next gen rumours/news/facts

[Munson]

PSN is a calamity.

 

[VeinAST]

It was great on the PS2. My first online game was Medal of Honor Rising Sun, brilliant game on PSNetwork but have seen PS3s in action, very woeful!

 

[Brand86]

For me grpahics at the moment are realy good anyway, and shouldn't be the focus for next gen (although of course I hope they will be!). For me things like draw distances and pop-up are elminated...on things like Battlefield I don't want to notice textures popping in or even layers...I want to see the whole level perfectly. I also want AI to be more cunning and have more personalities. Let's be honest in most games it's still relatively thick, only in Halo Reach was I impressed with squad tactics to try and flank you etc.

Not interested in Wii/Kinect style controls though...doesn't interest me. I prefer a proper controller and proper non-gimmicky games.

I just hope XBL profiles are transferred over...I can't believe they won't though after people spend so much time and money on them.

 

[Darren S]

For me grpahics at the moment are realy good anyway, and shouldn't be the focus for next gen (although of course I hope they will be!). For me things like draw distances and pop-up are elminated...on things like Battlefield I don't want to notice textures popping in or even layers...I want to see the whole level perfectly. I also want AI to be more cunning and have more personalities. Let's be honest in most games it's still relatively thick, only in Halo Reach was I impressed with squad tactics to try and flank you etc.

Not interested in Wii/Kinect style controls though...doesn't interest me. I prefer a proper controller and proper non-gimmicky games.

I just hope XBL profiles are transferred over...I can't believe they won't though after people spend so much time and money on them.

And XBL needs to handle software gifting. Seriously, Microsoft? We're in 2012 and I can't buy online games/DLCs and gift them to a m8? :S

D.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Considering they're trying to make the sale of second hand games impossible, I'd say gifting isn't a priority

 

[Brand86]

Also, for sales of games to increase on XBL (or PSN) they need to make the prices cheaper than in store, not more expensive! Paying £45 for a game which can be bought for £20 or so on Amazon does not make a great business case.

 

[Reev]

Also, for sales of games to increase on XBL (or PSN) they need to make the prices cheaper than in store, not more expensive! Paying £45 for a game which can be bought for £20 or so on Amazon does not make a great business case.

Totally agree with this point. Their pricing scheme seems archaic, some of their games start off at £50 FFS! Who the f**k pays that for an Xbox game!

 

[Brand86]

No idea?! Until prices are reduced then wouldn't even consider buying one at the moment - especially when it's only a digital copy so no re-sale value either. Consumers lose on all fronts!

 

[JackJack]

Considering they're trying to make the sale of second hand games impossible, I'd say gifting isn't a priority

How are they going to do that? I know nothing about this

 

[Jamie16v]

How are they going to do that? I know nothing about this

Games on demand, online passes etc.

 

[Brand86]

Also it is moving from bonus DLC when buying new/pre-order to now you are missing essential in-game features if you don't buy new/pre-order...so by the time you've bought a second hand game plus the DLC it's more expensive than buying new.

Recent example: Batman Arkham City missing Catwoman DLC.

 

[Darren S]

Considering they're trying to make the sale of second hand games impossible, I'd say gifting isn't a priority

Imo, they are crazy to ignore that. Many a time, I'll punt on £4.99 or something for a m8 on Steam and gift it to him. He wouldn't necessarily buy that of his own accord, so the devs have earned an extra sale that they normally wouldn't have. Microcosm point made, but you get the idea.

D.

 

[Jamie16v]

Imo, they are crazy to ignore that. Many a time, I'll punt on £4.99 or something for a m8 on Steam and gift it to him.

I need to add you on Steam

Official Xbox Mag on twitter today said that the new console would be released within the next 18 months... watch this space.

 

[Brand86]

Fair play....looks like MS will get theirs out first again then, plus with Sony's ultra late arrival to market and higher costs on the PS3 (it was a loss leader for ages, and might still be in terms of the console itself), the series of failed PSPs and general Sony losses - could this be their last console, once it finally comes out? Seems unthinkable from their dominance a few years ago, but with changes to the console market, ressurgence to the PC market....I wouldn't say it is bolted on we see another PS after the PS4.

