The Official PS4 Thread - Part 1

[TX85]

Cool!

 

[Iceman]

Excellent!

 

[Two-Face]

Great news.

 

[Two-Face]

The complete PS4 guide – the specs, controller camera, game streaming & more explained

http://www.officialplaystationmagaz...ut-ps4-all-the-info-stats-and-dates-you-need/

 

[Iceman]

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/game...concerns-over-xbox-720-playstation-4-launches

Activision raises concerns over Xbox 720, PlayStation 4 launches

Xbox 720 and PS4 could face Wii U-style apathy Activision CEO warns

 

[Fading]

Basically Kotick is *****ing over what happens EVERY console cycle, and is acting like it's new news. Did he really expect the PS4, and Nextbox to sell 15 million on day one so his next CoD would sell the usual amount?

It took over 5 years for consoles to reach their current sales status, and the same can be said for every other product not name Apple on this planet. Nothing sells it's previous versions entire lifetimes worth of sales in just a few months.


If he's that worried, he might as well just stick to PC gaming with Blizzard products for 2 years while nextgen consoles sell to his liking.

 

[Iceman]

I don't know if CoD will make a perfect transition and keep all of its userbase as the next gen goes on with all the new competition. Ghosts is really important and needs to be a big improvement but at the moment it's one of the games I'm least excited about.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Basically Kotick is *****ing over what happens EVERY console cycle, and is acting like it's new news. Did he really expect the PS4, and Nextbox to sell 15 million on day one so his next CoD would sell the usual amount?

It took over 5 years for consoles to reach their current sales status, and the same can be said for every other product not name Apple on this planet. Nothing sells it's previous versions entire lifetimes worth of sales in just a few months.


If he's that worried, he might as well just stick to PC gaming with Blizzard products for 2 years while nextgen consoles sell to his liking.

Personally I think that Kotick makes a good point. The Xbox 360 and Wii both had great sales with their launches and the reasons why the PlayStation 3 did rather poorly at launch was because of the high price point and launching a year behind Microsoft. However, things have changed dramatically since the launch of the previous gen. With the exception of smartphones and tablets, consumers have been much slower to adopt consumer tech from TVs to PCs to video games, etc.

Already people have been slow to embrace the Wii U even though the Wii was in a bad need of an upgrade. And the PlayStation 4 and Xbox Infinity aren't going to be huge leaps in terms of graphical power in the eyes of most consumers. The current consoles already put out great looking games, so why even bother getting the new ones when there just isn't going to be a huge leap and the third party publishers are still going to be supporting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Madden NFL, and whatnot which will further reduce the incentives to upgrade. It isn't like the previous generation where the PlayStation 2 and Xbox were left in the dust in terms of content once the new consoles arrived.

 

[Havok83]

It isn't like the previous generation where the PlayStation 2 and Xbox were left in the dust in terms of content once the new consoles arrived.

the Xbox was left in the dust but the PS2 most definetly wasn't. The PS2 still had plenty of games coming out after the PS3 launched. God of War 2 being the most notable example. All of Sony's major first party studios are developing their future titles for the PS4. I don't even think any of those games will be on the PS3. What will happen this gen is no different with the first year of the consoles launch having many third party multiplatform games between the two generations but that will dwindle in the second year. IDA with your statement bc already its looking to be similar to whats tended to happen in the past.

 

[Fading]

It's not that he doesn't have at least a somewhat valid point. It's that it's a redundant complaint. It sounds like something a fanboy would write on a forum. It always takes awhile for consoles to hit that magic number where new titles can sell 5 mil + copies in a few months. It's almost never during the first year, except for system sellers like Halo.

I doubt both the PS4, and next Xbox are heading the way of the Wii-U. The Wii-U was a fail on many levels thanks to Nintendo, and bad marketing. Sony's already going out of it's way to make sure they hype the PS4, let ppl know it's a new console, and generate buzz around launch titles. Microsoft will follow suite soon.

We are just barely past the PS4 announcement, let alone the Xbox announcements that will come later. It's faaaarrr too early for CEO's of major game companies to start worrying about the next gen consoles being failures due to not having release their release dates, and prices yet.



