Xbox One S

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I haven't been following Xbox products and I was surprised to see this one. I thought it was the new upgraded Xbox.. it is but it isn't. It's basically the Xbox One Slim. Its 40% smaller, larger hard drive, 4k bluray player and HDR video. Theres still another upgraded Xbox coming out in the near future that should allow 4k gameplay. This slim version is what I envisioned the initial Xbox One would have been. But instead they released that mandatory camera system with it and refused to make bluray movies play on the system unless you download an app. Probably because sony owns bluray tech. The Xbox One S came out just yesterday and now I'm wondering how much longer it'll be before we see a PS4 slim and if it'll have extra features.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one-s

Reference to the bluray thing:

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/apps/dvd-blu-ray-setup

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

This is basically what the black 360 was, a slimmed down version with some new hardware and a bigger hdd (though you pay out you're ass for that bigger hdd, $400 is not worth a 2TB hdd imo since the Xbone should of come standard with at least a 1TB). The Scorpio, as its called, is the 4K gaming one which will release sometime next year (most likely around this time). Honestly I don't see a point in even getting one unless you've blown the money on a 4K TV (which not many even own one).

The Neo, the 4K PS4, is supposed to come out next year I believe and it's only slightly more powerful then what we already have (there really hasn't been much mentioned on specs, there's some talk but what has been mentioned might change in the next few months). There were rumors of a slim version of the PS4 but I haven't seen an concrete proof that Sony is developing one (honestly the PS4 is small as is (its as small as the 360 Slim), I wouldn't dare shrink that down anymore for fear of overheating issues).

Honestly I don't see why we need another iteration of the PS4 (or the Xbone for that matter). I have no problems with mine (except for random system errors but that's on the software side not the hardware, the last few O/S updates haven't gone over so well with my PS4) and honestly the games look damn good in their current form. I have no want to play games in 4K because I can't afford to go out and buy a $1000+ TV (nor would I for gaming, it's a waste of money for a hobby (and no cable companies offer 4K channels (that I know of, I could be wrong)) plus its only a matter of time before we get the next, best resolution that will cause another iteration of a system that doesn't need to be upgraded. As much as I hate to say it maybe Nintendo does have the right idea by turning their next console into a hybrid, why try and compete with two companies who have their heads up their asses creating things we don't need and capitalize on what we already do well (handhelds).

I'd like to say switching to PC would be a great choice now but I'm seeing the same trend there as well (what with the release of the new GTX and Radeon cards). Before long its going to be more cost effective to play games on you're phone then it is anywhere else.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

4k console gaming isn't going to look amazing like it would on pc. Even with a GTX 1070 ($400 card atm) 4k games will only run at around 30-60 fps often with some settings like reflections or shadows turned down or off. For a ps4 4k (at $400 or less), I bet whatever gpu they use will only manage 30 fps with everything at medium settings and no reflections. I don't see how we'll get an amazing improvement in console gaming by jumping to 4k at this point. Sure the 4k tv owners will see a much crisper image instead of seeing the game poorly upscaled like a DVD on a 1080p tv. But depending on the price of the 4k ps4 I doubt I'll have any real incentive to buy one unless my current ps4 somehow breaks on me.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

The only real reason to buy the Neo when it releases is for VR gaming as it seems that's the main reason it's being developed outside of 4K gaming (something about the current PS4 not being powerful enough to run the Morpheus or something like that (I know the current model can run the headset but I don't think it will do it entirely well). Again not entirely sure, I read up on it back when the Neo was leaked but that was awhile ago). That's the main reason the Scorpio is being made as well, both Microsoft and Sony are going to start pushing VR into the forefront now.

Honestly this is what we get to look forward to now with every new generation of consoles. It's to the point now where they might as well stop making consoles and just start selling pre-made boxes like Valve is doing with their Steam box and just allow us to part swap every few years when we need to instead of giving us a new console every few years because they found a way to make it slightly more powerful.

This is starting to feel like it did when I finally caved in and started buying Blu-Ray over DVD (I had a hard time making the switch as I didn't see the point, DVD quality was just fine imo), man I'm starting to feel like a grumpy old man who longs for the old days when things made sense and I only bought one thing that lasted for 10+ years.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I'm not even interested in VR games at this time. I haven't had an ocular migraine in over 6 months and I have a bad feeling that VR will trigger the hell out of those for me. x_x

 

7 hours ago, Strider Hiryu said:

This is starting to feel like it did when I finally caved in and started buying Blu-Ray over DVD (I had a hard time making the switch as I didn't see the point, DVD quality was just fine imo), man I'm starting to feel like a grumpy old man who longs for the old days when things made sense and I only bought one thing that lasted for 10+ years.

I see and hear such a huge difference from dvd to blu ray. For me the biggest difference was the audio. The Blu-ray lossless audio makes a massive difference with my surround sound. It often sounds like I'm in a theater in my own living room.. at least once I finally figured out the right settings on my PS3 to decode the dolby signal correctly. For the first 2 years of owning a ps3/blu ray player my audio was a simulated surround sound. Then I found out I could change a couple settings and boom! Theater audio. lol. But I only hear the massive improvement in audio when I'm playing a blu ray, because dvd's audio quality is crap in comparison. I still haven't tested my PS4 in my living room, but I read that the audio decoders on it aren't as good as the PS3s. I'll test it one of these days. Probably when BF1 launches. PS3 is the best blu ray player ever imo just because of it's audio decoders.

I agree about the future of consoles. If they're going to make upgraded versions of them again like back in the Sega Genisis days, they should make the next generation of consoles with easy access panels to swap out GPUs. But then again with the newest generation of USB, it should be completely plausible to make new GPU add ons that simply plug into a recessed USB port on the back on the consoles to instant upgrade the GPUs with no hardware modifications.