XBox One AND PS4 Discussion

[TCrouch]

A little frustrated with Gamefly, but it's probably my own doing for waiting too long to rent. It's been five days now and still no PS4 games have shipped. If it goes another week, would it be worth calling to complain?

Nope, that's why I quit using them a while back. Early on, they were great, but as they got larger and larger, unless I had open spots in my queue and left them there for quite some time, I wasn't getting new releases on release day. It would stretch to a week or longer, and in some cases after 2 weeks, I'd clear it from the queue. Their answer was to "keep your queue full with other titles so that we can always ship you games"...rather than the actual ones I wanted.

Doubt it's changed, but I haven't used them for over a year now.

[dbdynsty25]

A little frustrated with Gamefly, but it's probably my own doing for waiting too long to rent. It's been five days now and still no PS4 games have shipped. If it goes another week, would it be worth calling to complain?

No. What do you expect...them to have a full stock of thousands of games so that they be sure every single person gets one? If you wait too long, you're toast. I got all of the games I requested because I had them all queued up a week prior to launch and I didn't have any games out. It's all about being prepared. You'll probably wait a month at least if I had to guess. I'd venture a guess that most people are renting games when a new system launches because they can't afford to buy both (or don't want to).

Edit: Terry...not sure why you kept getting screwed buy I have never NOT gotten a release date game if I had it queued up a few days prior to release.

[Aristo]

By the way, hopped on the 360 last night to watch my Jayhawks take on almighty Iona via the ESPN app. Anyways, there was only 1 person on XBL. Kinda shocked. After the game, jonesing for some basketball, I booted up the PS4 for some 2K14, and there were a dozen people online playing various games. Now, this was only one night, in a three hour window, but it'll be interesting to see over the next couple weeks if we start to see more people gravitate to the Xbox One and PS4 and less to the 360 and PS3.

Well, I still saw a good 8-10 folks on last night, which is about normal. I'm just going to guess that in the end, XBL will still see more action than PSN, because now it will show friends that are watching TV.

I'm not sure Microsoft will get the integration they are hoping for, as I have my 360 set to ignore notifications while watching video, and I expect to do the same while watching TV. The last thing my wife wants to see while watching Scandal are a bunch of pop-up letting her know what my friends are doing. But maybe there is a setting to let through messages, and keep the logging in stuff off.

It will be nice to have it set to let me know when my opponent for a sports league game logs in while watching TV. The Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher ad is probably not far off as to how I would like a next gen system to act.

While I would like for DirecTV or MS to release an app that lets the Xbox access my DVR library, and make the way I watch TV more accessible, it's still an improvement to be able to say, "Watch TV" and just pick up a remote for using the DVR. Because I then I can snap in other stuff, along with my TV, even though I am using a remote to do the heavy lifting on my DVR. I can then swap out to Netflix or Amazon Prime as quickly as playing a game. I think Microsoft's gambit for Input 1 is actually going to be nice if you use your console for Netflix and other media viewing.

So far, of all the impressions, Microsoft has only one big fail where sony wins big. I would LOVE to be able to get flu audio out of my controller by plugging in any pair of headphones. That just makes too much sense, and I'm kind of shocked MS blew it so big. Maybe we will see a new controller and this functionality later. They's sell me new controllers if they added it.

[sportdan30]

Thanks for the info Terry. You too Db.... It just seems to me that a large game rental company should be prepared for the demand. Now, I know games are a little scarce at retail, but all five of my game requests are showing low availability.

I read that Redbox is trying out a few select cities in which to rent Xbox One and PS4 games. They want to see if there is demand which I can only imagine will be a resounding yes.

I wonder if down the road Sony or MS will decide to offer rentals through their online service as a means to take business away from Gamefly and Redbox. Sony/MS could match Redbox's $2.00 plus per day rental and allow the customer the conveinence to play the full game with the opportunity to purchase it digitally at a discounted price.

[Sudz]

Thanks for the info Terry. You too Db.... It just seems to me that a large game rental company should be prepared for the demand. Now, I know games are a little scarce at retail, but all five of my game requests are showing low availability.

I read that Redbox is trying out a few select cities in which to rent Xbox One and PS4 games. They want to see if there is demand which I can only imagine will be a resounding yes.

I wonder if down the road Sony or MS will decide to offer rentals through their online service as a means to take business away from Gamefly and Redbox. Sony/MS could match Redbox's $2.00 plus per day rental and allow the customer the conveinence to play the full game with the opportunity to purchase it digitally at a discounted price.

Redbox rents 360, PS3 and wii games in my area. I hope they add nextgen ones as well.

