# Which of the Eight Gen Big Three?



## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

Which of the Eight Generation Big Three do you want?

I already have a Wii U and enjoy it very much. I'm not so sure about the promises made about the PS4 because it looks kind of like a clone of the Wii U (lets you turn pads and phones into touchscreen controllers), and the Xbox One because of the stupid name, allegations of spying, and that Killer Instinct is the only announced game for it that looks remotely decent.

Well, I've said enough, now what about you?


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## Sutekh_the_Destroyer (Jul 12, 2013)

Right now I'd go for PS4, mainly because it has better hardware than the Wii U and because the Wii U has a severe lack of games right now. I probably will get a Wii U eventually, though.


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## Seekrit (Jul 12, 2013)

None of them, tbh. I would only consider a next gen console if more Metal Gear is announced.

METAL GEAR!?


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## Heliophobic (Jul 12, 2013)

*Glorious PC master race.*


But if I had to pick, I'd choose PS4. Lesser of three evils and all that.


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## Schwimmwagen (Jul 12, 2013)

Same as Saliva.

There's gonna have to be some major shitstorm to get me to want to use a console rather than a PC, but if I absolutely had to pick one of the consoles, it'd be the PS3.


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## Falaffel (Jul 12, 2013)

WII. 
Nintendo stole my heart with recent ordeals. 
Refusing to lay off workers? Amazing. 
Also ssb. 

But really I'm PC master race.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

Gibby said:


> Same as Saliva.
> 
> There's gonna have to be some major shitstorm to get me to want to use a console rather than a PC, but if I absolutely had to pick one of the consoles, it'd be the PS3.



You mean the PS4. PS3 is at least 7 years ago.

Make that PC Master Race remark again and I'll smash your computer with this.


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## Falaffel (Jul 12, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> You mean the PS4. PS3 is at least 7 years ago.
> 
> Make that PC Master Race remark again and I'll smash your computer with this.



You're just mad that you get suckered into thinking consoles are "cheaper" and "better"  with "more exclusives"  just get a good PC and don't buy a console. Over time it'll be more expensive but with steam sales and humble bundles you make up for it.


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## Schwimmwagen (Jul 12, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> You mean the PS4. PS3 is at least 7 years ago.
> 
> Make that PC Master Race remark again and I'll smash your computer with this.



Oh no, I typo'd. _I am so sorry_.

Also consoles are fucking shit, I love my vastly superior PC.


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## Fernin (Jul 12, 2013)

I'll be primarily sticking to PC gaming this gen, though I'll eventually be picking up both an XB1 and PS4, Forza is a must have for me, and Ryse and The Order 1886 look very interesting on XB1 and PS4 respectively. Sony didn't put out anything that made a PS3 worth it for me, but if The Order is any indication, they might be on a better route this gen.


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## Runefox (Jul 12, 2013)

It feels good to be part of the Master Race right now. 8)

Honestly, of the three, the WiiU is the most 'interesting' in concept, but the PS4 is shaping up to be the platform with the most good games. I'm not a fan of Kinect (the tech is super neat but it just doesn't work the way they want it to), and Microsoft's lineup just doesn't really impress me much.

Really, I'd recommend holding off on committing to any console until more software gets announced / released. My roommate has a WiiU and quite frankly it's been collecting dust and the tablet controller used as a glorified TV remote.


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## DrDingo (Jul 12, 2013)

I might be a PC gamer, but if I was given the choice of the 3 I'd have to go for Wii U. I'm a Nintendo guy, and some of the new games look awesome.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

DrDingo said:


> I might be a PC gamer, but if I was given the choice of the 3 I'd have to go for Wii U. I'm a Nintendo guy, and some of the new games look awesome.



Yeah, especially the likes of X, Super Mario 3D World, Sonic Lost World, and of course Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Dixie Kong for the win).


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 12, 2013)

I'm a bargain gamer, so I'm a gen behind on purpose. But I do have PC games since my workstation is an i7-3770k beast with SSD +32GB ram.

So far, Wii U has the most interesting design artist wise (tablet!), but I do like the PS4 and what it has lined up thus far.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

I find it's nice to get previous gen games you didn't get to play when the newest generation comes out. That way you get price drops.


