Delusion, Delusion Everywhere

It's funny how history can find a way to repeat and still put a twist on things. The newest consoles aren't even out, and yet delusions and misinformation and FUD abound from fanboys and media alike. Ridiculous features are being promoted, people are ignoring straight answers when they are given and asking for clarification, and the age old arguments resume. I've already seen this gen's tech promises and "no games" accusations and the consoles aren't even out.

The worst part of the ongoing war between diehards on all sides is the stupidity of the media and their contribution to the sensationalism and flamebaiting. Starting with the PS4 in February when Sony were very clear about their stance on used games and their DRM, you had the small time bloggers all the way up to "respected" media people like Adam Sessler all saying Sony needed to clarify their straight answer. Why? Because Microsoft did something, so obviously Sony were going to do it too right? Well, a lot of crow was eaten at E3 when Sony restated what they said in February.

Then you have the tech promises. Xbox One is made of magic and wishes and Azure is going to make games beyond perfect. Let's ignore all the data that proves the "power of the cloud" is smoke and mirrors because if we believe fact, then the Xbox One continues to look bad and that just can't happen after E3. Anyone remember Ken Kutaragi saying the PS3 was capable of 4D, 120FPS, 1080p games? Where are those exactly? Oh, so now tech promises are real because Microsoft are saying so? Since when does dedicated servers = new, all powerful cloud technology? 300,000 servers? I'm sure Microsoft literally have that many physical servers laying around somewhere right? An entire multi-floored building or buildings filled with nothing but servers just for cloud power right? Yeah, how much you wanna bet that 300,000 servers translates to mostly virtual servers?

Probably the best example of the repetition of history though is the "exclusives" argument. After E3, enough people have said that Microsoft somehow has "better" and "more" exclusives than Sony. This is completely reminiscent of Xbox 360 vs. PS3 and it's humorous how the arguments always change. With the Xbox 360, exclusives didn't matter because of multiplats, but with the Xbox One exclusives matter over multiplats. Gotta love the flip flopping.

This new generation is already turning out poorly in terms of public relations. Media taking quotes and turning them into 5 stories with flamebait titles and misconstrued words. Executives showing the immense disconnect they have with the fans who still stick up for them even after they were nearly screwed over. Justifications made for every bad decision. It's clear that, at the moment, gaming isn't about playing video games. It's about trying to get consumers to swallow the pills of corporate bullsh*t, lofty promises, and ignoring complete arrogance.

Yeah, this blog is chiefly about Microsoft's incredibly poor showing thus far. I really don't care if people want to attach labels because of it, but thinking that a company like Microsoft can do any good for gaming when they have already successfully changed what people should be focused on in a negative way is naive. Microsoft is the only company out there, with a console of any kind, whose staff that handle that aspect of their business is not made up of any gamers and instead is filled with suits, so tell me how someone who doesn't know the first thing about gaming is somehow catering to gamers?

Delusion is how. Delusion everywhere.

[PopRocks359]

"It's clear that, at the moment, gaming isn't about playing video games. It's about trying to get consumers to swallow the pills of corporate bullsh*t, lofty promises, and ignoring complete arrogance."

That's what happens when visionaries are set aside for businessmen. It's happened with Hollywood as well.But that's the industry we need to deal with and, at the very least, the whole fiasco with Microsoft's poor handling of Xbox One shows that even businessmen can be swayed if the angry voices are loud enough (or if your product gets jabbed at on the Jimmy Fallon show).

I wouldn't call all of the defense "delusional." Some people are just happy the DRM and always-online aspects are no longer a factor, myself included. Doesn't change the fact that Microsoft is sleazy as hell and definitely still deserve the consumer apathy and mistrust they are currently dealing with. They have their awful handling and PR to thank for that.

[DragonKnight]

To be clear, I have no problem with people who see games on the Xbox One that they like. It is impossible to have an issue with that as it's all subjective.

But I definitely hate the suits who have no background in gaming, no interest in gaming, and take no input from developers or gaming industry personnel and simply try to force what they think is the future on us.

