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PS4: What Sony Should and Shouldn't Do
donniebaseball23 writes "As a follow-up to his piece on Xbox 720, veteran games journalist Chris Morris has put together some thoughtful advice on what Sony needs to do (and needs to avoid) to ensure that the next generation PlayStation is a success. In particular, Morris notes that Sony must 'look beyond games' to create a fully fledged entertainment hub: 'Nintendo has been pretty adamant that it has little interest in content beyond games. Microsoft seems to be rushing to embrace the set top box world. Sony, though, seems a bit confused about what it wants.'"
Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle? The Wii U didn't grab the same attention that the original Wii did, and Nintendo is being attacked on two fronts--the hardcore market with the PS3 and Xbox 360, and casual gaming with the iPhone. Nintendo always had handheld sales to fall back on, but sales of the 3DS have been underwhelming, forcing an early price drop. It seems like Nintendo backed itself into a corner with the Wii, tying the company too intimately with the casual gaming market, whose gamers are fickle and prone to jump onto the next big thing, which turned out to be the iPhone.
Yes, yes, I realize people have been declaring Nintendo to be doomed since the Nintendo 64, but just because they survived previous eras doesn't mean they will survive the next one. Nintendo's stock price jumped after a rumor that Pokemon was coming to the iPhone, which turned out to be untrue. It just seems more than ever that it makes little sense for Nintendo not to become a software developer, since that is what they are most famous for in spite of their trend-setting controllers. Yet despite the novelty of the Wii remote, I still prefer the Dual Shock.
I love Nintendo's classics, but their refusal to embrace online play on the same level of their competitors as well as their reliance on nostalgia titles is frustrating. Sadly, I haven't turned on my Wii in so long that I can't even remember the last time. I think the last game I played on it was was Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, an old PC-Engine game, and only because it's Wii-exclusive.
It should be modular and have upgrade slots following ISO standard interfaces. Perhaps give the option of one or many Intel or AMD cpus and have different graphic options from both NVidia and ATI. Oh, and upgradeable storage & memory.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Knowing Sony, it will come with a module that lets them remotely disable pieces of hardware.
Palm trees and 8
Don't advertise features that you may later remove completely
While I was not one of the ones who missed the OtherOS feature, for some it was a huge deal. I would hope the uproar over losing this option will teach Sony not to include and make light of large feature sets that they wind up removing later, after the fact. Regardless of what that feature may or may not be, I don't think it is cool to remove stuff that originally came with the system. I don't think anyone wants to see features disappear from a piece of hardware they own just because they want to stay up to date with the latest firmware/updates, and that doesn't just go for PS4 either.
"I hope you know how very lucky you are to know me, because I am so incredibly incredible."
I don't care what kind of hardware or architecture they adopt, but the damn thing better well play all my PS3 games which I have spent A LOT of money on. It was bad enough going to the XBOX 360 and finding out not all my titles were compatible ... there's enough horsepower in the hardware today to at least guarantee that older titles can run in some emulation mode, even in a different hardware family.
Never release another console for $599. How can posters here forget the real problem the PS3 had, especially at launch?
GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Security should be a key consideration, don't have a crappy back end that gets hacked.
.. that he somehow gets called a 'veteran games journalist'
He's no such thing. I'd settle with attention-seeking know-nothing.
Include a way to hook up a keyboard and mouse, out of the box.
PS: I don't reply to ACs.
Sony should remember it is there to provide customers with what they want and are willing to pay for, rather than there to wage war on them.
... I'm still not buying it.
Friends don't let friends buy Sony.
Give me parties, cross-game chat (contrary to one of the comments on that article, communication actually kind of matters when you're playing multiplayer games), and copy Microsoft's new Beacons feature. And please limit title update sizes like Microsoft does so I don't need to download 2 GB patch in order to play a new game.
They already removed Linux and managed to have my account information stolen. Fool me once...
I don't care if its shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.
I've already decided that I will not buy anymore Sony products, given a number of anti-consumer moves that they've made, such as feature revocation, suing individuals, and behaving poorly during security breaches. I believe in voting with my dollar.
And just for the record, there are a number of PS3 games that I would really like to play. So, it really is a loss for them (albeit insignificant, on its own). Of course, It's probably for naught, since orders of magnitudes more people don't give a shit about any of Sony's missteps, but I'll stick to it, anyway.
Care a lot more about your own network infrastructure and security, and a bit less about the console control and security.
PS3 is open cracked despite all your efforts, and the stolen information (credit cards, for God's sake!) and downtime from the PSN will be a stain (not to mention all the money this costed!) on your image for a long time.
Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
Hardcore gamer here saying that I love the Wii. It is the only great way to play an FPS in this generation. Also, Wii offers great online play EVEN WHEN HACKED TO RUN BACKUPS. Ergo: Wii FTW.
Sony Corp. (SNE)â(TM)s Kazuo Hirai said the PlayStation 3 console will have a 10-year lifespan, suggesting the 5-year-old video-game player wonâ(TM)t be replaced soon.
