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Like, this week. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, it's not clear, but sometime in the next few days there will be a new Playstation web store, and you won't be able to buy PS3, PSP, or PS Vita games anywhere other than on a PS3 or PS Vita anymore. And with how the PSV store is missing some games that work with a Vita and the PS3 store is a barely usable nightmare of crashes and awful design, this is a really, really bad thing. But why would Sony care? Those systems are old, anyone not in their new system ecosystem isn't worth caring about, and nor is preservation obviously. As PS head Jim Ryan said once, who'd want to play old games like those [I think he was referring to PS1 Gran Turismo] these days, those graphics are bad!
Oh, and the wishlist feature on the store will also be wiped and go away. It's not clear if the new store will have a wishlist or not, but the old ones will be gone with this update. Thanks.
Just watch that segment. It's uncomfortable and embarrassing and shockingly confrontational and- and we need that. We need it here in the US. We need reporters who straight up cut someone off if they spread already debunked misinformation in an interview. We need reporters calling it like it is- backed by well sourced citations. We need a zero tolerance policy on typical politic speak so a candidate can't even get a word out unless they are speaking in direct terms and concretely about their actual policies. No room for fluff. Fluff got us here. Shave it off.
Yes, after much hype and many many software delays due to COVID presumably, the next generation of high-end consoles are about to release, they will be on shelves in November, under two months away. And we even finally know both prices, after an absurdly long game of chicken between Sony and Microsoft over that issue!
To summarize, the PS5 is absolutely massive and is $500. It has a futuristic look, and looks like a router or, I think, an exploding Phantom, the unreleased consolized computer from the early '00s =-- look it up, it's almost identical! There is also a $400 version with no disc drive, but Sony isn't making many of those because they lose a lot more money on this model than the disc model thanks to price pressure from Microsoft getting them to sell it for way under its production cost, so don't expect to see many of them. It will supposedly have PS4 backwards compatibility supporting "99% of titles", but the details are still hazy. It will NOT work with PS1 to PS3 games in any way. Its first-party games will be $70; Sony increased prices to make up for their losses on hardware.
The Xbox Series line, including the X and S, will be $500 and $300 respectively. The XSX is the main one and is designed for 4K TVs, while the S has lower-power graphics hardware and is designed for 1080p and 1440p instead. This idea, of having a system with pretty much the same CPU but much less powerful graphics in order to offer next-gen loading times, games, and CPU power at a much lower price and for older or cheaper TVs, is something that has never been tried before in the industry; there really is no direct precedent to compare the XSS to. Unfortunately, the XSS also has no disc drive, which is a big limitation; the XSX does have a drive. The XSS is a pretty interesting system and the 'next gen but not 4k and affordable' concept is potentially a good one, but while I get it for price and size reasons, having no drive is pretty unfortunate. Anyway, both systems have pretty nice modern, "flat" industrial design. The X is a good-sized rectangle, not too huge in two dimensions but its 6" square depth and width are a problem, it won't fit into lots of console shelving areas -- I don't think I could put it where I have my other Xboxes for instance, it wouldn't fit. I will need to find somewhere else for it. The PS5 is physically larger overall than XSX I believe, and it is also thick, but not 6"; it's "only" like 4" or such, sort of like an original Xbox but larger.
Both systems have more powerful graphics hardware than last-gen (even though the XSS has fewer teraflops in its graphics chip than the X1X's, the modernized architecture is a big boost), with the XSX being the most powerful overall, but the main gains are in CPU power and storage speed. The last-gen systems have somewhat slow and lacking CPUs, and this includes the PS4 Pro and X1X, but these do not and that will be a big help for games. The now fast SSD-based storage is the biggest enhancement, though, and it is what Sony particularly emphasizes the most, though MS is not far behind. The PS5 has triple the theoretical SSD speed for the XSX, but the XSX is no slouch, it still has a 40x faster SSD than the X1's hard drive. Load times last gen got LONG, so I am definitely looking forward to this aspect of the new systems. At least on Xbox the XSX|S should reduce loading times in last-gen games too, which is awesome. Some games have really had load times on my X1S... really, really bad.
