The Video Game Thread

[Blitzer]

MLB The Show is annually on my list. Always excited when it comes out. Will probably pick it up this weekend.

Anyone played the "South Park: Stick of Truth" yet? My twitter feed was blowing up with people saying how awesome it is and my only thought was "yeah right, really?" So I searched IGN and it acutally seemed to get really good reviews on there.

[tlombard]

I have SP:SoT in my list of games to get from Game Fly. Maybe I'll move it up in my order. I keep GTA V at the top of my list because I need to get my hands on the install disc since mine got messed up by my old Xbox but they never freaking seem to have it available to ship to me. I literally just need it for one night. I guess I'm going to cave and do something I didn't want to have to do. I'm going to buy a used copy from Game Stop and then return it. Doing that doesn't feel right but as long as the other disc is fine, I just need to get it installed again one time. A guy at Game Stop actually gave me that suggestion otherwise I never would have even considered it.

I got the Family Guy game recently and played through that. It was pretty entertaining for awhile. Hearing Brian comment about how he now just needs to find a midget with some scotch eventually got a little old but I have to admit that I laughed at it many more times than I probably should have.

[Michael]

Amazon just announced a steaming TV/gaming device thingy called Amazon Fire TV.

I wonder if this type of device is the future for console gaming. Traditional gaming devices like the PS4 feel kind of bloated and unnecessary.

[Moniker]

Amazon just announced a steaming TV/gaming device thingy called Amazon Fire TV.

I wonder if this type of device is the future for console gaming. Traditional gaming devices like the PS4 feel kind of bloated and unnecessary.

XBox 1 and the Amazon console are bloated. True gaming devices such as PS4 and all it's game-centric predecessors back to the Atari are not bloated. I want a true gaming device. One that doesn't require an OS that hogs memory for unnecessary utilities.

[Michael]

Amazon just announced a steaming TV/gaming device thingy called Amazon Fire TV.

I wonder if this type of device is the future for console gaming. Traditional gaming devices like the PS4 feel kind of bloated and unnecessary.

XBox 1 and the Amazon console are bloated. True gaming devices such as PS4 and all it's game-centric predecessors back to the Atari are not bloated. I want a true gaming device. One that doesn't require an OS that hogs memory for unnecessary utilities.

FWIW, the PS4 reserves 3 gigs (out of 8) of RAM for its OS for non gaming features. By your criteria it's no more a pure gaming device than the XB1.

[Moniker]

Amazon just announced a steaming TV/gaming device thingy called Amazon Fire TV.

I wonder if this type of device is the future for console gaming. Traditional gaming devices like the PS4 feel kind of bloated and unnecessary.

XBox 1 and the Amazon console are bloated. True gaming devices such as PS4 and all it's game-centric predecessors back to the Atari are not bloated. I want a true gaming device. One that doesn't require an OS that hogs memory for unnecessary utilities.

The PS4 reserves 3 gigs (out of 8) of RAM for its OS for non gaming features. By your criteria it's no more a pure gaming device than the XB1.

Every account I've read says that PS4 allocates more RAM to gaming than the XBONE. Also PS4 uses the GDDR5 processor which is faster than XBONES DDR3 processor. XBONE runs 3 OS to PS4's 1. With all of XBONE's multimedia functions, do you really think PS4 is the more bloated machine? Bloated was just an odd word to use.

FWIW I'm not biased either way. I try to remain objective. The only system I currently have is the 360.

[Moniker]

Here is a pretty good writeup from a couple days ago. LINK

Round 1: Specifications

The disparity in specs is already well documented, so to simplify, the main bone of contention involves the graphics processing unit (GPU) and RAM. Essentially PlayStation 4 has more shaders than Xbox One (1152 vs. 768). The same amount of RAM is allocated, though GDDR5 has a higher bandwidth than the DDR3 flavour inside Xbox One. These deficiencies are combated to a degree by a higher clock speed on Microsoft’s platform and 32MB of ESRAM to increase bandwidth. This represents a role reversal from the previous gen, the likelihood being PlayStation 4 is more developer-friendly. Another factor is 10% of the Xbox One GPU is reserved for Kinect functionality, which purportedly will be released to developers in due course.

So what do the differences equate to in real terms? It may surprise to discover Ryse (Xbox One) is arguably the most graphically impressive of all the next gen titles. I’d suggest inFamous: Second Son is more of a technical achievement – given its open world setting – but from a purely visual standpoint, for me Ryse is the standout.