How is it that Kaz Hirai says that Sony will be supporting the PS3 as a ten year device but they only allowed the consumers to purchase one year warranties when the system launched? If they truly believed that people would be playing the PS3 for another ten years they why is there no warranty that covers at least ten years of use? If I purchase a game system that is going to be supported with ten years of software then why is SONY not confident that the hardware will hold up for ten years and they'll only give out a warranty that covers one or two years at most?
Of course the reason why is obvious. Launch models are not built to last. The differences between launch models and slim models are numerous. I purchased five launch PS3s, the hardware backwards compatible models, and they all died within three years. The cost of replacing just one out of warranty PS3? Over $200 per unit through Sony customer support. When Sony is not even confident in the ten year life expectancy of a launch product it was rather aggravating when I read from the president that they saw the consoles as "ten year" products.
And honestly the hardware failures that I had with launch PS3s were basically pleasant experiences compared to the constant nightmares I had with 360 units suffering the RROD. MS sent me two refurbished launch 360s and those both red ringed within a week. It was another few weeks before people started to realize that something was very wrong with 360 hardware.
If MS and SONY are building these devices for 7-10 year cycles then allow us to purchase warranties to cover the devices during those years. Or at least lower the price of a repair. I cannot possibly see how it is respectful to a consumer to demand $200 to fix a defective unit on top of the $500-$600 that it cost at retail to initially purchase the device.
What have I been using it for since I bought it 3 years ago...oh wait its a Blu-ray DVD player, Netflix/Hulu hub, and a Media server. But it plays games? Ahh that is what those controllers tethered to my Galaxy Nexus are.
Selex
Maybe they should try including controllers that can be charged with normal usb wall chargers. Why the hell do I need to turn my computer or PS3 on to charge a controller?
1) Allow all discs to play on ps4 - at least ps2+ps3. People don't want to spend a ton of money on a new console & invalidate all their past purchases which are still quite playable, or jack around with changing out consoles all the time. It's a hassle to unplug/replug for most people.
2) Quit removing features because of your paranoia - the OtherOS debacle should have gotten some people fired. Either leave it in there or never put it in there.
3) Fix your fuggin security for reals. From what I've heard from my friends who work at Sony, they've just patched up a few weak spots that were vulnerable but their overall model is totally lacking. It's prevented me from re-upping subscription to a few games (like Vanguard) just because I don't want to trust them with their CC info.
More of a general sony point but still.
4) Allow for more mods / customization. I briefly used ps3 as HTPC but it's so limited in the formats it supports, ways of mounting to media etc it's just more of a hassle than its worth. I ended up going with xbmc on a PC.
5) Motion control is the future. Get better at it. The ps3 move is questionable; crappy titles, camera is a hassle in non-optimal light situations etc. For instance, Fight Night: Lights Out is a really good game, but it's totally ruined by subpar headtracking even in optimal light situations.
A few minor points;
- USB controllers should charge from pretty much any USB power source. My ps3 controllers are super picky for some reason.
- Use standardized friggin power button. It's incredibly ridiculous that you have to push the PS button on a controller to power the unit on, or push the button in the front. Used to drive me crazy when I drove it with harmony remote
The only way sony could get me to go to the PS4 would be if they let me use it to run arbitrary code just like my computer. There is nothing the ps4 could do over what my ps3 already does that would make me want one otherwise. When games come by that won't run on ps3 I'll just put some money into my computer instead.
Give it up. I don't love you any more. I don't think I ever did. Every time I tried to love you, you shat on me and expected me to love it. Sony, you are not Apple. Only Apple has the ability to do that. I hope there is no PS4. There doesn't need to be one. And I predict if/when there is, people will not be lining up to get them. They will atttempt to create their artificial shortages to pump up the demand, but they'll find people just aren't interested enough.
Besides having the oomph to support more photo-realistic graphics at high framerates and 4K resolution support... what else would there be?
Why do they call it the Xbox 720?
Because when you see one, you'll turn 720 degrees and walk away.
Are there any good games for the Wii? I own one but have probably spent less than 4 hours playing on it. TBH from what i saw of the Wii U was not much more than a Wii with an hdmi port and a controller I wouldn't want to let my kids play with due to fear of having to replace it.
As for the portable, why bother, I have an android tablet and phone, what would I need/want a 3DS for?
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
How about not suing the customers, and allowing an other OS to be installed for the life of the product not just the first 6 months.
Rocket Surgeon.
Sony released audio CDs that put rootkits on consumer's PCs, without informing them. After being sued for this, they did it again. They also failed their due diligence on security, causing their entire client base to have private data stolen. Combine this with their habit of selling features and then subsequently removing those very features, and I don't understand why *anybody* buys products form Sony.
I will never trust Sony again.
Will: tell Sony to suck my cock
Won't: buy one.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
*warning*: I do not own a XBOX 360 or a PS3.
That being said, over the years after hanging out and playing games with friends on both console sets, and giving a little thought as to what I would like to see on the next gen, here is what I've come up with. (in no particular order)
Must see's ( for me to even consider purchasing ) ....)
