I want to quickly preface this blog with the phrase, 'in my opinion'. As this blog is going on to the internet the realm of free speech, trolls and people with overly strong opinions, I know that people could possibly disagree with some of the things that I am going to say, and that's absolutely fine but I would like to have my say also.
All throughout last week out in the sunny city of Los Angeles the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 was underway. This expo for those who have not heard of it before is 'the world's premier trade show for computer and video games and related products', playing host to company's such as Sony, Microsoft, Razor, Alienware, and Machinima, just to name a few. This expo is the one event that any gamer looks forward to each year, it is most often the place where new consoles are unveiled and new games are announced and displayed.
Having watched many of the conferences held early last week, and having seen what news has been coming out of the expo all week, it is clear that this years E3 was the most anticipated and delivered the most out of any E3 in recent years. This was largely down to the unveiling of numerous next generation game titles, and the further unveiling of Microsoft's, and Sony's next gen consoles, the Xbox One and the PS4. This is where I'd like to stress again the point about what I'm saying is just my opinion. Since the unveiling of the next gen consoles there has been a war raging online, primarily between Sony and Microsoft fan boys about which console has out done the other. You can imagine the kind of comments and arguments being made online, at points it wasn't very pretty. Looking past these fan boy feuds however there are actually a large number of smart people, who sensibly debating about which one they see as benefiting gamers more and which they think they will end up buying.
For anyone that doesn't really play console games this is probably starting to sound quite odd and maybe even a little bit petty, spending time fighting over a console. Gaming is something that a large number of peple enjoy doing though and with the price tags of these console being quite high it can actually seem quite smart to way up the pros and cons of each of them so that you know what your buying and which one suits you best.
For me personally I don't see myself as a fanboy, I look to think I'm one of the more sensible debaters. With that in mind I wanted to put forward my views about these consoles and which if I had the money I'd want to buy.
We'll start with Sony's PS4. On face I think that the PS4 come out on top by the end of E3, it has a cheaper price tag at £349, with which you get the PS4 console with a built in 8gb hard drive, one of the new dual shock controllers and a Sony headset. The reasons that the PS4 seemed to end forward during E3 is because Sony as a company are still allowing people the sell their used games and you are able to share the game with friends just by giving them the disk. There was very little that I actually disagreed with that they mentioned during their presentation at E3, software wise and when it came to their exclusive game titles.
There were a few problems however that I had, firstly it doesn't look that nice, mainly because it's slanted. None of this is a major problem, but you are paying alot of money for it so you do want it to like good. Another problem I have is the controller, personally I found that the Xbox controller is better laid out and fits better in my hand, again not a major thing butafter a few hours of gaming you don't want your hand hurting or cramping up because the controllers uncomfortable. My last con with the PS4 is the fact that you know need to pay to play online. Although you have to do the same the xbox, the reason this is a con for me is because they seemed to breeze through this during the presentation, and for years have made this a main point over their competition, that they don't make their customers pay to play for friends online.
Overall there isn't that many problems I can see with the PS4 it'll have a higher graphics card then the Xbox providing slightly better graphics in-game, it's cheaper, you are able to sell your games once your done with them.... It just has those few cons that I listed.
Now moving on the Microsoft's new Xbox one. I have quite mixed feelings about the Xbox one, I currently have an Xbox 360 and instinctively thought that I was just make the jump up to the new Xbox when I had the money. The main problems that have be voiced in conjunction with the Xbox one are its price, the fact that you have to connect to the internet atleast once every 24 hours that you play, the fact that you may not be able to trade in used games and most importantly the new kinect. For me personally I don't really mind the price tag of £429, as with the Xbox you get the new console, one of the new controllers, along with the new kinect, so that kind of off sets the price. Furthermore the problem that people think Microsoft with use the Kinect to spy on you as you have to leave it on so that you can give it commands is a bit silly and paranoid I think, however if you don't think that'll happen you can either unplug it when your not playing or change the privacy settings in the consoles settings menu, problem solved.
The problems that I do think will have a large effect are that you will every 24 hours have to connect to the internet and the inability to resell games. For most people having to connect up to the internet won't actually be a problem, but I do know that for people in countries where occasionally their government bans access to Microsoft's up-link it'll be a big problem. Another way in which this will be a problem is for people who don't have access to the internet, on Reddit the other day a soldier fighting in Iraq commented that he in his down time liked to play the Xbox but obviously can't get internet access where he is stationed.
The other problem of selling used games i believe will have a large effect, partly on me as I tend not to buy too many games brand new and instead wait some time till they are cheaper or buy them used. This problem has however not yet been fully explained by Microsoft and so there is potential that come release day towards the end of the year, you will be able to sell off your games as before. Hopefully they will change this, as it is this problem that is currently deterring me from getting the next gen Xbox.
It isn't all doom and gloom when it comes to the Xbox One however, they have a huge array of exclusive games coming out on their platform, the features built in to the new kinect look amazing doing things such as being able to read your heart rate just by looking at you, it will be able to recognise individual people and sign you in just by recognising your face, along with a few other nerdy technical things. The main reason I still believe that i will buy the Xbox is because of the more bigger picture issues. With the Xbox one you will be able to stream your game play off of your console straight to Twitch TV, helping content creators get their videos online easier. The Xbox in general also seems to be heading the growth of e-sports, along with the PC, something which I would love to see expand further and continue to grow as it does. Most importantly however as Microsoft is one of the big PC company's out there, I'm really looking forward to the fact that you will be able to integrate your gaming console with your home entertainment systems, watching TV and films, along with connecting it to other devices such as your tablet or phone, and possibly further connecting up to your home PC/laptop, essentially integrating all of your home devices to work with each other.
When looking into which of these I would want to buy, I automatically looked at them through 'the bigger picture' seeing which one I would get the most from not only just by playing games. As we know its taken about 7/8 years for these new consoles to be created, and so it could potentially be another 8 years again before the next ones, thinking about it in that way I believe the Xbox, allowing me not only to play games but to create an integrated network of devices within my home, is the device that I would choose to by when both of these consoles come out at the end of the year.
Saying all of this both of these consoles cost several hundred pounds each, and will come out shortly before christmas, the one time of year that people don't really have much money to spare, and so even having concluded that I would buy the new Xbox, I likely won't have the money to anyway. That being said both of these consoles were anxiously anticipated and even through their faults both company's have been able to deliver two innovative and unique consoles that will give people loads of enjoyment throughout the years to come. The update in console technology will also allow for computer technology to increase further and allow for even more immersive, innovative and graphically better games.
No comments:
Post a Comment