[joeorc]

"Microsoft is the only company out there, with a console of any kind, whose staff that handle that aspect of their business is not made up of any gamers and instead is filled with suits, so tell me how someone who doesn't know the first thing about gaming is somehow catering to gamers? "

and

"the whole fiasco with Microsoft's poor handling of Xbox One shows that even businessmen can be swayed if the angry voices are loud enough (or if your product gets jabbed at on the Jimmy Fallon show). "

both are 100% true, I talked about this very fact that, when 10+ exec all with gaming background, who had the passion and drive to make inroads into gameing who wanted to make a great gaming platform who took the time and drive building teams and to pitch this project to microsoft about making good on their project. and when it did good, it became less about the core concept and ground floor IDEA what the platform was being made for, and it became less and less about the core reason about the platform as a whole the direction is and has been taken away from what the founders intended reasoning for the platform.

when Ed Fries gave his reason why he left before the 360 even shipped and he was there 18 years, when robbie who was there 22 years along with J. all left..10 total key gamer exec's leaving something at the very core i would say is wrong.

people may say maybe they wanted a change?, maybe so but im of the opinion if you have a passion for gaming and you are a gamer @ heart why would you leave somthing you really love to nurture and create.

ED Fries said he felt the xbox platform was not what he felt what it was when he was heading the project, we are talking about one of those few passioned gamer's that looked toward gaming as a gamer would, he helped get rare, Bungie for Halo has done many things for Microsoft games and he is just one out of those 10 and he's now gone.

That is what the problem is in my opinion.

[Godmars290]

For me, well and above all the spec BS that's going around, I'm hoping and waiting for divergence from "real-world" COD-cloneage. For something like a successor to Panzer Dragoon to more than just the promotional remnant for motion control.

And I really can't stop thinking about how Bill Gates once threatened to use a Halo release against the launch of the PS3 and how that likely would have compromised the quality of the game. What that said about his and MS's priorities towards gaming.

[DragonKnight]

Good luck. MS have no priorities when it comes to gaming save and except the minimum they can put out in keeping with their living room dominance plan. They care only about overcoming Google and Apple and gaming is just a tool for them in that ambition. Expect little risk from Microsoft this gen. I am certain of that.

[Godmars290]

Its not just MS that's guilty though. Sony's as much if not more to blame with presenting the Cell CPU as a graphics powerhouse then failing to make it accessible.

If JP devs show signs of coming back to consoles at TGS while not trying to copy western conventions, and at the same time offer willingness to grow out of PS1 era "traditionalism", then there might be a chance for everybody. Including the XB1 and WiiU. The Xenoblade title for instance.

Or, that might just be my mech-boner talking.

[DragonKnight]

Sony's more to blame for what? The lack of risk taking? If that's what you mean, I have to disagree. Sony themselves have been the biggest risk takers and tried to drive the industry towards taking more risks with unique games. That's the whole reason behind their Play Create Share motto. MS' last real risk was Live. Think about it. Can you say that MS did much of anything lately that can be considered a risk with the 360?

And with the Xbox One, it's barely about the games for them. They have core exclusives that they showed at E3, but I would bet money that that's just an appeasement maneuver. Microsoft have always been about the broad entertainment device. I wouldn't put it passed them to put more resources into tv, sports, and other media besides gaming in the near future.

[Godmars290]

Think of all the canceled games from early in the generation. 8 Days and the three titles Namco were promising which just dried up. Those were the games which were "harder to program" and which showed the Cell's flaw. A flaw Sony purposely created because they wanted to force exclusivity toward their system onto devs. They were arrogant, overestimated and paid for. Just like gamers did by never seeing those games.

And yet still given all that the PS3 still set graphic standards while MS was more concerned with having the better looking multiplatform title. Quickly became content with a certain quality of game which was often a multiplayer shooter.

[DragonKnight]

I find it hard to believe that those games were cancelled because of the Cell. In order to believe that, we have to believe that the developers didn't know anything about the Cell until it was too late, and that's simply not true. The truth is we don't know why those games were cancelled. But I can't argue that the Cell made devs unhappy and Ken included it for nefarious reasons. Sony's problems though were the result of Ken and how he ran things. Microsoft's problems are pretty much company wide.

[Godmars290]

Then what about The Last Guardian or FFvs13 when it was still called that? Based on the popularity of the PS2 the PS3 could have made this console gen different than it turned out, $600 launch price or no, if only coding for the Cell hadn't been the issue it was.

[DragonKnight]

We don't know that Last Guardian is cancelled, and Versus XIII is all on SE. To my knowledge they haven't blamed the Cell for anything regarding Versus, but if I'm wrong then so be it. I'm not saying that the Cell was a picnic for devs, and I definitely see where you're coming from. Just making that clear.

[MikeMyers]

We all know the complications the PS3 served to game developers. Finally Sony is listening with the PS4 and not building some proprietary hardware that only suits their own needs. You can't really blame those developers either for not tapping into the hardware and getting the most out of it.