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## Zenia (Jul 12, 2013)

I am not really a gamer at all, but at Christmas I splurged and bought a WiiU... if only so I could play the new Mario Bros game. haha I love it and my sister and I have a fun time on it, so that alone was worth it. My sister just got an Xbox360 so I don't think she will be getting the new gen any time soon.


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 12, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> I find it's nice to get previous gen games you didn't get to play when the newest generation comes out. That way you get price drops.



My money is more for computer upgrades and saving for a nice big Cintiq one day. I'm pretty close to getting one. So I don't really have time for games - so their high console prices also help me curb from buying one.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

High prices have seriously damaged a lot of consoles over the years; Neo-Geo, Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis, and then the PS3 just to name a few.


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## Runefox (Jul 12, 2013)

The Genesis didn't really have a problem with pricing at all up front. It commanded a bit of a premium since it was the first of the truly 16-bit generation and the NES was still Nintendo's flagship. Oddly, it actually launched at $10 less than the TurboGrafx-16, which was an 8-bit console with 16-bit graphics chip. I'm not sure what the NES was selling for at that time, but it launched at $199 as well ($249 with ROB), and so did the SNES.

It was the expansions that were unacceptably expensive; The 32x was $159, and the Sega/MegaCD was $380. A "complete" console therefore ended up costing $728 + applicable taxes, assuming you were an early adopter buying each module at launch. They also planned on releasing a 32x/Genesis standalone console code-named Neptune which would have been an easier to swallow $200, but the 32x itself was already a pretty bad idea considering the timing of the Saturn's release.

As for the Saturn... Sony completely undercut Sega and (I believe) sold at a considerable loss at $299. The price astonished Sega at the time, who had priced the Saturn at $399. The Saturn was also built primarily as a 2D powerhouse, with 3D support possible but focused on later in development due to the PlayStation's 3D capabilities. That caused massive issues with development and as a result not many games were available, which just sent it in a downward spiral.

Neo-Geo wasn't really damaged by its high price... SNK promoted Neo-Geo as an arcade machine, and in fact the home console was the same hardware as the arcade units, and used the same cartridges (hence the console and cartridges costing so damn much, though the cartridges mainly due to concerns that arcade owners would buy the home versions for less). The home machine was originally supplied to hotels and similar establishments as compact arcade units, and interest in a home version was high enough that they released it publicly. It wasn't until much later with the Neo-Geo CD that game prices dropped.

The PS3's pricing was a mixture of one part keeping the price accessible and three parts arrogant corporate greed.


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## Icky (Jul 12, 2013)

Y'know what's _really_ awesome? When PC gamers look down on lowly, disgusting console owners to the point where anything that escapes their superior lips is condescending.

You're still playing video games, just like the rest of us.


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## Stratelier (Jul 12, 2013)

> "PC master race"


Yes, the only platform where you can buy all the latest hardware to run that fancy new AAA title, then by the time you've finished installing and can actually play it, your box is already obsolete.


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 12, 2013)

Stratadrake said:


> Yes, the only platform where you can buy all the latest hardware to run that fancy new AAA title, then by the time you've finished installing and can actually play it, your box is already obsolete.



That really isn't the case anymore. It's only if you want the best possible playing experience. You can get a lot of titles now, not have the latest and they still play and look better than console games. Sorry - but your argument was early 2000.


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## Runefox (Jul 12, 2013)

Stratadrake said:


> Yes, the only platform where you can buy all the latest hardware to run that fancy new AAA title, then by the time you've finished installing and can actually play it, your box is already obsolete.


Not really. Midrange hardware about 3 years old (older if higher end) is still able to run pretty much whatever as long as you're not expecting to max out the graphics. For reference, current-gen consoles (WiiU excluded) run games at or below 720p, typically without anti-aliasing and with very low quality textures and models due to memory constraints. That's why the Uncharted games will often have to stream in textures during certain cutscenes - They're using higher resolution textures than typical games, and they have to swap them in and out far more often.

Though to be honest, the only reason why games are so easy to run right now is because the consoles are super long in the tooth.

(Given the above parameters though, setting graphics at the lowest settings on newer titles and running at or below 720p makes even something as old as the GeForce 7000-series GPU's viable - 2005 hardware)

PC master race


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## veeno (Jul 12, 2013)

Ps4.

