Nintendo and Microsoft in light of the PS4 reveal (Th'rip)

[Hogge]

Just saw the PS4 showing.

Surprisingly, Sony didn't shoot themselves in the foot. Apart from the controller, which is a lazy, ugly improvement.

What are Nintendo going to do now? The demos on the PS4 have just CRUSHED anything shown on the Wii U, atless Nintendo bring out a graphical monster on a scale we haven't seen yet, what are Nintendo going to do to win over the core?

[madeinbeats]

Just saw the PS4 showing.

Surprisingly, Sony didn't shoot themselves in the foot. Apart from the controller, which is a lazy, ugly improvement.

What are Nintendo going to do now? The demos on the PS4 have just CRUSHED anything shown on the Wii U, atless Nintendo bring out a graphical monster on a scale we haven't seen yet, what are Nintendo going to do to win over the core?

 

Hardly 'crushed' if you compare to the Japanese Garden demo. Though I suspect they will do nothing because nintendo were never, ever going to make a console with 8gigs of ram and 8 CPU cores. Why are you so surprised Sony shown off a console with greater graphical capabilities than the Wii u? MS will do the exact same thing, it wasn't a secret, everyone knew it would happen.

[Hero-of-Time]

Just saw the PS4 showing.

Surprisingly, Sony didn't shoot themselves in the foot. Apart from the controller, which is a lazy, ugly improvement.

What are Nintendo going to do now? The demos on the PS4 have just CRUSHED anything shown on the Wii U, atless Nintendo bring out a graphical monster on a scale we haven't seen yet, what are Nintendo going to do to win over the core?

 

Graphically it always was going to outdo the Wii U. What was surprising was the amount of stuff the OS does. Live streaming of demos, video chat while in a game, hitting the share button to do videos of the game you are playing and upload them to youtube. Crazy.

[Zechs Merquise]

Just saw the PS4 showing.

Surprisingly, Sony didn't shoot themselves in the foot. Apart from the controller, which is a lazy, ugly improvement.

What are Nintendo going to do now? The demos on the PS4 have just CRUSHED anything shown on the Wii U, atless Nintendo bring out a graphical monster on a scale we haven't seen yet, what are Nintendo going to do to win over the core?

 

Had the Sony event been a Nintendo event this is what would have been said:

 

- Where were all the games? A fourth Killzone, is that the best Sony can do???? We want new IPs!!!!

- Ooooh they've copied Kinect, lol - NOT HARDCORE

- You need to purchase a Vita for off screen play WTF, no one's going to stump up all that money and then have to buy a Vita too to unlock it's true potential!!!

- They didn't show the console, what's wrong with them!!!

- I didn't see any demos by from (insert publisher that didn't show something)

 

^^^^^ That is exactly what would have been said had Nintendo done that exact conference.

 

The specs are impressive, but I saw NOTHING that couldn't already be done on a decent PC - where the games would cost less and you'd get to use Steam.

[Hogge]

Had the Sony event been a Nintendo event this is what would have been said:

 

- Where were all the games? A fourth Killzone, is that the best Sony can do???? We want new IPs!!!!

- Ooooh they've copied Kinect, lol - NOT HARDCORE

- You need to purchase a Vita for off screen play WTF, no one's going to stump up all that money and then have to buy a Vita too to unlock it's true potential!!!

- They didn't show the console, what's wrong with them!!!

- I didn't see any demos by from (insert publisher that didn't show something)

 

^^^^^ That is exactly what would have been said had Nintendo done that exact conference.

 

The specs are impressive, but I saw NOTHING that couldn't already be done on a decent PC - where the games would cost less and you'd get to use Steam.

I completely adore the Wii U, and as a game designer, I have like a million trillion ideas on how to use the gamepad to create cool game experiences.

 

I think that the PS4 controller is conservatively designed, the left analogue stick is still in the wrong place and both of them still look like a cheaply glued on after-thought... which is exactly what it was 15 years ago. The "touch pad" is a completely moronic idea and the slight tweak in ergonomics is still too small. Also, the camera isn't a Kinect clone, as it to my understanding only tracks the controller, making it a c**p version of the PS Move, which in turn is a C**Ptastic version of the Wiimote. Hence Sony are copying Nintendo again. All in all, my opinion on the DS4 is:

 

My point is not that the PS4 is better than the Wii U, IMO it's not. But Nintendo announced the Wii U a year and a half before the PS4. Heck, they even launched the console four months before Sony announced their system! That's the ammount of time Nintendo had to show off something... ANYTHING impressive. Then, at least for a little while, Nintendo could've stolen the lime light.

