consoles

[Hiimori]

We all love our hobby and when a company like MS comes out and tells me I no longer own my games, I just rent them for a fee and a confirmation every 24hrs it really brings out the worst in emotions.

Yes, checking in every 24 hours makes me feel like I'm on parole  :P

[Grimnirsson]

No question, the Xbox 360 was the last Microsoft console that I bought  because a company that tries to control, regulate and narrow the hobby in this way will always try to force the consumer to 'obey' to their 'we want more profit' rules. I simply don't trust them anymore and I did trust them based on what they achieved with the Xbox brand - after their arrogant 'we tell you how it works now and you will buy it anyway' answers to concerned gamers they have shown their real face. I suppose the Xbox One's internal  name is WII Fuck U and personally I'm done with this company when it comes to consoles. They have stated this is the way to go now and I have decided to say 'No!' - plain and simple

[Centurion40]

[W8taminute]

^Awesome!  I love it, great find 40.

[Arctic Blast]

And bring on the expected changes : http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/194649/Microsoft_confirms_Xbox_One_DRM_policy_reversal.php

    Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

    For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

    Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

    You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

    So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

    An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

    Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

    In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions.

    These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

    We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.

    Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.


Vice President of Xbox Live Marc Whitten tells Kotaku that the changes will come at a price, including a day-one patch and some lost features:

    There's a few things we won't be able to deliver as a result of this change. One of the things we were very excited about was 'wherever we go my games are always with me.' Now, of course your physical games won't show up that way. [However] the games you bought digitally will.

    ...Similarly, the sharing library [is something] we won't be able to deliver at launch.

[W8taminute]

If only now they remove the Kinnect restrictions there could be some hope but I'm not counting on it nor do I trust MS.  Too little too late, this should have been the policy from day one.  Nice try though MS, nice try.

They also need to allow the owner to swap out the hard drive just like you can in the 360.  Anyway, for me it's a moot point. 

[Centurion40]

How dumb disconnected they are from reality, that they could not predict the original backlash.

[Arctic Blast]

How dumb disconnected they are from reality, that they could not predict the original backlash.

Do you honestly think they cooked all of this up in a vacuum? Of course they didn't. I guarantee you the big publishers were in total agreement with the whole deal...right up until things went bad.

[JasonPratt]

Back to the question on PS4 compatibility: unless GaiKing (or whatever it is) provides free downloads of titles I already bought for the PS3, which is still a huge bother, it still isn't backwards compatible in any way that matters. If I must rebuy the game, I might as well be rebuying the game for the PS4.

I'm saying this as someone who loves the PS, and has a huge stock of games going back to the PS1. It irks me insultingly that backwards compatibility was dropped for the PS3 (or rather skipped over the PS2). Yes, I know they dropped the PS2 hardware to cut production costs of the PS3, which Sony was losing money on with every unit sold for years. But if unit production cost was really an issue, they could have just continued to produce units at an extra $50 or whatever, rather than continuing to sell new PS2 units for over $100. Those of us who wanted the compatibility would have paid for it. We'd still pay for it now!--I'd pay an extra $100 for full PS3 and PS2 hardware compatibility in my PS4, just so I don't have to go to the bother of keeping three units plugged up to my TV somewhere, or unpacking them if (God forbid) I want to play Godzilla Save The Earth or inFamous.

But then I'd have a full library already and less impetus to create a whole new library? MORONS IF YOU SELL ME ON HOW NIFTY NEW GAMES ARE I WILL BUY THEM!! Heck, I'll even buy old games I haven't gotten around to yet, and you can earn some money on that (as PSN is well aware, having been selling PS1 titles for years and recently starting to work through the huge backlog of PS2 titles.)

>:(

No doubt I'll get a PS4 eventually (once a decent library has been built up), but until then I'm switching back to PC. Backwards compatibility is king, and I don't think I'm alone in this -- I've seen a lot of reaction on line to the effect of screw it, a decent computer can be built and put together for not much more than a new PS4. It may be more bother but it's more rewarding and that's what sells products at the end of the day.

[Hiimori]

I gave up on backward compatibility a long time ago - neither XBox One nor PS4 will be able to play my old games - although there are rumors that some XBLA games will come to XBone, and Gaikai sounds promising, too (but I won't rely on any of these, and I certainly won't be able to play all of my games there, especially not the more esoteric ones :P).

I resorted to the only method which ensures that I will be able to play my old games - I keep my old consoles and whenever I feel the need to play an old game, I launch my Original XBox, Dreamcast, N64, whatever... an ugly, but reliable solution. Of course it would be more comfortable if each new console was able to play the titles of its predecessors, but since each console comes with an entirely new architecture, and integrating a compatibility feature would raise the prices of new consoles, I gave up on expecting backward compatibility.

Two problems with this method, though - once in a while, an old console dies (as did my Playstation 1 when the laser got screwed), but luckily, most of the old consoles are still available at low prices. Another problem is that companies cut off the online support / online gaming features of older games, but on the other hand, most older online games are dead anyway (heck, many current gen games are dead already). So I'm looking forward to new games on new consoles, and from time to time, I play old games on old consoles (but, to be honest, the current ones are usually more interesting and attractive, and it's only a handful of very special all-time classics which are dug out from time to time).

For the period of transition between two console generations, I certainly keep both consoles plugged in as long as possible.

[JasonPratt]

I only gave up on backwards compat recently (because I lucked out and found a new Gen1PS3 that served me well for three or four years, God rest its soul in heaven). So it still burrrrrnnnnsss!!!!! {gnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailgnashgnashgnashwailllll!!!!}

{pant}
{pant}

Sure, I have a totally fresh PS2 carefully wrapped away in a box somewhere, but pulling all that out and setting it up (especially hooking cables behind my heavy TV), to play a handful of special games?--annoying enough I haven't done it yet. Also, my old PS3 upscaled PS2 games beautifully.

So never the hell mind PS4. When you can sell me a library along with a console, I'll think about it. Meanwhile, I'm investing this week in a 360 controller for Windows, and maybe a new flightstick.

(Mental note to ask around the forum for flightstick recommendations...)

[Hiimori]

(Mental note to ask around the forum for flightstick recommendations...)

We are quite content with the Saitek Aviator for Xbox 360, but there's also a PC model available.

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/av360.html

[JasonPratt]

That does look quite nice. Thx!

[JasonPratt]

I meant to ask how well it plays with Win8. (I notice there's a PC/PS3 edition, too, which is even better for me! :D)

Edited to add: never mind the PS3 version derides windows and Saitek apparently no longer supports it. :(

[Barthheart]