What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

[ODogg]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

I'm not saying it's bad or anything like that I'm just saying I'm tired of all these people talking about stuff like this like it is totally brand new tech, and it just isn't.

Although I do believe that the new consoles are trash, but that's just like my opinion, man.

I mean it's great that people are enjoying it but I just get bothered by people thinking something is new when it actually isn't. Kinda like how sports games are the same exact game year after year until the next gen comes along and then they have to upgrade them. Or how about CoD which hasn't changed since 2007.

It's the same sort of idea people think it's all new and fancy and great but it really isn't and it's part of the reason why AAA gaming has totally fallen off.

I have probably been playing PC games longer than most of you have been alive (for about 30 years now) so I am well aware that a HTPC can do some, or even most all of these options, if you're willing to spend the time and effort it can take but it's apples and oranges comparing consoles to PCs in regards to gaming and tv integration. I mean I come from both worlds so I just don't see them as being rivals in this respect.

And lest anyone doubt I don't know the possibility, I currently have a very good gaming setup on a PC connected to my 67" HDTV and have had similar setup a with tv tuner cards in the past.

The Xbox One offers an all-in-one cost effective solution that will not need constantly upgraded, will not need constant driver updates, incompatibilities amongst software and/or hardware combinations and will, because of the static nature of the hardware, offer the best bang for the monetary value in regards to needing new hardware swap outs.

But in the end, even if you could forget about all of those things there's on undeniable fact that you cannot get around: no HTPC will play Xbox One games. So again...apples and oranges..

[Knight165]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

I have probably been playing PC games longer than most of you have been alive (for about 30 years now) so I am well aware that a HTPC can do some, or even most all of these options, if you're willing to spend the time and effort it can take but it's apples and oranges comparing consoles to PCs in regards to gaming and tv integration. I mean I come from both worlds so I just don't see them as being rivals in this respect.

And lest anyone doubt I don't know the possibility, I currently have a very good gaming setup on a PC connected to my 67" HDTV and have had similar setup a with tv tuner cards in the past.

The Xbox One offers an all-in-one cost effective solution that will not need constantly upgraded, will not need constant driver updates, incompatibilities amongst software and/or hardware combinations and will, because of the static nature of the hardware, offer the best bang for the monetary value in regards to needing new hardware swap outs.

But in the end, even if you could forget about all of those things there's on undeniable fact that you cannot get around: no HTPC will play Xbox One games. So again...apples and oranges..

Well....I've got you beat by a few years in the PC gaming(gaming in general) department.(but that and $2.75 will only get me a subway ride......why mention it....I have no idea!)...and I'm not sure of your setup....but with my measly 50" desktop setup I can......all at the same time...on the same screen...
-Play my XBox360 or PS3 or PC games(I'm going with last gen as I've used this setup for years) on the main screen
-Watch any broadcast in the PiP box(or take my Skype calls in it....but I never do)
AND..listen to Sirius/XM....or any radio station all from the same Digital Media Center

I can flip the PiP to the Main screen and the XBox/PS3/PC game to the PiP at any time(cool play happening?....go BIG!)

Play my XBox on the main....PS3 or PC game in the PiP or the other way around.....or any combo

So unless I am missing what you guys are saying......(and I could be!).....

M.K.
Knight165

[studbucket]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

You guys sound like Microsoft employees

We deal all the time with the "98052 effect". The folks from in and around Redmond, WA are hyper-technical and super nerds. They have all the crazy home theater and automation setups and view most of our decisions as backwards and behind the times.

I'm not that crazy into devices, but even I have a quad-tuner Media Center PC running and I built my own PCs.

However, the typical Xbox One user (and there are outliers on both sides) is not that technical. He loves games first and foremost. He also likes watching TV and streaming content, and generally has expendable income.

While you guys are Xbox One customers, and valued ones, you certainly fall into the more technically savvy end of Xbox customers.

All of your points are valid. However, the rest of the world had no clue you could do that awesome stuff with HTPCs...and even if they did, they wouldn't know where to start. Saying "tuner card" immediately makes their head spin.

[Knight165]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

You guys sound like Microsoft employees

We deal all the time with the "98052 effect". The folks from in and around Redmond, WA are hyper-technical and super nerds. They have all the crazy home theater and automation setups and view most of our decisions as backwards and behind the times.

I'm not that crazy into devices, but even I have a quad-tuner Media Center PC running and I built my own PCs.