But only for metal gear solid 5.


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## Heliophobic (Jul 12, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> You mean the PS4. PS3 is at least 7 years ago.



My god, does time fly. I still remember those weird-ass commercials.


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## Judge Spear (Jul 12, 2013)

PS4. Only reason I'm even touching a Wii U is for Sonic Lost World. 

...

We don't speak of the.....other one.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

Oh you mean the.....dreaded?


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## DarrylWolf (Jul 12, 2013)

Looking at the scores so far, I think it will come down to the PS4 and the Wii U, with the X1 being not a very popular choice.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 12, 2013)

Well, look at the original Xbox. Just barely above the GameCube.


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## Cain (Jul 13, 2013)

PC Master Race.

And also maybe PS4 for stuff like FIFA and Madden, or console-only exclusives. Also since Naughty Dog seems to be Sony-Exclusive, I want in on that.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

I remember Nintendo had it's company-exclusive genius guild; Rare.

Then...it happened. *cue copy of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts covered in blood*


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## Judge Spear (Jul 13, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> Oh you mean the.....dreaded?



Some say he...crawled from the lowest trench of the ocean. e-e


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## BRN (Jul 13, 2013)

veeno said:


> Ps4.
> 
> But only for metal gear solid 5.



That's PS3 ;3


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## Falaffel (Jul 13, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> Some say he...crawled from the lowest trench of the ocean. e-e



Some say that when he emerged he was.... Nothing but xbones.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

Falaffel said:


> Some say that when he emerged he was.... Nothing but xbones.



Said bones were lined with.....red rings of death...and they glowed blue like a certain screen.


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## TrishaCat (Jul 13, 2013)

When people say "PC Master Race" and stuff like that on questions like this it frustrates me.
WE KNOW THE PC IS THE BEST DEVICE TO USE FOR GAMING SO STOP SAYING IT. THIS THREAD ISN'T ABOUT THE PC.
Besides, legally, consoles often have games I prefer exclusive to them.

Anyways, I picked Wii U. I mean, Smash Bros. Wii U, Zelda Wii U, X, the fact that it plays Wii games and I never owned a Wii, which means Zelda: Skyward Sword, Smash Bros. Brawl, Xenoblade Chronicles, and The Last Story are enough reason for me to get a Wii U.

EDIT: I hope to get a PS4 at some point too. Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV!


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

Anybody here think Pikmin 3 is going to help sell the Wii U?


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## Runefox (Jul 13, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> Anybody here think Pikmin 3 is going to help sell the Wii U?



It'll HELP, but it won't push sales. And this is Nintendo's problem: Single games don't sell consoles. That said, every console owner who HAS a WiiU will probably buy the game, which is Nintendo's greatest _strength_. They just need _more_ to really drive sales of the hardware.

PC master race


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

*after seeing what the PS4 can do*

Is it too early to say Nintendo's finished?


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## TrishaCat (Jul 13, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> *after seeing what the PS4 can do*
> 
> Is it too early to say Nintendo's finished?


Yes.
Nintendo has some good stuff and more on the way. They're off to a slow start but they're picking up with the Wii U. It'll take some time though.
Still better then the Wii in comparison to PS3 and Xbox 360.


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## Runefox (Jul 13, 2013)

Battlechili1 said:


> Still better then the Wii in comparison to PS3 and Xbox 360.


Well... Sort of. The console is still a last-gen console, but at least it's an HD console this time around. Nintendo really shot themselves in the foot by bypassing HD gaming last generation, because the competition is now intimately familiar with designing these kinds of games, while Nintendo is lagging behind. Shigeru Miyamoto himself cited unfamiliarity with creating games in HD as the reason behind the Pikmin 3 delay, and that is something that would have been avoided had the original Wii not simply been a repackaged Gamecube. It's unfortunate, but Nintendo has a history of shooting themselves in the foot in the home console arena as far back as the Nintendo 64, something I've always been sore about because despite growing up with (and loving) Sega, I've always loved Nintendo, too. It just makes the missteps all that much more frustrating.