All of that....and add on that I just don't like Kotick much, lol.

 

[Iceman]

I don't know how XBox & PS4 will do at launch but if they are sluggish I don't think it will be a Wii-U style apathy; it'll be for different reasons as I don't think they are going to be comparable products (to the wii-U) in direct competition with each other. An anti-tech slow-to-adopt thing like HDTVs in their early days might happen but I actually think they'll be fine. Maybe not bursting out of the gate in the 1st year but with a solid enough foundation from which to push on over the next few years after that. I think they'll both be successful long term.

As for Kotick I think he's worried about his own company and I think for the 1st time in a while he has good reason to be.

 

[Fading]

Honestly, I think gaming has taken ahold strong enough in our culture that there will always be room for at least 1 hardcore gaming machine outside of PC's. Consoles like the WiiU may face competition from modern portable devices like phones, and pads. With current technology there will still be that gap in graphics, storytelling, gameplay, and presentation inbetween a good AAA console title, and a Iphone $1 game.

Until we get Star Trek like, cloud server, pads that can do everything a top of the line PC can do, I think consoles are here to stay. Even during...especially during economic crisis's we still want our diversions. There's enough hardcore gamers that can't get their fix elsewhere.

That's not to say Sony, Microsoft, or even Nintendo will always be the one providing that experience. I just think it's far too early to think that all 3 new consoles coming out are failures, especially when 2 of them are still barely in the stage where they announced said consoles existance.




It's not a big deal either way. I tend to file this stuff in the same mental drawer as Patcher predictions. I just would rather we not get on the nextgen is a failure ride while we still know so little about these consoles, with E3 and the other big shows still coming up.

 

[hippie_hunter]

the Xbox was left in the dust but the PS2 most definetly wasn't. The PS2 still had plenty of games coming out after the PS3 launched. God of War 2 being the most notable example. All of Sony's major first party studios are developing their future titles for the PS4. I don't even think any of those games will be on the PS3. What will happen this gen is no different with the first year of the consoles launch having many third party multiplatform games between the two generations but that will dwindle in the second year. IDA with your statement bc already its looking to be similar to whats tended to happen in the past.

I'm pretty sure that God of War II had a couple of delays but it was intended to finish off the PlayStation 2 on a strong note, just like what Sony is doing with the PlayStation 3. God of War II aside though, the PlayStation 2 finished it's life with shovelware, PSP ports, and sports games once the PlayStation 3 came out.

Not only that but God of War II was a Sony game, not a third party game. Third party publishers had moved one immediately once the new consoles came out. EA, Activision, UbiSoft, Square-Enix, Take-Two, Eidos, etc. didn't do anything major for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox once those consoles were replaced. They're not doing that this time around.

 

[hippie_hunter]

It's not that he doesn't have at least a somewhat valid point. It's that it's a redundant complaint. It sounds like something a fanboy would write on a forum. It always takes awhile for consoles to hit that magic number where new titles can sell 5 mil + copies in a few months. It's almost never during the first year, except for system sellers like Halo.

I doubt both the PS4, and next Xbox are heading the way of the Wii-U. The Wii-U was a fail on many levels thanks to Nintendo, and bad marketing. Sony's already going out of it's way to make sure they hype the PS4, let ppl know it's a new console, and generate buzz around launch titles. Microsoft will follow suite soon.

We are just barely past the PS4 announcement, let alone the Xbox announcements that will come later. It's faaaarrr too early for CEO's of major game companies to start worrying about the next gen consoles being failures due to not having release their release dates, and prices yet.



All of that....and add on that I just don't like Kotick much, lol.

Sony is already off to a better start than Nintendo, no doubt about it. But I do think that Kotick has a very valid point to worry about potential apathy for the next-gen.

 

[Havok83]

I'm pretty sure that God of War II had a couple of delays but it was intended to finish off the PlayStation 2 on a strong note, just like what Sony is doing with the PlayStation 3. God of War II aside though, the PlayStation 2 finished it's life with shovelware, PSP ports, and sports games once the PlayStation 3 came out.

