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

I *think* Naughty Dog might have been around that size maybe at the start of the last generation. Or at least the team making the Uncharted games. They kind of exploded in size after that IP took off, and they eventually grew large enough to have 2 teams.

I see what you're saying, and I agree. They did a hell of a job to even get a great game created, especially so soon after even forming the company. They had a lot of pressure with all those expectations and hype, and I think they delivered for the most part. As you said, they are a small(ish) studio that is being treated like a huge one (possibly even by EA and MS). Expectations probably should be different. Though good luck telling that to publishers/gamers/etc.

edit: Hmm...apparently RAD (developers of The Order) are only around 80 people. Didn't know that, though I'm not that surprised. I think they've been working on that concept for a LONG time, and they previously focused on handheld games. This is their first AAA game. If it takes off, they'll probably be >80. I think a lot of studios at Sony are like this.

Oh yeah, and I just remembered Media Molecule. They have <50 employees I think (Wiki has them at 47).

 

Titanfall servers in my city...awesome! :-D

 

A very good talk with Phil Spencer (one of the heads of Microsoft Studios):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_FMaoa09Ne0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Probably one of my favorite "suits" at MS (not saying much, but he does seem pretty cool). He talks about a variety of things. Here's the writeup from VentureBeat:
http://venturebeat.com/2014/03/12/a...er-highlights-from-the-sxsw-gaming-expo-2014/

Really liked his take (and humility?) on what he/they learned from the backlash last summer. Also very true words about how successful both consoles are doing right now. Keighley really came after him hard about Kinect.

Highly recommended if you like this kind of stuff.

 

Awesome. Good to hear. I have a similar story...

I own an XBone, but only have NBA 2k14 and COD, so nothing spectacular.

My girlfriend and I got a Wii U with Nintendoland and Super Mario 3D World.
Nintendoland is a blast for 3 or more people as the mini games are hilarious and great for quick entertainment. Some of them use the camera on the wiipad to display your face to the people using the wiimotes. It's hilarious because the gamepad user isn't looking at the TV so it's awesome to see the reactions of the gamepad user.

I'm completely blown away by the creativity of Nintendo with Super Mario 3D World. So many instances of "barely-got-it" and bursts of laughter. Haven't had that since playing Warcraft 3 online with friends. This game is truly a delight.

 

I have both and I feel like the Wii U is sort of a let down. I love the games that are out for the Wii U, but there are so few of them. That coupled with the fact that my girlfriend and I have pretty much beaten them all makes it more frustrating. I am excited about Mario Kart 8, and I might give Donkey Kong a chance, but I really need Nintendo to make more games.

Also, the tech support for the Wii U is garbage. I purchased a lot of games for the Wii U using digital downloads. Apparently my Wii U had a manufacturer's defect and I lost all my digital downloads, all my progress made on Wii U games, AND all my progress in Wii games. Plus, Nintendo is so amazingly wonderful that they don't give you anyway to back up your console before repairs. You wanna know what the best part in all this is? You are only allowed to use your Nintendo ID with one console, so if that console is broken or you replace it you have to call nintendo to transfer said ID over, which is not a trivial thing. Can you guess what you need to use to re-download all your digitally downloaded games via Wii U? You guessed it, your nintendo ID. God da*n nightmare that has been...

 

I'm not trying to defend Nintendo here, but to be fair when you buy the console it tells you all of that information up front. I'm not saying it's okay, lord knows I'd be pissed off if I had to buy Wind Waker HD again among other things if my Wii U died. With that said, I knew all of that though...

 

The lost progress on the Wii side of things is somewhat annoying, and the fact that they essentially wipe your wii when you import everything to the Wii U is also annoying. The worst part is, when you get your console back they don't really explain any of this, any of the fact that you have to call nintendo, spend an hour and a half on the phone just to get your nintendo ID imported onto the new console. They hand you it back and pretend like it all just works fine. Heck, they don't even check if the new console is even working before they ship it back, that's why I had to send nintendo my Wii U twice!

 

That I can understand frustration on, but Microsoft isn't any better. I'd argue they're worse.

 

I liken it to a mac user getting a virus vs. a PC user. For a PC user it's no big deal, we've grown accustom to the idea that our machines are under attack at all times. A mac user for the most part is generally lost when their machines have issues because it's perceived that macs are basically indestructible both in hardware and software. Truth be told, both have similar failure rates, but perception is everything. The same goes for consoles, I've always viewed Nintendo's products as the pinnacle of engineering, but when they fail its mind blowing. Like beating your dad at one on one and finding out he isn't really superman. It's strange.