Games like Killzone and Gran Turismo took forever to come out due to the hardware and getting used to it. Not every 3rd party developer has that luxury and 3rd party development tools were not exactly ideal for them either. Sony is correcting that with the PS4. Then you had games like GTA IV that got delayed due to the PS3 hardware.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008...

Final Fantasy XIII was supposed to be exclusive to the PS3 but likely long development time and struggles with the hardware forced Square to have it come out on the Xbox 360 as well to help recoup some of that development cost. Making games on the PS3 was not cheap. Games like Agent, FF Versus and The Last Guardian are likely to be coming to the PS4 now.

We keep hearing fans say how easy the PS4 will be for developers and how great Sony has been listening to them. Why didn't they do that for the PS3? Simple, they thought their clout from the PS2 would force these developers to adapt but in the end it was Sony who had to adapt since they didn't feel they had to make the PS3 the lead platform like they did on the PS2. Meanwhile the Xbox was always easy for game development. They showed with the original Xbox you can have the most powerful console, still be priced competitively, and also make it easy to tap that extra power. Sadly we didn't see much of that since the PS2 had such a monopoly at the time. We didn't see as much complaints about the Xbox not being the lead platform. Now when Sony doesn't have control of the market the pitchforks come out suggesting development is being held back by weaker hardware. How ironic.

[Godmars290]

@MikeMyers
"We keep hearing fans say how easy the PS4 will be for developers and how great Sony has been listening to them."

The thing is when MS said it, when they had advantages in power and accessibility, they failed to live to those boasts. No matter how easier the 360 was to program for nothing on the system really showed that, unless it was a multiplatform title. And even in that case it wasn't every instance. Yet with the PS2 and especially the PS3 there are games which have been mistaken for being next gen.

It is only for the reason that Sony has proven to set examples, allow for their 1st party devs to so, that now when its being said that accessibility may translate into better games that it may actually mean more than empty PR boasting.

But yes, Sony still has to prove themselves. Just like MS has to with their cloud support despite showing nothing.

[BillytheBarbarian]

@Godmars290: "Yet with the PS2 and especially the PS3 there are games which have been mistaken for being next gen."

Like what?
There are no PS2 games that look as good as anything on PS3. PS2 didn't even support progressive scan and the jaggies (blurry movements) were horrid. Dreamcast's Shenmue were crystal clear but FFX on PS2 was blurred in comparison. I thought my TV was messed up when I played PS2 on it. Thank goodness for HD collections!

As for PS3 and 360, I still don't think they've been able to tap all the power of current generation graphics. Uncharted and Gears of War look just as good as any game shown at E3.

We're at a point since going HD where graphics aren't going to blow us away anymore. Especially when companies aren't even pushing graphics. Look how terrible Madden looks. It still looks like it did in 2007 but with weird physics. Call of Duty doesn't exactly pride itself in the graphics department either. If graphics are really all you're looking for you may want to think about PC gaming.

[MikeMyers]

"The thing is when MS said it, when they had advantages in power and accessibility, they failed to live to those boasts."

I don't think anyone believes the Xbox 360 to be more powerful than the PS3. Just easier to develop games on. The original Xbox was more powerful than the PS2 and it was easier for them to tap that extra power as opposed to the PS3. Games like GTA showed improvements and 1st party titles shined as well. The PS3 had great looking games like Uncharted but when it came to 3rd party games we didn't really see much differences. Yet late in the cycle games like Halo looked awesome even compared to late games on the PS3 like Killzone. The big advantage the PS3 had was every system had a hard drive. That was a colossal mistake on MS part in order for them to launch a system under $300.

The thing is Sony never made it easy and the tools provided to 3rd party were not very good. They admit that now. They went back to the drawing board for the PS4. You don't hear those complaints when talking about the Xbox systems. Sony had to adapt, not game developers. The PS2 was also hard to develop for but because it was so popular developers had to use it as the lead platform. That didn't happen on the PS3 and why some games suffered. Sony doesn't have that influence to force developers to adopt their philosophies on game design. That's why the PS4 is more like a PC architecture, just like the Xbox One will be.

[joeorc]

"Bill Gates once threatened to use a Halo release against the launch of the PS3 and how that likely would have compromised the quality of the game. What that said about his and MS's priorities towards gaming."

