Xbox Reveal

[cidbahamut]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Seeing as how we've pretty much arrived at the graphics plateau, I'd rather see processing power pumped into advancements in AI rather than more shiny graphics, but that's just me.

[Taskmage]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Yeah, but in this case the AI advancement is basically only for the sake of shinier graphics.

[Malacite]

Re: Xbox Reveal

^ Sure, but it's still bullshit meaningless AI tech. Unless I'm running an aquarium simulator, I don't particularly care how accurate the fish AI is. I'd rather have my games thinking about what's important, like not making the game look like something that released on a console made 7 years ago. CoD's segment at the Xbox reveal was pretty terribad. They had the whole stage to themselves for a next gen reveal and they showed ... fish, dogs, and inaccurate sunlight.

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Microsft just need to shut their mouths until E3.

Microsoft answers the question of Xbox One region locks | Digital Trends



As if the console didn't have enough problems...


Icemage

Didn't Sony do away with those with the PS3?

[Icemage]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Didn't Sony do away with those with the PS3?

Mostly. Persona 4 Arena is the only region-locked disc in the PS3 catalogue. I'm not quite sure how Atlus even managed that, considering how other much more high profile titles that got separate regional releases didn't get a region lock. DLC on the PS3 is region-locked to only bind to discs from the same region though. If you get DLC from a store other than the one that matches your disc or download, it doesn't show up in-game.

PS Vita is "sort of" region free, but you can only bind a Vita memory card to a single PSN account, which means it is effectively region-locked to DLC from that account and its region.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: Xbox Reveal

So now MS is blowing yet more smoke out their asses, claiming that the Cloud is going to vastly improve the ability of the Xbox to point of beating out high-end gaming PCs...

I'll believe that when I see it.

[Firewind]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Atlus did admit that region locking Persona 4 Arena was purely down to greed. They wanted to take advantage of the differences between currency prices to maximise profits and prevent people from importing the game fro ma cheaper region.

Why they didn't go down the NISA route which is to 1) Ship anywhere, 2) Count sales to other regions as a sale to the region it is being shipped to, is anyone's guess but I don't think anyone at Atlus has heard of of the design principle of Keep It Simple, Stupid.

This. Also, Steam will let you play previously verified games even when offline, and when your game launches you actually get to play it. The problem is not that they used DRM, it's that they did it stupidly. It negatively impacted the game experience of paying customers who had done nothing wrong, while also utterly failing to stop any of the things it was meant to stop.

The only bad thing that Steam does is allow DRM to be stacked on top of its own DRM. If said DRM causes clashes with things like VAC, or Firewall or Anti-Virus, or the game has Punkbuster then you're shit out of luck. One thing I don't get it that, VAC and by extension DLC checks is laughably easy to bypass if the game stores client files clientside rather than serverside. It is possible to unlock all DLC for certain games without ever paying for it; MTG: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 being the most notable one.

I have had Steam cause me to drop out of DOTA 2 matches because it decided to randomly crash, which stuck me into the low priority ragequitter queue for 24 hours which is the only negative impact Steam has ever had on a game I've played.

[Icemage]

Re: Xbox Reveal

So now MS is blowing yet more smoke out their asses, claiming that the Cloud is going to vastly improve the ability of the Xbox to point of beating out high-end gaming PCs...

I'll believe that when I see it.

Jonathan Blow (creator of Braid) must really have an axe to grind.

https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/st...92621858091008

More cloud processing BS: Microsoft: Xbox One cloud processing can enhance lighting, physics | Joystiq Someone please call their bluff on this.
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Farming out batch computations makes sense, but that is not what they are saying.
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No...continue the discussion after 5 years go by, definitively proving that said cloud computation hasn't happened.
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I do not like when large corporations contemptuously lie to the public.
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Maybe, but it is pretty obvious to anyone who understands game technology well.
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That is part of what makes me mad; they are treating the public as though they are stupid.
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Or, rather, taking advantage of the fact that relatively few people can draw implications from their claims.

He's also a hundred percent correct, incidentally.


Icemage

[Firewind]

Re: Xbox Reveal

On the subject of DRM, I found this article from back in November very interesting: How 4 Microsoft engineers proved that the “darknet” would defeat DRM | Ars Technica

[Malacite]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Jonathan Blow (creator of Braid) must really have an axe to grind.

https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/st...92621858091008



He's also a hundred percent correct, incidentally.


Icemage

Nevermind the latency issues...

Was just thumbing through some of the comments on a recent video about this, I'm about ready to un-sub from that particular channel too as Red's starting to get on my nerves with his relative ignorance. There's a reason why Cloud Computing hasn't taken off on PCs - what makes Xbox One any different/better? It's great for some things sure, but again, there are reasons why when stacking multiple devices to pool computational power, it's done so in a confined space. Even Folding@Home was kinda pushing it.

[Icemage]

Re: Xbox Reveal

That's really the crux of the issue. If cloud computing was so incredible and affordable for optimizing game performance, someone would already be doing it in the PC space. Instead we have... OnLive and SimCity, and not a whole lot else.

/golfclap?

Latency kills most of the potential of cloud computing. Making the hardware more powerful always costs less than maintaining a cloud presence to support it, unless the cloud is providing data that your local systems do not have (for instance, loot tables in an MMO or Diablo 3).

I can see future games being improved by cloud computing in terms of downloading new assets like NPC dialogue or randomly generated server-based maps, or whatnot. But in terms of actually improving the computational power? That's just delusional.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: Xbox Reveal

And yet morons (I'm unsubbing from that twat...) like RedDragon keep talking about how The Cloud is the future of gaming, and that this will be the last Xbox MS ever has to make because they can do all the upgrades via software.

Buuuulllshiiiiiiiiiiit.

[Taskmage]

Re: Xbox Reveal

The cloud may well be the future of gaming, but it is not the near future. Let's talk again when we all have google fiber.

The only bad thing that Steam does is allow DRM to be stacked on top of its own DRM.

This drives me absolutely mad. To play Assassin's Creed I have to launch steam, have steam launch the launcher, when then requires me to log into yet another service that is apparently Ubisoft's little Origin, and then all my content unlocks and achievements are handled there where it's a pain in the ass and none of my friends can see them. Isn't this the same bullcrap that EA was pulling before the split?

[Etra]

Re: Xbox Reveal

I can't tell you the last time I bought an AAA title for the PC because of this DRM nonsense. Looking through my games, I think it was the Orange Box with TF2.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Ben Kuchera over on Penny Arcade seems to welcome the death of used games - that it will lower game development costs and bring Steam-like sales to the console market.

History says otherwise. Those that opposed alternative markets to keep things the same or more expensive, in time, got crushed by a new or familiar competitor that embraced the change.

Those that don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

[Icemage]

Re: Xbox Reveal

Ben Kuchera over on Penny Arcade seems to welcome the death of used games - that it will lower game development costs and bring Steam-like sales to the console market.

History says otherwise. Those that opposed alternative markets to keep things the same or more expensive, in time, got crushed by a new or familiar competitor that embraced the change.

Those that don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

There's a huge difference between Steam and Xbox Live. Steam has (lots of) viable competition. What alternate choice does an Xbox One owner have for purchasing games?

Kuchera is either an naive or an idiot, or perhaps both.


Icemage