Not only that but God of War II was a Sony game, not a third party game. Third party publishers had moved one immediately once the new consoles came out. EA, Activision, UbiSoft, Square-Enix, Take-Two, Eidos, etc. didn't do anything major for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox once those consoles were replaced. They're not doing that this time around.

God of War 2 was always set to be released after the PS3 launched. It was announces as a 2007 title. The only delay was it going from Feb 2007 to March. You are wrong about hte PS2 only getting shovelware. It had several exclusives as well as multiplatform third party games in its first year, especially from Activision. Marvel Ultimate Alliance, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, Tony Hawk, and Guitar Hero for example all were released on the PS2 alongside their next gen counterparts. Activision didnt simply abandon the PS2 when the PS3 launched and they werent the only ones

Eidos released Tomb Raider Anniversary
Square-Enix had Dawn of Mana and KH: Chain of Memories
EA had Medal of Honor Vanguard, Need for Speed Undercover and Prostreet and Burnout Dominator
Atlus had Persona 4
Sega had Yakuza 2
SNK released King of Fighters 98
Koei released Dynasty Warriors 6
Arc Systems released Gear Gear XX Accent Core (and Plus)
Travellers Tales released Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones
Konami had Silent Hill Origins
and more...

ALL these games came to the PS2 after the PS3 was released. You may not recall it but the PS2 had quite its share of games in 2007 and even into 2008 before things completely dried up with shovelware and sports titles. GoW2 was the last big game from Sony but the other publishers werent so quick to just abandon the platform. Thats pretty much what is happening here in 2013 again. I expect to see 2014 have quite a bit of third party support with that dwindling down come 2015

 

[hippie_hunter]

You are aware that a lot of those games suuuuuuuucked. Chain of Memories had my blood boiling to the point where I threw the controller. Really, the only ones that seemed to have a lot of effort put into it were Persona 4 and Yakuza 2.

 

[Havok83]

And a good number of them did not. My point was the PS2 wasn't abandoned by 3rd parties when this gen started. What's happening currently in gaming is similar to what happened before. What current gen exclusives are even coming out next year? I can't think of any that has been announced. Seems at least for the PS3, Beyond may be the last major one for the system and GTA5 as both PS3 & 360. Last of Us seems to be the last Sony 1st party title. Of course E3 could change that when we hear announcements but I suspect the bulk of that will be multi platform across console generations and we had alot of those in 2006/2007 following the 360 and PS3 launches. Again it's no different

 

[Fading]

Honestly, if I were a developer, I'd keep supporting current gen consoles while nextgen ones are still fresh as well.

For one, it takes nextgen a while to sell enough to make sure your games a hit. Even if there are 5 million owners, it doesn't mean all 5 million will like the genre you made your game in.

Second, it costs more to produce nextgen games, while by the end of the cycle chance are you've streamlined the current gens game making process.

Finally, late adopters. Plenty of people wait until the end of a consoles life cycle, when it goes sub $100, and games are in bargain bins, to finally pick one up. Once they go through the cheap stuff, they're going to want something new.

Though a lot of sales after a certain point are probably second hand (not just Gamestop, but yardsales, craigslist, eBay, ect.). So I can see why after a year or so most 3rd parties end up completely jumping ship. If you're a smaller company, and can produce a new title for PS3 for 1/3 of the price of making it for PS4, and only expect to get 500k or less sales anyway, it still makes sense why you'd wait to stop supporting it. Games like Last of Us, GTA V, and Beyond Two souls may be the last huge hurrah for current gen, but I think we'll still see a few more notable titles being announced, and coming out even after PS4, and Xbox infinities launch (though probably nothing on part with the titles I just mentioned).

