PL4YST4TION 4

[JonCole]

 

My TiVo is ridiculously laggy, how could the XBone improve on this? I've never quite understood how the TV thing works. Can it just send signals directly down my fibre to the provider as if it were the TiVo (which it uses purely for authentication) or is it really just interacting with the TiVo menus quietly under the hood?

 

The XBONE could have potentially improved on it simply by having more powerful hardware. As it is, the XBONE is just another layer that literally just puts its interface on top of your preexisting cable box. Naturally, that's not a great solution. Ideally, you could have it directly access a tuner that gets signals either over the air or via a cablecard just like a TiVo. This is kind of a pipedream, but I did use my Xbox 360 as a front-end for my PC, which got TV signals over the air and piped them onto my network. That's not possible on the One, despite the fact that TV is a greater focus than before.

 

I don't really know why your TiVo is laggy; there should be a half-second or so that you wait to switch channels, but other than that I think any lag is introduced by underpowered hardware or poorly designed software. 

[Thrik]

The main TiVo functions aren't laggy (rewinding, etc), but navigating through my recorded shows and through pages of TV listings feels much more sluggish than what I experienced with Sky (satellite-based). I'm not sure if it's my provider using underpowered TiVo hardware or cable inherently being slower than satellite due to the two-way communication.

[melmer]

[SilentBtAmazing]

So far xboning is pretty fun. Some social features are oddly lacking or else I am just not used to them though. Like is there really not a way to comment on those Friend videos that show up in your feed?

It's funny but before I got this system I shared the sentiment that reviewers have been too easy on the new consoles with the concept that "oh none of these games is that great, but the consoles have so much promise that it will be ok." Now I kind of see what they mean though, moving around in all the stuff I like to do is just way easier and smoother; I definitely will be happy to live in this ecosystem for a few years.

[melmer]

DISPATCHED

 

hope it doesn't turn up a day early when i'm at work :-/

[Zeusthecat]

Well this is certainly some interesting marketing: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/we-got-your-back

[TheLastBaron]

So I've been occasionally watching streams of people playing one the new consoles and so far the only game I've seen that looked noticeably different than last gen is that Roman game. Ryse? It looks so ridiculously nice, except for the actual game looks stupid.

[JonCole]

It's a Crytek game, so I'm not really surprised. Crysis 2 on a $600 PC visually blew the pants off any last-gen (360/PS3) game and probably all current-gen games, outside Ryse.

[clyde]

Stuff I'm hearing on podcasts about lobby-frustrations and genre-conventions being sustained, reminds me that the hardware's capability isn't the most exciting tech-tree to explore.

I look forward to seeing some games that use the hardware to express something new.

[youmeyou]

You don't need hardware to express something new. It's a mistake to think (as most console manufacturers and AAA game devs would like to argue) that increased graphical capacity will lead to more interesting subject matter.

[clyde]

You don't need hardware to express something new. It's a mistake to think (as most console manufacturers and AAA game devs would like to argue) that increased graphical capacity will lead to more interesting subject matter.

That being said, I'm having some significantly different experiences than I did on an Atari 2600.

[TheLastBaron]

I find people so much less believable now than 10-15 years ago when faces were flat. When I see something like this http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab178/HungryPlatypus/arx_human_king.jpg I can believe that I'm looking at a human. When I see super high fidelity faces they always look like a cartoon no matter how realistic they're trying to be. Stupid uncanny valley.

[Frenetic Pony]

Uncanny Valley, think we're getting over the valley now, but this still looks pretty weird:

 

[Gormongous]

Yeah, although it's not just faces that are uncanny on the new consoles: https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=be85ac2b6b04154f&id=BE85AC2B6B04154F%21118&ithint=video%2C.mp4&authkey=%21AA_3XqWxbFizR1I

[melmer]

Can't connect to PSN so it's pretty much useless, can't sync up my PSN account or download resogun. I'm stuck with killzone which I played for about 5 minutes then got shot during the bit where it teaches you how to duck and promptly turned it off. I've got ass flag as well but I don't really want to play anything until I'm on my PSN account.