- Multi-head support. I want the ability to push a single console multi-player mode out to that number of TV/Displays (if I have 4 60" HDTV's, it should be able to push the game to all of them, appropriate split, for 4 player mode)
- No network or remote authentication required for ANY single game. Yes, network play is fine, however it should NEVER be a requirement (knows that's certain entities would like to take it to that as a DRM requirement)
- Off console local network backup for bought/saved games (I purchased them, I should be able to save them. Unless they want to keep it in permanently in the 'Cloud' for free. very doubtful...)
- Previous console game compatibility (really think all those games are going to vanish with the release of the next Gen console? Right
Compatibility
- Media streaming support from local and remote media shares, services (locally, be it my Myth-TV, Media Center, another console; remote being podcasts/audio feeds, Netflix, Hulu, PBS, etc... if other broadcast networks like Disc. Fox, CC want to jump on, go for it. However, I'm not paying for services twice if it's already coming through my cable)
Support
- Actual place I can go online, preferably a live chat channel (IRC.. ???) that I can get basic support if I need it. Forums are OK, but if it doesn't get any type of response from an 'official support' person in less than a day, it's just not worth playing.
My actual guess? We'll see a PS4, however it will be a stop-gap market share hold-over until the PS5, which will be completely redone. Sony has to rethink their entire existence after the hacks and overall ass-whopping they've taken over the past 2 years. To introduce ANYTHING without complete rethought from gamers hands, to network security, account management, etc... would be too much risk and they know that. I hope they get it right, I do, however having had Sony on my blacklist from 2000 (yes, I haven't bought ANYTHING Sony since then), I'm always willing to give Corporations a chance to turn things around. Worst case for them is, they continue to not get my money.
built-in for a nickel instead of a 3rd-party add on for $60 so it works with every freaking remote control on the planet instead of just game controllers? Just sayin'.
Everything Sony did so far was stolen ideas.
As long as Nintendo does nothing else than Games, Sony will have to wait.
1. Less cpu numbers but faster - Todays developers can only just get 2 cores working on average for non video/math problems - no need to add lots of unused cores. .edu WIN big at robot 'games'
2. Better gpu - fast, no hardware bottlenecks to save a few cents. Get as much bright moving images from the math skills of developers up on the display within the 1080p range.
3. Embrace Linux - if some person makes their generations Tetris, Myst/HyperCard, bird game - the PR glow is a net positive - give the game away with every unit shipped/sold game and be nice to the team/person who used your product to show it to the world. Support them.
4. Make it not hard to code with your product after buying into the system - make it easy to make great looking games early on.
5. Don't turn stuff off via the magic of networking.
6. Education - with cheap open hardware products allowing people to build basic kits, projects and learn about hardware, software - why not allow impressionable young minds do the same with add on devices while looking at the word SONY for the length of the lesson a few times every week. Give free software to the teachers and help them with lesson plans after they buy in big.
Let them buy 'homework' hardware and make family, friends and siblings look at the word SONY over weekends and holidays for hours.
7. More education - target universities with open code and deep hardware options. With the extra hardware and software your brand with win over a smart new generation - for free. The extra quality/speed of SONY based gpu/cpu robotics let that
Crush the teams that show up with buggy code after reverse engineering children's toys.
8. Secure your networks.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Here are a few things that I'd like fixed:
/add/ features, not remove them.
Get rid of load times. If I'm playing a game where I'm supposed to be immersed in it, a loading screen just kills the idea that you are part of the game. This isn't 1994 anymore.
Get rid of region locking on everything. Including digital downloads. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to enjoy a game even if it isn't translated into my language or "localized". Similarly, there should be some way to gift digital downloads seamlessly between regions.
Stop removing features. Updates are supposed to
Seamless emulation between consoles. Not having proper PS2 emulation I'm sure is a contributing factor to why the PS3 finished in third. When the PS2 basically defined the previous generation, it isn't a great idea to decide to make your next generation console compatible with it.
Better build quality. No red ring of death, yellow light of death, or an overheating GPU like the Wii.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I have a couple of suggestions:
1. Don't EOL the dual shock controller. I don't mind if other people like using the wand type controller, but I find it extremely difficult to control the game with wand type controllers.
2. Make games backwards compatible. They advertised that PS3 would be able to play PS2 games, but it doesn't. The PS4 should be able to play previous PS games.
3. Make games that you don't have to download extra cost items to play.
4. Makes games that have a rich single player experience and don't require you to have to play online with other people.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Because as great as an android phones and tablets are, they are crappy for 99% of the games out there. Phones and tablets are pretty much only replacements for hand held consoles for the people that wouldn't have bought a hand held console anyway. Maybe when Android has gamepad support built in (I believe that is ics) AND tablet, phone and software developers start supporting it heavily, then maybe it would be a replacement. Today it is not.
There are plenty of good games on the Wii. At least as many as on other platforms. For Christmas, we got an Xbox 360 + Kinect. We hooked it up, appreciated how much fun it was for about a 1/2 hour, and then spent the next 3 hours playing Fortune Street on the Wii.