 

[Havok83]

Finally, late adopters. Plenty of people wait until the end of a consoles life cycle, when it goes sub $100, and games are in bargain bins, to finally pick one up. Once they go through the cheap stuff, they're going to want something new

IA with most of what you say except for this. By the time a console gets sub $100, most people will have already long since moved onto the next console. Heck the PS3 isnt under $100 yet and wont be for maybe at least another 2-3 years. The PS2 didnt become $99 until 2 and a half years (spring 2009) after the PS3 launch and that system was cheaper to produce. I dont expect the PS3 to drop faster than that. Besides it was a slow steady decline in sales by this point. $99 price point wasnt met with a huge spike in sales. Those late adopters werent enough to make an impact and stay back to make games for. I really dont think developers do or should cater to late adopters that come near the very end of a console's life cycle.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, late adapters aren't likely to be the best customers for buying your games new and at full price if they've waited what will probably be 9/10 years from launch to get the hardware!

 

[Fading]

I can understand that. They probably won't be the best money makers. I wouldn't underestimate late gen adopters though. It's rare that I go in to Gamestop that some mom isn't buying her kids some bargain bin PS2 games, and that's still happening near the tail end of the PS3's life cycle (my inclusion of them was talking more about a year or two after nextgen comes out, rather than 10-15 years after launch). Though to you guys' point, they're buying bargain bin games, and not new games. Still though, there might come a point where you've exhausted some of the cheap games you bought with the system, and want to try something newer, and see an unopened game setting on a shelf.

 

[Iceman]

I can understand that. They probably won't be the best money makers. I wouldn't underestimate late gen adopters though. It's rare that I go in to Gamestop that some mom isn't buying her kids some bargain bin PS2 games, and that's still happening near the tail end of the PS3's life cycle (my inclusion of them was talking more about a year or two after nextgen comes out, rather than 10-15 years after launch). Though to you guys' point, they're buying bargain bin games, and not new games. Still though, there might come a point where you've exhausted some of the cheap games you bought with the system, and want to try something newer, and see an unopened game setting on a shelf.

For the XBox 2 years after the Infinity launch will be 10 years after the 360 launch (2015) t:

But in any case glad you've started jumping in on the next gen threads. It's got some good discussions going and they've been pretty much dead for a while.

 

[Havok83]

I can understand that. They probably won't be the best money makers. I wouldn't underestimate late gen adopters though. It's rare that I go in to Gamestop that some mom isn't buying her kids some bargain bin PS2 games, and that's still happening near the tail end of the PS3's life cycle (my inclusion of them was talking more about a year or two after nextgen comes out, rather than 10-15 years after launch). Though to you guys' point, they're buying bargain bin games, and not new games. Still though, there might come a point where you've exhausted some of the cheap games you bought with the system, and want to try something newer, and see an unopened game setting on a shelf.

Publishers do not make alot of money off of late adopters. When a publisher releases a game, the bulk of the money is made within the first month. Very few are able to sustain decent numbers months (or even years after release). Nintendo's Mario games are one of the few exceptions. Within that first month, the sales are mainly at full price but this late in the cycle, the games are heavily discounted. The PS2 games you see purchased at GS are like $5-10 or even less than that. Heck most of them are used (bc GS isnt getting a bunch of new PS2 games) and the publishers get nothing off of that. The PS2 has a large install base but the actual market for software has dwindled. The demand isnt there; it has moved on.

 

[Fading]

For the XBox 2 years after the Infinity launch will be 10 years after the 360 launch (2015) t:

But in any case glad you've started jumping in on the next gen threads. It's got some good discussions going and they've been pretty much dead for a while.

I've been reading them, I just typically don't comment unless I feel I have something to add. I have trouble condensing my thoughts down to a paragraph or two as is. I'm afraid if I chimed in all the time I'd leave walls of text cluttered all around the Hype, lol.

 

[Iceman]

I've been reading them, I just typically don't comment unless I feel I have something to add. I have trouble condensing my thoughts down to a paragraph or two as is. I'm afraid if I chimed in all the time I'd leave walls of text cluttered all around the Hype, lol.

Fine with me. I just want to talk about this stuff but most of the time I'm talking to a wall and your recent posts in this and the other next gen threads have definitely added value. And I have the same problem of one point turning into dozens of paragraphs but it doesn't stop me leaving useless walls of text all over the Hype (for noone to read)! t: