Xbox 1 or PS4?

[thesweetscience]

We got the XBox for my son for Christmas and we are really disappointed. The signing in/logging in process every damn time is annoying and when he went to play with a friend online we discovered that you have to pay extra monthly for the "Gold" package and are now having to pay a monthly fee to use it (as well as use Netflix and such on it). He is actually ready to take it down to the local GameStop and trade it and all his games for either a PS3 or a PS4...

 

I think the best comment I found online related to the "Gold" membership was an analogy: It's like paying for a hotel room and getting into the room only to discover you need to pay extra to sleep in the bed.

 

You have to pay for the PS4/PS3 online as well. Just not to use Netflix.

I have 2 PS3s and have never paid for online access

 

I stand corrected (I didn't use the PS3 as a game system so I never wanted to go online). You do need to pay to play online for the PS4.

It's a yearly thing - right? I haven't looked into it.

So Xbox Gold is a yearly fee + monthly? Is that right?

f**k that. Both companies can blow me.

[Lost In Xanadu]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

[thesweetscience]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

I had read that the PS3 was a decent media box and i thought I had readt that this new generation of consoles were supposed to be one device media centers to replace all your other devices. It seems both companies failed miserably. So I will sell the unit I get as new and just buy a nice blu-ray player and pocket the rest.

[Lost In Xanadu]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

I had read that the PS3 was a decent media box and i thought I had readt that this new generation of consoles were supposed to be one device media centers to replace all your other devices. It seems both companies failed miserably. So I will sell the unit I get as new and just buy a nice blu-ray player and pocket the rest.

Get a PS3!

 

You get the bluray and all the extras.

[thesweetscience]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

I had read that the PS3 was a decent media box and i thought I had readt that this new generation of consoles were supposed to be one device media centers to replace all your other devices. It seems both companies failed miserably. So I will sell the unit I get as new and just buy a nice blu-ray player and pocket the rest.

Get a PS3!

 

You get the bluray and all the extras.

Its not part of the offer. I am not going to sell an xbox 1 and then go buy a PS3 when I could spend half that and buy a network ready blu-ray player.

[LedRush]

We got the XBox for my son for Christmas and we are really disappointed. The signing in/logging in process every damn time is annoying and when he went to play with a friend online we discovered that you have to pay extra monthly for the "Gold" package and are now having to pay a monthly fee to use it (as well as use Netflix and such on it). He is actually ready to take it down to the local GameStop and trade it and all his games for either a PS3 or a PS4...

 

I think the best comment I found online related to the "Gold" membership was an analogy: It's like paying for a hotel room and getting into the room only to discover you need to pay extra to sleep in the bed.

 

You have to pay for the PS4/PS3 online as well. Just not to use Netflix.

I have 2 PS3s and have never paid for online access

 

I stand corrected (I didn't use the PS3 as a game system so I never wanted to go online). You do need to pay to play online for the PS4.

It's a yearly thing - right? I haven't looked into it.

So Xbox Gold is a yearly fee + monthly? Is that right?

 

Either PS Plus or Xbox Gold (the respective online services) can be purchased in either 1 month, 3 month or 1 year increments. The yearly subscription for Gold is $60 and the yearly subscription for PS Plus is $50. There are no other fees for either. PS Plus gives you more free games (you keep them as long as you subscribe) than Gold does, but Gold is seen as being far more effective and stable for online multiplayer than PS Plus.

[LedRush]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

I had read that the PS3 was a decent media box and i thought I had readt that this new generation of consoles were supposed to be one device media centers to replace all your other devices. It seems both companies failed miserably. So I will sell the unit I get as new and just buy a nice blu-ray player and pocket the rest.

 

Xbox 1 is trying to be the all-in-one media device with it's cable integration, DVR services, TV services and all that. However, after the beating that Sony took on the PS3 (which tried to be the media center and lost a f**k-ton of business based on a $600 price tag), Sony decided to be a more game oriented console than the PS3 was.

[LedRush]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

 

Nintendo does have its advantages. Better prices and better exclusives and free online are among them.

