Console Wars Thread! PS4 vs. Xbox One vs. Wii U Fight!

Probably accurate. I definitely had a smart phone, Nexus 7, and some consoles long before I bought my Vita. Frankly if it didn't have the PS4 remote play, I'd have a 3DS right now.

 

Maybe they were still supply-constrained, I was just going off the fact that I jumped on Amazon last night and PS4s are available. It may be anecdotal, but to me that means their supply isn't a problem anymore. Of course, may have not been the case in early January, I'll buy that.

Agree with Svpernaut that they're definitely not going to abandon the brand, they would just be throwing money in the trash. And yeah, it's true that there are worse things than being the #2 video game console in the world. They're not going away even if Sony doubles up their system sales, because it's still a very profitable business. That said, they should still do everything they can to move hardware now, as early system sales in a new generation have such a big effect on long-term market share.

 

Amazon just got a large shipment of PS4s, so that's partly why they're easily available there. IIRC, they were out of stock before that (and this shipment could go out of stock in a bit).

Looking at this:
http://www.nowinstock.net/videogaming/consoles/ps4/
It seems it is still out of stock from some sites.

Compared to XBO:
http://www.nowinstock.net/videogaming/consoles/xboxone/

I looked in my area for example, and several (most) of the Walmarts did not have any PS4s. It is much less of a problem than before (i.e., it is relatively easy to get one), but I wouldn't say it is readily available until things are a little more "green" at NowInStock. Some people still can't get one if they go to their local Walmart/Best Buy/Gamestop/etc.

 

The Microsoft of today, is the Microsoft that Bill Gates has long envisioned - the unified vision. He talked about it, among other things as far back as a 1994 Playboy Interview. An interview I read, and became a MS fanboy because way back then.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Bloggers and "insiders" are also clueless about the enterprise business at Microsoft, specifically the extremely profitable Services division (the division I am a part of). The services division is growing exponentially, and we can't hire engineers fast enough even though we've streamlined support in many areas reducing cost and overhead while increasing productivity (read, working remotely in many cases).

The services division has thousands of engineers around the globe who charge out at lawyer-esque hourly rates. No other technology company even comes close in that regard. HP, IBM and Dell try to compete but they are extremely distant competitors in the space. Why? Because no one knows how to best support the products and services better than those that build them. Successes in these sorts of divisions of the company, are what allows Microsoft to play the long game across their entire product spectrum.

 

Hmm so I wonder if they'll spend all their attention to gaming since they dumped low end tvs and pcs

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/06/business/la-fi-sony-pc-20140207
Sony to sell PC division, spin off TV business, lay off thousands
Sony's restructuring move involving Vaio computers surprises some analysts. The firm plans to accelerate its shift to high-end TV models.
February 06, 2014|By Andrea Chang and Daniel Miller

Sony Corp., a struggling electronics maker trying to regain its once stalwart status, is undertaking a major restructuring that includes the sale of its PC division, a spinoff of its TV business and layoffs of thousands of employees.

The Japanese tech giant said Thursday that it had decided to shed its Vaio personal computer brand after a "comprehensive analysis of factors, including the drastic changes in the global PC industry."

 

http://flavourmachine.com/sesamefighter/

 

Not sure if you know this, but Sony's CEO came from the gaming division. So yeah, they probably do want to focus on gaming.

It has been one of their best divisions (even during its bad years), so not necessarily a bad idea. Though they need to get their other divisions into gear (gaming alone won't save the company). To be honest, even though Kaz is doing some OK things, he probably should have done this a LONG time ago.

 

What's sad is Sony totally dropped the ball on TVs, they were top dog for the longest time. WEGA was the best.

They got whipped by Samsung, LG, and VIZIO. their high ends were not as good as Samsung and overpriced and their low ends cost more than VIZIO.

Remember Sony ruled the portable music market too, but they screwed up about native formats instead of letting everyone use mp3s.

Apple destroyed them.

Also you can argue about video games too, the PS1 and PS2 were great, and they screwed up on the PS3 and let Microsoft walk on them. they put too much stake in crappy ass one player games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy and took a billion years to release Gran Turismo.

What the didn't anticipate was that people would pay a premium for a great online experience. For me it was a no brainer, microsoft embraced the street fighter community first.

I think they got their ducks in order with the PS4, turning Microsoft's strategy against them, coming out early with a cheaper system. having a more friendly developer relationship. plus the system looks cooler.
I still don't see any must have games though.

