[swashmebuckle]

I didn't watch the event, but the impression I get from recaps is that there wasn't anything particularly new revealed--it's just a more powerful version of the last consoles? I don't really see how they can hope to avoid being brushed aside by more generalist devices. Not that I think that it'll happen overnight or anything, but their niche is starting to look pretty narrow.

[Mikes]

I didn't watch the event, but the impression I get from recaps is that there wasn't anything particularly new revealed--it's just a more powerful version of the last consoles?

Not even that... if they are really more or less using PC parts.

The vibe I got from the whole thing is.... "we ll make a supersuperspecial uhm.... PC... and it will be supersuperspecial... because uhhh... we say so and..... uhhhm we'll put a sticker on it.. and uh ... maybe we can bribe some developers to give it some exclusive titles." :coughs: ....   "oh and maybe we ll  lock it down with a crippled proprietary OS to make it more :cough: appealing...."

[The E]

:words:

I think your bias is showing. Please wear your PC MASTER RACE tag at all times.

[Mikes]

:words:

I think your bias is showing. Please wear your PC MASTER RACE tag at all times.

Take a critical look at your last posts in this thread and tell me who is "more" biased.

I do own an X Box and an Android device and game on them as well.... but it would simply be untrue to pretend that consoles could ever win any kind of quality contest if the game in question is also available on PC.

The next generation will hardly change that any more than the last ones ever did ... unless Sony decides to introduce a ~2000$ console lol.

Pointing out that a 3000$ gaming PC will always be more powerful than a ~ 500$ console is not bias... that s a simple fact.
... and the business practices employed by console makers do not really benefit the consumer all that much is also a fact.

[Gloriano]

I can't wait to see what Naughty dog and SSM can do with PS4

Pointing out that a 3000$ gaming PC will always be more powerful than a ~ 500$ console is not bias... that s a simple fact.

Not everyone has money to buy a 3000$ and buying something like that for me sorry to say sounds quite idiotic but some people does have money to use as WC paper so yeah....

[Swifty]

I didn't watch the event, but the impression I get from recaps is that there wasn't anything particularly new revealed--it's just a more powerful version of the last consoles?

Not even that... if they are really more or less using PC parts.

The vibe I got from the whole thing is.... "we ll make a supersuperspecial uhm.... PC... and it will be supersuperspecial... because uhhh... we say so and..... uhhhm we'll put a sticker on it.. and uh ... maybe we can bribe some developers to give it some exclusive titles." :coughs: ....   "oh and maybe we ll  lock it down with a crippled proprietary OS to make it more :cough: appealing...."

You really didn't read anything I wrote.

[Mikes]

I can't wait to see what Naughty dog and SSM can do with PS4

Pointing out that a 3000$ gaming PC will always be more powerful than a ~ 500$ console is not bias... that s a simple fact.

Not everyone has money to buy a 3000$ and buying something like that for me sorry to say sounds quite idiotic but some people does have money to use as WC paper so yeah....

Which was my point: Consoles target the budget gamer while PCs with their different configurations target a much broader audience that includes anything from budget machines up to ultra powerful machines for enthusiasts that are willing to spend that money.

"Being cheap" does not count when you want to talk about which platform delivers the "best experience".

[Dark Hunter]

Well, here's one piece of good news:

Sony declares that the PS4 will not block used games.

[Fury]

:words:

I think your bias is showing. Please wear your PC MASTER RACE tag at all times.

Take a critical look at your last posts in this thread and tell me who is "more" biased.

I do own an X Box and an Android device and game on them as well.... but it would simply be untrue to pretend that consoles could ever win any kind of quality contest if the game in question is also available on PC.

The next generation will hardly change that any more than the last ones ever did ... unless Sony decides to introduce a ~2000$ console lol.

Pointing out that a 3000$ gaming PC will always be more powerful than a ~ 500$ console is not bias... that s a simple fact.
... and the business practices employed by console makers do not really benefit the consumer all that much is also a fact.

Well, frankly it doesn't matter in the least whether consoles stack up to PC's in pure performance and price. What matters is how many people have these consoles and how many have PC's with hardware capable of running these same games if publisher is willing to create a PC port. In the end it's money what matters and money is what both developers and publishers want. And they will make games to platforms that they can rake sufficient profits from. When compared to consoles, PC is not getting same kind of attention or treatment from developers and publishers as consoles do. That's why most games these days are PC ports, originally designed for consoles.

What it boils down to is whether we have the games we are interested in available to our platform of choice. Currently the market is going through another shakedown as mobile devices have reached a point where phones can offer enough performance to run games people are satisfied with. Phones are eating away market share from both consoles and PC's. Consoles have a tough opponent there, despite the huge difference in their respective hardware capabilities. Meanwhile PC sales are shrinking, with people being content with mobile devices like laptops and tablets for their needs. Desktop computers are a dying breed and that is a fact.

In the end, PC hardware matters very little in grand scheme of things. Profit, margins and market share are the key words here. At the moment and even more so in the very near future these things are held by mobile devices, second by consoles and last by PC's. Hell, PC's are already last and the difference is only growing. Two years from now, if there aren't enough new games for plain old PC, what would I do with my $2000 PC?

[Mikes]

Even a console port looks a helluva lot better in high resolution with AA/AF Fury.

Also... you appear to have completely forgotten about indie game development and crowd funded projects.

[Swifty]

PS4 hardware has got the Carmack seal of approval: https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/304607913853476864

[swashmebuckle]

I probably should clarify my previous post: I very much doubt that high-end PC gaming poses any threat the consoles business (not significantly more than at any time in the past at any rate). The thing that could really erode Playstation's market share is people playing games on their tvs powered by their phones or whatever, with a TV remote that is a game controller. That or cheap steambox-type things, which is the only option that really appeals to me at the moment. Neither of those things seems to have really arrived yet, but the industry is evolving, and Sony seems to be playing very conservatively.