Yeah Ed fries talked about this very thing, while he could see the advantage of doing such, in his opinion he wanted it to be about the game making a awesome gaming experience for the user. I do not think anyone could argue that the 1st Halo was such a great gaming experience. i remember playing it on the 1st xbox me and my buddies in the Navy all having a blast, we would even see the officer's gathering to play the xbox. it was about the aspect of fun , getting together to have a fun time.

and ED fries stated in not so many words it was getting to the point it was no longer about that and the higher ups looked at the xbox project as something like what office had been and that's when ED felt it was not the vision of what him and his team set out to do with the xbox as a platform.

[s45gr32]

Well written article

[BillytheBarbarian]

You are trying way too hard to make this about Sony versus Xbox. The real war is ownership versus renting. People can defend whatever company however they want and dress it and spin it to make one sound better than the other all day long. It's not going to matter.

What is going to matter to me, and long time gamers that have been gaming since Atari 2600 and the Odyssey 2 console wars, is if I will be able to play this stuff 20 years down the road.

MS and Sony are perfectly happy with all this flame war crap because it just makes for more press and more hype all while suckering us into buying a box that lets us rent games for a few years until the next cycle of hardware comes along.

You have to look at the big picture.

[DragonKnight]

Hey, I may not have started gaming on the Atari or the Odyssey but I did start when the NES launched so I know about ownership and being able to play classics even today. I think you should ask the question though, who is most likely to initiate a preservation system and who is most likely to throw that idea out the window in favour of more control and labelling it "the future?"

[BillytheBarbarian]

My answer is that neither company where you tend to go with the current lesser evil which is Sony. While Sony's first party games will have no DRM or restrictions, 3rd party devs have yet to commit to that same strategy. Activision is hinting at their own subscription services for individual games. Remember Phantasy Star Universe or FFIX online? They had separate fees on top of Xbox live. It can happen again. EA will adopt it if they feel it profitable.

I'm going to wait it out and not be an early adopter. I hope more people take their time with decision making. It's still early and things always change or evolve.

[MikeMyers]

@BillytheBarbarian

"You are trying way too hard to make this about Sony versus Xbox."

Yes he is. That's what Sony fanboys do. What amazes me is how much free time they have and how dedicated they are at making sure their closest competitor is always being bashed.

So instead of enjoying what Sony provides them they are far more concerned at making Microsoft look bad.

Back in those old days like the Atari and Odyssey and the conflict between the Sega and Nintendo fans, that was generated mostly of younger people. Where their parents could really only afford one of those systems. So it was natural to have some sort of rivalry. What's sad is you have grown adults still carrying on this display of immaturity and ignorance. They still act as though you belong to some special club if you're a Playstation fan or an Xbox fan when in reality most people can afford both and focus more on the games now. Yet here we are with those fanboys holding that torch like it still means something.

[Software_Lover]

Both are.

Sony removed their movies from Netflix because they want to make money with their own service. Not because they care about giving options to their customers.

Sony added DRM to music to try to control that. It backfired.

Sony filed a DRM patent not because they want to have it just in case. They filed it because they plan on using it.

Microsoft has had DRM since Windows started being released. Hasn't stopped it from being cracked in the least bit.

Microsoft tried to implement disc based DRM on consoles (even though you could still trade your game in). It failed. They are paying the PR price.

We, as gamers, cant really compare any type of gaming before, to the ps3 and 360 and anything after. Gaming was not internet based before those 2 consoles. You think Nintendo, Sony, Sega, wanted you to trade your games freely. No, they wanted each of you to go out and buy your own copy. If they could have figured out a way to stop trading they would have.

Thats the reason for the big push of DIGITAL, cloud this and that, on both PS4 and XBone. Not because they want things to be easier for the consumer. They are pushing it because there is DRM in all digital content. There is DRM now on the ps3, there is DRM now on the 360.

I'm not gonna get into the way a company "fundamentally" acts. People are influenced by too many factors to think straight sometimes.

I just want to see what the excuses will be when Sony introduces their version of DISC based DRM, you know, the one they filed the patent for. It will probably go something like this.......

Yeah well, they offer a better value than the disc based DRM the XBone 2 is offering so I dont mind the DRM.

[coolbeans]

A rather strong beginning (2nd paragraph in particular) but that's understandable given you did your homework over the "Sony's clarification" ordeal that's gone on for months now.

A decent read: short, sweet, and to the point with your annoyances.

[NYC_Gamer]

Its typical PR bull shit to hype up products and get attention

[maniacmayhem]

Another "I hate MS/Xbox" rant that you and Dedicated seem to churn out a lot. I'm beginning to think you two are tag team partners in a lonely "I hate MS" war.