Hopefully they can bring on some new talent that aren't as green in the HD gaming arena and close up the gap. Even so, third party developers were feeling the squeeze on the current generation of consoles performance-wise, and having to heavily optimize games for the WiiU is something that most third parties probably won't end up putting up with. Once again, Nintendo is going to have to carry the console on their own, and I hope they can start making a higher volume of their traditionally great games to make up for it.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

If this keeps up I'll have to resort to wearing a shirt or sign everywhere that says "Buy the Wii U, it's great fun!" to help the system sell. Would it be okay if I did that?

EDIT:

I'm starting to second guess that idea for legal reasons.


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## Cain (Jul 13, 2013)

What about the Ouya? Or the oculus rift? Or the steambox?

Also one thing I never got, why the hell do developers make games exclusive to a single console? Like halo for the xbox and infamous for the ps3? Wouldn't it hurt overall sales than if they marketed to both consoles?
Keeping games console exclusive sort of makes sense I guess, so devs don't have to go and port th game to PC controls, standards and such. Its bullshit though. It makes sense but it's utter bullshit.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

That's a real contradictory sounding sentence there. It makes sense but it's utter bullshit?

Nintendo made Nintendo Land for the Wii U I guess because they felt it had things that wouldn't work as well on their other platforms (The Wii, DS, or 3DS).

There are also legal reasons that come into play; We can't see Mario or Link showing up on a non-Nintendo console (Nevermind the Atari ports of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. during the early 80s).


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## Cain (Jul 13, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> That's a real contradictory sounding sentence there. It makes sense but it's utter bullshit?
> 
> Nintendo made Nintendo Land for the Wii U I guess because they felt it had things that wouldn't work as well on their other platforms (The Wii, DS, or 3DS).
> 
> There are also legal reasons that come into play; We can't see Mario or Link showing up on a non-Nintendo console (Nevermind the Atari ports of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. during the early 80s).


It does make sense. Less work for the developers because making/porting a game for the PC platform is different than on consoles and requires a lot of work if you want it to be half decent. Look at all the outcries from the PC community about terrible PC ports of games.
But it's utter bullshit that they can't be bothered to do so, or they're simply marketing to console gamers only.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

Yes.

At least we won't see anymore crappy PC Mario and Zelda games.

*Luigi:* I hope she made lotsa spaghetti!!

SHUT UP!!


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## Runefox (Jul 13, 2013)

Cain said:


> What about the Ouya? Or the oculus rift? Or the steambox?


Ouya: A joke. Seriously, an Android feature phone in a box. Great. It'll be irrelevant for games in six months, and is in fact already underpowered.

Occulus Rift: A PC peripheral, not a console. It'll probably sell, but I see it as being another gimmick like OCZ's "brain" controller, the Neural Impulse Actuator. That said, it directly enables new gameplay experiences, so it may do well enough to stay afloat at least.

Steam Box: Depending on what the hardware 



> Also one thing I never got, why the hell do developers make games exclusive to a single console? Like halo for the xbox and infamous for the ps3? Wouldn't it hurt overall sales than if they marketed to both consoles?


Well, Bungie originally was going to release Halo on the Mac. But Microsoft roped them in and Halo became a PC/XBox item, ultimately becoming XBox exclusive.

More specifically though, it's usually the way it goes - Console maker offers incentives to go exclusive or timed exclusive, devs accept, devs become more likely to release future titles on the platform because they are more familiar with it and already have an install base on that platform for the franchise, hence building the platform up further.



> Keeping games console exclusive sort of makes sense I guess, so devs don't have to go and port th game to PC controls, standards and such. Its bullshit though. It makes sense but it's utter bullshit.


Yeah... Well once upon a time it used to go the other way - Develop for PC first, since that was faster and easier and had a good user base, then port down to consoles. Nowadays it's the other way around, and developing first for a limited platform means that adding features or enhancements to the more powerful one is way more work in the end. The reason for this, aside from consoles becoming more popular than ever, is in my opinion specifically because the consoles of right now are so limited. PC gaming is becoming more popular again with the advent of newer, faster, and most importantly less expensive integrated graphics processors, and of course, the booming popularity of Steam. A lot of people I know are jumping to PC gaming, and pretty much everyone I've quizzed on the next gen consoles say they'll probably go PC this time around, too. Hopefully that will put a little more emphasis back into PC titles, which will also hopefully mean more trickle-down features coming to consoles, even moreso since the CPU architecture is exactly the same (and, on the XBox, the development API's are extremely similar between it and DirectX; Not sure if the PS3 will use some form of OpenGL).


