Ben-DutkaConsidering the situation, there's no reason that these launches should feel rushed. And yet, that's exactly how it feels.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are now available in North America and although both topped 1 million in sales in the first 24 hours, and millions more are waiting in the wings to grab one, many would argue that neither system is living up to its lofty expectations.
Sony's machine released to an instant assortment of complaints from users and although that has since quieted down, and it's likely that the problems aren't widespread, the negative headlines were everywhere. On top of which, the launch software earned merely above-average (and in some cases, downright mediocre) review scores. Killzone: Shadow Fall is a bit better game in our estimation than its 73 Metascore indicates, but it's still not the masterpiece many anticipated.
The Xbox One is debuting with similar problems: We're already starting to see reports of bricked consoles ("green screen of death" is making the rounds), some of those supposedly grand multimedia features aren't working 100% properly, and the launch lineup isn't much better than the PS4's. Forza 5 is a legitimate AAA title so that leads the charge, but the rest is decidedly unimpressive: Ryse: Son of Rome has a 60 Metascore, Dead Rising 3 isn't doing too badly at 78, Crimson Dragon is only at 55 (similar to Knack ), and Killer Instinct is at a ho-hum 72.
The bottom line is that it really does feel as if both systems were rushed to market. But that doesn't really make any sense, does it? It has been over eight years since a new Xbox arrived, and seven years since we had a new PlayStation; that generation was essentially the longest in the history of the industry. Furthermore, both consoles are using straightforward, off-the-shelf components, so they're able to charge a little less and pump out the systems pretty quickly. Perhaps that's the problem; maybe we needed more cutting-edge tech. Or maybe for whatever reason, neither company was really ready to launch, but the industry was suffering from definite generational fatigue; gamers and developers were tired.
One might even argue that if the new consoles didn't launch this year, the industry could've been in serious trouble in 2014. Most months in 2013 posted year-over-year double-digit declines in the US market, for example, and analysts might've issued dire predictions for next year if these consoles didn't make it out. So, maybe that's it. But whatever the reason, I can't help but shake the "rushed" sensation on both fronts.
I believe they were rushed. I still have no inclination to rush out and buy the PS4 – and I doubt that will change for quite some time.
Perhaps because there are no must play games on either consoles right now. And they feel unfinished. They're having reliability issues, lack features and seem a little barren on the OS side. IGN's PS4 review said you can't save content like videos and images on the HDD like on the PS3. A new system lacking features the old system, to me makes it feel rushed.
My thoughts exactly, PS4 is one step forward in the visuals and two steps back in features. I read an article on a website that reviews bluray movies and they said the darn thing doesn't play 3d movies. That, coupled with the fact that it needed an update to enable bluray and DVD playback does make it look pretty weak IMHO.
Last edited by Cesar_ser_4 on 11/23/2013 11:09:01 AM
Wow, you'd think they at least have 3D ready on day one.
I think what Sony really wanted to do was capture the gaming market. I understand that atuff is nice to have but it doesnt make gaming better.
I was surprised at the 3d support too however it was such a failure. It looked great and was pretty sweet, but it didnt catch on is what I mean.
3D gaming is best done on the 3DS in my opinion. It just looks better. There zero ghosting as long as you hold the 3DS in the correct position and you don't need glasses. That said, the PS4 should have at least had 3D movie support from the moment you open the box. Seems odd they would leave that out unless of course they really were rushing to get the system out the door.
Yeah I have no idea why it doesnt support 3d. I notice more movies and more game not supprting it either.
Games yes, movies not so much. Pretty much every big budget pop corn summer flick released on Bluray supports 3D.
Well yea I meant in general it seems like less movies at the theatre than once before. Almost every movie was in 3d, now it seems the Marvel movies and Steven Spielberg films. 😉
I agree with bigrailer that Sony wanted to capture the gaming market, and that may be the issue. They probably thought that people wouldn't care so much about other features (DNLA, MP3 playback, 3D movies, etc.) if they focused only on the gaming aspect, but those features are basically a given in new technology, whether it's on consoles, Smart TVs, or any other media hub.
