.​

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. PS3 Shortcomings:​

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In my opinion, the PS3 had is two main lacks here:​

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1. Fewer or Less well maintained PSN-servers.​

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(on a another note, where did this often spoked thing about "bad netcode" come from?, has anyone actually had access to the source code of their infrastructure and servers, or VF5 source code even?)​

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2. To little RAM, it really shows when using the XMB Menu, especially while running a game - I certainly believe the great re-thinking (and this is by sony and ms both) in increasing the RAM this much is a good strategy, not only for the games themselves.​

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. The End of Mah' Wall-o-text is near!:​

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Oh and sorry for posting this wall of text with strong opinions, and somewhat technically informed speculation coupled with actual "facts" - I just wanted to let this all out after following this thread, and i should let this rest after this,​

- since i neither want to start any flamewar/console war junk,​

nor am Sony paying me any goddamn nice monies for "explaining" them this strongly ​

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(Disclaimer)​

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(If you do not agree with any or all of my points,​

- we will probably need to get a Room Match going ​

and resolve our differences as true Virtua Fighters )​

 

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Yeah, 4chan off-shoot IRC based hackers. It never recovered.

 

I think Xbox Live has an almost insurmountable structural advantage over PS+. The infrastructure for Live is better because more money, effort and time has been put into it year after year for a decade while PS+ was continually left behind at each turn. They're years behind XBL, literally. It's so well realized by now, I don't see how Sony could ever truly catch up with them completely, it will be too expensive and involved to try.

If you're an online gamer, you know how ruinous lag can be be to your gaming experience. At this point, good network performance is as important as anything, it directly effects gameplay in such a profound way, even the best games can be completely ruined by lag. I think it's not the console itself that will make or break this generation but the networking infrastructure it runs on. Even if PS4 has slightly more horsepower under the hood, that advantage could easily be overwhelmed by the next generation online experience MS has positioned/equipped itself to provide for their next generation console with the huge number of additional servers.. XBL is king.

 

Shenmue definitely didn't start the open world concept. Fallout featured day and night cycles just as Shenmue did, and it came out in 1997. Plus it offered a whole lot more freedom than Shenmue (And wasn't the story linear?). I'd say it's questionable that Shenmue even brought open world gaming into 3D, based upon the research I've done. What about Body Harvest, for instance?

This isn't a post saying that Shenmue is either good or bad for this. I'm just not sure it deserves the credit people give to it. I think Half-Life is a great game, but it also didn't innovate in all, maybe any, of the ways people say it did.

 

I don't think that Sony's online infrastructure will be as good either. But there are advantages. Sony is giving away free games (and not games that were launch titles) and of course, it won't always have to be online. That last point is a trade I think most everybody is willing to make. Microsoft has made improvements, such as getting rid of Microsoft points, but Sony's policies and cheaper online plan still put it ahead. I think that most console games online are one's I'd rather play on the PC, anyway.

 

Hm... conflicting reports on the banned accounts issue

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/16/banned-xbox-one-accounts-will-retain-access-to-purchased-games/

 

All I'm saying is that Shenmue brought the values we see in modern open world games. Yes, the story was linear but it was up the player to decide how that story progressed. I was shocked when I realised that my first and my second walkthrough were so different, story wise. And above all, Shenmue played as a one, epic adventure. It was like we were following Ryo's life in Japan and China and every day had something new for the player. It didn't feel like you playing a simple story with a couple of side quests. Yu Suzuki's magnum opus, was the definition of immersion. Players give Shenmue credit not because it was perfect but because it is unique

 

Ah, well I wasn't picking on the execution. I was just saying that the ideas may not have been original.

Anyway, that's enough derailment. Let's get back to talking about how terrible the Xbox One is!

 

Thought this E3 video on the UI was awesome.

 

That is pretty cool actually... wonder if I can get Apprentice updates... haha doubt it. Unless there's a fantasy Apprentice app?! haha

But it does change the way people can watch TV though. A lot of people over here do play fantasy football (I played the World cup football one for fun at work) so this gels the experiences together very well.

 

Please. I recoginize everyone is entitled to their opinion, but yours is the most assinine, desperate lame attempts to be contrary and troll I have ever seen.

First Killzone 2. Are you freaking kidding me? You dont care for the cover system? and for that lame reason the ENTIRE game is fairly shit? Pathetic . You compared it to Rainbow Six Vegas' cover system. You press one button to take cover in R6 you press one button to take cover in KZ2. What is the problem here? It's just a personal problem. Lets mention the main difference between KZ2 and R6 V, the graphics. The KZ2 graphics engine looks a generation past what was seen in R6. The Particle effects, the texture detail, bump mapping , the shear amount of debri, achitecture leaves most FPS in the dust. Only BF3 matches or exceeds it with the frostbite engine. FPS game s are mostly tech demoes, but the tech in KZ2 and KZ3 is some impressive tech, you'd have to be an asshole not to admit that.

