8 ms·
If their recent rework of the Playstation Store is any indication, the PS4 is doomed. They are just Microsoft II - on the surface it ticks all the boxes, but th
by huhtenberg 14y ago
If their recent rework of the Playstation Store is any indication, the PS4 is doomed. They are just Microsoft II - on the surface it ticks all the boxes, but the resulting experience sucks balls. As if it were designed, implemented, but never actually used before the release.
When PS3 came out, it was excellent. It was an adult-oriented standalone console that worked well as a media center and it was also really well designed. It was true to the spirit of old Sony electronics - a self-sufficient device with a polished interface that matched its function. Sure it had a hook up to the Internet and PSN, but it was secondary. But then they started "improving" things. First, you got promo ads in the corner of the home screen. Never asked for a permission, no way to turn them off, even by disabling the network connection. So my device was little bit less mine. Then they started pushing "selected apps"- Netflix-Shmetflix and what not. Again, without asking, just because it was good for me, and, again, the device became even less mine. At the same time they increased the font size and replaced that beautiful Navier-Stokes visualization of a loading indicator with some generic spinner clock thingy. Sprinkled some other crap over the UI.
Just now imagine your old Sony cassette deck deciding to show you ads for new Justin Bieber album and offering to share shit on Facebook. That's PS3 now. So it's hardly surprising that I have no hope and zero expectations that PS4 will be anything else but a disappointment.
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoIt doesn't matter if they are Microsoft II since Microsoft is their only competition in this space.
- rictic 14y agoThis is a very short-sighted analysis. There are other players and forces involved in gaming than just the big three of last generation. In fact, if I had to bet, I would bet against any of them being the largest force in consumer gaming in four years.
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoI only know what I know, and I don't know (or have heard any real rumors, for that matter) of anyone else entering the AAA-title console market. Of course secrets exist.
- phaus 14y agoI guess Valve isn't a AAA publisher.
- chii 14y agothe last aaa game they published was portal 2. quite a while ago.
- Steko 14y agoThe problem is the "AAA-title console market" is a subset of the "home video game market" which is of course being invaded from both ends.
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoIt's not really a problem, though. People have mistaken what is a growing market for one that is being invaded. It's just growing. Some people want casual games, which is fine, but Call of Duty games continue to break sales records, studios get bigger budgets (See Bungie's upcoming games), and those games won't play on an Ouya or an Apple TV.
- Steko 14y agoApple's presumed console competitor hasn't even been released so it's premature to say what games won't play on it. They already pay game developers more than Microsoft and Sony combined. My argument is not that people don't want to play CoD. My argument is that even Activision wants Apple and come in and kill the current console paradigm. They don't want to keep making 30% of $60 games that sell 10 million copies when they could be making 70% of a $10 game that moves 50 million copies.
- cyanbane 14y agoI agree with this sentiment. The biggest gaming platform in 2018 is one that hasn't even been started on yet.
- SandB0x 14y agoUntil the Steam Box is out.
- klodolph 14y agoThe Steam box is competition whether or not it's out, since it's on the horizon and people will potentially not buy a PS4 so they can wait and see what the Steam box is like.
- untog 14y agoWho are these people, if not PC gamers? Steam is fantastic, but it's a name that is totally unknown to almost all console gamers. Just the presence of a Steam Box isn't going to magically convert people, they have a huge uphill struggle ahead of them. Most of their market, IMO, is PC gamers.
- mcantelon 14y agoSteam has a large, loyal following and, because of this, people like myself (console gamer) and my girlfriend (not a gamer) know about it through online media. I currently play PS3 games because there is no PC gaming solution I can plop down in my living room and have it just work. But once the Steam Box comes out that will change. Not only will I have a living room compatible ready-to-wear PC gaming solution, but gaming will also be cheaper because Steam has tons of deals. Steam is also reputedly a lot more developer friendly than Sony and Microsoft so I really don't see how Sony and Microsoft are going to be able to compete in the long term.
- LinXitoW 14y agoBy your logic, I, as purely a PC gamer, shouldn't know anything about the PS3 or the XBOX360 even existing, yet i definitely know of them.
- vecter 14y agoI don't know why you're saying that, disruption is right around the corner: http://greenthrottle.com/ http://greenthrottle.com/ - Play mobile games on your TV http://www.bluestacks.com/ http://www.bluestacks.com/ - Play mobile games on your PC http://www.ouya.tv/ http://www.ouya.tv/ - Android gaming console http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/6/3958162/valve-steam-box-cake http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/6/3958162/valve-steam-box-cak... - Play games sold on Steam directly on your TV
- jdsemrau 14y agoWake me up when Madden and Fifa run on these.
- untog 14y agoAnd Call of Duty. And Modern Warfare. And, and and..
- 404error 14y agoI'm with you on this one. I own a PS3 and for the past 3 years I've only purchased 3 games. FIFA 11, 12, and 13. I will probably buy a PS4 just for FIFA XX
- ekianjo 14y agoYou know you can buy the exact same games on PC cheaper, and play with a pad on it with much better resolution and Framerate? Purchasing a console to play only non-exclusive titles... I have never understood that.
- wlesieutre 14y agoWith console cycles getting longer and longer, the PS4 needs to be competitive for a decade. Even if Ouya and their ilk don't take off in the near future, tablets and phones will keep chipping away at console gaming. Microsoft may be the competition right now, but they can't count on it staying that way. When the PSP and PS3 came out, the iPhone didn't exist yet, but things change.
