General Gaming Thread

[TKz]

I'm not sure I'd even be getting it if not for what seems like a possibility of FFXV as a launch title. If it turns out that it won't be, I'm going to have a hard time justifying it to myself as I don't really care for any of the other games announced. (The ones I can remember, anyway.)

[Quom]

I'll be going PC until either something amazing drops/my PCs graphics are much worse/big enough price drop to make it worth it. It's too easy to switch it from a monitor to my big arse tv to need a console. Add in the pricing of PC games and a far superior HTPC set up and consoles are dead to me.

[TKz]

I'm buying an AMD 7970 next week. (Which, if I recall, is actually the PS4's graphics card) In that respect, it's kind of silly to buy a PS4, but Final Fantasy is console exclusive... and for all it's faults recently, that series is pretty much one of my favorite things ever... so, PS4 it is. >_>

[EWB's Best Poster.]

I'd think 500 dollars is a good amount. The bluray component was one of the more expensive parts of the last one, and they are cheaper to make now. Plus just like later models I don't think the first models will be loaded with ports, as they took some out to make it cheaper then too.

They got a lot of flak for being 600 last time. Although they were the only HD players out there at the time for movies right out of the box if I recall. With bluray being more common place I think it won't hit 600 again. Then again I don't know. They may add the camera right into the package and that could add some.

Guess we find out in a couple months.

[Cactus Drags]

I still find it hard to believe that next-gen consoles will be always-on and block preowned games, purely for the fact that connectivity and speed are still huge issues for large parts of the world. I also would have thought that MS and Sony would have seen sales data that says that new game sales are largely funded by trade-ins. If you kill that possibility off, you're looking at huge sales drops or having to make new games much, much cheaper. And in doing so, you're going to piss off the retail sector, which I'd imagine would negatively affect console sales too.

[King Ellis]

Speeeeeeeeaking of trade ins, I'm now like 95% in credit towards something, most likely GTAV, unless Game decide to charge like £45-50 for it.

Or if EDF2025 somehow comes out before it and is competitively priced compared to the internets.

[Dan]

Eh, pre-owned games are only sold in a few places these days. Two of them (HMV and GAME) have gone to shit once already so I'm not sure how much Microsoft/Sony would care about annoying them, you've obviously got the online sites that sell them too but I'm sure they don't have anywhere near as much reliability on pre-owned profits as actual stores. The only other places I can think of is Grainger Games which is hardly a massive chain and CeX (and similar) which is 100% pre-owned so I the big guns wouldn't care as they get no profit from them.

The only people they should be worried about pissing off is the consumer.

I agree that online-only would be dumb as shit, it wouldn't bother me waiting 6 hours+ to download a game as such, more the fact that my internet in the past has been unreliable and usually during that period I can throw on a story-driven game and pass some time, if they took that away from me I most certainly wouldn't be buying that console.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

Sonys actually gone a rather clever way to get a lessened impact from resales.

Being not always on (they stated that for fact) they are pushing the download option by making it easy to access, playing while its downloading etc.

If they were smart and dropped three bucks off every game you downloaded at launch? Likely kill well over half the resales. People would think "save cash and not have to leave house? I'll take that"

Hell make it five and thats likely all youll get to sell most games back, makes it a good way to go around it.

So rather than push installs and always on drm they are going the way of not having hardcopy more enticing.

[TKz]

Speeeeeeeeaking of trade ins, I'm now like 95% in credit towards something, most likely GTAV, unless Game decide to charge like £45-50 for it.

Or if EDF2025 somehow comes out before it and is competitively priced compared to the internets.

I'd be more surprised if they didn't sell it for £45-50. It's hilarious that they expect to compete with the online market by charging almost £15 more in some cases.

