Post by trashcanman on Feb 22, 2013 3:38:20 GMT 2
So, Sony's big "reveal" was yesterday. Rather than link you to the laborious two hour press conference, I'm gonna go ahead and drop this article on you to fill in the basics.
www.toplessrobot.com/2013/02/sonys_big_playstation_4_announcement_top_five_best.php
Now for my own commentary, let me point out that Sony have been horrific snakeoil salesmen this console gen, promising things that they never delivered, passing off cutcenes as actual gameplay, and generally stealing ideas from Microsoft and Nintendo every step of the way rather than innovating themselves. While the Playstation name still carries a ton of weight, that name, free online access, and the built-in blu-ray player seemed to be the only things that kept the PS3's head above water for most of the last gaming decade. So here's the thing: the presentation offered a bunch of specs and promises, but they did not even have a physical console to show. I mean, they could have completely fabricated every last bit of that. Until you have an actual console to plug in and show people, it's nothing but hot air and a hypothetical CG presentation. So why even bother at this point? I'm not super-excited about the concpeet of my friends list begging me to watch them play this game or that game all the time. I play games to play them, not to watch other people play them or have them watch me.
Nintendo has already hit us with their new console full of last-gen games and a giant controller to be greeted with a planet-sized yawn and Sony is back to peddling hypotheticals without actually showing the product you will be getting other than the controller. Microsoft has yet to make any meaningful announcements other than proposing an end to used games so they remain a big question mark, and it's probably best that they do that until they are ready to show us the real deal. All of the games that have been shown so far don't exactly look miles beyond what we are already playing. Why should I care?
With the big three failing to impress the next gen of consoles on me what I'm really looking at is Valve's rumored "Steam Box" which has yet to be shown, but going on what's been rumored it really seems like that may be the way to go.
www.theverge.com/2013/2/6/3958162/valve-steam-box-cake
So everyone knows that PC's are superior than consoles in a number of ways (mods, connectivity, graphics, etc). But they are also a pain in the ass unless you are tech savvy and have a hefty disposable income. All of the constant upgrades, smaller monitors, viruses, installations, etc. I like consoles. I like putting in a disc or downloading a game and then picking up my controller and playing on my television. The Steam Box will presumably take the best things about PC gaming and combine it with the convenience of consoles. Valve is a beloved company in the gaming community and is responsible for some of the best games ever made on top of the innovative Steam service allowing PC gamers to download games old and new. In other words: they know and understand gaming in a way that companies like Microsoft and Sony never will. Given the information (or lack thereof) that we've been given so far, I am feeling like Valve may have the wave of the future in this coming gaming generation and unless Microsoft blows my mind, I'm more likely to buy a PS3 after I'm done with my 360 than any of the big three's next-gen offerings. I KNOW that anything connected to Steam will have tons of games to offer -what with Sony and Microsoft failing at doing backwards-compatibilty right- while I'm still looking for an excuse to care about the heavy hitters. What say you? Have you thrown in with any off these systems, and if so why?
www.toplessrobot.com/2013/02/sonys_big_playstation_4_announcement_top_five_best.php
Now for my own commentary, let me point out that Sony have been horrific snakeoil salesmen this console gen, promising things that they never delivered, passing off cutcenes as actual gameplay, and generally stealing ideas from Microsoft and Nintendo every step of the way rather than innovating themselves. While the Playstation name still carries a ton of weight, that name, free online access, and the built-in blu-ray player seemed to be the only things that kept the PS3's head above water for most of the last gaming decade. So here's the thing: the presentation offered a bunch of specs and promises, but they did not even have a physical console to show. I mean, they could have completely fabricated every last bit of that. Until you have an actual console to plug in and show people, it's nothing but hot air and a hypothetical CG presentation. So why even bother at this point? I'm not super-excited about the concpeet of my friends list begging me to watch them play this game or that game all the time. I play games to play them, not to watch other people play them or have them watch me.
Nintendo has already hit us with their new console full of last-gen games and a giant controller to be greeted with a planet-sized yawn and Sony is back to peddling hypotheticals without actually showing the product you will be getting other than the controller. Microsoft has yet to make any meaningful announcements other than proposing an end to used games so they remain a big question mark, and it's probably best that they do that until they are ready to show us the real deal. All of the games that have been shown so far don't exactly look miles beyond what we are already playing. Why should I care?
With the big three failing to impress the next gen of consoles on me what I'm really looking at is Valve's rumored "Steam Box" which has yet to be shown, but going on what's been rumored it really seems like that may be the way to go.
www.theverge.com/2013/2/6/3958162/valve-steam-box-cake
So everyone knows that PC's are superior than consoles in a number of ways (mods, connectivity, graphics, etc). But they are also a pain in the ass unless you are tech savvy and have a hefty disposable income. All of the constant upgrades, smaller monitors, viruses, installations, etc. I like consoles. I like putting in a disc or downloading a game and then picking up my controller and playing on my television. The Steam Box will presumably take the best things about PC gaming and combine it with the convenience of consoles. Valve is a beloved company in the gaming community and is responsible for some of the best games ever made on top of the innovative Steam service allowing PC gamers to download games old and new. In other words: they know and understand gaming in a way that companies like Microsoft and Sony never will. Given the information (or lack thereof) that we've been given so far, I am feeling like Valve may have the wave of the future in this coming gaming generation and unless Microsoft blows my mind, I'm more likely to buy a PS3 after I'm done with my 360 than any of the big three's next-gen offerings. I KNOW that anything connected to Steam will have tons of games to offer -what with Sony and Microsoft failing at doing backwards-compatibilty right- while I'm still looking for an excuse to care about the heavy hitters. What say you? Have you thrown in with any off these systems, and if so why?
