The Big Bad Console Thread - Sway your Station with an Xboner !

Angry Amadeus_sl said:

I think Microsoft's strategy is to differentiate and focus on cross-platform more than just a powerhouse gaming console. Look at the Sony line of televisions and how Samsung has completely taken over in that arena. Core lines of business (OS, Phone, Xbone, Surface) all syncing over Xbox SmartGlass is a smart move but also risky.

Consumers right now are in a pickle - always having to buy independent devices that don't speak to each other. Samsung television, Sony console, iPad, Samsung Galaxy 4s - that's what my living room / device roll-out looked like until recently. I can't read the future but I know some of the things we have in development right now that are 2-3 years out, that are super fucking cool and - if Xbone gets the space that we think it will - could have significant impact on changing the home entertainment game.

(Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft in the hardware partner space)

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Microsoft seems to be taking the approach Sony too last generation where they view the console in much broader terms and almost as a way of getting their shoe in the door. Despite the PS3 having a slower start than the 360, it is actually something that benefited them in the long run. The difference I see is that Sony's primary focus was advancing a new media platform. Considering this wasn't the first time technology advanced to the point where a better form of media was available (both both home movies and games), it wasn't really a hard sell to convince gamers on the idea. Considering how massive the gaming industry has become and just how many consoles they're sure to sell over the next half-decade, it does seem smart to use it as a vehicle to introduce consumers to some new things.

However, in the case of Microsoft, their end-game remains to be seen. While they're obviously trying to advance in many different areas, it's unclear where they plan to go with it, but more importantly, what benefit it has to the average gamer. In some ways, it felt like the PS3 was able to include the "media center" part of the console as an extension of the gaming part, while the Xbox One just seems to include all of these disparate things. I can't help but feel Microsoft must have some grander plan, but they're never going to convince people to accept the console with a wink and a nod, not that they've even gone that far at this point.

Kharza-kzad_sl said:

AI might work, but it is mostly just a series of if/thens. Pathfinding is a bit more involved, but it isn't hard at all to throw on a thread and wait for a response whenever. You could cloud that, but I can't see it making any difference in performance unless you had many thousands of paths to solve all at once.

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AI offload could have fantastic results for turn based strategy games, assuming there ever are any on the new xbox. It'd actually fit fairly well with a cloud concept too, where the decision making scales pretty well with available resources, the load is very intermittent and developers would have a good view of how their AI sucks and the ability to tweak it for improved results, unpredictability etc.

The economics just aren't there though - why are Microsoft paying to run your AI for you ? Where is the money to pay for it coming from ?

velk_sl said:

AI offload could have fantastic results for turn based strategy games, assuming there ever are any on the new xbox. It'd actually fit fairly well with a cloud concept too, where the decision making scales pretty well with available resources, the load is very intermittent and developers would have a good view of how their AI sucks and the ability to tweak it for improved results, unpredictability etc.

The economics just aren't there though - why are Microsoft paying to run your AI for you ? Where is the money to pay for it coming from ?

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To be honest I think it was a bunch of PR spin to separate it from the PS 4 otherwise they would have made more noise about it.

I'd let Robin Meade be against me too.

How big is the used game market in the US? Im seriously curious because where Im from the "used" game sales are mostly a joke (you get a brand new game for about $90-$100 and a used one for about $80 if its a popular one).

Considering that noone I know has bought more then one used game, if any (whats the point with this pricing?), I doubt the fucktard policy for the Xbone will have any impact what so ever in these parts.

As a side note, it also seems to me like the US is a fucking backwater colony when it comes to internet connections. Got two seperate fiber connections to my appartment, hell even the weekend house has fiber and thats about a 2 hour drive from the closest shop of any kind.

Big Phoenix_sl said:

Didnt know 100mb connections are considered backwater.

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bah 100mb, thats so 2007! 200mb is the current offering

No Im curious because the two huge panty twists seem to be "OMGZ Cant buy used games for cheap !1one" and "I lug my Xbox around because I need something to play on and have shit for internet wherever I go". While I fucking despise the "TV KINECT TV..." BS that MS showed us, my resentment is more about the fact that I dont need another fucking box as a media center, I want a gaming console. If its online 24/7 and have some block for used games is irrelevant for me. For most people here it seems to be THE dealbreaker due to those two reasons.

Digital Foundry has put up an excellent article examining Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure and its potential uses for gaming.

TLDR summary --

What's obvious at this point is that the concept of cloud computing looks uncertain and unlikely, and Microsoft needs to prove its claims with actual software. Yet based on what we've been told, the firm itself isn't sure of what uses to put it to, while the limitations of latency and bandwidth severely impede the benefits of all that computing power. Frequent references to Live and multiplayer gaming suggest a less exciting, though certainly valuable, use for Microsoft's new servers in providing better, conventional, multiplayer experiences. More players, adaptive achievements and intelligent worlds all sound great in theory, but we're certainly not seeing the notional results of a four-fold increase in Xbox One's processing power.

Microsoft needs to prove its position with strong ideas and practical demonstrations. Until then, it's perhaps best not to get too carried away with the idea of a super-powered console, and there's very little evidence that Sony needs to be worried about its PS4 specs advantage being comprehensively wiped out by "the power of the cloud".

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It's a good read -http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...ansform-gaming

Big Phoenix_sl said:

Bigger question is why the hell does the used game market even exist in the age of redbox/gamefly?

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Well with the new "used game" policy, I expect rented games will vanish considering they will lock on use for one account then you have to buy the game again even if you have the discs (i.e. you cant really rent them out since it games will be like Steam if I understand it correctly, and they will be a one-shot kinda deal)? Dont think we have any major rental systems for games here tho, so dont know really.

100mb is backwater!? Fuck in Australia your lucky to be running at 25mb. Seriously..

DMK_sl said:

100mb is backwater!? Fuck in Australia your lucky to be running at 25mb. Seriously..

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Yes yes yes, I formulated it poorly. I meant it seemed a lot of people in the US have issues having internet at all in a lot of places, or its spotty at best.. or have a "pay per GB used" policy.

I should clarify what I meant when I said that the news about cloud computing was crap. I was referring to the part where people and the news were talking about using the cloud to do graphics calculations and the like. It is just not going to happen in the near future due to technical constraints. I could see advanced AI and game world state calculations being done in the cloud. However beefy enough machines to make that kind of computation worth it are not cheap. Everything aside, given the current state of videogame AI there are only a few types of games that would benefit anyway. Basically it is a lot of spin being applied to "OMG CLOUDZ."

http://kotaku.com/xbox-ones-kinect-c...ting-510100564

Xbox One's Kinect Can Turn Off, Microsoft Says, Noting Privacy Worries


FFS I can't wait till all this internet rumor and speculation is done. Just fucking tell us what it can and can't do without being vague assholes.

He got someone from Microsoft to say that when you flip the physicial power switch the entire shebang powers down. To which I respond "Duh" and "wonderful reporting there sparky". What the MS guy tap danced around was that 99% of the time your console will likely be in sleep mode when not running which means the Kinect will still be active. Once again Kotaku proves why they're the dregs of game reporting.

BREAKING: Microsoft has confirmed that when you unplug the xbone it will not monitor your activities. I wonder if they have a patent submitted for this revolutionary privacy breakthrough.