However, the typical Xbox One user (and there are outliers on both sides) is not that technical. He loves games first and foremost. He also likes watching TV and streaming content, and generally has expendable income.

While you guys are Xbox One customers, and valued ones, you certainly fall into the more technically savvy end of Xbox customers.

All of your points are valid. However, the rest of the world had no clue you could do that awesome stuff with HTPCs...and even if they did, they wouldn't know where to start. Saying "tuner card" immediately makes their head spin.

Absolutely.
My point is definitely not to denigrate the XBone capabilities(they're awesome!) or the definite ease in which you've opened up pretty much the same setup(minus the swap.....unless I missed how to do that)....that I use...but more towards the last line in O'Dogg's post about not being able to play console games on my PC setup that mimics theOne's setup....when that's what I've been doing for quite some time now.

M.K.
Knight165

[Knight165]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

On the subject.....one advantage to theOne setup is how it is the entire side of the screen.....(the PiP box....while I can adjust the size and location.....it's never the entire side of the screen) and it doesn't overlay the main screen image intrusively as the PiP box does.

M.K.
Knight165

[ubernoob]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

What I believe is the best thing about Next-Gen systems?

Honestly, it's the fact that "the little guys" are getting more and more notice for the things they bring to gaming. AAA gaming is, for lack of a better word, stagnant. There are a plethora of reasons for this (which a lot of them come back to the budgets and priorities being out of whack) but it's good to see good games get recognized, no matter where they come from. I don't like calling them "indie games" because A) That term has a negative connotation and B) that term, for the internet, has so many different meanings and nit-picky definitions it's ridiculous. Please note that I am only using the term for relative ease of description, because it's what most people will associate them with in their head.

Three of the best PS4 games out at this moment are what some people would call "indie games". Zen Pinball 2, Resogun and Don't Starve. Those stack up favorably (in terms of fun factor and 'would I enjoy spending my time playing this?') with any AAA game released for any system in the time they've come out.

What I truly want out of this generation, though? I say this with baited breath, of course, but I want a return to form (and prominence) of those true "AA" games. Games that don't have the bloated marketing budgets, games that aim for their particular niche and hit them in full stride.

The PS2 was fantastic for this type of game. The 360 and PS3 seemed to go more towards "Indie/AAA or bust!" mindset (especially later in the PS3 lifecycle, though there are still a few titles coming out that are more of a lower budget type deal.)

Right now, major game publishing companies won't even take a look at a game if it's not insanely profitable. Not "well above breaking even." That's a sad state of affairs, and it's why we see crap reboots coming out - that's neither here nor there, though.

Note: "New IPs" doesn't equate to taking chances, at all. They can go hand-in-hand, but not necessarily so.

[metalmilitia623]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

He loves games first and foremost. He also likes watching TV and streaming content, and generally has expendable income.

I wanted to single this bit out because based on the games coming out some (myself included) may say that the XBO customers do not "love" games first and in fact just sort of enjoy games. Maybe that is why almost every AAA game has gone from being about the games to being about how to gain the largest audience (via casualization) and how to make the most amount of money (via microtransactions and DLC).

AAA gaming is supposed to be the major league of video games and where we see the best of the best but it seems as though AAA in the video game world is synonymous with shoddy quality and mass marketed crap.

Essentially AAA games have gone the way of Radio and TV where the majority of what is aired is just bland garbage but somehow people still watch and listen to it.

If you apply the logic from this song to games specifically AAA then it fits perfectly.
<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/A0Gs4xGw1Eg?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/A0Gs4xGw1Eg?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Now obviously this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'm willing to bet this is going to be the majority of the console market. I know a bunch of people who are on the fence about next gen and thinking PC may be the better route because that's where the games are.

[ODogg]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

I'd lie to just pointout that my original, first post was regarding speed of starting a game and speed of exiting it, not the TV capabilities of the Xbox One. While I do mention TV in the post it's not in specific reference to a consoles tv functions. Hence my comments being about what I like best about next-gen, not what I like best about XBox One.

The PS4 is as fast, if not faster, in switching from me playing Need for Speed to me watching Judge Judy. I wanted to make that clear considering some of the last posts in this thread regarding HTPC....really has nothing to do with my original point..

[metalmilitia623]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

I'd lie to just pointout that my original, first post was regarding speed of starting a game and speed of exiting it, not the TV capabilities of the Xbox One. While I do mention TV in the post it's not in specific reference to a consoles tv functions. Hence my comments being about what I like best about next-gen, not what I like best about XBox One.