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## Cain (Jul 13, 2013)

I'd really love to see steam properly break onto the console market.

They'd be like google, except of the gaming world.
I really hope there are propaganda-style posters of Gabe/Valve out there on the internet.


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## Runefox (Jul 13, 2013)

Wow, I actually stopped cold while talking about the Steam Box in that post. Whoops. Well, that's the biggest part of it, really. The hardware. The other side of the coin is price. Those two will be the biggest factors in whether Steam Box unifies the market, or flops and becomes a niche budget gaming PC.

I couldn't find any propaganda in under 10 seconds, but I did find...







... You're welcome.


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## Cain (Jul 13, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Wow, I actually stopped cold while talking about the Steam Box in that post. Whoops. Well, that's the biggest part of it, really. The hardware. The other side of the coin is price. Those two will be the biggest factors in whether Steam Box unifies the market, or flops and becomes a niche budget gaming PC.
> 
> I couldn't find any propaganda in under 10 seconds, but I did find...
> 
> ...







Edit: Unholy molies, that is a big gif. My bad. (I'm leaving it there though.)


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## Seekrit (Jul 13, 2013)

Runefox said:


> ... You're welcome.



Ye so would.


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## DarrylWolf (Jul 13, 2013)

Let us not forget the 3DS for those gamers who like their "breakfast in bed." Yes, I will admit to enjoying playing on a dual-screened system about as wide as a sandwich able to play games that would have been considered on par with a home console 15 years ago. "Pokemon X and Y" looks like it will sell millions of copies when it releases stateside and Super Smash Bros. 3DS will be awesome.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

Well, in the first 4 months of it's release, the Wii U sold 2.6 million units. That's at least 200 thousand more than the PS3 in that same amount of time.


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## veeno (Jul 13, 2013)

SIX said:


> That's PS3 ;3


Oh.

Well then fuck new gen consoles I have a pc.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 13, 2013)

Your avatar says it all about that post.


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## Judge Spear (Jul 14, 2013)

Battlechili1 said:


> Yes.
> Nintendo has some good stuff and more on the way. They're off to a slow start but they're picking up with the Wii U. It'll take some time though.
> Still better then the Wii in comparison to PS3 and Xbox 360.



Shouldn't take ANY time. They should've had games at launch but you know Nintendo. Coasting on their name alone.


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## Stratelier (Jul 14, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> Shouldn't take ANY time. They should've had games at launch but you know Nintendo. Coasting on their name alone.


Uh, no they weren't.  They did say that (1) HD games simply take more time and energy to develop, and (2) they didn't want to release a whole bunch of stuff all at once and then have this huge dearth of nothing new arriving (which, y'know, has kinda happened before).


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 14, 2013)

Stratadrake said:


> Uh, no they weren't.  They did say that (1) HD games simply take more time and energy to develop, and (2) they didn't want to release a whole bunch of stuff all at once and then have this huge dearth of nothing new arriving (which, y'know, has kinda happened before).



When has this happened before?


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## Runefox (Jul 14, 2013)

Stratadrake said:


> Uh, no they weren't.  They did say that (1) HD games simply take more time and energy to develop


Which isn't _actually _true but is a result of not actually having made HD games before. They're starting now where most other devs started in 2005. And it's their fault.



> and (2) they didn't want to release a whole bunch of stuff all at once and then have this huge dearth of nothing new arriving (which, y'know, has kinda happened before).


I'm struggling to think of when Nintendo has released a bunch of games all at once, ever. Maybe the Gamecube with Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion? ... And then the massive library of Mario sports games? Nintendo is *currently presiding over* a dearth of nothing new arriving on the WiiU. They've been releasing single titles. It's obvious that Nintendo software drives Nintendo hardware sales, and yet they've released a whopping *three* first-party games (and 1 DLC in Japan) so far for the console (one of which being the pack-in Nintendo Land), which has been out since November. More than half a year has gone by.