[Colly]

Eh, pre-owned games are only sold in a few places these days. Two of them (HMV and GAME) have gone to shit once already so I'm not sure how much Microsoft/Sony would care about annoying them, you've obviously got the online sites that sell them too but I'm sure they don't have anywhere near as much reliability on pre-owned profits as actual stores. The only other places I can think of is Grainger Games which is hardly a massive chain and CeX (and similar) which is 100% pre-owned so I the big guns wouldn't care as they get no profit from them.

Tesco do pre-owned games, and they aren't going anywhere soon.

[Cactus Drags]

Eh, pre-owned games are only sold in a few places these days. Two of them (HMV and GAME) have gone to shit once already so I'm not sure how much Microsoft/Sony would care about annoying them, you've obviously got the online sites that sell them too but I'm sure they don't have anywhere near as much reliability on pre-owned profits as actual stores. The only other places I can think of is Grainger Games which is hardly a massive chain and CeX (and similar) which is 100% pre-owned so I the big guns wouldn't care as they get no profit from them.

The only people they should be worried about pissing off is the consumer.

I agree that online-only would be dumb as shit, it wouldn't bother me waiting 6 hours+ to download a game as such, more the fact that my internet in the past has been unreliable and usually during that period I can throw on a story-driven game and pass some time, if they took that away from me I most certainly wouldn't be buying that console.

A large portion of whom fund purchases of new titles with trade-ins.

[Benji]

I can't wait for the Steambox, or whatever it's going to be called. A company with knowledge of how to go about conducting digital sales producing a console is a wonderful thing. Microsoft and Sony need to show that they can be trusted to decently discount digital games in order to encourage people to buy directly, rather than through trade-ins. If they want to make up those sales, they've got to be willing to meet consumers half way.

[Cactus Drags]

The issue isn't whether they can, as they both have (Sony to a greater degree than MS). It's whether they will that concerns me.

If there is going to be this huge focus on digital, then I'm hoping there's going to be a price war across multiplatform titles.

"Oh, Sony are doing Super Shooter X for £25? Well, we'll do it for £24 and give you the Super Shooter Helmet of Awesome (RRP £5) for free!"

[EWB's Best Poster.]

I'd rather not have that. I usually buy one console and can do without more internet crowing from different party fanboys about how they got a hat.

[Cactus Drags]

It doesn't have to be a hat! It could be gloves! Or cool aviator glasses!

In all seriousness, I can give or take bonus stuff, but a bit of price competition wouldn't hurt at all.

[Bobfoc]

I'd like to see download keys/codes being sold by all the regular retailers, much like you see with PC games. A significant number of games activate through Steam these days, but that doesn't stop other outlets selling them, and it also means that competitive pricing within the PC market has remained intact. As it stands right now, Microsoft and Sony commonly over-charge for major releases through their online stores, and this will have to change if they're going establish themselves as major forces in the digital distribution scene. As long as there are other options for customers as far as digital downloads are concerned, I can see things going well, but if the only avenues for customers are the bespoke stores themselves, digital sales aren't likely to make major inroads into the current retail model.

[Your Mom]

Remember that game Peter Molyneaux was involved with where people teamed up to chip away at a cube and there was one prize in the whole world and you.could spend half a million buck for the special pick ax? Yeah what happened with that?

[Bobfoc]

It's still going. In January, someone managed to work out that only around 12% of the cube had been chipped, meaning that the prize would probably revealed by around the end of 2013. If I remember correctly, the game had some very bad server problems when it launched, resulting in an appeal for donations through the game's official website. Apparently, it's much more stable now, but it'll probably be a while before anyone finds out what the grand prize ends up being.

[TKz]

It'll be a picture of ol' Pete, giving the thumbs up with a very 90's animated gif that says AWESOME, with sparkles flying around it.

[Cactus Drags]

It's still going. In January, someone managed to work out that only around 12% of the cube had been chipped, meaning that the prize would probably revealed by around the end of 2013. If I remember correctly, the game had some very bad server problems when it launched, resulting in an appeal for donations through the game's official website. Apparently, it's much more stable now, but it'll probably be a while before anyone finds out what the grand prize ends up being.

How exactly does one work that out?