 

Haha, that's actually a great example. I definitely feel you.
Honestly I've never had a failure on a Nintendo product...not yet anyway. (or that I can recall)

 

I still say, XB1 & PS4 have no games (that I can't get on PC/360/PS3), so the argument doesn't mean much to me. Of course, I am much more likely to replay a game than play a new game. I generally play about 10 games per console post-SNES.

Yeah, Nintendo has been the worst in that regard. I'll probably mod my Wii once I have a Wii U (trying to decide if I should buy the $200 refurb from Nintendo or wait until Christmas time).

 

Same here, until the Wii. It still works, but has quit reading most of my disks. I bought the cleaning kit, with no luck.

 

Sales data from February is coming in:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=784224

Bit more at the link.

XBO numbers quite a bit better than last month, though PS4 still in the "lead" (despite still being supply constrained). WiiU numbers are better than last year at least.

 

Some extra/updates sales bits:

Apparently Bravely Default outsold Lightning Returns (I think the earlier chart doesn't include digital I guess?). And Square Enix didn't even think it was worth localizing outside of Japan....BUT WE DO WANT MORE FF13/LIGHTNING GAMES! ANOTHER SEQUEL TO THE WORST FF GAME WILL SURELY SELL WELL!

Just shows you how incompetent they are.


March numbers should be fun, with Titanfall spike for XBO and PS4 supply starting to become less of a problem. Certainly seems like a good chance for XBO to "take the crown" (at least for one month), though I have noticed that PS4 still seems to be the best selling video game item for the month at several retailers (e.g., Amazon).

 

JRPG fans know not to buy something just because it says "Final Fantasy" on it? GET OUT! :grin:

Thank god Square didn't do anything dumb, like make an FF7 remake. That wouldn't sell at all.

 

Just because Titanfall has been released doesn't mean we have to stop talking about it!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lack of news about the 360 version of Titanfall isn't all about pushing the XB1. The 360 version is 30fps and sub-720p.</p>&mdash; Dodd Scientifics (@DoddSci) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoddSci/statuses/444180271026278400">March 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This is the famousmortimer guy I mentioned earlier.

 

Wow. I'm surprised by the lack of support... also the fact that your system had a defect. As others have mentioned, I've hardly had hardware issues with Nintendo products. Your Mac analogy was probably spot on as Nintendo probably doesn't feel the need to fund a big tech support dept.

I do agree with you about the # of games available... Nintendoland, Super Mario 3D, and Zelda are the only worthwhile games IMO. I'm also 24, so maybe a young-un would be interested in the "101" game or maybe Pikmin 3.

GF and I beat Super Mario 3D last night, so we will be waiting for the next 1st party title... I suppose we could try DK or wait for MK8 as you mentioned. Also not sure when SSB is releasing. At the end of the day, we're probably talking a max of 10 games that the Wii U will offer for myself. But if they're all on par, that isn't too shabby for a system.

 

Wonderful 101 isn't a kid game, did you try the demo? It's really fun, I just didn't want to pay $50 for it. I'd play it for $10-20, unfortunately I have a lot of games I still need to finish. I'm finally beating all my Christmas games so I can go back (I'm like 60% through Wind Waker HD), but Infamous is about to come out. Oyyyy.

 

I don't know how credible this guy is but (and I'm just guessing here, but it makes sense to me. virtually everyone I know who has a PS4 would have bought titanfall):

 

Not sure if you realized it, but that's the same guy I've been quoting. He's fairly credible. I would have posted that, but I missed it. It was buried in the NPD Sales thread I think.

I hadn't seen him expand on that. From what he said earlier, Respawn would have only done the XBO and PC version (and not any other platforms). That means Bluepoint (I guess?) would have done the PS3/PS4 version. Or the PS4 version would have to wait until Respawn finished with the XBO/PC versions.

Would PS4 owners buy a late port of Titanfall? Keep in mind that would probably have it releasing around or after Destiny (plus other games).

Hmm...it would be something if a non-Respawn studio ended up releasing the game on PS4 (same day), and it performed better. I assume it might perform worse though (if such an event took place).

It does make sense, though I wonder what it would really amount to. EA might be sorry, but it isn't like they're going to make Battlefield 5 PS4 exclusive or something. Someone might lose their job at EA though.