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## TrishaCat (Jul 14, 2013)

XoPachi said:


> Shouldn't take ANY time. They should've had games at launch but you know Nintendo. Coasting on their name alone.


I'd have to agree somewhat, but they aren't coasting on their name alone. Unless you mean to say that only 1st party titles are really helping the Wii U stay alive, in which case, that's almost entirely true.
I mean, I never bought a Wii, so I've got its entire collection of good games to go through, not to mention X, Smash Bros, and Zelda are coming to Wii U, and for those who are interested Wii U has a few good 3rd Party games and Scribblenauts Unlimited. That's still more interesting stuff then PS4 has as far as I know, so as far as number of good titles go, Wii U is currently ahead. I don't actually know of any titles exclusive to PS4 that interest me besides "The Order". Since Xbox One is out of the question, I suppose I can consider Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV exclusive to it, though. I suppose a new inFamous is a little interesting.
Though I suspect a lot more 3rd party is going to end up on PS4 in much less time then Wii U has. So time will probably favor the PS4.


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## Rheumatism (Jul 14, 2013)

Getting all of them.  

My bet is...

Ps4 will win.
Xbox One in close second.
Wii U in last.


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## Infestissumam (Jul 14, 2013)

I'm likely to get myself the Wii U and a better PC for gaming this generation. And then there's a very very small chance that I'd get a PS4. Definitely not grabbing the Xbox One.


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## Cain (Jul 15, 2013)

I remember an interesting thing I heard from RoosterTeeth's gaming podcast, the Patch. Whilst microsoft might have backed out of all the DRM stuff right now, they're probably going to reintroduce it in small stages either just before release or after, because they seemed so set on it until the entire gaming community PMS'd on them, and they're trying to sort of take that big step forward, because let's face it, in the very near future the internet will become as important as water, gas and electricity, and I can see having to be connected 24/7 as something that will happen.


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## BRN (Jul 15, 2013)

Cain said:


> I remember an interesting thing I heard from RoosterTeeth's gaming podcast, the Patch. Whilst microsoft might have backed out of all the DRM stuff right now, they're probably going to reintroduce it in small stages either just before release or after, because they seemed so set on it until the entire gaming community PMS'd on them, and they're trying to sort of take that big step forward, because let's face it, in the very near future the internet will become as important as water, gas and electricity, and I can see having to be connected 24/7 as something that will happen.


Wow, point missed.  The problem wasn't solely "being connected 24/7", the problem was primarily the DRM  - and a) Microsoft's transparent profiteering from abusing that same DRM, and b) the unrealistic requirement of "being online 24/7". As a complete system, its design and the requirements placed on the user as a whole were completely unpalatable.

Though I can completely believe that Microsoft will re-introduce this stuff in "upgrades". You can call the consumer's response as 'PMS' and call Microsoft's plans a 'big step forward' if you want, I suppose that's kind of subjective. But frankly, the biggest thing that'll suffer as a result is the mainstream industry once Microsoft demands these things.

To paraphrase Yahtzee, "consoles have no longer become the self-descriptive medium with which we play games, they simply hold the game experience hostage".


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## Runefox (Jul 15, 2013)

The major problem as a consumer with reimplementing the DRM is that at the console's EOL, your games disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. Not a problem for Microsoft, though. Get right on that Vinyl->8 track->Cassette->CD->DVD->MP3->AAC->Lossless->Hologram-of-the-band->Beamed-direct-to-your-brain->Vinyl-again treadmill.


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## Taralack (Jul 15, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> I'm not so sure about the promises made about the PS4 because it looks kind of like a clone of the Wii U (lets you turn pads and phones into touchscreen controllers



Can't tell if stupid or... stupid. 

Let me know if your Wii U - which is apparently a clone of the PS4 - can play next gen stuff like Watch Dogs.


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## Cain (Jul 15, 2013)

I figure we're going to see a lot of phone/tablet integration into games, such as demonstrated in Watch Dogs and The Division. Just gotta hope that mobile integration doesn't make or break games.


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## Taralack (Jul 15, 2013)

Cain said:


> I figure we're going to see a lot of phone/tablet integration into games, such as demonstrated in Watch Dogs and The Division. Just gotta hope that mobile integration doesn't make or break games.