It is hard to say what will happen with the next generation of systems. A faster Wii with HDMI and 1080p would make up for any deficiencies that the Wii is currently showing, and depending on how fast, it could easily surpass the 360 and PS3. When Sony and MS come out with their next consoles, the public may be in the same position that they were in with the current systems. An inexpensive system with lots of fun games, or an expensive system that may look a little prettier, but doesn't have anything special to offer.
I predict PS4 will be a faster Cell chip with more cores, more ram, and an upgraded RSX nvidia chip. It would automatically be backwards compatible with PS3, and they might gain Software PS2 emulation in the process if the performance gain on the new chips is enough to do it. It makes a lot of sense to have that. Other than that, it will be a PS3 with better graphics really. Maybe some new draw gimmick for people. Anything else I see as suicide for Sony.
Microsoft seems to be rushing to embrace the set top box world.
Unfortunately, with their latest dashboard release, Microsoft have announced their intention to be a set top ad service with a tiny amount of space in between dedicated to content. When sites are having to post how tos on how to hack your dashboard back to something less offensive, you've gone too far more.
On top of that, they've apparently intentionally degraded video quality for third party providers more.
If you want to be the best set top box, Microsoft's setting the bar very, very low. Just show up*, don't be evil and, simply by default, you'll offer a far more compelling service.
*Note: By showing up, you actually have to show up in reasonable time with a product this time. That whole need to run a DVD from Netflix just to run the software to stream Netflix? That barely counts as showing up. Sure, you fixed it eventually but how many users got used to turning to their 360 instead because you put out such a boneheaded system? Even if it was Netflix's fault, they're a huge plus point for your system - send engineers over there to help them, do whatever it takes, get the core services right.
You can have a cheap console, but then you either have games that seem prohibitively expensive to many players, or a console that is rapidly obsolete and never gets very many successful games (Wii). If based on non-PC hardware, it usually also needs to be quite a bit more powerful to end up being somewhat PC-compatible for easy porting, as the article suggest. A price point of 500-600 USD actually seems not incorrect to me, you are wise to differentiate your market's hardware clearly even from near future smartphones (which many people somehow always seem to afford, even if they cost 600 USD).
You can have few updates, but then you also have more support requests. And there's no real way to enforce perfection of software on 3rd party vendors while keeping a development cylce like for PC games. Perhaps the update servers and the installation procedure simply should be faster, as is technically surely feasible?
You can look beyond games, but well, there really isn't much but a media server/receiver you could add while not really impairing simplicity. Otherwise you have a PC, and no longer the convenient simplicity of a console many people buy a console for.
There are only points on which I agree with the author:
1. Some software like the multiplayer matchmaking should get some work ( add my suggestion to allow players to disable the "trophy" marketing data gathering and slow savegames with pointless "ok ok ok" selections BS...).
2. Digital distribution and cloud services all over the place would be a poor choice. They'll do better with an open market and ... yea, even users having the possibility for copyright infringement. It really is a sellng point.
I own 2 PS3's not even interested in any new PS4 or anything with the Sony brand for that matter. The PS3's are probably the last Sony product I'll own unless they change their attitude.
Who cares about Sony anymore.
DRM? No thanks, I'll just get it somewhere else...
About 6 years ago I wrote a thesis about this subject. Its main focus is the introduction of a new video game device in the Japanese market. And it was written before internet connected devices like the PS3 and XBox360 were on the market. For anyone interested, feel free to grab a copy or use it as material for your own thesis or report : http://www.4shared.com/office/8vhkle4Y/Bas_Vijfwinkel_Thesis.html
A) not make it a 600 white elephant
B) actually have some games for the fucking thing within the first year
C) not jerk around its customers by removing features
D) not pussyfoot around with backwards compatibility, its there or its not, none of this "serial numbers 1-X will" bullshit, if I wanted the headache of figuring out which version is best for me I would buy a god damned computer, which is what I did about the same time it came out
Include all the awesome features everyone wants on the box art, and put an insert inside that reads something like "By the way, we disabled all those nice features for uh, security reasons or something. What did you expect? We're Sony, and that's the Sony Style."
Then they can include a root kit virus on the pack-in demo disc.
"720" reaks of inferiority when everything is in 1080p, It was named "Xbox 360" because Xbox 2 sounded inferior to Playstation 3. The same will go for the next Xbox. They will not call it Xbox 3 and they will not call it Xbox 720. I'm thinking either Xbox 1080 or Xbox 3D. Probably not Xbox 420.
The Official Site of 1337 Pwnage
Hirai was the cause of most of your PS3 problems between the horrible architectural design which crippled it for years for no gain, the crazy quotes (which I would admittedly miss) and - well, he probably wasn't to blame for the PSN debacle, unless he's the guy who decided to boot OtherOS.
I think Sony should focus on providing a better framework, similar to the one from Microsoft on the Xbox360. With the PlayStation 3 they missed several important things: - Cross-game chat - Good way to use save games for all players (for a long time they did not support this) - Build-in match-making system (currently a developer has to create it's own system) - Same for voice/mic-systems - Proper in-game menu when pressing the home button (it took Sony several months after release to implement this, and it is still not as good as the Xbox's) - Good trophy system (that doesn't have to sync 90% of the time) - Non-blocking game/system-update-downloads - Implement a max-game-update size (currently it is only limited by to the amount of bandwidth the producer wants to pay for)
Buying a PC instead of a games console if that's what you want?