[Lost In Xanadu]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

 

Nintendo does have its advantages. Better prices and better exclusives and free online are among them.

Yup - we got the Wii U for the kids this past Christmas

[LedRush]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

 

Nintendo does have its advantages. Better prices and better exclusives and free online are among them.

Yup - we got the Wii U for the kids this past Christmas

 

And complete backwards compatibility with games and accessories. The new games even use the same controllers as the old ones.

[RushBoingo]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

 

Nintendo does have its advantages. Better prices and better exclusives and free online are among them.

Yup - we got the Wii U for the kids this past Christmas

 

And complete backwards compatibility with games and accessories. The new games even use the same controllers as the old ones.

Yup, Nintendo may have bad marketing and third party support, but at least they have a good idea of what people want out of a gaming system. I watch tons of videos relating to console news, and everything PS4 and XBONE related has to do with problems with the console, competition between the two systems, and in general negativity, not promoting me to get either, meanwhile the only bad press nintendo gets is that they are not selling enough Wii U's. No problems with the console, no but-hurt fans over the Console Wars, nothing. Best console choice in my opinion, but of course the world is not on my side, because for some reason a high-res machine is way more important than the games. Lets see Nintendo has numerous franchises that are critically aclaimed, so does PS4, but there is a constant flood of photo-copy FPS on the 'Wars' systems.

[Steevo]

That is the main reason we are not doing the PS4

 

Nintendo does have its advantages. Better prices and better exclusives and free online are among them.

Yup - we got the Wii U for the kids this past Christmas

 

And complete backwards compatibility with games and accessories. The new games even use the same controllers as the old ones.

 

That is a big plus but I'm just gonna stick to the PS3 for the time being, it serves me well.

[furie]

So, I bought a xbox one two weeks ago. I have to say that it is not a giant leaap forward from the 360. I'm not overly impressed.

And there are no god damn games for it!

[LedRush]

So, I bought a xbox one two weeks ago. I have to say that it is not a giant leaap forward from the 360. I'm not overly impressed.

And there are no god damn games for it!

 

That is common for early releases. The biggest changes you should expect to see are in AI, not graphics. But the graphics are a ton better...it's just that improvements between generations will never be as pronounced as in the N64/PS1 to GC/PS2 or the XBox/PS2 to 360/PS3 because the starting point now is so much better.

 

Make sure to buy Gold and get the free games every 2 weeks.

[USB Connector]

I've found that the transition has been incredibly slow this generation. Usually within the first year there will be a few games exclusive to the generation worth playing but all developers seem to be playing it safe by supporting the older consoles as well. There also seems to be a fairly low adoption rate of the new consoles outside of North America.

[Cygnus 2112]

But you asked for a media device. Well, neither console plays 3D yet, but the PS4 is significantly more crippled than the PS3 at this point. It has sound issues, media issues, and just doesn't perform. That's not a dealbreaker as many of the lacking features weren't originally on the PS3, but it's still surprising to me. The big advantages that the Xbox One has over the PS4 for media is you can plug a cable box into the Xbox1 and control TV from that. It integrates pretty well, voice commands work amazing, and it's easy. Despite all this, I still think the PS4 edges out the X1...for now. The PS4 doesn't require online payments to use certain apps (Netflix is the big one) and because of the pedigree, I think the PS4 will get all the upgrades to make it as good as the PS3 was for media.

 

Still, your best option now is a PS3.

How does the Cable through an XBOX thing work? This could make it easier for me to have all my systems connected to my televisions at once.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Cygnus 2112

[LedRush]

But you asked for a media device. Well, neither console plays 3D yet, but the PS4 is significantly more crippled than the PS3 at this point. It has sound issues, media issues, and just doesn't perform. That's not a dealbreaker as many of the lacking features weren't originally on the PS3, but it's still surprising to me. The big advantages that the Xbox One has over the PS4 for media is you can plug a cable box into the Xbox1 and control TV from that. It integrates pretty well, voice commands work amazing, and it's easy. Despite all this, I still think the PS4 edges out the X1...for now. The PS4 doesn't require online payments to use certain apps (Netflix is the big one) and because of the pedigree, I think the PS4 will get all the upgrades to make it as good as the PS3 was for media.