Besides that, what sold me on KZ2 was the atmosphere. They really pull you in to the action. The gritty, smoke and dust filled battlefield, the empassioned desperate yells from your comrades make you feel like you're in the hell of war. That and the musical score is so overpowering, it sets the tone for the game. Another good thing that made the game was the way they blended one level to the next. You dont just complete a mission, then go back to the briefing room , and go out again for your next mission. It all flows directly, never broken up by a loading screen unless there is an in game cutscene. Your mission profile gets updated via the radio or whatever catostophic event happens in front of you. It blends so well you can play through five missions and cant tear yourself away from the game. The Boss battle against General Radic was one of the most intense, challenging, best boss battles I've played in a Shooting game since Golden Eye or Half Life 2.


To say Shenmue sucked, that's definitely just some asshole opinion and the reasons you provided are so assinine and petty, it's definitely trolling. You dont like the puzzles? The fucking game wasnt made to be Jenga, or Tomb Raider. If you think screwing in a lightbulb was Sega's idea of a puzzle, you've got to be an idiot. It's just Them letting you interact with the environment.

The fighting engine is definitely Virtua Fighter influenced, to say it isnt proves you either never played the game, or you really don't have a clue. There are three buttons. The moves are combinations of directional inputs and different button combinations. The only diffence is your directional inputs change depending on which way youre facing, Back forward P+G becomes down up P+G . There are reversals, parries evades, evade attcks. If you just suck at the game you would never know that.

Do the Seventy Man Battle at the end of the game with a dreamcast Arcade Stick and tell me it's not VF related. You can actually throw escape when you use a stick. All the submission holds and slams The last guy does on you can be throw escaped. The evade/kick , evade/throw moves are way easier on a stick.

AS for the story, its a typical Kung Fu revenge story. Stop your bitching. ALL of the NPCs talk , unlike other games where NPCs only talk in text bubbles. Who cares it they arent Oscar worthy performances. Who cares if Ryo suddenly understands Chinese. Its a damn video game. If he can simply buy a pamphlet to automatically master Kung Fu moves, He can buy a pamphlet to automatically understand Chinese. There. If you dont like the game you just dont like action adventure games, or anime, or anything cool. You obviously have no taste, you would be better off playing Professor Layton, guitar Hero or a Badmitton Simulator. Anybody who mains Brad has no taste, he's the lamest character in video games, much less VF. Besides that anybody who played VF5 for 6 years with a pad doesnt have a clue.

Hopefully Shenmue 3 will resurface as a PS4 exclusive. Only time will tell. And Killzone ShadowFAll ROCKED E3. Did you see those perfect reflective surfaces on Planet Vekta or That insane Helicopter ride/battle?

 

I think he gave the game away with Body Harvest

 

I made a new thread to discuss this stuff:

http://virtuafighter.com/threads/general-gaming-discussion.18063/#post-363822

I hadn't played Body Harvest, but I'm more than happy to read why I'm wrong there!

 

Save us both the time and run a quick google image search on both games. Ironically, if you revere people like Carmack, you might actually enjoy Xbox gaming.

 

I know what both games look like.

But use the thread!

 

The early outlook on Killer Instinct is not good. Heard it from MikeZ designer of Skullgirls and huge KI fan, he has a KI1 cabinet in his living room and still plays it. And also play tester and consultant on KI3.

He said it on stream so it is recorded. It is not the KI3 he would have made. Plays more like SF4 than KI. Ultra cancel into Ultra is just for time wasting.

It will probably be a flash in the pan. People will play it and then give up on it.

Edit:
Found it.
http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/b/416685045 Skip to 2:27:00 for the KI 3 talk

 

I always hear this and I wonder in what ways Xbox Live is so superior. Granted I don't play online that often but every time I do it seems to work exactly as expected. So I am not sure what everyone is complaining about. This is also the free PSN service. I'm sure once they start charging for online play the service will only improve.

It's also well known that Xbox Live is full of abusive wankers who are best avoided. So, apart from cross-game chat, what is so great about Xbox Live compared to PSN?

 

For fighting games xbox live and psn have very little to do with the experience. They help with setting up the games and store the stats but that is all. The actual games are peer-to-peer. Game data does not go through MS or Sony servers.
Some people think that xbox live gives better connections. I think that is just due to higher user base giving the xbox user a higher chance of connecting to someone close.

PS. All fighting games should just liscense GGPO netcode.