 

Nintendo should've had that Wii U third party Nintendo Direct we thought we were going to get. Why? Because that Need For Speed port looks really good, and the devs themselves say it's the best looking version, even outshining the PC edition. You know, something that would crush all claims that the Wii U is under-powered.

[Zechs Merquise]

My point is not that the PS4 is better than the Wii U, IMO it's not. But Nintendo announced the Wii U a year and a half before the PS4. Heck, they even launched the console four months before Sony announced their system! That's the ammount of time Nintendo had to show off something... ANYTHING impressive. Then, at least for a little while, Nintendo could've stolen the lime light.

 

Nintendo should've had that Wii U third party Nintendo Direct we thought we were going to get. Why? Because that Need For Speed port looks really good, and the devs themselves say it's the best looking version, even outshining the PC edition. You know, something that would crush all claims that the Wii U is under-powered.

 

Well, I do agree!

 

Nintendo don't seem to have been ready for their own launch! They have also failed to show off and trumpet the third party support they do have. Couple this with no footage of the games we're waiting for - 3D Mario, Smash Bros, Metroid and Zelda it's left the whole system looking a little barren.

 

Then there's the release schedule debacle of MH3U, NFS and Lego all in such a short space of time and the problems start mounting.

 

I don't think there's really anything wrong with the Wii U, it's just been badly handled.

 

On a separate point, today I heard someone say something very true about the current state of the gaming industry - there's only two things that sell a system these days: the right price and the right advertising.

 

I think there's a lot of truth in that comment. It's also another reason the Wii U has struggled. It's not priced as competitively as the Wii and the advertising hasn't been anywhere near as good as the Wii's was.

[Grazza]

The Sony event made me like the Wii U more, not less! In many ways, it reminded me of the PSOne days, mixed with today's overly-serious, "cinematic" style. All in all, I was desperate for some of that charm that Nintendo seem to find so easy.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Retro_Link

[Fierce_LiNk]

The Sony event made me like the Wii U more, not less! In many ways, it reminded me of the PSOne days, mixed with today's overly-serious, "cinematic" style. All in all, I was desperate for some of that charm that Nintendo seem to find so easy.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

The Killzone Demo sums up how I felt about a lot of last gen games. Looks pretty, but ultimately very fake and with little soul. I loathed Timesplitters 2 when that arrived for the Cube, not because of the modes, or the graphics, or the controls, because the game itself didn't have a soul, or charm. It was empty.

[Retro_Link]

I want to agree, but there's just so few games announced for the Wii U to be able to fill me with any confidence... from Nintendo themselves really.

 

I guess the charm you're talking about, and I fully agree with, is in titles like what... Nintendo Land... and then future games like Lego City, The Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3 maybe (what other games are we talking about here?)... but two of those games aren't from Nintendo.

 

I need them to slap me in the face with a New IP or something, to show that they aren't just about Mii's and Mario.

 

The Killzone demo is always going to be a matter of taste... tbh FPS don't generally appeal to me either.

 

HOWEVER... what Killzone does do is show the potential of the console... it's a showcase for the console. What was Nintendo's big showcase for the console... NSMBU. It's night and day.

 

Also you can't judge the console off of Killzone, because that was a showcase for the PS3 too, and look what that console went on to do in terms of it's First Party content, exclusives and indie developers.

 

Alongside Killzone yesterday, they also had Knack.

 

I seriously cannot wait for this years E3 to see what Nintendo have up their sleeve. I know Mario 'Universe' will blow me away, there's no question, they always do!... and Retro Studios, YES PLEASE!! Smash Bros etc... but to see that Nintendo magic in some new games too, that aren't the staples of every one of their consoles.

[Lens of Truth]

The Sony event made me like the Wii U more, not less! In many ways, it reminded me of the PSOne days, mixed with today's overly-serious, "cinematic" style. All in all, I was desperate for some of that charm that Nintendo seem to find so easy.

Despite thinking it has potential for the future, maybe 2 years down the line when it's a decent price, I feel exactly the same way (didn't think it was worth saying so in the PS4 thread!).

 

After all that, playing F-Zero, browsing Miiverse and helping my brother unlock the last bonus level in Trine 2 was like a breath of fresh air. There's something very 'homely' about the Wii U that makes it a joy to switch on each day.

[Gold Panda]

After watching the conference, Im leaning more to buy a Wii U than PS4. Conference was full of fancy words that does not mean anything in the end, the "fun" factor wasnt there. The share function will be usefull i guess, but it does not really matter to me that I can play game while it downloads. I dont need more Killzones either.