 

[Jamie16v]

Fair play....looks like MS will get theirs out first again then, plus with Sony's ultra late arrival to market and higher costs on the PS3 (it was a loss leader for ages, and might still be in terms of the console itself), the series of failed PSPs and general Sony losses - could this be their last console, once it finally comes out? Seems unthinkable from their dominance a few years ago, but with changes to the console market, ressurgence to the PC market....I wouldn't say it is bolted on we see another PS after the PS4.

I agree, just doesn't feel the same as the PS2. I wouldn't have swapped my PS2 for an XBOX when they first came out, now I'm a strong Xbox fan. Those PSP's just seem to keep failing. Probably because of smartphones.

 

[Al_G]

Can't wait for the next XBOX.

Sony will pull out of the market after the PS4 IMO

 

[Darren S]

Such a shame about the handheld consoles, imo. A PSP running off a memory card is a cracking device. Zero whine and clunk from the UMD drive and much better battery life as a consequence.

I would have one of those any day of the week over a DS. Just a shame the analogue controller literally ached your thumb after a very short space of time.

D.

 

[Brand86]

The thing about the PSP is that most the games are stripped down versions of PS3 games...aiming for a more mature market, and most of the older gamers would rather just pplay on a big TV at home. The Nintendo handhelds are more suitable for younger gamers and have some really good titles you can't buy for the Wii. Mobile gaming...interesting. Was reading an article the other day saying despite everyone saying it is the next big thing...VERY FEW people actually play 'proper' games on their mobiles with most people playing simple word/puzzle/quiz games.

But back on topic though...I think Sony went massivelly off mark with the PS3 and I doubt they will ever catch up, especially with the decline of Japanese developers (e.g. Capcom making Resident Evil 6 a 'Western' style game).

 

[richy22]

I think another issue they have suffered with is how XBOX had the "exclusives" of a certain game for a while (like DLC first etc). People will then switch to XBOX so they can play the same game at the same level as all their friends and not be "left behind".

 

[lasbazrre]

Re-sale value or even trade in value is totally rubbish in this sector. I mean a average game is in the region of £40 , 2 weeks later it's worth £13 trade in. That is ridiculous really when you weigh it up. Somebody needs to sort it all out tbh or it will go tits up. There should be a code of practice starting with the game manufacturers then distributors then onto retail that prices don't get dropped for a period of time - right across the board. Everybody makes the same amount of money and the punter gets a fair deal at trade in. The pricing structure and price drops are all over the place at the moment.

I certainly will not be buying 'Next Gen' on launch this time around.

 

[Turkish]

I don't bother trading games so as I'm not impatient about buying on release date I pick them up new a few weeks later at a fraction of the price. I'd rather then didn't follow your suggestion on pricing or I'd probably sack it off altogether.

 

[Silent_Scone]

It's not worth retail outlets offering trade in if you're looking for a small fraction off what you paid for it. I always thought Gamestations trade in policy was remarkably generous sometimes. I think a better suggestion is to lower the price of AAA titles in the first place. It's only due to companies such as Electronic arts that you're paying £40+ for games. In fact it was them recently that accused Steam of cheapening the intellectual property of games. Which is simply b****cks, the steam sale thread in this section is proof of that.

I bought games in the sale that I otherwise would never of even looked at if they were over £10

 

[Darren S]

The thing about the PSP is that most the games are stripped down versions of PS3 games...aiming for a more mature market, and most of the older gamers would rather just pplay on a big TV at home. The Nintendo handhelds are more suitable for younger gamers and have some really good titles you can't buy for the Wii. Mobile gaming...interesting. Was reading an article the other day saying despite everyone saying it is the next big thing...VERY FEW people actually play 'proper' games on their mobiles with most people playing simple word/puzzle/quiz games.

But back on topic though...I think Sony went massivelly off mark with the PS3 and I doubt they will ever catch up, especially with the decline of Japanese developers (e.g. Capcom making Resident Evil 6 a 'Western' style game).

I guess it does make the PSP a bit of an oxymoron, tbh? As for playing games on a mobile - I agree, it's a bizarre one that. Games like Plague Inc. and Angry Birds are ok on an iPhone - but you really need something the size of a new Samsung that requires its own ground rent, before you can play anything decent. And with decent inputs.

It's not worth retail outlets offering trade in if you're looking for a small fraction off what you paid for it. I always thought Gamestations trade in policy was remarkably generous sometimes. I think a better suggestion is to lower the price of AAA titles in the first place. It's only due to companies such as Electronic arts that you're paying £40+ for games. In fact it was them recently that accused Steam of cheapening the intellectual property of games. Which is simply b****cks, the steam sale thread in this section is proof of that.