[Fury]

Even a console port looks a helluva lot better in high resolution with AA/AF Fury.

I never questioned that. The question is, is that good enough reason for people to buy decent/good PC hardware? Seeing as how phones have become a noteworthy gaming platform and how well Wii sold, I'd say no.  We're not talking about few hundred thousands of PC enthusiasts, but market that has numbers in the millions.

Also... you appear to have completely forgotten about indie game development and crowd funded projects.

Again the issue is whether people are interested in such games. And that's assuming they know they even exist in the first place, they aren't strong in the marketing department you know. Sure, people who like to stay on top of these things or have friends who do know about them. But when we're talking about the general masses who form vast majority of the market, it's another story entirely.

[deathfun]

I DO! Because Uncharted is pretty damn cool, and a kind of game you don't see very often on PC. I don't know if PlanetSide 2, good as it may be, is an adequate substitute.

We DID get Dust 514 so PlanetSide 2 or something along those lines is a possibility you can't ignore

[Mikes]

Even a console port looks a helluva lot better in high resolution with AA/AF Fury.

I never questioned that. The question is, is that good enough reason for people to buy decent/good PC hardware? Seeing as how phones have become a noteworthy gaming platform and how well Wii sold, I'd say no.  We're not talking about few hundred thousands of PC enthusiasts, but market that has numbers in the millions.

Also... you appear to have completely forgotten about indie game development and crowd funded projects.

Again the issue is whether people are interested in such games. And that's assuming they know they even exist in the first place, they aren't strong in the marketing department you know. Sure, people who like to stay on top of these things or have friends who do know about them. But when we're talking about the general masses who form vast majority of the market, it's another story entirely.

Personally I am frigging glad that both crowd funding and indie development exists because yes....  those are the very business models that make niche products viable and profitable and it would be a huge loss to the gaming world if the only games made were those that cater to the mass market.

You also have to take into account that these business models are completely independent from retail distribution and that is exactly why they won t go away... the opposite... a product specifically tailored for a small target audience will always be viable even or rather especially when competing with a product made to appeal to the mass market.

Finally... with the PS4 using standard PC parts... - if anything - it will be much easier to port games to the PC and then, as always, they will look better and run smoother there.

Frankly... with very limited funds I would definitely see the appeal of a console... but with sufficient funds to buy a proper gaming PC I just don't see any reason whatsoever to play any given game on a  console and endure inferior graphics ... unless the game in question is exclusive to that console and I really really want to play that game over anything else on my ever growing list of games I still want to play in my limited freetime.

Granted... thanks to sufficient funds I also see no reason not to buy a console as well, in order to play the occasional exclusive game that I really do not want to pass up.
The fact that the only reason that those games are "exclusive" is purely sales/marketing driven however always annoys me.

[Spoon]

PC gamer built a comparison PC for £430 at current tech levels. When the consol actually comes out what are the chances of this coming in under £300?

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/21/pc-gamer-vs-playstation-4-theres-only-ever-going-to-be-one-winner-right/

have Sony got Antimatter or PlanetSide 2?

Uhm... Yes actually. Last time I checked they did have a Planetside 2!
https://www.planetside2.com/ it's... right there on the site (top left)
And the SOE logo is also featured on the launcher and... and...

[Beskargam]

Ima call bull on that. the market segment has expanded for video games immensely in the last 5 years and brought in many "casual" gamers, yes. But there have been some truly incredible games that catered to both "hard core" gamers and/or "casual". take skyrim for example, traditional rpg format. did very well, and brought in a lot of new gamers.  mass effect 2 and 3 became more mainstream after the first game in an effort to be less "hard core" rpg, and the series is so much better off for it. some of the best games of the decade have come out this console cycle. infamous was another excellent  god of war, killzone, MSG, rathcet and clank, resistance, demon/dark souls are all "traditional" games that have been spectacular. and then you have the likes of heavy rain, little big planet, uncharted which broke the traditional formula and in the case of the last two are iconic with the ps3.

In short, I am sorry that you don't like change, because we have seen some of the best years of video games to date yet, with the bar being set even higher for the coming years. I for one welcome the expansion of the market as it means there will be even more innovation and more people to play with.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, I think the whole "hardcore/casual" thing has almost always been bull****, and even more so over the past few years.  My whole thing with the PS3 is that there's never been any exclusive title that's made me perk up and say, "Man I need to play that."  I mean I know several of the PS3 exclusives are good stuff, but they don't fit into that system-buying category for me.  (The Last Guardian's about the only thing that might, but who knows what the hell will happen with that.)  The same was largely true for both the original XBox and the 360.  Nintendo's the only one of the three that has that sort of hold on me, because hell, you give me Mario and Zelda and Metroid, and I'm set.  I know many people give them grief for largely sticking to those same tried-and-true franchises, but sales value aside, I think there's an inherent benefit in having a few properties that are near-universally known and beloved, and that have spanned over so many years.  Sony doesn't really have anything that compares...I mean, when was the last Crash Bandicoot game people cared about?  Sega did with Sonic, but we all know how that turned out, and Halo has become that for MS, but I can't think of anything truly iconic to associate with the PlayStation brand anymore.

[Beskargam]

all the games i listed above apart from skyrim, mass effect 3,demon/dark souls are ps3 exclusive

but I agree lack of significant first party/ ps3 only exclusives hurt the ps3 the last generation

[achtung]

CONSOLES ARE ONLY FOR FILTHY CASUALS

GLORIOUS PC GAMING MASTER RACE PRO GAMURRRR