Remember, why did everybody buy a SNES? Street fighter 2.

think about it.

 

They messed up on the PS3 because they priced it terribly. Not so much because of the games or because they didn't provided a great online experience (although those are factors).

Which is why..

..we see this.

(and also why PS3 started selling MUCH better after they fixed those mistakes, and why it is/will be #2...and maybe #1 for the generation, though that's probably a long-shot).

Vita is also pretty overpriced. Not so much the system itself (though it is pricey), but also the storage, games, etc. Poor marketing, not enough games, etc., haven't helped it much either.

Pricing is very important with these devices.

On a side-note, it always amazed me how terrible Sony ran their other divisions. The gaming division USUALLY got things right, though they had some big missteps with the PS3. These other divisions pretty much always have missteps, and yet Sony kept pouring money into them (and not correcting things).

 

To me the TV division getting waxed by LG/Samsung was the most amazing thing, how the hell did they mess that up?

I think they thought the consumers were stupid. Samsung comes out with a better tv and you still expect people to pay a premium for the Sony brand? big mistake.

 

Yep.

Some of that was beyond their control. Labor costs and whatnot were just too pricey in Japan (vs South Korea). But they should have seen and planned for that. If nothing else, they should have dropped the division long ago, once it appeared to be a commoditized industry. They also failed to take advantage of certain synergies that only they could have provided.

Sony is a great example of mismanagement.

 

Just on the MS unified vision....I like that about what they are doing too. It's very Apple like. Once you are on their system you know you can easily buy pretty much anything through MS you want. I like that simplicity and I'm willing to pay more for it. I guess that all comes back to just wanting a great content delivery device.

I wonder if the next Xbox ends up being a full on PC as well. It would make a lot of sense. If MS is putting really powerful tech out there that can stream media content to your TV and can play games, why not throw in the ability to switch over to a PC mode that you can hook a USB keyboard up to? Hell, they might be thinking of doing that with the current Xbox. I know I'd sign up for something like that.

It's fun to think about. All the systems are so powerful. Its a long way from the days of thinking "Wow, 32 bit? That's twice as powerful as the system I have now!" :grin:

 

Console exclusives are a thing of the past. It's what made owning a certain console in the 90s special, in my opinion. I guess publishers (3rd party at least) want to make the most $$$ possible and well, I can't blame them.

 

There's still a few of them but compared to the 90's, they are all but done with.

 

It's called Steam Machines, brah.

 

Swish, any updates on the XB1? Are load times as bad as I read earlier when you switch discs (around 6 minutes)? Also, do you feel much difference playing 720p on a 40" or do they pretty much look the same?

What's all this talk in here about MS dropping one of their product lines? Quit spreading random rumors.

Interesting sales figures this month. It will be more interesting to see the numbers once Titanfall hits the shelves. I predict this Capcom PS4 console exclusive will sell more PS4s in Japan than Titanfall will sell Xboxs in the US.

tinman, just wait until the end of the year to upgrade if all you care about is exclusives. You should know by then if there are any exclusives that are worth getting. Also, developers will start exerting most of their efforts into next gen instead of half of their time. The list of console exclusives currently is nothing special. Nobody cares about these titles except for the fanboys (most of which already have their next-gen console).

 

So far I plan on buying the next Black Ops, 2k game, and Fight Night if it gets good reviews. I might pick something else up until then, but I'm not sure.

 

Killer Instinct looks good on Xbox one. It would be a fun rental.

 

I just started gaming again bc of the 3DS. I finished FFIV, which was awesome, but then I saw the iOS version with it's far smoother graphics and I got a little sad. I waited 22 years for a graphical update and they come out with TWO in like 5 years!

Bravely Default just came out and it's a perfect old-school JRPG (with some updated gameplay elements).

 

I'll agree that Sony got their asses handed to them in the LCD market by Samsung, but as of now, I noticed Samsungs quality has fallen. Since you're a big HDTV guy, what TV does Samsung have that's comparable to Sony's W900 series? Just purchased a 55" W900 for $1599.

As far as picture quality and price (led lcd), I don't think Samsung or LG has anything that could top that. This is coming from a huge Samsung fanboy who has purchased nothing but Samsungs TV's since they started selling lcd tv's and have purchased and only purchased their monitors since its inception.