The whole OtherOS thing has basically ensured that no console manufacturer will ever allow Linux installs or unsigned code on their consoles.
Let me put it this way: What benefit did Sony get from OtherOS? Now compare that to the negative publicity to when it was removed. It was always a goodwill feature, never something marketed (if you disagree, feel free to post a PS3 retail box that mentions OtherOS).
Are there any good games for the Wii? I own one but have probably spent less than 4 hours playing on it.
Not sure if trolling, but let me list a few;
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Metroid: Other M
Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Rayman Origins
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
All the Mario Parties
Resident Evil 4
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Goldeneye 007
Kirbys Return to Dreamland
Madworld
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
New Super Mario Bros
No More Heroes 1/2
And that's only the stuff I could think off the the top of my head.
They mentioned it at a few trade shows and it's mentioned in instruction manuals (that you can only read after buying the console). It wasn't marketed at all, it was never a key feature.
It's amazing this rubbish keeps getting spread. No one has been able to produce marketing about OtherOS, it's not mentioned on any of the boxes (there would be plenty of images if it was). The court case regarding OtherOS was chucked out because they weren't able to demonstrate this.
The original PSX controller was pretty good back when it was first released but it's awful these days. The sticks are just slapped on and are not ergonomically placed at all.
I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
No mention of forced updates, killing features or stripping your customers of their rights? Are we that tenderized by these practices or just "journalists"?
If it has it, I won't be buying it, and I'll be telling everyone not to buy a PS4 for that reason alone.
games has never been sonies focus for the psx series it's a vehicle to get optical disc technology x into your living room
I thought the ps3 was so powerful it would allow sony to skip at least 1 console generation.
Goldeneye 007
Tried to play this game, but it made me cringe, so bad are the graphics compared to what i'm used to these days. Also the control scheme feels quite clunky. People might like it for nostalgic reasons, but once you take away the "ooh its golden eye" factor, i'd probably prefer some shooter on the original xbox/gamecube over this.
People, what a bunch of bastards
Honestly, this attempt to create "all-in-one entertainment hubs" is exactly what is driving me away from consoles. I play consoles to play games. Some convenience features such as Netflix are nice, but the new XBL dashboard update is a perfect example of things going too far. Gaming, ostensibly what the console was designed for in the first place, is now a minor footnote amongst a flood of advertising, social media, and select slices of television. All of which, regardless of if you utilize them are not, being used as justification of the cost of walling off multiplayer and most of these features with a premium subscription (Live Gold).
I understand this isn't the case for everyone, but even still think both companies need to evaluate what they're marketing and where their priorities are, as well as making those priorities clear. There are others that agree with me, and if the future of consoles is going to be less about improving the gaming experience and more about introducing TV 2.0, then for me at least, I'm less inclined to be interested in them. I would say Nintendo is handling it best, but their refusal to embrace online interaction or community thus far and eschew modern gaming is holding them back. Hopefully they'll become a force again in the future when they begin to embrace more mature/core titles with the Wii-U, as a game console that's dedicated to gaming is something I could really get behind these days...
Sorry, but I got burned and feel cheated by Sony with their removal of the "Other OS" option. The reason they had that in the first place is so that it could be imported as a computer system instead of a game system, so with the removal of this, I feel they should be paying back fees they avoided. I'll keep playing games on my computer...
I'd like to see Nintendo thrive, because IMO they're the most ethical of the console manufacturers
Ethical including discriminating against startups and home-based family businesses? (source) How is a new video game development company supposed to become established in the video game industry in the first place? At least Microsoft has Xbox Live Indie Games, whose barrier to entry isn't any higher than, say, iOS development.
Are there any good games for the Wii?
Brawl.
I have an android tablet and phone, what would I need/want a 3DS for?
Games in genres not suited to touch control. To use examples from Nintendo DS, touch control is great for turn-based games like Advance Wars or Professor Layton, or for games fundamentally designed around positional input like Kirby Canvas Curse, Meteos, or March of the Minis. Even Animal Crossing and the DS Zelda games managed to adapt to a Diablo style control paradigm of click to go somewhere, then click to do something. But good luck playing twitch games like Tetris or New Super Mario Bros. with only touch. I tried playing Tetris on an iPhone, and there's no way I could get to my record of 100 pieces per minute (that is, 40 lines in under a minute) with that kind of control, let alone the 200+ that obsessed players from Japan have reached with a joystick. There's a reason that the touch-controlled mode in Tetris DS is more like Klotski or Rush Hour than like standard Tetris.
Mobile gaming and Indie gaming will take its place.
As for mobile gaming, see my previous comment about touch control. As for indie gaming, that's pretty much limited to PCs and phones because console makers tend to discriminate against home-based family businesses. For which platform should indies be developing games designed for a TV-sized monitor and two to four controllers, analogous to Super Smash Bros. or New Super Mario Bros. Wii?
Stop bringing up 3D games
I seem to remember reports that Sony Computer Entertainment America had almost an outright ban on 2D titles in the early years of the original PlayStation because SCEA wanted to distinguish the PlayStation from other companies' 2D-heavy consoles like the CD-i and Saturn. I can't look up sources today due to the strike, but SCEA wouldn't let Capcom make Mega Man X4-X6 until it had already made Mega Man Legends.
Say you have a game like Crash Bandicoot series or Street Fighter series or Tetris. How would that be played with a mouse and without frustration? It's like those people claiming that phones have made gaming handhelds obsolete.
may c64s are still working
But how many 1541 disk drives are still working?
At least Microsoft has Xbox Live Indie Games, whose barrier to entry isn't any higher than, say, iOS development
The only thing Microsoft has is it's the only console manufacturer offering (limited) homebrew development
Which was precisely my point.
Newbies wanting to "break in" have to cut their teeth first. Primary way in the past is via the PC
I was fully planning on doing this until CronoCloud started telling me that statistically nobody plays offline multiplayer games on a PC, despite all new TVs since around 2006 having PC inputs and all new PCs in the past decade having USB ports for multiple gamepads.
These days, you still have the very popular PC option. But you also have the iOS option
The problem with the iOS option is that an iOS device has no buttons other than Quit (or Quit, Back, and Menu on Android), and attempting to simulate buttons (e.g. Jump or Fire) with the touch screen results in frustration when the player can't tell where on the on-screen virtual buttons his thumbs are located.
Not too long ago I realized that I missed the games of yesteryear. For some reason the old school 8bit and 16bit games just really captured my interest back then.
Sure you could say its nostalgia, but I've recently been playing 8bit games that I never played before, and I find myself enjoying them far more than current gen games.
Case in point: I'm playing metroid for NES right now. I never played that game 20 years ago when it was 'new'. I bought the cart a few days ago, slapped it in the top loader NES, and can't seem to stop playing it. So is it nostalgia, or is it just a really kick ass game?
What's funny to me is when I have 'gamer' friends over they tend to laugh at me for bashing away on my snes controller like theres no tomorrow. Those squaresoft games on SNES are as good as gaming gets in my opinion. As if PS3 and 360 games are chic or cool, and those old games are just for social outcasts...
The problem with the iOS option is that an iOS device has no buttons other than Quit (or Quit, Back, and Menu on Android), and attempting to simulate buttons (e.g. Jump or Fire) with the touch screen results in frustration when the player can't tell where on the on-screen virtual buttons his thumbs are located.
That is simply not at all true, from a number of angles.
First, it's important that game CONTROL buttons be fairly huge in area so that it doesn't matter if your fingers or thumb shifts slightly. But buttons that don't matter to gameplay, like Quit or Menu can be out of the way and easy to press on demand. It's still true that a touchscreen display has an infinite number of buttons - not one.
Also, you are totally underestimating how much control value you can get from a touchscreen. Consider the game Infinity Blade, hugely popular on the iPad - there you have block, dodge left/right, and something like six possible attacks all issued from gestures and on-screen controls. That game is not frustrating at all, but simply fun to play - because just like game maker take into account what buttons can or should do, good game developers working with a touch screen adapt for that interface with controls that make sense.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Sony Music should die in a fire. Repeatedly.
Sony Electronics should try not making every little thing proprietary.
Sony Online Entertainment should learn to secure their network with something other than a wink and a nod
We live in a world where 32 GB of data can fit in an area smaller than a fingernail and is affordable.
I'm seeing 32 GB SDHC for $37 on Google Product Search. How would console makers recover that cost for each copy of each game that they sell?
Where the average HDD of a new computer holds more storage than all of my previous computers combined.
And where home Internet access via satellite dish is still limited to single digit GB per month. Not everybody lives within range of cable or DSL service, and even those are starting to see monthly caps. Or would the end user ship a hard drive to the console maker and have the console maker install a game and ship it back?
I wish the mouse and keyboard could be used as standard controllers on consoles.
sounds like Chirs Morris needs to get his one PS3 and use it for longer than a year and then get back to us.. "It only does everything" fits.. the only thing i can not do with my PS3 is Like a post on Face Book, that is my only complaint. PS4 should have FireFox built in or Chrome and then it would blow that lame old x-box out of the water. (x-box users.. sorry, my Gaming rig LapTop is better than your x-box. get with it.. made by Microsoft, running Microsoft software and 90% of the games come out on the PC.. so why get an x-box?) Any ways.. back to this horrible horrible Chirs Morris guy.. Sony has had an online meeting hub (PS HOME) since it rolled out. (the Japan one is fun to run around in too to see what will hit us NA users eventually). Games check Videos check Music check Photo viewer check (and a few nice photo journal apps) Motion Controll Check you on the screen check web surfing check & flash check video editing photo editing Video Chatting (since it came out) check Sharing Videos with friends and watch together check
Phones and tables can never be a replacement for hand helds as long as they use a touch interface.
The touch interface is too limiting compared to buttons and dpad/stick.
Any control scheme, other than tilt, reduces available screen space.
Also power on phones is significantly less than existing handhelds.
Phones and tables will have a new genre of games. They will never replace anything.
I find being offended by me offensive.
If giving just _1_ advice to SONY it is to have more memory in their machine than all the rest.
Design it for a variable amount of memory, sit tight and wait for the competition, then up your number seriously. 2x if possible.
And 4G is not enough in any way or shape. They need to one-up what a typical PC at the time can be expected to have - a made-for-PS4 game should outspec your regular PC and the easiest way is to do it with more memory.
If they want to make it a media box they need to stuff it with a big hd.
If they want it to focus on gaming only, stuff it with a fast SSD.
Don't change the architecture. Do a few internal tuneups and do some 2x-4x scaleups of the available units.
I'd also make sure to add Tiger Woods 10/11/12 ... IE: any additions since they added WM+ support.
Android 4.0 does have gamepad APIs, so never say never. I believe that only one phone has been released with an actual gamepad as part of the phone. There is just no indication of critical mass anytime soon.
Ugh... most of the games on your list are terrible from my point of view. And even the non-terrible games are lukewarm rather than hot. Again, just my opinion. I certainly agree with those who say there is practically nothing worth playing on Wii.
Make it android compatible (or rather have an inbuilt android emulator), capable of running at least a subset of android apps + games.. throw in a touch screen controller/remote for anything that is difficult to control with the ps controller.
This could allow a customizable 'home' screen, more utility as a media hub and allow it to have many features that people are used to on a smartphone/tablet and could even be linked with their android devices, using smartphone as a remote.
Create their own app store but open development to android community.. then concentrate on improving the core functionality of the device while others are filling in all the small details that would make the console more useful.
Integrate PlayTV into the box to help make it a fully featured media hub out of the box.
it's important that game CONTROL buttons be fairly huge in area so that it doesn't matter if your fingers or thumb shifts slightly.
Without looking at the buttons, how will the player know which button he is pressing? How, for example, can he tell the difference between straight up and diagonally up and to the right? It's not like he can feel the edges of the buttons or the spring action as a key goes up or down, as one can do with a keyboard or a gamepad. A touch screen is in effect perfectly flat. The only surefire solution I can see is to make two-button games: the single button under the left thumb moves to the left, the button under the right thumb moves to the right, and both buttons together do something else.
The PS3 is good, but I wish game consoles could just focus on being the best game console they can be. I mean the having features of the PS3 is great, but there have been so many times that I've wanted to disconnect it from my home network because of it's constant updating. So often I'll go to check out the store and find that I need another system update, or I'll go to play a game and find that there's required updates... Seriously I want to play my game! If it wasn't connected to the internet it would work just the same. I understand the benefits of updates too, but it just frustrates the hell out of me when it happens so often.
How about they make a great console that isn't so buggy that it constantly requires updating, sure have the home entertainment features that everyone has become familiar with, but focus on 'completing' these features, as well as the 'game console' aspect (we shouldn't see any slow down playing games on new consoles... Final Fantasy XIII), and while Blu-ray is a great technology, it is still subject to scratching, cracking, and all the various problems of discs, I remember years ago it was suggested that having discs inside a protective casing to avoid so many of these all to common issues. I'm sure that's something many people would like to see, and it would save us all money not having to buy new copies (memories of PS1). Anyway, rant rant.. would just like to see some overall improvement in product quality and hopefully the PS4 could be the start of that :)
The next gen should be aiming at some serious spec upgrade like 16GB Ram plus at least 2GB of DDR5 on the graphic card. Small SSD hard drive for the games and huge 1TB hard drive for media! And off course faster and more reliable Blu-Ray drive! Maybe even removable BR drive so that if or when it crap out the average Joe can open a latch and replace it himself instead of paying a technician to do it! Better CPU is a maybe because let face it the GPU is handling most of the work anyway. In fact I go with more reliable and more energy efficient cpu instead of faster. Less juice equal less heat equal less hardware failure! And for god sake put some usb port in the back! At this point you might as well build your own gaming rig it going to be cheaper than a PS4! loll Seriously they can just do a few minor upgrade to the current ps3 and call it a PS4. USB 3, cross game chat so that we wont hear kids nagging about it for another five fucking years toss a cheap headset in the box so that everybody will talk now! (More like Yell!) A few GB of Ram and maybe support Ext4 for external hard drive because Fat 32 is just too damn old! Wireless N is another no brainer I still can't believe Sony did not include that in the slim! A cool upgrade that won't happen is include or develop a PS4 router that already configured to give you freaking NAT 2!
Any reason why the $400-$800+ for a halfway decent TV is always left out of these price points? Wouldn't be because that nukes the supposed cost advantage of consoles, would it? Then there's the fact that a decent PC video card combined with a decent CPU will play every PC game under the sun - whereas you have to buy more than one console if you are into more than one game franchise. Want to play Zelda and Halo?
