MSFT's current strategy (the original one was so much better, even with the "check-ins") has me a bit underwhelmed / annoyed. Why?
* Kinect - i liked the original, they threw the sequel under the bus to cut costs. First party support has been virtually non-existent since Kinect Sports Rivals (i have 7 or so "arcade" games for it), The next update further cripples Kinect by changing to Cortana - which by the way sucks on PCs and is much worse than the current Xbox format. The preview members seem not to be impressed.
* Windows 10 - MSFT wants to make all the devices use Windows 10 (even merging the Windows 10 and Xbox Stores). Essentially, they are trying to uncouple the Xbox from the actual console (yes, it makes a certain amount of sense) - kind of like turning Xbox as a console into a "Steam Machine". This kind of suggests that future funding for "1st party" titles will necessarily decrease. The whole games as a service is something i can never get behind though.
However, i hate Windows 10 (at least my current experience with it) - i could do without the 5+ minute boot times, program crashes and the like. It is too damn slow (everything has slowed down from Windows 7). Calling Windows 10 a steaming pile of dog shit would not be fair to the dog shit (don't get me started on the truly awful Edge browser)
* Media Center - the original plan had the Xbox One as more of a media center that played games. i prefer this (since modern games are kind of crap - and the marked price inflation on "indie" titles). Now MSFT cancelled the DVR functionality for over-the-air broadcasts, lame (they didn't officially cancel it, but if you've seen MSFT's response to other things it is cancelled). The problem is that they are so enamored with streaming service (i'm not a fan). A DVR solution where you wouldn't have to pay monthly fees (or a large upfront cost) would have been awesome
* Lionhead situation - this is not all current, but reading the stuff on Lionhead does not instill confidence in me. It could also be known as the way Phil Harrison and Phil Spencer killed Lionhead. Chasing a games as a service model was profoundly stupid (see Game Room, Project Spark, etc).
* Scorpio or the iterative model - this one i have no problem with, assuming it would be something like PC equivalent (i don't play games on PC) - Xbox One is medium/high setting, Xbox Scorpio is High/Ultra and the like, well as long as they don't stop making Xbox One compatible games in the next several years. i wouldn't upgrade (since they are rumored to be taking out both the HDMI in, which i don't use, and the Kinect port).
If i didn't have so many games i might switch to PS4. Actually, probably not as they don't have enough hard drive space (no external drive support), they don't use real batteries in their controllers (which means they will all die), and i'm not a fan of their game catalog (the only thing i'd be interested in is Star Ocean, well currently).
So, Sony if you want me to purchase a PS4 i need:
* PS One Classics support (none of this subscription streaming crap)
* a larger stock hard drive (at least 1 TB) external hard drive support would be good too
* Price: $299.99 or less.
No comments:
Post a Comment