The gaming console situation for the past three generations has been an odd one, given that Nintendo, the winner of the last console war, is sort of the Switzerland of the conflict. Nintendo is given little thought when comparing the Xbox and the Playstation. It doesn't have a great deal of power compared to the other systems, and its library is far smaller.
Nintendo is a bit like Apple (before the iPhone/iPad/iEverything explosion) in that it's a company that makes its own hardware and software, and while some are free to make things for it, you're really coming for the first-party stuff. Apple has Final Cut and iTunes, Nintendo has Mario and Zelda.
In the last generation, Nintendo was able to survive by being everyone's "second console." You'd have a PS3 or an Xbox 360 as well as a Wii. This generation things don't seem to be shaping up quite as well for the big N, due, I'm sure, to the gamble to try to make the Wii U work as a true competitor and wade their way back into the Red Waters.
Mind you, I think the Wii U has lots of potential, but whether it's through difficulty working with developers or just the fact that people don't really go out of their way to design for them, a lot of that potential has not been met. I'm sure the upcoming Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Smash Bros, etc. games will be great - they nearly always are - but I'm not holding my breath for the kind of mind-blowing new IP to come to the Wii U. Nintendo has far better first party titles than Sega did, but there's a danger that the Wii U, despite how amazing the potential of its iPad-like controller is, could be Nintendo's Dreamcast. I'm not going to forecast this dark fate, because I still have a shred of hope, but I also realize that this generation is not going to change what was established back in the Gamecube era.
So the PS4 and Xbox One are the two titans that will be clashing during the next/current generation (current because the Wii U is already out.) It's funny, because the last two generations, among the people I know, I seemed to only know those with PS2s, and none with Xboxes, but in this last generation, everyone had a 360, and none had PS3s. (I've literally only played on a PS3 once.)
Anyway, I don't really have a horse in this race (unless Nintendo comes out from behind somehow.)
This past generation has seen the internet integrated into gaming consoles in some clever ways. With hard drives and a connection to the web, indie games like Braid and DLC for established games were made possible.
From what I hear, Microsoft has learned all the wrong lessons from the last generation.
The Xbox One is going to require an online connection at all times, it never truly turns off, it seems that used or rented games will become a thing of the past, as the game disk will only basically let you install and register your copy. It's got a built-in Kinect that, like the console, will not turn off.
Let's mention this again. This is a camera you put in your living room that never turns off. That is literally something out of 1984 by George Orwell.
The list of features of the Xbox One sounds like a huge list of negatives. Perhaps some of these things appeal to publishers, but overall, it sounds as if they wanted to serve us a big pile of crap and expect us to thank them for us.
It's a shame, because I actually liked the 360 in general, but it really sounds like Microsoft is going after the mustache-twirling corporate overlord as their main demographic, and not, you know, people who will actually use the thing. Is there anything in that series of announcements that they actually think will make people want this thing? And for, like, six hundred dollars?
Sony's console seems to be lacking most of what is offensive about the Xbox One. Will it be a good console? I'm not sure. The key point, really, is what kind of games it can play. I've never really followed Sony news that much - I got a used PS2 at the very tail end of its generation mainly so I could play Shadow of the Colossus. Still, given how Sony doesn't seem to be working hard to convince everyone they're evil, I'd say Microsoft has a lot of damage control to work on.
Nintendo, on the other hand, needs to pump out some of their core games and encourage third parties to develop for them. If I could stick with just my Wii U this generation and still be able to play the next Elder Scrolls (not the online one - I mean whatever is the next in the main series,) the next Mass Effect (however the hell that's going to work,) and, you know, some really cool new game that isn't a sequel (I'm thinking a Bethesda-style open-world sci-fi FPS set in a solar system filled with space stations and planets to explore and spaceships to pilot) I would be very happy.
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