Of course you can keep your TV between console generations, but the same goes for PC hardware. Buy a quality power supply, and you can swap in a new video card and motherboard/cpu combo every few years to keep up.
Of course there's high end video cards that cost more than $500, but those are no more necessary than buying a $5000 TV and $800 sound system for the latest Call of Duty for the Xbox 360.
Make special editions of the PS4 for the markets in China & India, & expand penetration there. That would go a great deal into expanding their coverage, as well as market share. Have price points targeting the sweet spots of those markets, and offer content produced by Sony's entertainment division in all these countries, as well as the West. In short, make this a movie watching box first, and a gaming device next.
Otherwise, a lot of people are happy w/ their PS2s & PS3s, and won't see a compelling reason to move. Instead of trying to force them, the above suggestion of expanding into newer markets would give them the most returns.
Also, include things like USB flash drives slots, and make that the preferred media for distribution of games & movies. Since piracy is rampant in these countries, model the business so that the PS4 boxes make most of the money for Sony, while keeping it affordable for the target population.
I think sony products are good to use and we can use it long time, On the other hand the price is very high as a result all the people to not buy it. uswebauthority
Perhaps the PS3 sales would have been better if the device was actually compatible with the PS2.
I would have bought a PS3 but I'm still waiting for it to be compatible.... in the meantime I got given a Wii.
Again... I would have exchanged the Wii but there wasn't a device for me.
I'll be laughing my head off if the PS4 can't play PS3 games.
Microsoft and Sony need to keep in mind I've spent a lot of money on media for the older systems; compatibility makes me buy, lack of it makes me look at the other system. So of course I have an original PS3, which is highly compatible with the PS2. I eventually bought a 360, but it was literally years after release (and I'm still pissed it won't run Mechassault... and I *still* have an original XBox hooked up so I can play those games.)
If they don't care about the money I've invested already... then I don't really care about their new hotness. It's really just that simple. It's not like I don't have other things to do, or other choices I can make. My lady and I just had an interesting conversation about all the cool stuff that competes for our attention these days. No big loss if the 720 or ps4 or whatever doesn't get to join the clamor.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
For the record: for a TV sitting across the living room to be of the same viewing area of a 30" screen right in front of you, you're talking at least a 50 inch LCD TV. Most of which are still around a thousand dollars, and all of which are well over $400....so you were saying?
And if you ask console gamers why they bought a high def TV, what would the answer be? Sure, they might say sports and movies but also....games. But okay, let's say "most people" own TV's independent of playing console games.
However, speaking of "bursting bubbles", you can make the same argument for computers - "most people" have PC's in their home, independent of playing computer games. And for the cost of a couple controllers for a console, you can buy a cheap dedicated graphics card that will do as good or better in that PC as anything an Xbox 360 or PS3 can do. If the base cost of a TV can be written off for console gaming "because most people have a TV", the base cost of a basic PC can be written off "because most people have a PC". The supposed cost advantage of consoles: thoroughly re-nuked.
Now you're just putting on the clown shoes. A motherboard/cpu combo can be had for less than half the cost of a new console. Throw in a cheap graphics card, a stick of RAM, and you'll have a system that will blow the doors off a PS3 or 360 for the cost of a Wii. Or did you skip over the part where console costs can be inflated right along with PC gaming costs? You want to start talking $300 processors or $300 graphics cards, and we'll also start talking about $5000 TV's and $800 stereo systems.
But, amazing things can be done when selective math is used in conjunction with leaning an elbow on one side of the scales.
Without looking at the buttons, how will the player know which button he is pressing?
Dude, you can just try it and see!
You can tell if your finger is on the left or the right (or the middle) of the screen. And I don't know about you, but I can usually tell if I am moving my thumb up or down!
The iD Tech demo "Epic Citidel" had a very nice 3D movement system where one thumb moved you, while the other looked around. Combine that with a tap on each thumb to attack or gestures, and you have a perfectly good game mechanic.
As I stated, there are a LOT of games that work quite well to demonstrate there is no truth to the statement you cannot do game controls on a touch screen.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I can usually tell if I am moving my thumb up or down!
The player can tell that his thumb is moving but not necessarily how far it has moved or where it has ended up relative to fixed on-screen elements unless he takes his eyes off the action. Even if the player can tell that he has moved his thumb up, he can't easily tell whether he have moved it from the bottom of the on-screen directional pad to the center or from the bottom to the top. Or did you mean not using any fixed on-screen elements?
As I stated, there are a LOT of games that work quite well
And in order to make my own working control method, I assume you're telling me to look to those games as examples. But is there a good way to try these games without paying a cellular carrier several hundred dollars more per year for smartphone service than what I currently pay?
So in other words, you're telling me "Plays better with a Bluetooth keyboard" in the description won't hurt sales too much. Am I correct?
DOWNLOAD FUCKING EPIC FUCKING CITIDEL AND TRY IT.
I would, but I have no immediate plan to buy an iPhone or an iPad, and Epic's page mentions no Android version. Google epic citadel android gives news reports that mention an Android version inside Epic's offices, but I see no evidence that the Android version has been released to the public.