That'd be cool. I'm not sure if it was stated outright, but the E3 demos of those two games looked like it would let you remotely play using your tablet, ie. the console wouldn't need to be on, and the game would be access from a separate app. Perhaps a code for the app will be included with the purchased game and you can redeem it from the respective app store. And from what little we saw, it didn't look like it was designed to be a game breaker for either side. If it was, people would probably bitch about it, especially if it was for a competitive game...


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 15, 2013)

Toraneko said:


> Can't tell if stupid or... stupid.
> 
> Let me know if your Wii U - which is apparently a clone of the PS4 - can play next gen stuff like Watch Dogs.



Apparently Touchpad = Tablet.

Guess a Cintiq and Intuos are the fucking same thing


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 15, 2013)

How is the Wii U a clone of the PS4?


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 15, 2013)

TransformerRobot said:


> How is the Wii U a clone of the PS4?



How is either a clone of each other is the better question.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 15, 2013)

Good point.


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## Rheumatism (Jul 15, 2013)

Toraneko said:


> Let me know if your Wii U - which is apparently a clone of the PS4 - can play next gen stuff like Watch Dogs.


Actually I think Watch Dogs is coming to the Wii U.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 15, 2013)

Rheumatism said:


> Actually I think Watch Dogs is coming to the Wii U.



See that Tora?


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## Runefox (Jul 15, 2013)

Rheumatism said:


> Actually I think Watch Dogs is coming to the Wii U.


It is. Prepare for disappointment; Every gameplay footage or trailer video I can find for the game is actually running on PS3, XB1 or PC, even those tagged with "WiiU", complete with Nintendo fans hurping and durping about how they see no difference between what they are seeing and the next gen version. Because it *is* the next-gen version.

So many morons on YouTube saying "WiiU is next gen just look at this" when it's not even WiiU gameplay... Ugh. I don't think there's actually been a WiiU trailer / gameplay video for it yet.

Expect much (muuuuch) shorter draw distances, low resolution textures, and lower polygon counts compared to PC/PS4/XB1. I guess at least it has 512MB available for textures? Yay?

The WiiU has 2GB of main system RAM; 1GB of this is reserved for the OS, and 1GB available for gameplay. I'm assuming a 512/512 split, which is double what the PS3 and XBox 360 can claim, but it's not "next gen" by any means. And yes, RAM is a major limiting factor here. If you don't have enough RAM to store the textures and models, no matter how powerful the GPU is (which it is not), it will still not be able to display those without serious compromise in draw distance or other things.


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## Infestissumam (Jul 15, 2013)

Not that graphics cripple the Wii U moreso than the lack of games. Nintendo, despite its usually lower quality graphics, always stylise their games' artwork.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 15, 2013)

Infestissumam said:


> Not that graphics cripple the Wii U moreso than the lack of games. Nintendo, despite its usually lower quality graphics, always stylise their games' artwork.



I know, just look at F-Zero GX and the Donkey Kong Country games!


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 15, 2013)

That's Nintendo's own games. How are they stylizing one put out by a third party? If you're gonna make a stupid argument about stylization of games at least show it with a third party game like Watch Dogs.


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## Runefox (Jul 15, 2013)

Third parties _have_ dabbled in stylizing games for Nintendo hardware before... Ghost Busters was one particularly egregious example.

The problem with porting games to the WiiU going forward is going to be the same problem developers had porting to the Wii. The lower-powered hardware will force them to remodel and redraw a lot of assets that during PC or PS4 / XB1 porting can simply be copied. Graphical settings like draw distance need to be carefully tweaked, texture streaming needs to be tightened up, physics simulation and AI needs to be simplified, and while downsizing textures and reducing polygon counts, they need to pay close attention to the end result in order to be sure that critical details aren't lost. It's basically like making the game all over again. Examples of this include the Call of Duty (the whole series), and the earlier-mentioned Ghost Busters (actually a different game).

Just like the Wii is essentially a slightly faster Gamecube, the WiiU is a slightly faster (in some areas) XBox 360. The extra RAM and somewhat faster GPU will help it actually run more games at 1080p or at least above 720p, but doing so would tax the RAM enough to bring the console back down to the level of visuals the 360 has to offer - Which is to say, rather poor by today's standards.

