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Episode 55: “To Be Continued at E3″
The PlayStation 4 is coming. Upgrade your broadband internet service to its maximum tier cuz this baby’s gonna be lighting up the lines with torrential streams. Digital content will be spewing in and out of this box like the human fucking centipede. Because you asked for it!
The PS4 announcement was like a standard episode of Lost: A whole lot was said, but none of our big questions were answered. This conference was just to give us a taste of what we’ll be expecting this summer at E3. With luck, that’s when we’ll get to see the console itself and some actual game footage of next-gen titles. Until then, we’re sticking with most of our previous predictions and we’ll let our bets ride.
PROMOS: Method to Madness and Mating Habits of the Modern Geek
12 comments
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Daniel
March 7, 2013 at 10:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I was actually kind of surprised that Sony came out and said that the system will support used games and that they will leave it up to the producers. The problem with the producers denying the purchase of used games is that they run the risk of retailers saying that they do not want to carry their game if they are not able to sell used copies of that game.
Sean Ryan
March 8, 2013 at 9:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
All Sony (and the other console makers, really) care about is getting their box in your living room. From there, they can harvest money from any game or service they offer through that box. Game devs only get money from their games, so it’s on their shoulders to be aggressive against second-hand exchanges.
On a brief side note, I phrase it as “second-hand exchanges” because I include games that are given away; not just used game sales. This, I think is something that we need to remember.
You bring up a good point that I failed to bring up myself a couple times… The whole used game controversy is, in truth, a war between publishers and retailers. It has much less to do with the console makers or even the consumer. The simplest solution to defeat the second-hand market is to do away with physical media and charge like a bull into exclusive digital distribution.
The publishers would no doubt be happy with that because however their product is sold, they don’t care…just as long as sales are being made. However, retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, and anyone else who stocks video games on their shelves would lose billions of dollars if they’re unable to carry those products. So it’s the retailers standing as the true obstacle…but of course the publishers can’t say that publicly, since that sours an already tense relationship with them. So the publishers turn on us, the consumer, as the villain of this crisis. Nice, huh?
Daniel
March 8, 2013 at 9:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yes, those are some awesome points you made there. To keep spinning on the used game topic, I would also like to point out that publishers get no money for the sales of used games and all the money goes to the retailer. At least that is how it works in Europe, maybe it’s different on your side of the pond. And that is the main reason why retailers want to be able to sell used games. Not that i think used games are a bad thing, it’s a great way for a poor student like me to get my hands on some “pretty new” or old games for cheap.
You guys said on the podcast that retailers might not want to carry consoles that only support digital games, because they will not be able to sell any boxed copies of software for the consoles. Well the same might go for used games, if they can’t make any extra money from used games (because all the used game money goes to the retailer) some retailers might not want to carry your console.
Abyss1992
March 8, 2013 at 8:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sean as some one in the IT feild i have to point out the Bluetooth is not a very good transmission type for things like controllers or headsets as there is very slight input lag the 360 on the other hand does not use Bluetooth but instead uses 802.11g ad as such doesn’t suffer any input lag what so ever and blutooth takes more power to run than standard 802.11g wireless
Sean Ryan
March 9, 2013 at 2:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So even if Blutooth is bullshit, we have technology that could nicely replace RCA, right?
Abyss1992
March 9, 2013 at 4:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
yes but it still as of yet isn’t as consistent as a wired connection as wireless headsets even now get slight static interference from the white noise in the air my point being is we are at least 5 years from having a static free headset and
VichusSmith
March 9, 2013 at 9:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Communicating over a bluetooth headset works just fine, but a regular 3.5 headphone jack is still being used on electronics to this very day, so putting that in the controller as an option isn’t crazy.
What PS4 needs is to bundle a headset with the console. You know how dead multiplayer chat is on a PS3 game?
Sean Ryan
March 11, 2013 at 1:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
More often, I’m grateful how dead it is. :p
VichusSmith
March 11, 2013 at 5:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m glad that PS3 isn’t the same hive of maniacs and trolls that Xbox is, but communicating with your team would make matches run smoother.
VichusSmith
March 9, 2013 at 9:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I would like Squeenix to get their new Final Fantasy shit together before they come back to an FF VII remake. The latest games they put out were a debacle.
Sean Ryan
March 11, 2013 at 1:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I think a FFVII remake would be a BIG step back in the right direction. It’s like they’ll port or remake the first six over and over; why not VII?
VichusSmith
March 11, 2013 at 5:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Maybe because they’re less complicated projects. They did do that PC version of VII recently, though, so I can’t figure out what the issue would be.