[TCrouch]

Edit: Terry...not sure why you kept getting screwed buy I have never NOT gotten a release date game if I had it queued up a few days prior to release.

I'd figure out the timing for us in Cali, and it only took me a day for them to get a game, so I'd ship it back that week. That's what pissed me off--in order for me to get release day games, I'd have to spend more than a week without a game in house. So I'm paying for the service at 75% efficiency, really. Spending a quarter of a month without something in my hands.

I would get my queue ready and my in-house list emptied out a day or two in advance and it would never work for me. Spending so much time without games sort of defeats the purpose, IMO.

[dbdynsty25]

I would get my queue ready and my in-house list emptied out a day or two in advance and it would never work for me. Spending so much time without games sort of defeats the purpose, IMO.

Getting three games out per month (or more if I so desire) for half of the price of buying one brand new game makes the tradeoff worth it to me.

[sportdan30]

I agree Aristo regarding the Snap feature of Xbox One. I love that feature, and think it's going to be very popular. There's been many times on a Saturday afternoon while watching a 3 hour plus college football game that I'm partially paying attention to, that it'd be cool to be playing a video game while glancing back at the game on tv.

I was suprised at the no DVR function though. How does that work if you have it hooked up to your Xbox One? Can you still record using your remote or do you have to unplug the hdmi cable? It's kinda cool though if you don't use the tv function part, you can plug the hdmi cable in to another system (Wii U, PS4, 360, PS3, etc) and instananeously move between two consoles.

The headphone feature on the PS4 is indeed a great add-on that didn't get a lot of press. It's as simple as check marking it in the settings. Pull the headphone jack out and you get sound just as you normally would through your tv or surround sound. I have the PS4 in the basement, but I've already heard complaints from my wife about the volume and bass she can hear on the main level. I've used the iPhone ear buds, and they don't cut it. Gonna have to look for some mid range headphones over the next week or so.

[dbdynsty25]

Anandtech breakdown/comparison

http://anandtech.com/show/7528/the-xbox ... e-analysis

Finally got around to reading this...and wow. I didn't think there were THAT many advantages from a hardware perspective when comparing the PS4 to the One. It kinda makes me want to sell the One I get Friday without even opening it up.

[Aristo]

I'm assuming that when I switch to TV, my Tivo remote will handle all DVR tasks. I would like to pause and surf my playlist like I do in Netflix. But that requires cooperation from cable and satellite companies, and might require hardware to accommodate. They are going to want to more proof of concept before investing. But I have to believe it is coming. It might take two years or more, though.

As for Snap, it doesn't even need to be a game. Bringing up Skype, Twitter, IE, or other apps could make for useful interactions.

[vader29]

Just saw on Bestbuy.com you get a minimum $100 trade in for any working x360 or ps3 until 11/23

do they actually test them?

Just traded in my arcade version from 2008 that was getting ready to die and got the $100 trade in, they didn't test anything. Then went and bought the shiny new black 360 4GB console.

[dbdynsty25]

Just traded in my arcade version from 2008 that was getting ready to die and got the $100 trade in, they didn't test anything. Then went and bought the shiny new black 360 4GB console.

Seems like a good swap for the 90 or so dollars you had to spend.

[Spooky]

I think I'm going to dump my 360 for the $100. Won't ever get that offer again. In theory I want to keep it to play a couple games that won't be available for the One (Splinter Cell is an example). But in reality, I'm pretty sure that thing won't get turned on at all once I have the One in the house.

[GameSeven]

IGN has been streaming X1 titles all afternoon. Madden coming up for anyone interested. Stream @ http://t.co/O29pMWIdBa

[RobVarak]

Any of you, like Sudz, who are considering not hooking up the Kinect sould take a look at the Polygon livestream vid about the UI. They're pretty clear that the UI is a disaster if you're using just the controller. Worth a look before cutting that cord, I think.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/20/51221 ... e-of-games

[dbdynsty25]

Any of you, like Sudz, who are considering not hooking up the Kinect sould take a look at the Polygon livestream vid about the UI. They're pretty clear that the UI is a disaster if you're using just the controller. Worth a look before cutting that cord, I think.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/20/51221 ... e-of-games

Great. I don't have room in my office for the Kinect really...I've got about 8-9 feet between my chair and my 47" LCD, and I think I've read you need 13' to really utilize it. Ahhh F it...I'll hook it up anyway and see what happens. Definitely won't be able to do much motion based gaming that's for sure. It's a tight squeeze with an entertainment center, a desk and a recliner in a 16x12 room. Dammit California prices.

