BruiserBear
Banned
A lot of us have been very excited about what we've seen from the PS4 so far. The most powerful next gen console by a good margin, a price $100 lower than the XB1, and no camera required to use the console.
However, when considering which console I buy this fall, I wanted to look at the big picture for a moment. To consider every aspect of these new consoles, and how I expect things to actually play out when owning one.
Sony made a lot of mistakes with the PS3, price being the biggest, but there were many more that get less attention. From a user perspective the PS3 launched without a lot of software features the 360 had day one. Over time Sony improved things considerably, but here are some areas I still have concerns about, and frankly, the more I consider all of them, I begin to think the Xbox One might just be the one I buy first.
1) The light bar on the controller can't be turned off. Again, this could be a small thing to some, but to others like myself, who have newer tvs that are very reflective, it's a big concern. I sometimes notice the tiny red light on the dual shock 3 when playing my PS3 now. That big light bar on the dual shock 4? Oh, it's going to be noticeable. Sony had better figure this one out before launch, because it's gonna irritate a lot of people.
2) Still can't change your PSN ID name. Yes, this is a small thing to some, but for others it's a big annoyance, myself included. This was possible on the Xbox 360 the day it launched in 2005. Here we are 8 years later, and it's still not possible on PS3. Maybe it will be possible on PS4, but we have yet to hear about it.
3) Download speeds are still a problem for many of us. To put it simply, for many of us PSN download speeds are far slower than Xbox Live or Steam. Yes, some people seem to have fast speeds, maybe they're just lucky to be located near a server, but many of us experience rather mediocre speeds. I'm lucky that mine are just meh. Not terrible, but not great. Sure this could be improved with new servers, but Sony's had years now, and things really haven't changed. This is clearly something they need to work on, and I don't believe they've promised it will be anytime soon.
4) The PS3 store got redesigned for a third time, and usability regressed dramatically. To me this is a real problem and it happened so recently, and it's a pattern for Sony. Sometimes it feels like they don't learn from the past, and that concerns me for the future. This new store has a ridiculous boot up time, and using it is basically a pain in the ass. Yes, it looks prettier, but the old store was fine, and much faster.
5) Achievements are going to involve, but we've heard nothing about trophies. Like it or not achievements blew up last gen, and from everything we've heard so far, it sounds like Microsoft intends to push them even further with the XB1. Dynamic achievements, and special events where those who participate will receive a special unlock all sound like great ideas to me. Sony has said nothing on this front, and I wonder if they'll be left behind once again, trying to play catchup in this highly popular sub culture in gaming. On a side note, will trophies still have to be synced on PS4? They do on Vita, and it feels very old fashioned to have to manually do this when the 360 has been auto updating achievements in the cloud since 2005.
TL
R
For everything Sony gets right, they get something else very wrong. They design this brilliant new controller that everyone says is a joy to hold and use, but then they stick a large lightbar on the top of it that will surely irritate a great many users. They redesign their PSN store and make it really pretty to look at, but the usability suffers greatly, to the point where people literally dread using it. They pimp day one digital downloads, but they still have pathetically long download speeds for many users, making buying large games less appealing.
I'm just concerned that as we saw in the previous gen, Microsoft is constantly looking forward, and always ensures that the basics are done right. I don't have that same confidence with Sony, and I hope they prove me wrong next gen, but I believe there are already early warning signs that things may not be as blissful as some are expecting come launch.
However, when considering which console I buy this fall, I wanted to look at the big picture for a moment. To consider every aspect of these new consoles, and how I expect things to actually play out when owning one.
Sony made a lot of mistakes with the PS3, price being the biggest, but there were many more that get less attention. From a user perspective the PS3 launched without a lot of software features the 360 had day one. Over time Sony improved things considerably, but here are some areas I still have concerns about, and frankly, the more I consider all of them, I begin to think the Xbox One might just be the one I buy first.
1) The light bar on the controller can't be turned off. Again, this could be a small thing to some, but to others like myself, who have newer tvs that are very reflective, it's a big concern. I sometimes notice the tiny red light on the dual shock 3 when playing my PS3 now. That big light bar on the dual shock 4? Oh, it's going to be noticeable. Sony had better figure this one out before launch, because it's gonna irritate a lot of people.
2) Still can't change your PSN ID name. Yes, this is a small thing to some, but for others it's a big annoyance, myself included. This was possible on the Xbox 360 the day it launched in 2005. Here we are 8 years later, and it's still not possible on PS3. Maybe it will be possible on PS4, but we have yet to hear about it.
3) Download speeds are still a problem for many of us. To put it simply, for many of us PSN download speeds are far slower than Xbox Live or Steam. Yes, some people seem to have fast speeds, maybe they're just lucky to be located near a server, but many of us experience rather mediocre speeds. I'm lucky that mine are just meh. Not terrible, but not great. Sure this could be improved with new servers, but Sony's had years now, and things really haven't changed. This is clearly something they need to work on, and I don't believe they've promised it will be anytime soon.
4) The PS3 store got redesigned for a third time, and usability regressed dramatically. To me this is a real problem and it happened so recently, and it's a pattern for Sony. Sometimes it feels like they don't learn from the past, and that concerns me for the future. This new store has a ridiculous boot up time, and using it is basically a pain in the ass. Yes, it looks prettier, but the old store was fine, and much faster.
5) Achievements are going to involve, but we've heard nothing about trophies. Like it or not achievements blew up last gen, and from everything we've heard so far, it sounds like Microsoft intends to push them even further with the XB1. Dynamic achievements, and special events where those who participate will receive a special unlock all sound like great ideas to me. Sony has said nothing on this front, and I wonder if they'll be left behind once again, trying to play catchup in this highly popular sub culture in gaming. On a side note, will trophies still have to be synced on PS4? They do on Vita, and it feels very old fashioned to have to manually do this when the 360 has been auto updating achievements in the cloud since 2005.
TL
RFor everything Sony gets right, they get something else very wrong. They design this brilliant new controller that everyone says is a joy to hold and use, but then they stick a large lightbar on the top of it that will surely irritate a great many users. They redesign their PSN store and make it really pretty to look at, but the usability suffers greatly, to the point where people literally dread using it. They pimp day one digital downloads, but they still have pathetically long download speeds for many users, making buying large games less appealing.
I'm just concerned that as we saw in the previous gen, Microsoft is constantly looking forward, and always ensures that the basics are done right. I don't have that same confidence with Sony, and I hope they prove me wrong next gen, but I believe there are already early warning signs that things may not be as blissful as some are expecting come launch.
