This round will focus on both online services and their ever-changing policies.
To read the first round, which focused on the specs and pricing, go here.
The Nerd Stash: “The letter scene in Grandia is a magnificent, layered early example of the game's wonderful NPC interactions, and a real tear-jerker.”
A third game in the Falconeer series has been announced as the second, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, launches.
While there’s a lot to love about modern video games, there is one trend — particularly in the AAA space — that tends to grate: their length.
Games are coming out with too much fluff and side activities that are horribly dull. That's my main issue with all these open world games. Open world should be about exploration, discovery and wonder, not have some stupid 10s or 100s of boring activities spread throughout.
I stopped buying overfluffed games like a decade ago. Cant stand games with the Ubisoft mindset of just filling maps with uselss collectibles and fodder. Make it mean something. Ill gladly take 1/4 size of the map and 1/10th the "content" if it all meant more, were more unique and greater affect on your progression.
Well people complained like the world was ending when a few games were six to ten hours of gameplay. Developers listened and started making longer games full of repetitive gameplay, time wasting fetch quest and other forms of bloat. In doing so they were able to justify the high cost of a game being sold to the customers at seventy dollars or more.
PS+> Xbox one apps.
Indie self publishing alone should have won PS4 this round.
Indie games will be mentioned in the next round
A fair enough decision.
Personally, I prefer the services and value provided by PS+, but it's hard to deny that Xbox LIVE is a quality and stable network.
I think both services will excel, but where the differences will lie is in value and fairness in service. I think XBL is a quality network and service, but like I said before these consoles were even announced, you'd have to be a bit naive to think that Sony has no chance of having a network that stands against XBL, especially since they have Gaikai technology on their side.
-
"But as of right now, Xbox Live still has the edge due to more stable servers, cross-game chat, ESPN, and other exclusive apps such as HBO GO."
How do we know that the servers are more stable for PS4 and XB1? Sony has their own ever increasing farm of servers as well as the Gaikai servers, now that they have ownership of that company.
Cross-game chat has been confirmed to be free outside of the PS+ premium service as well as auto-updates, applications and free-to-play games.
Access to applications is locked into the premium service on Xbox One, based on what we know.
I don't see Microsoft topping the absolute blasting value of PS+, because they don't want to give this value away. It hurts them to allow it, as has been shown recently with their Games for Gold.
"As for the PSN side, their network is also improving, albeit less ambitiously."
I can agree to Microsoft adding a larger stable of non-gaming related features, but how can you be sure Sony's network capabilities are less ambitious than Microsoft. Have you seen how the OS and network are integrated?
-
You also skipped over Microsoft's desire to use Kinect as a way to personalise advertisements on the Xbox One, on your Policies section - surely this is an important thing to consider under this column. Microsoft are planning to build advertisements into the gaming experience to attempt to combat 'ad blindness' and ensure you enjoy interacting with them, so they can make money without most people knowing. http://www.youtube.com/watc...
Probably one of the main reasons they are bundling Kinect with the system and ensuring that it has be "always-listening".
It's a hard call, if it were the same like this gen I would give the edge to Microsoft but we have yet to actually see how we'll the new psn will be handled with everything changing.
So as of now =