 

Still, your best option now is a PS3.

How does the Cable through an XBOX thing work? This could make it easier for me to have all my systems connected to my televisions at once.

 

I honestly don't know as I never bothered to try it. I'm told voice commands work 90% of the time, but that's not good enough to replace a remove, for me. My brother bought one today and will set it up this week, and I'll let you know what he thinks.

[Steel Rat]

I wouldn't want either. I'd just take the several hundred dollars I'd save and feed it into a monstrous PC. Everyone owns a computer, a gaming console is just superfluous when you could pool that combined dough into a single system. What's the point of it, really? You're essentially paying for two sub-par graphics cards, two hard-drives, two internet service providers, two of everything when you only need one to experience everything. There is no benefit.

[LedRush]

I wouldn't want either. I'd just take the several hundred dollars I'd save and feed it into a monstrous PC. Everyone owns a computer, a gaming console is just superfluous when you could pool that combined dough into a single system. What's the point of it, really? You're essentially paying for two sub-par graphics cards, two hard-drives, two internet service providers, two of everything when you only need one to experience everything. There is no benefit.

 

It you play legally, the point is that it's cheaper for many people and gives you access to a lot of exclusives and guarantees that you'll be able to play the game at a standard level without constantly upgrading a desktop that has very little other use in a world where laptops abound.

[USB Connector]

If you play legally and wait until a bit after launch to buy games you'll usually find them 50% to 75% off within the first year. If you invest $800-$1000 in a tower built a year or two after the generation of consoles came out you should be able to play most, if not all games on at least medium settings throughout the entire generation. This sounds expensive, but consider that it's the current base systems of consoles are $300-$400 and you need $400 for a home PC anyway. Exclusives this generation are sparse. Metal Gear Solid is now multiplatform, Halo is rumored to be going to PC again so that doesn't leave a whole lot.

 

I agree that what your points are valid, just not with this generation of consoles. I used to buy them because they encouraged couch multiplayer. Most games are now balanced for online experiences with splitscreen shoved in as an afterthought. It doesn't help that online is behind $50/month paywalls for both systems now while PC is and always has been free. Heck with a lot of PC games you can also play using mods in an online setting to really tailor the experience to your tastes and communities will often form around them.

 

Right now the current systems are trying to be closed system PCs. Everything they try to do for multimedia can be done better with less money which kills the appeal.

Edited September 17, 2014 by USB Connector

[LedRush]

If you play legally and wait until a bit after launch to buy games you'll usually find them 50% to 75% off within the first year. If you invest $800-$1000 in a tower built a year or two after the generation of consoles came out you should be able to play most, if not all games on at least medium settings throughout the entire generation. This sounds expensive, but consider that it's the current base systems of consoles are $300-$400 and you need $400 for a home PC anyway. Exclusives this generation are sparse. Metal Gear Solid is now multiplatform, Halo is rumored to be going to PC again so that doesn't leave a whole lot.

 

I agree that what your points are valid, just not with this generation of consoles. I used to buy them because they encouraged couch multiplayer. Most games are now balanced for online experiences with splitscreen shoved in as an afterthought. It doesn't help that online is behind $50/month paywalls for both systems now while PC is and always has been free. Heck with a lot of PC games you can also play using mods in an online setting to really tailor the experience to your tastes and communities will often form around them.

 

Right now the current systems are trying to be closed system PCs. Everything they try to do for multimedia can be done better with less money which kills the appeal.

 

This is the second time people talked about needing a home PC anyway. I don't know anyone with a desktop computer at home anymore. Well, my 70-year old parents have one from 8 years ago, but you get the point. And even if I did have one, it wouldn't be set up anywhere near my largest TV. Playing on anything smaller than 50 inches seems crazy to me, and playing on a monitor is beyond comprehension. And don't even talk to me about playing on a laptop.

