PS4 and Xbox Rumours

[McPhee]

There are three benefits to wired pads:

1) They're lighter than loaded wireless pads
2) You don't need to worry about swapping batteries/charging
3) They're compatible with Windows out of the box

1)2) Take the batteries out, use the charging cable

3) The new pads use WiFi Direct. No proprietary hardware needed this time.

so I still need a loads of boxes under the TV

isn't it easier just to watch TV on the sky box, and just use the xbox for games?

Depends really.

You walk in to your living room and say "Xbox: Watch Game of Thrones". The Xbox switches on, switches your TV, switches on the Sky box, searches the EPG and by the time you've got to your sofa, before you've even touched your remote, you're watching Game of Thrones. That, I believe, is the scenario that they are selling.

With Snap on top, you could also call up your mate and watch the show together. Again, you haven't needed to touch a controller or remote. You could also read up on characters from the show or switch over to a game during the adverts (yes, you can do this anyway, but with pass through it will be faster and there's no need to change inputs on the TV).

- A lot of vents and/or fans. This thing gonna be noisey! Sadly probably means the PS4 will have many vents/fans as their similar specs probably generate similar heat. Unless it is a design choice, the Kinect sensor has a similar vent on it!!!

It's quieter than the 360 Slim apparently.

 

[rp2000]

what is the point of the HDMI in?

i mean why would you want your sky + hd passing through it?

One example is that you could receive an incoming call from Skype (via the xbox) while watching TV.

I'm sure there are other use case scenarios. All this HDMI IN/Out sounds like a good idea to me, it's just i'm not interested in football/baseball/NFL so the examples they showed have no relevance to me (and these things won't launch with the console in the Uk anyway).

It's quieter than the 360 Slim apparently.

In fact, I guess this makes sense. Multiple quiet fans instead of 1 noisy one (or whatever was in the initial 360).

I'm still confused how it is going to turn on your TV, STB, change channels etc without unwieldy IR blaster solutions. I recall my PS3 or 360 used to be able to turn on simultaneously, but that was the extent of their interaction.


rp2000

 

[Macro]

One example is that you could receive an incoming call from Skype (via the xbox) while watching TV.

I'm sure there are other use case scenarios. All this HDMI IN/Out sounds like a good idea to me, it's just i'm not interested in football/baseball/NFL so the examples they showed have no relevance to me (and these things won't launch with the console in the Uk anyway).


rp2000

Be interesting to see if they launched something similar to the NFL deal with the Championship/FIFA

 

[rp2000]

Be interesting to see if they launched something similar to the NFL deal with the Championship/FIFA

Yep, it would be of no interest to me, but would be huge in Europe. I can see promise in all this HDMI/pass through/augmentation etc (heck Apple are going to do it in some way with their AppleTV rumoured product).

I think people are not seeing promise in it as all the examples were very US centric. Plus all the deals will initially be with US providers of content and services. The UK's time will come, but by that time people would have already bought the xbox and I don't think it will factor into people's purchasing decisions at that point.


rp2000

 

[Psycho Sonny]

The Xbox one can change the source via voice so no need for controls and it seemed to move between game/live tv very quickly.

so it's for if you want to game in between watching something?

it sounds like something i honestly would never use.

also voice control is usually a load of crap, i mean if you have a samsung smart tv and activate voice control and you have friends over, if your having a conversation (which is what normally happens) it will randomly adjust the volume, channel, etc.

the technology just isn't that good tbh, it doesn't work properly enough, unless of course the kinect is a lot better than samsungs efforts anyway. will need to wait and see if it can actually differentiate between conversations and voice controls.

for instance if theres something on tv i want to watch i turn the other thing im using off to watch it, with this i could switch to it, but essentially i now have 2 devices powered on, meaning i am consuming more electricity. not a very efficient way of doing things.

also with only 1 hdmi in, i have to choose between connecting my sky+ hd box or my htpc which again doesn't make it fit to use as a "receiver" most half decent av receivers have at least 4 hdmi slots these days.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

One example is that you could receive an incoming call from Skype (via the xbox) while watching TV.



rp2000

my smart tv already has skype built in, but i prefer to use my tablet or smartphone, as i can then walk around the house or do other things whilst on call rather than stay in the one room in front of the tv.

 

[rp2000]

my smart tv already has skype built in, but i prefer to use my tablet or smartphone, as i can then walk around the house or do other things whilst on call rather than stay in the one room in front of the tv.

Yeah, well you asked for an example and I gave one

I would hazard a guess that most people don't have a TV with a camera and/or skype built in already. I would also hazard a guess that most people have Skype conversations while stationery, but this is just conjecture.


rp2000

 

[KiiYzOo]

Just saw this, it's not exactly ideal for people with no internet/flaky internet connection:

http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109

 

[TheVoice]

-500GB hard drive too small if games are mandatory installs. Why do we need them anyway? Cant they go back to caching like xbox1 and make use of the (presumed) faster blu ray drives and loads of RAM?