[RobVarak]

Any of you, like Sudz, who are considering not hooking up the Kinect sould take a look at the Polygon livestream vid about the UI. They're pretty clear that the UI is a disaster if you're using just the controller. Worth a look before cutting that cord, I think.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/20/51221 ... e-of-games

Great. I don't have room in my office for the Kinect really...I've got about 8-9 feet between my chair and my 47" LCD, and I think I've read you need 13' to really utilize it. Ahhh F it...I'll hook it up anyway and see what happens. Definitely won't be able to do much motion based gaming that's for sure. It's a tight squeeze with an entertainment center, a desk and a recliner in a 16x12 room. Dammit California prices.

From the approximately 6 hours of video reviews I've watched today, I think you'll be fine. The UI is really all about the voice commands. Everyone seems to agree that they are much more effective than the Minority Report gestures. Shouldn't matter how far away you are for the voice input.

[greggsand]

The kinect for xb1 has a minimum distance of 4.5 feet.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/23/xbox ... -distance/

[dbdynsty25]

The kinect for xb1 has a minimum distance of 4.5 feet.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/23/xbox ... -distance/

Good to know. Thanks. Should be good then.

From the approximately 6 hours of video reviews I've watched today, I think you'll be fine. The UI is really all about the voice commands. Everyone seems to agree that they are much more effective than the Minority Report gestures. Shouldn't matter how far away you are for the voice input.

Six hours of streaming? Must be nice to be your own boss.

[TCrouch]

My extra Xbox One controller showed up today, and after getting my hands on it, I gotta say (and I never thought I would)--I greatly prefer the PS4 controller. I'm not sure why at this point...maybe hours of playing with the XB1 controller will change my mind, but I think the DS4 might be my favorite controller I've ever used.

I know it's crazy to think that all I've really used is Xbox controllers for years, with a few games on PS3 where I'd attempt to use the DS3 and hated it. The mere fact that I wasn't FIGHTING with the controller as I started playing PS4 says volumes--but to quickly become so comfortable that I picked up an XB1 controller and go "ehhhhhhhhh..." is surprising to me. I like the new triggers on the XB1, but the shoulders are almost TOO built-in to the controller, even with that audible click. The sticks are a little looser, which is funky to me, and the D-pad makes an annoying click too..but I almost like that for the D-pad.

Just overall, wasn't blown away by it or even consider it superior to the 360 controller, while I think the DS4 is lightyears ahead of the DS3, and easily on par with the 360 pad for my use.

[Diablo25]

Just got this email from Amazon. If anyone is looking for a launch Xbox One...

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

Customers who signed up to be notified of Xbox One console availability might like to know that we will have units of the Xbox One available for pre-order on Wednesday, November 20.

Quantities are limited so you will need to pre-order while supplies last, starting at 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT.

Looks like I made the morning cut, so I should have the XB1 this weekend.

Now to check game reviews...

Atta boy 7! Your welcome BTW

[LAking]

Any of you, like Sudz, who are considering not hooking up the Kinect sould take a look at the Polygon livestream vid about the UI. They're pretty clear that the UI is a disaster if you're using just the controller. Worth a look before cutting that cord, I think.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/20/51221 ... e-of-games

Great. I don't have room in my office for the Kinect really...I've got about 8-9 feet between my chair and my 47" LCD, and I think I've read you need 13' to really utilize it. Ahhh F it...I'll hook it up anyway and see what happens. Definitely won't be able to do much motion based gaming that's for sure. It's a tight squeeze with an entertainment center, a desk and a recliner in a 16x12 room. Dammit California prices.

Like Rob says, the real benefit of Kinect for the UI is voice commands, not motion controls. Second, where did you read 13'? Everything i've heard is that it needs a lot less than the original Kinect. MS' official requirement is 4'7". Add a couple feet onto that just to be sure and you're still under 7'.

[XXXIV]

Six hours of streaming? Must be nice to be your own boss.

I was thinking what a freaking nerd! but yeah must be nice.

[dbdynsty25]

Second, where did you read 13'? Everything i've heard is that it needs a lot less than the original Kinect. MS' official requirement is 4'7". Add a couple feet onto that just to be sure and you're still under 7'.

Who the F knows...I've been on too many damn sites the last few weeks. It probably was just referring to the space needed to utilize some lame Dance Dance Revolution game or something. Good to know I've got enough room.

[RobVarak]

The kinect for xb1 has a minimum distance of 4.5 feet.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/23/xbox ... -distance/

Good to know. Thanks. Should be good then.

From the approximately 6 hours of video reviews I've watched today, I think you'll be fine. The UI is really all about the voice commands. Everyone seems to agree that they are much more effective than the Minority Report gestures. Shouldn't matter how far away you are for the voice input.

Six hours of streaming? Must be nice to be your own boss.

I was greatly exaggerating...although it does feel like that much.