[USB Connector]

If you play legally and wait until a bit after launch to buy games you'll usually find them 50% to 75% off within the first year. If you invest $800-$1000 in a tower built a year or two after the generation of consoles came out you should be able to play most, if not all games on at least medium settings throughout the entire generation. This sounds expensive, but consider that it's the current base systems of consoles are $300-$400 and you need $400 for a home PC anyway. Exclusives this generation are sparse. Metal Gear Solid is now multiplatform, Halo is rumored to be going to PC again so that doesn't leave a whole lot.

 

I agree that what your points are valid, just not with this generation of consoles. I used to buy them because they encouraged couch multiplayer. Most games are now balanced for online experiences with splitscreen shoved in as an afterthought. It doesn't help that online is behind $50/month paywalls for both systems now while PC is and always has been free. Heck with a lot of PC games you can also play using mods in an online setting to really tailor the experience to your tastes and communities will often form around them.

 

Right now the current systems are trying to be closed system PCs. Everything they try to do for multimedia can be done better with less money which kills the appeal.

 

This is the second time people talked about needing a home PC anyway. I don't know anyone with a desktop computer at home anymore. Well, my 70-year old parents have one from 8 years ago, but you get the point. And even if I did have one, it wouldn't be set up anywhere near my largest TV. Playing on anything smaller than 50 inches seems crazy to me, and playing on a monitor is beyond comprehension. And don't even talk to me about playing on a laptop.

 

I'm sorry that simply because your entourage doesn't use towers you think they've become useless. Why should I shell out more money for less horsepower when I'll only need to move around every once and a while with my computer? I can do without it.

 

Furthermore, not everyone needs a 50 inch TV to play games. When I hang out with my friends we use his 30 inch monitor (coincidentally, it's a TV) to play Street Fighter and it's just fine. I don't need Ryu to be 3 feet tall to enjoy it. Same goes for split screen games. If you have a decent refresh rate (above 20 FPS like consoles, ideally above 30 FPS), the display supports 1080p and the game is running at 1080p then you should be fine as long as you're less than 10 feet away.

 

It comes down to needs vs offerings. Most people I know have absolutely no need for a laptop because they're not completely wired to their devices or they can substitute their phone to do the task the few times a computer would be needed. If you need a laptop for whatever reason then that one point in my post does not apply to you. If you buy the equivalent of a game every two or three months for the entire generation, you'll still save that $400 later on and you still get all of the flexibility that PC gaming offers.

 

My cousins for example are still students and need a laptop to take notes. They also only care for Call of Duty/ Battlefield/ Titanfall/ latest shooter so consoles make sense for them.

Edited September 17, 2014 by USB Connector

[LedRush]

If you play legally and wait until a bit after launch to buy games you'll usually find them 50% to 75% off within the first year. If you invest $800-$1000 in a tower built a year or two after the generation of consoles came out you should be able to play most, if not all games on at least medium settings throughout the entire generation. This sounds expensive, but consider that it's the current base systems of consoles are $300-$400 and you need $400 for a home PC anyway. Exclusives this generation are sparse. Metal Gear Solid is now multiplatform, Halo is rumored to be going to PC again so that doesn't leave a whole lot.

 

I agree that what your points are valid, just not with this generation of consoles. I used to buy them because they encouraged couch multiplayer. Most games are now balanced for online experiences with splitscreen shoved in as an afterthought. It doesn't help that online is behind $50/month paywalls for both systems now while PC is and always has been free. Heck with a lot of PC games you can also play using mods in an online setting to really tailor the experience to your tastes and communities will often form around them.

 

Right now the current systems are trying to be closed system PCs. Everything they try to do for multimedia can be done better with less money which kills the appeal.

 

This is the second time people talked about needing a home PC anyway. I don't know anyone with a desktop computer at home anymore. Well, my 70-year old parents have one from 8 years ago, but you get the point. And even if I did have one, it wouldn't be set up anywhere near my largest TV. Playing on anything smaller than 50 inches seems crazy to me, and playing on a monitor is beyond comprehension. And don't even talk to me about playing on a laptop.