- Volpe 14y agoThe PS Vita is the answer in the mobile space, and it's release cycle will likely be shorter than the PlayStation Consoles.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- nicholas73 14y agoThis is my fear as well. The user experience of the PS3 could have been so much better if they hadn't let the bean counters tamper with it. For example the home screen selection starts at the Sony store - each time I turn on the PS3 and have to navigate several slots away just to play my game pissed me off and turns me off from buying another Sony product.
- mariusmg 14y agoIronically the experience of using a modded PS3 (not connected to internet) with multiman (a PS3 homebrew app) is pretty nice. It's sad when modded > default.
- jrajav 14y agoHuh? When is modded NOT better than the default? Why would you even do it otherwise? The issue is that modding/hacking is questionably legal and often dangerous for your console or its software (whether by the mod/hack's nature or because of the host company actively bricking the changed consoles).
- beedogs 14y agoIt's really only questionably legal if you consider the DMCA a valid law. (I choose not to.)
- xtracto 14y agoMeh, by the same logic I chose Penal Code Title 5 Chapter 19 (1) not to be valid. Yah, lets see how that works... OTOH Homebrewing is perfectly legal in countries like mine (outside the USA). (1) http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm
- techdmn 14y agoI thought that was the point. ;-) I know what you mean though, usually when tampering you give up some niceties.
- dedsm 14y agoIt's sad when modded < default
- snarfy 14y agoAll of that, and they store your credit card info in plain text.
- Volpe 14y agoThat's a problem for the banks (who insure all that money for fraud), not really a problem for the individual (who are insured).
- jasonlingx 14y agoI disagree. Very much a problem for the individual who has the hassle of dealing with the banks, is exposed to identity theft and all the other numerous repercussions of having your personal information stored insecurely online.
- chc 14y agoAs somebody who's had his card info stolen before, I'd say it's troublesome even in the best case. Everything starts declining, you have to spend hours talking to the bank to get it all straightened out, and then you have to go through everything you're subscribed to and make sure to change them all to the new card when it comes in.
- mctx 14y agoI'd love to see a third party service that would deal with having your wallet (or card info) stolen - it would automatically cancel all your cards, sort out billing issues in the meantime, replace all your other cards, etc. Idea for a startup?
- huhtenberg 14y agoThis exists. I saw Royal Bank of Canada offering this service for $15/mo or thereabouts. It felt like a rip-off of gullible customers more than anything.
- ekianjo 14y ago
- azar1 14y agoEr… have you used a Xbox 360 lately? Most of the dashboard is ads: http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/2/9/2/2/6/After_000.jpg.jpg http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/2/9/2/2/6/A...
- TallGuyShort 14y agoI recently was locked out of several games and Netflix because they wanted additional email addresses on my Xbox live account - I already had the primary and a back up - now they have 2 back ups! And this wasn't to play games over the WAN - this was to play games locally while logged in as my XBox Live user!
- ktsmith 14y agoI had to deal with this last night so I could play a lego game locally with my son. I've never been particularly happy about having to have a live subscription for streaming video services and this was even more annoying. As it stands now I've just about had it with consoles.
- salman89 14y agoHow would you feel about buying an ad-free version at a higher price point (like Amazon does with the Kindle)? Part of the problem might be that the console hardware is somewhat subsidized, and the only way to recoup is software sales.
- konstruktor 14y agoHe did buy an ad free version. Selling at loss is no excuse for crippling the device after sale.
- joverholt 14y agoI agree with your thoughts. I guess the only good thing is my backlog of games to play is quite long, so I could probably last till 2015 or so. I'm also not happy about potentially buying the same game 2 or 3 times with their streaming game service. Though I think the spectating option could be cool.
- ardearar 14y agoIt's going to make Sony billions.
- primitur 14y agoThis is why I am so terribly excited by the underground cult hit console, the Open Pandora. http://openpandora.org/ http://openpandora.org/ I find it just wonderful that a bunch of enthusiasts can get together and make their own game console, and accessories, all the while struggling under the economics forced on them by the broader consumer electronics market .. yet still build something that is just plain FUN to use. If there is anything to be learned by the mainstream, it is that parts of it get too big, fall off, die and become the new old-thing. This happens in minor localities such as the Pandora project too, but nevertheless for one who wishes to participate in construction/usage/culture of an open, well-designed, affordable, powerful device .. with its own people .. the DIY hardware markets are lucrative. Sony going down like this, as its peers too, reminds me that new new-things are the new thing.
- unwind 14y agoYeah, the Open Pandora is awesome! I pre-ordered (fully paid) mine back in early March 2009, before production had even started. Now, almost four years later, I'm still waiting. I'm sure it will be awesome, but of course the hotness (relatively speaking) of it specs will have cooled off a bit during these years. Any day now ...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- primitur 14y agoI've had two since the day they shipped. I'm sorry about your plight, but really, you should get that sorted. There were quite some screwups with the early orders, alas. And while the specs may not be super-'lite, the community and fun-factor in the entire underground scene around the Pandora more than make up for it. The thing feels fabulous when fully loaded, and I mean: fully.
- LinXitoW 14y agoIsn't that equally the advantage and the folly of consoles? They are basically computers, but locked down. You can't do with your hardware what you want; you get told what's good. Just like with Apple, it's a golden cage; good because it's golden; bad because it's a cage. On PC, it's the other way around: It's not a cage, you have the power to change pretty much anything. With that power comes responsibility, though. There's infinitely more ways of fucking up your PC; the freedom isn't golden anymore.