Hard-drives are far faster than optical media, thrashing the disc will just result in longer load times and texture streaming issues as it does in some games currently. Plus it means no changing discs when you want to change games, so you're essentially getting all the benefits of a downloaded version.

 

[rp2000]

Just saw this, it's not exactly ideal for people with no internet/flaky internet connection:

http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109

Just software imo. They can change and tune this requirement (and I am sure they will).

Personally, if you don't have an internet connection that can stay connected to an online service once a day, spend money on better internet before spending money on this console.

In all honesty, who in the UK does this issue affect?

Hard-drives are far faster than optical media, thrashing the disc will just result in longer load times and texture streaming issues as it does in some games currently. Plus it means no changing discs when you want to change games, so you're essentially getting all the benefits of a downloaded version.

I thought about that, and I'm not sure if that is the case. I'm no expert on PC's etc but aren't laptop hard drives roughly reading/writing at 50-75MegaBytes per sec, and have been for a while? Have optical drives now not exceeded that? I agree about thrashing etc and different parts of the disc will read at massively different speeds whereas there would be less variance for a HDD.

Either way, I don't think 500GB will go far with 50GB Blu ray discs (might they be 100GB discs these days?)


rp2000

 

[PLazarou]

Just saw this, it's not exactly ideal for people with no internet/flaky internet connection:

http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-509164109

Bit of an non-issue really. These days.... I mean come on... if you can afford a next-gen console you can probably afford internet. And if not, somebody you know probably has a smartphone with a plan you can tether to in order to activate the odd game.

I mean, when the entire PC community needed a connection to play Half-Life 2 over 8 years ago... we managed. It wasn't a smooth process for many, but we got over it.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

The 500GB drive will fill up pretty quick as the games fully install especially If developers take advantage of the size of blu ray. I imagine a bigger drive will become available at cost and not be interchangeable with a standard drive like PS3.

 

[TheVoice]

I thought about that, and I'm not sure if that is the case. I'm no expert on PC's etc but aren't laptop hard drives roughly reading/writing at 50-75MegaBytes per sec, and have been for a while? Have optical drives now not exceeded that? I agree about thrashing etc and different parts of the disc will read at massively different speeds whereas there would be less variance for a HDD.

Either way, I don't think 500GB will go far with 50GB Blu ray discs (might they be 100GB discs these days?)


rp2000

An 8x Blu-ray drive is only 36MB/s. To even come close to a hard-drive it'd need to be faster, which means more noise. A HDD is a far better option in every way.

 

[ps3ud0]

The 500GB drive will fill up pretty quick as the games fully install. Especially If developers take advantage of the size of blu ray. I imagine a bigger drive will become available at cost and not be interchangeable with a standard drive like PS3.

Doesnt look likely that its even replaceable:

That looks like the top to me and I didnt see any easy way to get into the console to make it user replaceable. Nor is it 'caddied' like the X360...

ps3ud0

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Yeah, well you asked for an example and I gave one

I would hazard a guess that most people don't have a TV with a camera and/or skype built in already. I would also hazard a guess that most people have Skype conversations while stationery, but this is just conjecture.


rp2000

Yeah I know all of that but as I say it's not something which appeals to me personally.

Also Skype is just basically the same thing as phoning someone apart from it uses the internet instead of a phone network.

Yes a lot of phone calls may happen whilst stationary but there are situations when they do not.

e.g. last time I skyped someone they were showing me around their brand new home which they had custom built in canada, so I got to see their whole house POV which would not of been possible had they been using their tv to skype me.

this is also the reason why i have 2 portable house phones, so they can be passed on to someone else or picked up anywhere, etc. rather than having a wired phone which basically restricts you.

these additional hardware add on's cost more money i would assume therefore meaning i am paying more if i do end up buying it for something i will never use.

they should have released 2 consoles, one which is a basic machine, and one with all the added guff imo.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

Doesnt look likely that its even replaceable:

That looks like the top to me and I didnt see any easy way to get into the console to make it user replaceable. Nor is it 'caddied' like the X360...

ps3ud0

Seems a bit silly they would limit you to a max of 500GB for the life of the machine unless they allow USB 3 external drives to be used ?

 

[PLazarou]

they should have released 2 consoles, one which is a basic machine, and one with all the added guff imo.

It's all very tightly integrated through software. It would have cost them more money to develop a console with and without such features, meaning it would cost you more money too.

 

[McPhee]

Is a bigger drive needed? Games can be played from the moment the disk is inserted, with installation being done in the background. Surely this renders the 500GB drive in to 'minor inconvenience' territory?

 

[ps3ud0]

Seems a bit silly they would limit you to a max of 500GB for the life of the machine unless they allow USB 3 external drives to be used ?

Oh of course, I just hope its pre-production/demo model, but then I wonder why they are allowing it to be photographed - Wireds caption is: 'General manager del Castillo with the Xbox One's exposed internals'

ps3ud0

 

[Broken Hope]

IF the leaks are true, which thus far everything in them has been, then first party PS4 games are going to look a lot better than Xbox One first party games, since the PS4 will have a lot more memory bandwidth and 50% more shaders.