 

I'm sorry that simply because your entourage doesn't use towers you think they've become useless. Why should I shell out more money for less horsepower when I'll only need to move around every once and a while with my computer? I can do without it.

 

Furthermore, not everyone needs a 50 inch TV to play games. When I hang out with my friends we use his 30 inch monitor (coincidentally, it's a TV) to play Street Fighter and it's just fine. I don't need Ryu to be 3 feet tall to enjoy it. Same goes for split screen games. If you have a decent refresh rate (above 20 FPS like consoles, ideally above 30 FPS), the display supports 1080p and the game is running at 1080p then you should be fine as long as you're less than 10 feet away.

 

It comes down to needs vs offerings. Most people I know have absolutely no need for a laptop because they're not completely wired to their devices or they can substitute their phone to do the task the few times a computer would be needed. If you need a laptop for whatever reason then that one point in my post does not apply to you. If you buy the equivalent of a game every two or three months for the entire generation, you'll still save that $400 later on and you still get all of the flexibility that PC gaming offers.

 

My cousins for example are still students and need a laptop to take notes. They also only care for Call of Duty/ Battlefield/ Titanfall/ latest shooter so consoles make sense for them.

 

I'm not saying why you shouldn't be a PC gamer. I'm just responding to the argument that everyone owns one of these things, when it's obviously not true. Plus a bunch of people own Macs, and I think we all agree that that should never be used for gaming.

 

I don't get your math on how I'm saving money buying a PC that I don't need and tricking it out as opposed to getting a console. And I'll leave out the argument on what a pain in the ass it is to game on a PC when you want to do it on a large TV with surround sound.

[USB Connector]

I don't get your math on how I'm saving money buying a PC that I don't need and tricking it out as opposed to getting a console.

 

It takes 2-3 years for a AAA title to drop below $40. $50 now because ever since the value of the dollar dropped they jacked up the price of a new game from $59.99 to $69.99. Meanwhile on steam, games that are a year old will typically drop to at least 50% off during the next major sale. I got Bioshock Infinite for $12 10 months after launch (so say $15 canadian). Assassin's Creed IV was $10 recently.

 

And I'll leave out the argument on what a pain in the ass it is to game on a PC when you want to do it on a large TV with surround sound.

 

It's not? I hook up my PC to a receiver via HDMI which then goes to the TV by using the same cable as my xbox. Usually it's hooked up to the TV directly because PC/game console -> receiver -> TV is horrible for input lag and I like playing fighting games. It's fine for everything else because the input doesn't need to be that accurate (and rock band can compensate for it).

[LedRush]

I don't get your math on how I'm saving money buying a PC that I don't need and tricking it out as opposed to getting a console.

 

It takes 2-3 years for a AAA title to drop below $40. $50 now because ever since the value of the dollar dropped they jacked up the price of a new game from $59.99 to $69.99. Meanwhile on steam, games that are a year old will typically drop to at least 50% off during the next major sale. I got Bioshock Infinite for $12 10 months after launch (so say $15 canadian). Assassin's Creed IV was $10 recently.

 

And I'll leave out the argument on what a pain in the ass it is to game on a PC when you want to do it on a large TV with surround sound.

 

It's not? I hook up my PC to a receiver via HDMI which then goes to the TV by using the same cable as my xbox. Usually it's hooked up to the TV directly because PC/game console -> receiver -> TV is horrible for input lag and I like playing fighting games. It's fine for everything else because the input doesn't need to be that accurate (and rock band can compensate for it).

 

AAA games are routinely $40 or less within months of their release. Titanfall has gotten below that level several times already, and has been offered free with a purchase of an Xbox. It is currently $34 on Amazon without a sale that I can see. Virtually every game can be purchased for $50 on the date of release as you can get $10 gift cards for preording. ACIV is on Amazon for $18 now and has been $10 on xbox live, amazon, and PSN several times.