I bought games in the sale that I otherwise would never of even looked at if they were over £10

Yep - totally agree. Steam has it bang on at the minute. Both XBL and certainly PSN could learna lot from them.

D.

 

[Jamie16v]

Re-sale value or even trade in value is totally rubbish in this sector. I mean a average game is in the region of £40 , 2 weeks later it's worth £13 trade in. That is ridiculous really when you weigh it up. Somebody needs to sort it all out tbh or it will go tits up. There should be a code of practice starting with the game manufacturers then distributors then onto retail that prices don't get dropped for a period of time - right across the board. Everybody makes the same amount of money and the punter gets a fair deal at trade in. The pricing structure and price drops are all over the place at the moment.

Thats just business though. If you don't like the trade in price then don't trade it in. You always get more on ebay. Obviously people are still trading games in and making a huge loss otherwise these companies would be going out of business. Albeit Game/Gamestation very nearly did.

CEX do a decent trade in value but they sell games for alot higher. They do drop and raise their prices/trade in value depending on the time of the month which is clever. End of the month you won't get much but come start of the month after everyones been paid you'll get a decent ammount!

 

[Brand86]

Thing is it is only some publishers that are doing well, retailers in general are not - only massive online e-tailers like Amazon and Play do well due to the massive volumes on small profits, and can secure bigger discounts from the publishers when buying due to the massive quantitites. I don't think games in general are that expensive on face-value though, certainly a lot cheaper in real terms versus Mega Drive/SNES era.

Anyway...we are going off topic here I think, this is more a general criticism of the whole games market!

 

[Thrust-Rated]

I'm considering asking for an Xbox 360 off the missus for Christmas this year. Shall I not bother and just wait out?

 

[Rhino172]

http://www.computerandvideogames.co...ltimate-issue-to-tell-you-everything-we-know/

liking the looks of that!

 

[Reev]

Hmm.... Not sure I like that. Looks like a really lardy Apple TV.

 

[172lover]

Cooling fans only at the rear!?!?!

Not going to end well

 

[DannyR]

Hmm.... Not sure I like that. Looks like a really lardy Apple TV.

They are now trying to be a Media Box with Gaming though.....

 

[N0ddie]

I like the look of that. Wonder if this'll be as difficult to get a hold of at anchor as the 360 was.

 

[JackJack]

Don't really like the look of it.

Am i right in thinking it's out next year or have i misunderstood?

 

[The Fatty]

That's only a image put together by 'hearsay'. I wont look anything like that.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Given Microsoft's track record with hardware it comes as no surprise that it looks like an 8 year olds piggy bank. Doesn't matter though really, as long as it doesn't crash every 5 minutes.

 

[Toypop]

I think the talk of Apple TV is actually quite smart.

I was looking at the Wii U and thinking that I just wouldn't want to spend that much money on a pure games machine given its poor media capabilities in the UK especially. Although I suspect the Wii U will be £199 within a matter of months as after an initial sales rush at launch it will bomb.

I think if the new PS and Xbox are going to sell at the £300 to £400 price point then they will have to be presented as being somewhere between an Apple TV and a media centre PC - as well as playing games.

I could very well believe that they will be styled to look more like a media centre than games console. I predict symmetrical, smooth boxes that are designed to be placed horizontally. Could be wrong though...

 

[The Fatty]

They are now trying to be a Media Box with Gaming though.....

This was the case with the current xbox as well though; they didn't feel the need to style that like a media centre box. I don't see any reason why it would look anything like an apple TV box tbh...

 

[Reev]

The 360 is now 7 years old though, when it first came out it wasn't half as media-centric as it is now.

 

[N0ddie]

Both MS and Sony will be eager to get there new consoles out first. Xbox 360 had an unassailable lead over PS3 when it came out and has never caught up. Spose it being a backwards step to the 360 didn't help.

 

[Gareth]

I don't think I'll ever buy the PS4, the PS3-fail has seriously p*ssed me off.

 

[The Fatty]

The 360 is now 7 years old though, when it first came out it wasn't half as media-centric as it is now.

I'm talking about the current xbox 360 which was designed in the period that the 360 has been marketed as a media hub.