PS3: Rumour: PS4 to be announced on Feb 20. (teaser included)

[FunkyJ]

Considering Sony didn't show the console, I don't understand what the fuss is all about.

Wow, 3 hours of talking something up that maybe 40 people in the world have seen, and video of games which may be available on the console for launch... woo frickity hoo.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in the device... I just think this type of advertising / teasing is bullshit. The way bloggers and websites covered it to the way Sony announced absolutely nothing just shits me to tears.

[SemiproCharlie]

To me, seeing the controller was much more important than seeing the console. The controller is what's interact with 100% of the time I'm playing it, while the console itself is all but out of sight in my TV unit.

Even more than the controller (given how similar it is to the PS3 controller), I liked seeing the demos and hearing about some of the features. Again, what the actual box looks like is far less important to me than what it can do.

I'm not hugely in to social media, but the possibilities of the "share" button on the controller are... interesting. I do like the social side of gaming, and by the time this comes out I should be on the NBN to take advantage of these things (unless they go through an American server).

I had fun watching the event, though the quality of the connection was a little frustrating.

[Ancient_One]

The Network will be the clinch pin for this build. It could succeed or fail based on how well your network is. I'm wondering if a wait approach is in order.

[Bawheidbob]

I thought it was a bit meh but I live in a place where I do not have access to unlimited fibre optic broadband.

I am not too fussed about not seeing the box - They could of wheeled out any square piece of plastic hollow crap would it have made any difference to us if we are or are not going to buy it by how the box looks.

I would of liked to have seen one other must buy title MGS 5 or Last Guardian or something.

Least we did not have to wait until E3 and now we can expect a pretty good showing from Sony there because they are going to have to sell the console soon after.

[Schizo]

Note: I'm not trying to flame away, I'm not trying to bait anyone, and I'm not trying to play as a Microsoft/Sony/PC/Steambox/Whatever fanboy. These are just my observations from the announcement yesterday and thoughts in general on the current state of the console industry and where I see it going.

Color me unimpressed from what I've seen so far.

This generation of consoles isn't going to be much of a leap forward I'm afraid. Evolution more than revolution...and this is where the biggest problem is:

Average Joe consumer has very little reason to buy the PS4 from what has been shown so far. The hardcore gamers will buy consoles on launch day and for the first year or so, but typically hardware in the first few years is subsidized and the company (Sony) takes a loss on each console sold, hoping to recoup the costs later on with software sales. When sales to the hardcore peter out, Average Joe needs to step in and start buying, and right now, I just don't see the reason for a casual or non-gamer to pick up the console.

Are the visuals improved? Seems so, but I don't think a casual will be able to point out the differences between a PS3 and PS4 screenshot side by side. In fact, each successive generation of consoles seems to be making less and less of a leap forward in visual prowess. Current televisions are only maxing out at 1080p, so not much can be done on the resolution level, and while 4k televisions are now hitting the marketplace, the adoption rate is low...perhaps something for the next generation of consoles.

So the PS4 is touted as having all these social media aspects to it. It even has a 'share' button on the controller! So while this may endear itself to the facebook crowd, it doesn't seem like it would be a major selling point to the machine. Unless, of course, I'm completely underestimating the social media aspect (terribly likely since I'm about as anti-facebook as they come), there does not seem to be much value in purchasing a PS4 when one already has a PS3, or is faced with the option of purchasing a much cheaper PS3.

Of course, what it eventually all comes down to is the games. Will the PS4 have enough exclusives to make it a success? Seems like Sony does realize this is the driver and is attempting to bring on board the heavyweights of the industry, such as Bungie, Squeenix, and Blizzard. I'm still a bit skeptical since Diablo 3 wasn't the lofty game most were expecting it to be, Squeenix's best days are behind them, and Bungie is developing a new IP that may or may not be a success.

So what does this mean? It means I'm a Debbie Downer. I wasn't expecting anything crazy out of the PS4, and perhaps I'm letting that cloud what I've seen so far. I don't think the next Xbox is going to be much different. It means I'm a stuck up old bastard who thinks games were better 'back in the day' and 'get off my lawn'. So take it all with a grain of salt.

I will say though, the adoption rates are going to mean everything. I don't think you are going to see sales of the consoles reach as high as they did during this last generation of consoles (or even the one before that!), and I also think there is going to be a much, much shorter lifecycle on this generation. I think within just a few years, 4k televisions will be more widespread, the processing horsepower cost to run at 4k will be lower, and you'll see the next generation beyond this one sooner rather than later.

Problem is, Sony is in some dire financial straits right now, and their console division is helping to keep the company afloat. They need the PS4 to be a success. If it flops, it worries me as to whether there will be a PS5.




(the preceding rant and pseudo-intellectual analysis of the game industry and console lifecycle are made by a Schizophrenic who probably spends more time playing old consoles than current-gen machines and whose opinions are probably rubbish anyway)

[Bawheidbob]

So a couple of hours later and I have pre-ordered.

[SemiproCharlie]

My initial plan was to hold off buying it until either a cool bundle came out, or the price drops. I've since upgraded that to "or a cool exclusive game is released", and then once more to "Fine! I'll get one in the first week, but I'm not pre-ordering!".

Then, I realised it's been a while since I picked up something at a midnight release and played games all night. That used to be fun, so maybe...

[Ancient_One]

I'll sit on my fence and watch you all go in and throw down that hard earned money for your next gen console all the while thinking....

Scenario 1: I will play most of the same games as you for another 2 - 3 years before finally upgrading as my machine is no longer supported.

Scenario 2: I will play most of the same games as you for as long as my console draws breath.

Scenario 3: I will play most of the same games as you until a game I want is released on the new console.

Scenario 4: I will give up playing games on consoles and switch to PC.

[Cadder]

Originally Posted by Ancient_One

I'll sit on my fence and watch you all go in and throw down that hard earned money for your next gen console all the while thinking....

Scenario 1: I will play most of the same games as you for another 2 - 3 years before finally upgrading as my machine is no longer supported.

Scenario 2: I will play most of the same games as you for as long as my console draws breath.

Scenario 3: I will play most of the same games as you until a game I want is released on the new console.

Scenario 4: I will give up playing games on consoles and switch to PC.

/me circles option 3

[Father]

That's my personal opinion of course but PC gaming to me is still the most satisfying, I do have a PS3 and 360 but in all honesty they really don't see much use but I did enjoy some of the console exclusives like Uncharted, Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption (why this is not on PC is beyond me).

I'm sure I'm forgetting quite a few here but if there is a PC option I will always go with that, hence my hope that the fact that both xbox and playstation will be PC based systems will translate into less exclusives or at least less poor console ports.
Will I get a PS4, probably eventually, doubtful on launch though as most of the mainstream AAA titles are no longer appealing to me (getting too old for the suspension of disbelief to work), but let say that David Cage's Beyond would be PS4 exclusive then yes it would peak my desire to get one, I'm sure it won't be nor would it have the same audience as something like God of War which I would never play.
So probably a few years into it's life cycle I will, as I did with the current gen.

The main issue I have with console gaming today are the graphics and performance, yes it's a shallow argument but geez it's pretty bad though, when I play games on consoles, the horrible jaggies, the texture pop ins, frame drops.
I guess that's an inevitable comparison when being a PC gamer but when I play on a console I can't help but thinking how much better would this look if it was on PC, particularly on 360, PS3 when exclusive does manage to look better then 360 but I guess that's where the no directx lock down helps.