 I'm comparing directly with the 360 in this case because both systems have triple-core PowerPC processors and ATI/AMD-based GPU's; The 360's CPU is actually quite a lot faster than the WiiU's (3.2GHz vs 1.24GHz, albeit the WiiU has a larger and faster cache), while the WiiU's GPU is faster and more modern than the 360's (direct comparison via specs is difficult but WiiU is similar to the Radeon HD 4670, while the 360 is similar to the Radeon X1800).

TL;DR: Expect few multi-platform titles to land on the WiiU once the PS4 and XBox 1 get going.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 17, 2013)

The more good news I hear about the PS4 the more shots to the heart I take.

Without the Wii U succeeding Nintendo's going to be finished.


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## Sutekh_the_Destroyer (Jul 17, 2013)

I do hope that Nintendo stay afloat, or at the very least get new management. It'd be a shame to see them go the same way as Sega.


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 17, 2013)

I dunno if they'll totally die though since their handhelds are still doing fairly well. Granted the 3DS had a rocky launch but it still sold a good number of units. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles. The WiiU is currently doing poorly. 

Sega's hardware situation was much more dire because part of their business was the Arcade

Some people have suggested Nintendo move out of the hardware sector, but if their handhelds are still strong...


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## Sutekh_the_Destroyer (Jul 17, 2013)

Arshes Nei said:


> I dunno if they'll totally die though since their handhelds are still doing fairly well. Granted the 3DS had a rocky launch but it still sold a good number of units. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles. The WiiU is currently doing poorly.
> 
> Sega's hardware situation was much more dire because part of their business was the Arcade
> 
> Some people have suggested Nintendo move out of the hardware sector, but if their handhelds are still strong...



Oh yes, the 3DS! I forgot about that for a moment. I guess that would make Nintendo money, and if Super Mario 3D World, Smash Bros, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and the eventual release of Zelda U hike the sales of the Wii U up enough then Nintendo will do fine - maybe not as well as Microsoft or Sony, but fine nonetheless. If not, then who knows what will happen to them. Will they become a successful third part like Ubisoft? Will they be bought by Sony or Microsoft? Or will they just die off and cease to be a company in any way, shape or form (think Atari)?

But still - I guess it's too early to theorize about Nintendo's future based _solely_ on the Wii U's current sales. It's not even been out a year, and Nintendo have made the mistake of not releasing enough of their exclusives to sell the system. But like I said, those games are coming out later this year. There's still hope yet.


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## Runefox (Jul 17, 2013)

I doubt this will be the death of Nintendo, but I can see them choosing to focus on the handheld market that they've held successfully for the past two decades plus rather than continue to fight a losing battle in the home console arena. I think that their next console will probably be a handheld that can be connected to the TV for fullscreen play (with the handheld acting similarly to the WiiU tablet; Think 3DS with the main (non-touch) screen on the TV when connected this way)). That would make it different enough from the smartphones out there while grabbing the market for both handhelds and home consoles, without sacrificing the handheld position.

Perhaps they could implement the same wireless display tech they used with the WiiU in reverse using either a base station (which would come with the "deluxe" model) or the WiiU itself for WiiU owners. Even better would be if the base station could handle multiple connections at once for "split screen" play with multiple touch-and-motion sensing handhelds.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 17, 2013)

That ideas so good that it should've been given to Nintendo already.

Also, good news, sort of.


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## benignBiotic (Jul 18, 2013)

I have almost no interest in either the PS4 or XBONE.

My roommate and I might split a Wii U almost entirely for the new Smash.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 18, 2013)

EarthBound was just released for the Wii U Virtual Console.


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 18, 2013)

http://gizmodo.com/the-ps4s-controller-almost-had-basically-a-built-in-li-799014350

It was funny when the mention of Xbox One at EVO got a big boo from the audience.


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## TransformerRobot (Jul 18, 2013)

Arshes Nei said:


> http://gizmodo.com/the-ps4s-controller-almost-had-basically-a-built-in-li-799014350
> 
> It was funny when the mention of Xbox One at EVO got a big boo from the audience.



Now that's a terrible idea. No wonder it's not in the official controller.

Also, look at this.


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