They may not seem as much, especially for a gamer, but they must remember that people like to use consoles for more than just gaming. The Xbox One, on the other hand, went a little too far with the multimedia thing in my opinion.
They aren't having reliability issues for starters.
Why would you think that they would have 3D? 3D has been proven to be something that is not going to be widely adopted in the market. It is a gimmick.
It is not that Sony didn't care about those features, and that is something people have to remember, those features are a priority to Sony, just not the number 1 priority. They want to get their gaming features 100% (or 95% at least) before they start working on other stuff, and this is the correct way to go about it. What would be worse, not having MP3 support, or having MP3 support with less gaming features, or gaming features that didn't work.
People really have to stop acting like they are entitled to everything and decide what they would prefer.
Akuma did you know that Sony is part of the Blu-ray association? full blu-ray support should be expected of them. Even if 3D is just a gimmick, it is part of the Blu-ray spec. after all. But I guess in this case we are getting what we're paying.
Any Sony fan worth their salt knows that. I don't think it dictates that they must support that feature though.
I wish 3D would die a quick death, I have never enjoyed 3D. Not when I have to wear those stupid glasses.
Glasses free 3D, or nothing.
I was still thinking about PS3 in february but XBOX announced their new one. They just didn't want to get left behind this time. They made that mistake and played catchup til eventually catching them. This time they will lead the front. Everybody will see the difference as we move forward and real good games start to release.
When one console (PS4) is announced February 20 and another (Xbox One) is announced May 21 and both of them appear on shelves that same year, that is a rush job. I really feel Microsoft really rushed their machine; I'm surprised it made its launch. Still, it was time for new machines as the technology inside the PS and Xbox 360 wasn't up to snuff with the newer PCs. I, for one, was ready for a PS4 simply because there was nothing left on the PS3 that interested me any longer.
All launches have their kinks. Just get an in-store warranty and you'll be OK.
They announce it to the world shortly before release because they don't want to undercut the sales of the current console.
Yes, still plenty of money to be made on PS3/360. You can't play Grand Theft Auto V or Gran Turismo 6 on PS4. Both consoles have one more Christmas in them; maybe 2. It was time for me to bid adieu, however. I'm enjoying the power of the PS4. A 40 GB game downloads fast with help from the GDDR 5 RAM inside.
I have to disagree with you.
If you announce a product too long before it's release, you run the risk of letting it get stale before it even comes out. The risks of overexposing or even underexposing your product to the market is a lot higher.
The PS4 was announced perfectly, 9 months before it's release. MS didn't give themselves very much time, especially at the beginning, if they had announced it earlier, maybe those DRM features wouldn't have been removed.
I would like to point out that sony's release was only to the u.s. and canada, while MS released to 13 different countries, so in my opinion they are already behind.
I also would like to suggest reading kotaku's review of the xbox one, sounds like more of a pain than anything else.
When your facial recognition fails to tell the difference between you and your girlfriend when she's not in the room, that's sad.
I got a laugh from the UNSClerics and _____s of the world trying to put a positive spin on Microsoft's Million. Sony only has sold the PS4 in the territory they finished 3rd in and have gotten to a fast start. Don't know the exact totals; I'd assume 800,000 in the U.S. and 200,000 in Canada.
I doubt the XBone will succeed in Canada because our entertainment laws keep us from accessing Hulu or ESPN unless we could use something like TunnelBear on Xbone. It's a gimped machine here; one nobody really should pay $500+ for because we won't get everything the Americans get.
Last edited by Brighat on 11/23/2013 12:29:46 AM
where did i put a positive spin on M$s 1M sales?
i havent ever mentioned it!
I got a ps4 and I honestly don't feel lik playing it rather play my 360
Because the games are being called mediocre or whatever, doesnt mean the consoles were rushed. Developers have had the dev kits and they didnt produce. The PS4 should have Drive Club and Watch Dogs suffered a delay as well.
The PS4 is super impressive, everything about It screams next gen. Same can be said for Xbox however I dont own it so I cant say with certainty. But the consoles are ready, the developers dropped the ball in the games department. Otherwise we have two stellar machines capable – right now at this point – of far more than we probably anticipated. The PS4 more so with its huge amount of ram dedicated to gaming.