[Retro_Link]

After watching the conference, Im leaning more to buy a Wii U than PS4. Conference was full of fancy words that does not mean anything in the end, the "fun" factor wasnt there. The share function will be usefull i guess, but it does not really matter to me that I can play game while it downloads. I dont need more Killzones either.

It's a bit difficult to draw any conclusions as to what console to get at the moment.

 

E3's gonna be big for Nintendo, and that's 4 months away.

The PS4 and 720 wont be out for 9months; and we had to wait 2 weeks before the Wii U launch before we found out anything concrete about that.

 

So its how long you can play the waiting game for really! :p

[Serebii]

I'm just waiting for the third party Wii U Direct. It really was a missed opportunity to not have revealed Watch Dogs in it before yesterday's thing.

 

But, it makes you wonder, if Watch Dogs is coming to Wii U...what else will?

[Fierce_LiNk]

I want to agree, but there's just so few games announced for the Wii U to be able to fill me with any confidence... from Nintendo themselves really.

 

I guess the charm you're talking about, and I fully agree with, is in titles like what... Nintendo Land... and then future games like Lego City, The Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3 maybe (what other games are we talking about here?)... but two of those games aren't from Nintendo.

 

I need them to slap me in the face with a New IP or something, to show that they aren't just about Mii's and Mario.

 

The Killzone demo is always going to be a matter of taste... tbh FPS don't generally appeal to me either.

 

HOWEVER... what Killzone does do is show the potential of the console... it's a showcase for the console. What was Nintendo's big showcase for the console... NSMBU. It's night and day.

 

Also you can't judge the console off of Killzone, because that was a showcase for the PS3 too, and look what that console went on to do in terms of it's First Party content, exclusives and indie developers.

 

Alongside Killzone yesterday, they also had Knack.

 

I seriously cannot wait for this years E3 to see what Nintendo have up their sleeve. I know Mario 'Universe' will blow me away, there's no question, they always do!... and Retro Studios, YES PLEASE!! Smash Bros etc... but to see that Nintendo magic in some new games too, that aren't the staples of every one of their consoles.

 

The charm that I'm talking about is the kind you usually find from Nintendo and their games. It doesn't really matter that they're not there right now, because you know that they'll come. We've not seen a Zelda, but we know that'll come, for example.

 

I'm not basing the whole console on Killzone, but saying that, for me, it typifies how I feel about Sony's consoles. I can't get along with them. As for Nintendo, I don't need to worry a great deal about games not being great at the moment because their array of IPs is huge, and you know that when they want to they can just whip out something great, like Donkey Kong Country Returns and Epic Yarn, and Metroid: Other M (for me). I remember Prime coming out of nowhere.

 

I can probably only afford the time for one console and there's nothing really Sony have done or have shown in the past that really makes me want to switch. If you had a disposable amount of income and time, you'd get both. They'll be the big 2 to own next gen, imo. Microsoft don't have the exclusive library like the other 2 have and they just don't have an edge to them.

[Dcubed]

I'm just waiting for the third party Wii U Direct. It really was a missed opportunity to not have revealed Watch Dogs in it before yesterday's thing.

 

But, it makes you wonder, if Watch Dogs is coming to Wii U...what else will?

 

Very true. Why the hell would Nintendo want to not tell us that it was coming!?

 

Makes zero sense to allow this kind of FUD to spread when they could've nipped it in the bud so easily...

[Gold Panda]

It's a bit difficult to draw any conclusions as to what console to get at the moment.

 

E3's gonna be big for Nintendo, and that's 4 months away.

The PS4 and 720 wont be out for 9months; and we had to wait 2 weeks before the Wii U launch before we found out anything concrete about that.

 

So its how long you can play the waiting game for really! :p

 

I guess its true. Just my reaction after conference, right now I think that I dont need to own ps4. You can have more fun with a gamepad than with the ps4-camera-kinect-thingy. We will to see some big games at E3, and also new xbox.

[Zechs Merquise]

I love my Wii U even more now I'm playing F-Zero on the gamepad whilst watching the football

 

I think the problem with the Killzone demo, is that despite it looking nice, had you not seen the Helghan at the end that could have been a trailer/tech demo for Crysis 4, Black Ops 3, Halo 5 or any unnamed FPS set in the future. It showcased nothing new.

 

One of the things that I actually found quite attractive about Killzone 2 and 3 was the art direction, that industrial and stylised look has been lost.