I don’t think I need to dwell on resolutiongate, but the fact such disparities exist for third party releases indicates Microsoft’s console lags behind. A 50% GPU advantage may seem a substantial amount on paper, but as a comparison both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are around 8-10 times more powerful than their predecessors. Does that equate to 8-10 times better looking games? Unlikely, but there’s still only one clear winner in this round.

Winner: PlayStation 4

[Michael]

Amazon just announced a steaming TV/gaming device thingy called Amazon Fire TV.

I wonder if this type of device is the future for console gaming. Traditional gaming devices like the PS4 feel kind of bloated and unnecessary.

XBox 1 and the Amazon console are bloated. True gaming devices such as PS4 and all it's game-centric predecessors back to the Atari are not bloated. I want a true gaming device. One that doesn't require an OS that hogs memory for unnecessary utilities.

The PS4 reserves 3 gigs (out of 8) of RAM for its OS for non gaming features. By your criteria it's no more a pure gaming device than the XB1.

Every account I've read says that PS4 allocates more RAM to gaming than the XBONE. Also PS4 uses the GDDR5 processor which is faster than XBONES DDR3 processor. XBONE runs 3 OS to PS4's 1. With all of XBONE's multimedia functions, do you really think PS4 is the more bloated machine?

FWIW I'm not biased either way. I try to remain objective. The only system I currently have is the 360.

I'm not going to argue which is more bloated. However, using your previous criteria neither machines are pure gaming consoles. Both reserve a significant amount of their resources for non gaming functions.

I own the PS4 and XB1 and I enjoy them both, but honestly they both feel like dinosaurs. I wonder if these Fire TV/Apple TV type of devices will eventually bury consoles much like smartphones are killing traditional gaming handhelds.

[Moniker]

Amazon just announced a steaming TV/gaming device thingy called Amazon Fire TV.

I wonder if this type of device is the future for console gaming. Traditional gaming devices like the PS4 feel kind of bloated and unnecessary.

XBox 1 and the Amazon console are bloated. True gaming devices such as PS4 and all it's game-centric predecessors back to the Atari are not bloated. I want a true gaming device. One that doesn't require an OS that hogs memory for unnecessary utilities.

The PS4 reserves 3 gigs (out of 8) of RAM for its OS for non gaming features. By your criteria it's no more a pure gaming device than the XB1.

Every account I've read says that PS4 allocates more RAM to gaming than the XBONE. Also PS4 uses the GDDR5 processor which is faster than XBONES DDR3 processor. XBONE runs 3 OS to PS4's 1. With all of XBONE's multimedia functions, do you really think PS4 is the more bloated machine?

FWIW I'm not biased either way. I try to remain objective. The only system I currently have is the 360.

I'm not going to argue which is more bloated. However, using your previous criteria neither machines are pure gaming consoles. Both reserve a significant amount of their resources for non gaming functions.

I own the PS4 and XB1 and I enjoy them both, but honestly they both feel like dinosaurs. I wonder if these Fire TV/Apple TV type of devices will eventually bury consoles much like smartphones are killing traditional gaming handhelds.

That wasn't my only criteria just because I mentioned it. I simply don't want a device with all these other capabilities. I think that is the direction gaming is going to. I would be surprised if the each console in the next generation didn't have all these multimedia features.

[TheoSqua]

I bought an xbox 1 and the multimedia features are a huge plus for me. I like that I can say "XBOX On" and it turns on my tv, audio receiver, tv, and cable box. I can seemlessly switch between gaming, tv, and blu-ray without swapping cords or changing inputs. And the voice commands are a nice secondary controller for simple stuff like pausing and muting.

My TV isn't ARC compatible so it was always annoying to have to use two controllers for sound if I wanted to have the soundbar on, and a bigger pain to change the TV settings to an external source. Now that isn't much of a problem.

For me I don't mind the bloat because gaming is really only a small portion of what i use a console for these days. And when I do play I tend to gravitate towards games that aren't as cutting edge.

I bought the Xbox for the Titanfall release. I've spent maybe 2 hours playing Titanfall since. I also bought Lego Marvel Heroes as something I could play with the wife. I've probably spent 30 hours playing that game.

5 years ago I would have had a bunch of friends on Titanfall and playing the game would have been a big deal. Now I play those sort of games just often enough to get massacred and they're just not as fun.