Everyone keeps saying failures are normal for any new electronic, which it is. But for some strange reason when its such a small number (as evidenced by the millions out there and now minimal reports) its still being used to justify some idea that the consoles were rushed.
Edit: after reading Xbox One review (Kotaku) it probably wasn't ready. It sounds like a hassle to do anything. Its pointed out in the review and it makes perfect sense – if Kinect is going to replace the controller which works 100% of the time, Kinect also needs to work 100% of the time. And it obviously doesnt. When a console is being touted for its voice control, it needs to work.
I dont own an Xbox and im sure a lot of its issues will be ironed out. However Kotaku admitted that MS said that the console they had was not what would be available at retail and that was only as much as 2 weeks ago. Certainly the sign of a console that wasnt ready. I do think that overall though, if MS didnt try to make some all above all entertainment and just a game console it would be ready.
Thats why my opinion on Sonys console stands. Sony focused on the games and nailed it.
MS is all about marketing broken stuff that doesn't work the way they say it should =p
I don't think the Kinect will improve much more than what it is now. Voice recognition can't be perfected with today's technology. Motion tracking should be a lot better than what it is though.
I remember reading about how the Xbox One was going to release late next year. They pushed it up because Sony announced their PlayStation 4 first.
I have a few things to consider on this.
First and foremost. We're getting the PS4 before Japan. A first for PS consoles. Many devs commented that they were operating on synthetic ball park PC specs for a good while. Being the first territory to the plate means less time to get things polished.
Second. People expect more from a new console gen. Critics seem unimpressed by getting more of the same but at 1080p and 60fps. Neither of those things make games fun. They're nice. But not justification for a new console. Developers can no longer hide behind being shackled by 'limiting' hardware. No, they have to take risks and do something unpredictable. The highest rated games are the games doing what most other games aren't right now. That is Flower and Resogun. Sure, Reso has retro roots but it's refreshing to the norm.
Second… wait. third =p Games are bigger scale and more expensive and made for more platforms than before. Scrambling to get everything done across so much in so little time ain't easy. Problems are bound to happen.
Personally I want KI more than anything right now. It's a game essentially made for me and my time (not happening anytime soon)
EDIT: I know my third reason doesn't explain why the exclusives are weak.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 11/23/2013 1:01:24 AM
Killer Instinct reboot could've been so much better, but I still would like to try it too. Shame I'll probably never try it since there's no way I'm buying a console for a so-so game. I do miss it a lot since the SNES days. 🙁
Valid points. I assume the OS's will grow with features as time goes on. Nice thing about consoles these days.
BTW, M3DW is awesome! XD
not sure what you were expecting from KI Daus without it feeling like.. KI. Only so many things you can do with a classic game rooted in the arcade glory days of fighters. Looks like my kind of faithful reboot. I just love that the announcer yells and stuff. When I read the game all comes packed with both Arcade versions of the original KI game I was like NOOOOOOOOO! I want it bad now.
Oh well. Here's hoping the X0 struggles bad and MS is forced to yank the joke of a Kinect and sell me an X0 for $150 some day. Yes. Yes that'll do nicely.
Jawknee. Woo hoo!
Last edited by Temjin001 on 11/23/2013 1:48:37 AM
I've got the first two arcade versions running on my original Xbox 🙂
Weirdly enough, the Wii U isn't standing out as much as them both, then and now.
I don't know man, but there's a slight possibility PS4 and X1 can catch up to the Wii U even if they are released in 2014.
Nintendo is in it's own realm. They will always have their fans regardless of the consoles the release. Their IP's are so strong and their dev. teams so good that they will always have fans to buy their games.
I think the performance of the launch games on both consoles tells the story. Forza 5, Killzone, Dead Rising 3, Ryse & Killer Instinct looked like big games & only Forza 5 could make it passed the 80 mark on the metacritic scale.
Previous launch lineup's atleast had a few games that made it in the 8's & there was even the odd game that got the 9 treatment. Not so here.
Very disappointing really, for all gamers.
Not all gamers.
Forza has had an 82 metascore since it was released.