 

The Wii U may not have taken off as Nintendo hoped, but at least it's already offered new gaming experiences via the gamepad. Killzone 4 looks pretty, but so far we've seen an on rails section of a corridor shooter, hardly a new experience.

 

After seeing the PS4 reveal, I genuinely don't think there's anything revolutionary about the system - and from the reactions around the internet the reception has been at best mixed.

 

I believe MS will now feel rather confident as the ball is in their court. If they come out all guns blazing and with their greater marketing power, they have a chance to steal the show and pull the rug from under Sony.

 

What's more, as the PS4 and the 720 are both rumoured to have very similar specs, if they both release in the same time frame, it's going to be a blood bath. Two very similar, expensive systems offering widely the same multi-platform content both coming out within a few months of each other will lead to at least one of those platforms suffering.

[madeinbeats]

Let's be honest now people, when we saw The Witness we knew this is what the next Zelda should be like.

 

I just watched the trailer, not only does it look Zelda inspired, but the music sounds very, very Zelda too.

 

These sort of graphics and art style is what I want to see Nintendo do with a modern GPU though.

 

Re Killzone 4 - I watched the Jimmy Fallon expo and as soon as he took over, ie, how a normal person might play the game, not the developer, the graphical element just completely disapeared past the back seat, and through the rear window... there I was, in just yet another, highly scripted, on-rails 1.5, cinematic FPS clone. Welcome to next-gen.... I'm starting to nod off here, someone wake me up when the games industry has crashed and Nintendo have to resurrect it again with the NES 2.

 

Seeing the type of graphics the PS4 and 720 might achieve gave me a cheap thrill seeing it for the first time, but if they are only going to whore it as the cheapest gimmick in the gaming world, then I'm bored already.

[Retro_Link]

I love my Wii U even more now I'm playing F-Zero on the gamepad whilst watching the football

 

I think the problem with the Killzone demo, is that despite it looking nice, had you not seen the Helghan at the end that could have been a trailer/tech demo for Crysis 4, Black Ops 3, Halo 5 or any unnamed FPS set in the future. It showcased nothing new.

 

One of the things that I actually found quite attractive about Killzone 2 and 3 was the art direction, that industrial and stylised look has been lost.

 

The Wii U may not have taken off as Nintendo hoped, but at least it's already offered new gaming experiences via the gamepad. Killzone 4 looks pretty, but so far we've seen an on rails section of a corridor shooter, hardly a new experience.

 

After seeing the PS4 reveal, I genuinely don't think there's anything revolutionary about the system - and from the reactions around the internet the reception has been at best mixed.

 

I believe MS will now feel rather confident as the ball is in their court. If they come out all guns blazing and with their greater marketing power, they have a chance to steal the show and pull the rug from under Sony.

 

What's more, as the PS4 and the 720 are both rumoured to have very similar specs, if they both release in the same time frame, it's going to be a blood bath. Two very similar, expensive systems offering widely the same multi-platform content both coming out within a few months of each other will lead to at least one of those platforms suffering.

Personally I think you're overlooking an incredible number of PS4 features for convenience sake.

 

Cross platform Play with the Vita, Remote play with the Vita, 'Smartglass' style app so you can use your tablet/smartphone for gaming, the Share function... meaning you can upload screenshots and videos of you gaming to social media sites, Being able to watch friends play their games, Being able o assist one another in games online, Eyetoy being able to take 3D pics and videos of you, Move integrated into the controller as standard meaning you don't have to buy additional controllers...

 

It's also extremely developer friendly and the specs, especially they are going crazy over the 8GB DDRS RAM reveal. The PS4 is also very much 'future proofed'... and the demo's that were shown, KillZone, Deep Down, Infamous... are showing a very obvious step up and forward, and the console is still 9 months from release.

 

I think the console has plenty of potential in terms of offering 'new experiences'.

 

For months... years... people have been saying that the next generation would be more of an evolution than a revolution, so I'm not sure what you were expecting to see?

 

If you were expecting a hardware innovation, then I think it's fair to say that has always been largely Nintendo's domain. However, on the other hand you cant deny that the Gamepad has already cost Nintendo a couple of third party games, notably Tomb Raider.

 

There's also a 7 minute long gameplay footage of Killzone, and a demo on Jimmy Fallon, not sure if you've seen those as it's not an on rails demo, and only the minute long trailer ends with the Helghast.

 

---

 

Nintendo and Sony have always offered very different experiences that's why there's room for them both to exist. Microsoft... do one! :p

Edited February 22, 2013 by Retro_Link

[Fierce_LiNk]

Nintendo and Sony have always offered very different experiences that's why there's room for them both to exist.