The PS4 is as fast, if not faster, in switching from me playing Need for Speed to me watching Judge Judy. I wanted to make that clear considering some of the last posts in this thread regarding HTPC....really has nothing to do with my original point..

Apparently I read that a bit wrong, ha.

So then does that mean you're talking about the faster loading times and new found ability to (essentially) alt+tab out of games?

The difference here being some PC games absolutely hate being tabbed out of while I would assume that this feature on consoles is slightly different than how alt+tabbing works and won't make games crash because they don't like to be tabbed out of.

[ODogg]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

Apparently I read that a bit wrong, ha.

So then does that mean you're talking about the faster loading times and new found ability to (essentially) alt+tab out of games?

The difference here being some PC games absolutely hate being tabbed out of while I would assume that this feature on consoles is slightly different than how alt+tabbing works and won't make games crash because they don't like to be tabbed out of.

Switch between apps without exiting to main UI, background downloading, fast loading, play while you install, suspend and resume, speediness of the UI, all combined for ability to quickly pick up and play instead of a gaming session needing to occupy a significant amount of time.

In other words the time now spent with the system is actual gaming, not getting ready to game or the other associated tasks related to it...

[metalmilitia623]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

Switch between apps without exiting to main UI, background downloading, fast loading, play while you install, suspend and resume, speediness of the UI, all combined for ability to quickly pick up and play instead of a gaming session needing to occupy a significant amount of time.

In other words the time now spent with the system is actual gaming, not getting ready to game or the other associated tasks related to it...

Sounds to me like it's essentially a tablet/phone OS on the consoles. It's interesting in terms of simplicity and familiarity but those OS's can be kind of hogging to resources and if you get caught with too many apps open I could see massive frame rate drops occurring depending on the game.

[ubernoob]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

We get it, dude. You love your PC.

Relax with your agenda, I've never seen anyone with an axe to grind about it so much. Now I see why us PC Gamers get a bad rap.

[ODogg]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

Sounds to me like it's essentially a tablet/phone OS on the consoles. It's interesting in terms of simplicity and familiarity but those OS's can be kind of hogging to resources and if you get caught with too many apps open I could see massive frame rate drops occurring depending on the game.

Considering I've yet to see that as an issue on the 12 launch games I own I don't think that will be much of an issue. The primary advantage over PCs is that specs are static and can therefore be maximized as the devs know everyone has the exact same hardware. So games and the UI on consoles only get better in time, not worse, as devs get more used to the hardware and maximize it's capabilities.

And yes I love PC gaming as well but this thread was more about next gen consoles versus last gen, not next gen consoles versus PC.

[metalmilitia623]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

Considering I've yet to see that as an issue on the 12 launch games I own I don't think that will be much of an issue. The primary advantage over PCs is that specs are static and can therefore be maximized as the devs know everyone has the exact same hardware. So games and the UI on consoles only get better in time, not worse, as devs get more used to the hardware and maximize it's capabilities.

And yes I love PC gaming as well but this thread was more about next gen consoles versus last gen, not next gen consoles versus PC.

That's good, I just know if I let too many apps run on my phone it will start to bog down. Like I said it has PC handily beat in simplicity and ease of use.

I was thinking if you were using netflix and hopped out of that switched to something else then switched to a game like GTA or some other large scale game and with all those thing still running in the background it might cause issues. Kinda like when you're on PC and you have too many background programs running. <---- See PC has it's problems too.

[Hester]

Re: What I believe is the BEST thing about the next-gen systems...

The notion that there is a $500 PC that can do everything the One does, while being simplistically plug and play is laughable.

We'll see if a Steam Box can match up, but even those seem to run in the $1000 and up range.

I agree with the OP, in that fast switching has made a bigger difference than I would have thought. This was clear the other night while watching Justified. My wife forgot something from last year's finale. From Tivo, she was able to pause, go directly to Amazon Video, and then launch last year's finale, not only without a remote, but so much faster. Then, after she saw what she wanted, it was a simple, "Go to TV" and "Play" to be right back where we were.

Input One makes a difference, from getting messages from friends and notifications that downloads are ready to play while watching regular TV, to instantly jumping from games to other apps without a controller or remote, this really is a game changer. It might be approaching the same level of necessity as Tivo did years ago. I want all my games on the One and digital.

Basically, this is the true Entertainment System that Nintendo tried to claim with their first consoles.