The Sony DRM was NOT clear and it was plainly evident by every news outlet that questioned Sony at the time. The fact that you are clearly bias only served you when it was actually true. But it was not as clear as you kept saying and it was evident by many when a lot of Sony fans took to twitter to beg Sony not include DRM in their system.

And if I am not mistaken you even said in one of your post that you even tweeted in the same discussion for them not to have DRM and you encouraged others to do the same.
And even when the Sony fans were tweeting their still wasn't a clear definite answer from Sony.

http://www.ibtimes.com/ps4-...

It wasn't until E3 that Sony said definitely and officially said that all used games, rentals and everything else will work the same way on PS4 as it did for PS3. And even then they made it apparent that 3rd parties could include ANY form of DRM they saw fit.

You speak on flip flopping but it's flip flopping on both sides and it is more on the Sony camp than any where else.

One minute you praise Cell, the next you are cheering Sony for dropping it.

One minute cross game chat isn't important the next you are praising Sony for it. Even loving it for the Vita.

One minute RAM isn't important (X game chat) the next it is the only thing you can use against X1

One minute Sony fans will never pay for online the next it's a great deal and now nobody minds.

Funny that the Xbox 360 was easy to develop for, paid online, included headset, PC like architecture and cross game chat. Everything the PS4 seems to have now and Sony fans are celebrating on the streets of N4G. Saying that NOW they are doing everything right. If that isn't the biggest flip flop in history then I don't know what it.

All sony fans and xbox fans have been wanting was a strong game line up and the buzz word exclusives for the Xbox. MS provided just that for E3 and all I see you do is still try and tear them apart and proclaim Sony the winner. Wasn't it suppose to be about the games, did they not show this in numbers? But it seems all you can do is focus on "the power of the cloud" which is another flip flop from the sony camp when they kept praising "the power of the cell" which turned out to be more of a hindrance than a blessing.

There have been articles from devs explaining what they can do with MS's cloud. I know you will say "they are paid by MS to say it" or some other nonsense only to justify your hate/agenda against MS and X1, but why? These are games that will be on the Xbox One and they look great. Why keep your focus on the negative for no good reason.

Your absolute clear bias and love for Sony is so transparent, how can we take anything you say objectively.

[Z501]

^ MikeMyers wrote: "Games like Killzone and Gran Turismo took forever to come out" Guess when Alan Wake was announced then released. People have really short memories. (Splinter Cell Conviction/Hobo Sam)

[BillytheBarbarian]

Splinter Cell had issues at Ubisoft at the time. Nothing really to do with technology of the 360 console.

[Z501]

Where's the proof (source/link) that Gran Turismo took "forever" to come out because of the cell?

BUT! Let's say you're absolutely right. Isn't new/difficult hardware a valid excuse? What's Alan Wake's excuse?

My initial comment was about dev time, not hardware. AS IF it never happens on the other side.

Certain people will make comments WITHOUT a source to back it up. <-- my issue

[Z501]

Most will completely ignore this gem: "Anyone remember Ken Kutaragi saying the PS3 was capable of 4D, 120FPS, 1080p games? Where are those exactly? Oh, so now tech promises are real because Microsoft are saying so?" - Keyword, CAPABLE. Ken NEVER once said it was going to happen. PR speak 101.

[Z501]

"With the Xbox 360, exclusives didn't matter because of multiplats, but with the Xbox One exclusives matter over multiplats. Gotta love the flip flopping."
- iron_spider wrote: "When didn't 360 exclusives matter? Xbox fans have always believed in the quality of their exclusives (and rightfully so), and have always trumped them up against the competition." So how about RIGHT NOW? (July 2013) Where are the 'fans' & their voices? Where are the 360 exclusives? Next you'll be saying. No one ever said "PS3 has no games" It was all a figment of our imaginations/

[Sarobi]

PR talk is something you just can't hold on to. I know there is still a lot of people out there who will wholeheartedly believe what Microsoft has to say, even after all this BS they tried to force people in to. At the end of the day something has to give, and I believe both PS4 and Xbox One will still lack greatly in some departments.. it'll take two years before we start seeing which system has better things to it.

[Software_Lover]

I know you have alot of bubbles.............

But why not write a blog about Sony? I mean really, don't you, and the few who write the same blog just worded differently, get tired? I don't write blogs on N4g, but if I did it would be about something I liked that didn't mention something I dont.

sidenote:I know you guys/gals are trying to win those giftcards, BUT COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!

[BillytheBarbarian]

Jb Williams