 

Microsoft... do one! p

 

It's odd that so many are expecting Nintendo to fail next gen. What about Microsoft? They're in bigger trouble, in my opinion. This current gen, they had a system that was similar to Sony's, yet Sony did almost everything better. Better exclusives, better online services, free. Only thing that Microsoft has over Sony is the controller, and even then there's not a great deal to choose between them.

[Serebii]

It's odd that so many are expecting Nintendo to fail next gen. What about Microsoft? They're in bigger trouble, in my opinion. This current gen, they had a system that was similar to Sony's, yet Sony did almost everything better. Better exclusives, better online services, free. Only thing that Microsoft has over Sony is the controller, and even then there's not a great deal to choose between them.

Both Microsoft and Sony are in dire financial issues and analysts and even their own higher ups keep calling for dropping that part of the company.

 

It really is far more likely that one of them go than Nintendo, who just had ONE bad year, and have already returned to profit from it

[liger05]

It's odd that so many are expecting Nintendo to fail next gen. What about Microsoft? They're in bigger trouble, in my opinion. This current gen, they had a system that was similar to Sony's, yet Sony did almost everything better. Better exclusives, better online services, free. Only thing that Microsoft has over Sony is the controller, and even then there's not a great deal to choose between them.

 

The xbox is a strong brand and Microsoft will be launching a console in the US at least with huge momentum. Xbox has owned America for 2 years now.

[Serebii]

The xbox is a strong brand and Microsoft will be launching a console in the US at least with huge momentum. Xbox has owned America for 2 years now.

Ah comments like that seem so familiar.

 

I remember Nintendo thinking something similar, look what happened

[Retro_Link]

It's odd that so many are expecting Nintendo to fail next gen. What about Microsoft? They're in bigger trouble, in my opinion. This current gen, they had a system that was similar to Sony's, yet Sony did almost everything better. Better exclusives, better online services, free. Only thing that Microsoft has over Sony is the controller, and even then there's not a great deal to choose between them.

I actually think Microsoft could be in big trouble next gen.

 

a) Their big advantage this gen was launching ahead of and at a cheaper price than Sony. This enabled them to grab the Call of Duty community and that's largely what's driven their entire console.

 

However, Sony coming out with their press conference now asks Microsoft to react. Sony are ready, PlayStation will be there when the Call of Duty, Battlefield etc... all launch at the end on this year... if Microsoft are not, then they risk loosing out.

 

b) Sony won't charge for Online (as far as we know). The only reason Microsoft got away with charging last gen is because they had already built the Call of Duty community and thus people stuck with them. However, PS4/720 is a fresh start. I'm not sure people will be so willing to do the same again this time round.

 

Also Microsoft will be reluctant to offer free online, because Xbox Live is where they make all their money. This is where speculation of them having to offer a £99 'Subscription console' comes in... so they can still continue to charge.

 

c) They've somewhat/largely been abandoning the hardcore on the 360 these last few years, whilst Sony (more and more so) and Nintendo keep up a high level of First Party content. And this is the difference maker.

 

Will the hardcore be willing to forgive this... I'm not so sure.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Retro_Link

[liger05]

Ah comments like that seem so familiar.

 

I remember Nintendo thinking something similar, look what happened

 

The big difference is nintendo didnt launch a new console when the wii was hot. Nintendo let the wii die and launched a new console when no doubt many wii owners would of moved on to something else in that time.

 

I dont think Nintendo will be going anywhere but this year is going to be a very tough year for them with the Wii U.

 

However, Sony coming out with their press conference now asks Microsoft to react. Sony are ready, PlayStation will be there when the Call of Duty, Battlefield etc... all launch at the end on this year... if Microsoft are not, then they risk loosing out.

 

The new xbox will launch this holiday season. Rumours are April will be when they will reveal the console.

 

Sony won't charge for Online (as far as we know). The only reason Microsoft got away with charging last gen is because they had already built the Call of Duty community and thus people stuck with them. However, PS4/720 is a fresh start. I'm not sure people will be so willing to do the same again this time round.

 

I think Sony will be adding a lot more paid services. They must look at how much MS generate in subs and they know they could get in on that.

 

They've somewhat/largely been abandoning the hardcore on the 360 these last few years, whilst Sony (more and more so) and Nintendo keep up a high level of First Party content. And this is the difference maker.

 

Agree with this and as a 360 owner if MS push the new console as an entertainment hub first, games console second then they are only making me look towards the PS4.

Edited February 22, 2013 by liger05