Perhaps the problem was the old gen wasn't really ready to retire. Just needed some new blood. But developers were crying for new (hey, who cares if consumers have to pay more), instead of pushing the tech as far as she'd go. Sony & Microsoft both said last year there's still plenty of life left in their systems, then half a year later, it's all Good news everyone. We have new systems coming out.
So of course it felt rushed. They basically said we have no intentions of launching new systems, then turned right around and launched them. Both of which had serious problems, regardless of how few in total it was. Developers should have wrung out every drop of potential in the systems. Instead, they opted for timeframes. We must upgrade every 5 years. That is a stupid method for determining upgrades. I don't care if it's year 15. If you can pull more out of a system, do it. Rare brought the Super Nintendo back from the brink of oblivion with Donkey Kong Country. Imagine what that can do philosophy could have done for XBOX 360 and PS3. But no. Bets be lazy. Don't try and use a system's full potential. Demand new systems every 5 years. Screw the people by making them pay hundreds of dollars all the time. And above all else, no backwards compatibility allowed.
Very rushed, as it was unnecessary. All developers had to do was try. They didn't, so of course the industry would suffer if things never changed. Companies assuring us they have life left in their current gen systems suddenly had new shiny products to sell. Which malfunctioned big time. In fact, things were so rushed, they didn't have time to get a lot of their A Games out. This was a 2015 to 2016 idea. Which is why I expect the better games to hit by the end of next year, in time for the holidays. Because Sony and MS had time to make em right.
Some games/developers rely on gameplay innovation to progress forward.
Some games/developers rely on story telling to progress forward.
Some games/developers rely on technological and graphical innovations to progress forward.
Old hardware does not inhibit the first two points, but certainly presents a challenge to the last one.
The fact is after 7 or 8 years, these machine are severely lacking when compared to PC counterparts in the graphic fidelity area. Granted, it's been amazing what developers have managed to do with such old hardware. It's now time for them to see what they can do with new hardware.
exactly why im so disappointed everything about next gen is so ho hum.
really low specs, poor reliability, missing essential features, really low quality and quantity of first party games.
this is the result of 7-8 years of waiting?
at least with the ps3 and 360 it was ok theres not much, but what there is make you wow.
it was wow i cant believe it can do that, but now, with next gen, its wow i cant believe it CANT do that.
or wow i cant believe this is the best developers can do with the box.
ryse is suppose to be the best looking next gen game out there, but to be honest i seen better looking stuff on PC 3 years ago!
every single experience i get, all i can say is i had to wait 8 years for this!?
It's the first week dude. 🙂 Give it time friend…
IGN reported Xbone sold 1 million in 24 hours in 13 countries. PS4 sold an equal amount in 2 countries in the same amount of time.
XD
i wud say that they were a little rushed but some games wud have gotten more exposure if the new consoles had come out next year but they are here and cash is limited still nune the less but i think the quality still sud have been done better maybe cos of this failure rate thing. i hope me and my buddies in NZ and one or two in AU get ones that work fine when we get them next friday.
happy gaming =)
Yep. I'm really most likely going to wait for the next Tales or new RPG challenger that pops up.
Maybe Infamous 3.
Meh, it's not going to stop me from getting one. Once i can get my hands on one, i am not looking back. The exception will probably be GT6 though, but other than that. I can't wait to move on.
I don't know… With such a huge amount of boxes needing to be produced in so short time and as close to launch as possible (to cut cost), with the price of the machines being as low as they are compared to the spec they do offer, I'd frankly be more surprised if there were no hiccups these first few weeks.
Has earlier console launches been that much more trouble free?
Last edited by Beamboom on 11/23/2013 7:05:31 AM
Sure. Not so much on the Sony and Microsoft side (although I don't recall hearing about too many critical issues when the original PlayStation came out), but Sega and Nintendo have always released bulletproof consoles, for the most part.
Of course, it helps that the technology was MUCH less advanced than it is now, so a LOT less could go wrong.
My first xbox came with a faulty video cable, lol.
Yeah, in the past, all the console had to do was play games. Now people expect it to be everything to everyone.
Except for the Dreamcast Ben, god rest its soul. Poor console was one of my favourites and still is to this day.