For design, they both have their issues for me -- the XSX and XSS are stylish and modern, but are INCREDIBLY simple. There are no flourishes or interesting touches here, just straight right angles and utilitarian buttons. It's flat design to its core, and I have always wound that look somewhat ugly. The PS5, in contrast, is a highly overdesigned mess of curves, fins, and angles. It looks kind of hideous, but at least it's intreresting I guess... I would need to see them in person to decide which is better, but it's probably the XSX; it may be boring, but the PS5 is just too much.
As for games, Sony has a moderate lineup of games coming this holiday, including Spiderman: Miles Morales, Sackboy's Big Adventure, and a few more. And... both of those games are, surprise, also coming to PS4. Sony spent like a year lying about how much they cared about generations, how their next generation was going to be a hard break from the current one, etc, while MS talked about their 'we will phase in next-gen-only stuff over the next two years' approach. People online raked MS over the coals for it, as games on last-gen won't get next-gen boosts as much as exclusives will, and then it was revealed that most of Sony's PS5 launch lineup is on PS4 also. Heh. Meanwhile, Microsoft is basically releasing consoles with no new first party titles. Their one big holiday title was going to be Halo Infinite, but after a controversial reveal that got delayed into next year, so now they basically have nothing. At least they have the best backwards compatibility though, so there is plenty to look forward to in terms of enhancing games you already have. And there will be some third-party games on both systems this holiday, I just don't know what. There may be one or two smaller games from MS too? The Medium perhaps? We'll see.
So, Sony opened PS5 preorders last week, and it was kind of a disaster as they sold out online and in stores almost immediately. I did not try to get one; I don't have a PS4 and while I have some interest in getting one sometime, I want to wait at minimum to hear how good the PS4 BC will be -- should I just get a cheap PS4 at some point next year or something once they become plentiful after people start selling their old consoles once the next gen starts, or will BC be so good that that's a waste of money? I have no idea. Xbox, though? I am already in the MS ecosystem with my PC, X360, and X1S, and I subscribe to Xbox Live Gold. I do not have Game Pass and don't want it, I'd rather own things if I can. And I got a 4K TV a few months ago. So, I have little interest in the XSS, it's an interesting idea but is not for me. The XSX though? For some reason I want one. I mean, when it comes to games, I mostly play my Switch, Wii U, 3DS, and classic systems (DS, Turbo CD, Jaguar, and such...). I do play Xbox, but not as often as Nintendo. But "play the games you already have, but without the crippling loading, and see what games look like in 4K, showing off that new TV of yours"? Yeah, I'd like that. I will probably try it then go back to playing Mario Maker 2 and Splatoon or such instead, but I'd like that enough to pay for it.
So, when MS opened XSX preorders at 11am EST on Tuesday, I went onto the Microsoft Store website and ... managed to get an XSX preorder! It took a while of reloading to get the payment page to load, but I was lucky and managed to get the preorder through, which is pretty awesome. And coming from Microsoft itself I have more confidence in actually getting it in November than from other retailers. My MS/Xbox account is linked to Paypal Credit too, so once I get charged I will have a while to pay it off which is nice.
So yeah I guess I'm kind of excited? Maybe? We'll see. I'm buying one either way, anyway.
Meanwhile, on the PC side, NVidia just released new graphics cards, the very powerful sounding 3000 line, and AMD is about to release new cards as well. I've never owned AMD/ATI graphics cards and don't really want one, but NVidia's 3000 line sound very powerful, and while my current card, a 960, is all I'd ever need for 2d stuff and Windows and older (and most current) games, upgrading it at some point would be a good idea, 3d games will soon need better than this card. Obviously I'm not getting a card right now though, not after spending this much. So... maybe next year? Let's see how things turn out with these cards first.
Posted by: Darunia - 22nd September 2020, 12:52 PM - Forum: Ramble City
- No Replies
Opinions regarding Comrade Trump's new pick as supreme court justice?
My first impression is that I am a little concerned that the court would be moving so far to the right... and as a politically-centrist Goron demideity, I honestly don't regard that as a good thing. I think there needs to be something resembling a balance, and this strong majority worries me. I would be similarly as worried if it were the same with a super majority of libéraux.