Bah

Can't try out remote play either as it requires signing in

Did Xbox have any issues with live on launch day?

[TheLastBaron]

I believe so

[Justin Leego]

So I've been occasionally watching streams of people playing one the new consoles and so far the only game I've seen that looked noticeably different than last gen is that Roman game. Ryse? It looks so ridiculously nice, except for the actual game looks stupid.

The name looks stupyd: too.

[youmeyou]

Yeah, although it's not just faces that are uncanny on the new consoles: https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=be85ac2b6b04154f&id=BE85AC2B6B04154F%21118&ithint=video%2C.mp4&authkey=%21AA_3XqWxbFizR1I

 

I'm dying

[Twig]

oh my god me too

[Frenetic Pony]

oh my god me too

 

The best part is where he blinks and literally gets the "oh, wait... what?" expression on his face, as if he realized what just happened.

[Thrik]

I think it's clear that the increasingly lifelike nature of games is destined to unlock one thing: some seriously hilarious videos.

[Roderick]

I am somewhat baffled. Yesterday I met up with some friends who had preordered and purchased a PS4, and it was the same story you hear everywhere: there's very little to do with the console at this point, so it really is just a box of future promise that you're beta-testing - and paying handsomely for the privilege - and they know it. The only thing left is grinning and self-delusion: 'hey, at least we'll have it for when it becomes worthwhile...'

 

 

So, honestly, how big of a role did hype play in the purchasing decision of the early adopters? Literally every person I know who bought a PS4 (I don't know anyone who bought an XBone) is someone I would consider intelligent, rational and sophisticated. Yet buying a console on day one is from most angles a very poor thing to spend a lot of money on, as they're just not really worth it in terms of enjoyment, risky when it comes to UI and hardware issues that may arise, and expensive because they usually drop in price within a year or two - which is when they ironically reach their peak in all the other respects. What is going on here?

[Thrik]

I've never done it, but I can only assume that it relates to the desire to be part of 'the next big thing' or 'the moment'. A new wave of consoles coming out doesn't happen awfully often, and it's usually a very exciting time for gamers when it does due to the new possibilities that are unlocked. I guess that in a way it's similar to being one of the first people to own a new iPhone, book, game, or any other product the moment it's released by sitting in the rain all night when you could — like most rational people — just have it delivered or wait a few days, because what the fuck is a few days?

[Nappi]

My friend bought a PS4 on launch day because he wanted to play the new Assassin's Creed game during Christmas and his PS3 self-destructed about a month ago. Since there is no point in buying a new PS3 at this point (for him at least, since he already owns all the PS3 games he is interested in and is, apparently, not keen on replaying them), I would say his decision to buy the console on launch day made (some) sense.

 

What is more interesting is that due to some bizarre mix-up he actually ended up with a spare PS4 he was offering me at launch price. On the one hand, I had already accepted the fact that I would, most likely, buy one at some point next year, and knew that the price of the console was not going to drop anytime soon. PS4 would also be a better media center alternative to my current configuration of PC for Blu-rays and SmartTV for Netflix (for more HD titles and 5.1). On the other hand, none of the launch titles interest me at all (except for AC which I already have on PC), so the console would be gathering dust (games-wise, at least) well into spring. I ended up saying 'no, thanks'.

[Thrik]

Speaking of which, I've heard in a few places the PS4 doesn't actually have even the PS3's capabilities when it comes to handling music, videos, and pictures. I saw a message from Sony saying they're looking into implementing all that, but I'm sure I read somewhere it doesn't even support MP3s right now...? I'm finding it hard to get clear information about these features exactly — can anyone who has one share?

 

As it is my tentative plan is to get a PS4 next spring/summer when the first part of Metal Gear Solid 5 comes out, but I certainly won't be giving up my PS3 until that's all in place because my whole music and video collections live on it. If anything, I was hoping for that stuff to all be significantly enhanced (album and artist organisation, use of cover art, etc).