I want a game console, not a multimedia internet device. I already have that, it s called a PC.

And thus the pendulum swings back. The Xbox made me love consoles again...now I'm back to playing mostly PC games again.

People want convergence. With all the cross platform games out there, I hardly matters anymore if you've got an Xbox, Wii, or PS. They only buy specific consoles for the exclusives, but if there are only one or two of them, it's not worth it.

What gamers what is what these companies will never give them: convergance. The ability to play any game on any platform. games need to become platform neutral. or make a single platform that can be loaded on any OS

*future

Adding video to channels (Future) - requested by ant.

@VoodooV

I'm getting the impression people are getting a little overly bent out of shape about the Xbox One's convergence features.

Spec-wise it's all but identical to the PS4 so no apparent compromise has been made on performance. Hardware similarity will also all but guarantee easy ports. If anything I reckon this gen will be the closest we get to platform neutrality because of this.

For all its focus on non-game features MS must know that games sell consoles. They would be foolish in divesting away from first party titles or exclusives. If they get more purchases via spruiking their TV integration that will put them in a better position to pay for these.

Force bundling Kinect will surely inflate the price but it remains to be seen by how much. If they price themselves outside the PS4's range and people feel like it's an unnecessary accessory they won't use then it will hurt them obviously. Having said that, it's functionality actually looks genuinely interesting (and powerful) unlike their first Kinect beta test.

At least for me what's always turned me off Xbox and eventually convinced me to get a PS3 is the paid multiplayer. Coming from a PC I reckon it's flat out outrageous to charge people for what is effectively P2P quality multiplayer, let alone to them smother the hub with advertising. This will obviously not change for the One so I have no intention of giving them my money.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 12:22pm PDT - promote requested by RedSky.

The new Gaming console: TV.

I think it's the emphasis on everything but gaming that gets people bent out of shape. It is pretty ridiculous.
Even more so when you consider that Nintendo is the only one that is focusing on the games, and they've made such ridiculous design decisions that they're still not a guaranteed alternative. I really feel like Nintendo would sweep the market if they had dropped a console that was nothing but gaming, minus any external stupidity (i.e. with a rationally designed controller).
I work in the game industry, and I'm checking out of the next console generation. I wasn't eager to go in for the last one, and as it's finally rolling to an end I look back on a half-used Wii that overheats if I don't have a fan on it at all times, and having purchased two 360s and two PS3s because the first ones both failed in a year due to shit manufacturing.
I'm glad I'm still allowed to build my own PC.

Article #1 was enough to get me to NEVER want an Xbox
Article #2 was just the icing on the cake

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/06/xbox-one-requires-online-connection-every-24-hours-at-least/

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/06/how-game-licensing-works-on-the-xbox-one/

@artician

One thing we're lucky for in Australia is mandatory warranty legislation can be interpreted beyond a year to reasonable expectations of lifetime for a product, so say claiming repair/replace costs after 3 years would not be unreasonable.

@Darkhand

Agreed, the obsessive level of detail on what you can and can't do really feeds into Yahtzee's whole thing about endless asterisks to playing a game.

For the first, I don't imagine it being a big factor in preventing piracy on a console and I struggle to see how forcing a connection feeds into a rationale of improving the bottom line. Surely all the multimedia features and TV integration that required internet access would be a sufficient draw to connect to the web already?

The second is pretty clear. The 30 day friend requirement is to prevent selling the game directly to a stranger thereby dis-intermediating the retailer. Limiting gifting to one and preventing you from passing a disc around is clearly to prevent a single-player game being bought by one and passed around to many. I can't imagine their loaning options when you become available being particularly generous. But it's interesting to see how MS appears to be concerned about catering to both retailers and distributors. Perhaps it gives them a rationale to charge higher licensing costs while also avoiding the direct blame for imposing limitations? Either way, pretty shameless.

Q4 is going to be a great time to buy a PS3 or 360. They may finally be cheap enough to justify given there's maybe 3 decent games between them that I can't play better on the PC.

Somewhere along the line, console makers forgot their purpose and destroyed their own market. Stop making half-assed computer games for your stupid consoles and make console games! Also, stop fucking up my computer games so they can be console-friendly!

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by blackfox42.