The question is why re-release it when all three of the Grand Theft Auto games from the Original Xbox were backwards compatible? The BC Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas didn't look bad on the Xbox 360. For a remastered game it doesn't look too impressive frame rate or graphic wise.
The current beta PS4/Xbox One graphics comparison isn't even important as Bungie has already showed video of the Xbox One version running at 1080p and said that the final PS4 and Xbox One versions look the same. With the res bump I saw in the non-beta version I have to agree with Bungie. The bump up in resolution made the game sharper and more detailed on the Xbox One giving it a more on par look to the PS4 version.
So, pretty much most of us that bought next gen consoles only wanted a game made with last gen in mind. If the resolution is lower then the frame rate should have been higher. The compromise needs to be reasonable and to me it's not. In Ubisoft having more time to better optimize all aspects of the game it decided to go the easy route and just add more of what it wanted weighing the performance down instead causing it to sacrifice resolution and frame rate. I think that if the Xbox One and PS4 would have been more complicated and less closer to the architecture of PCs that a great deal of developers would be in trouble when it came to getting out their games. As a consumer/gamer just remember you only get what you accept If you start off accepting below par you will always get below par because you said it was ok. I've had this game reserved since last year, at 1st on the Xbox 360 and then switched to the PS4 version but now I think I will cancel the reservation and wait for global ratings before picking it up at some point. I can wait a little longer.
The change of policy with live is likely to cost MS a loss in Xbox Live subscribers, myself included. I don't intend to accept the new request so I'm sure they will kill my Xbox Live for me. It solves the issue of me trying to decide to sign back up after expiration next year any way or buy an Xbox One in the future. I prefer to decide what companies I share my info with, not MS. I already subscribe to a couple of the listed apps/service providers on Live, but at least the only info available to them is what I want them to have. I subscribed to those guys before they were ever on Xbox Live. I don't need MS as a go between. It might make thing easier in some ways but it also creates a problem in other ways. No paranoia here I just don't like the concept and it's principal killing for some of us. I really feel that MS is going in the wrong direction with a number of things with the Xbox One/Xbox Live and alienating its consumers.
I don't think most console gamers want their consoles to match a PC in performance as most PCs don't really have a standardized performance. No matter how many benchmarks you do no two PCs are the same. The performance of PCs change dependent on what you put in them. Console manufactures pretty much know exactly what they want their consoles to be capable of from talking to developers, and they push beyond that. I do think that this next console generation might be the last as far as consoles go as we know them. The next gen after this coming gen will be service driven and I'm not sure just leaning on software instead of hardware optimized to run it will help developers and game sales when you're looking at gaming 10 years from now.There is no denying it, PC's are great multipurpose/gaming machines. But when it comes down to it, I'll always take the console over my PC to avoid GPU and CPU optimization issues with software. I've seen a ton of wastefulness in the computer setting --- the throw away concept and update to/build a new PC every 2-3 years. To be honest the old days of console gaming and manufacturing were better when developers could program games close to the metal of the machines. It took longer but some of the best, most beautiful, and most unforgettable games came out then.
Actually on a professional level MS is coming across as rather ridiculous. Most of "WE" true Xbox fans could care less about the child like banter that has gone on for decades about competing consoles by Sony/Nintendo fans and the same the other way around. Why worry about it now if the URL has been around since 2000. That's a waste. In the professional rounds MS is making its self look bad. It should really focus on the Xbox ONE and getting back the gamers it's sort of lost --- myself as included in the possible group of lost gamers. This Christmas is a PS4 holiday for me and MS has me seriously in doubt about the Xbox ONE even next Christmas as a purchase. It really needs to get its act together. Too much bad self generated press.
I never thought about it when I heard "X BONE" on here in the comments in the past couple of months but after reading this it made think of "throw them a bone". To me as a past Xbox, Xbox 360 fan, I'd say this time I feel like that's what MS is doing to past loyal fans with the Xbox ONE--- throwing us a bone. I will give MS until next Christmas to prove it's the company that delivered the Xbox, and Xbox 360 --- not a bunch of screw-ups. Their product is only as good as the company that delivered it.
All I can say is ridiculous. Really, Really??? lol MS is starting to sound like that kid who likes playing ball until he finds that he's losing and then he either takes the ball and goes home or deflates it with a nail. In all my years of gaming I've never seen a company that seems so focused on everything but the real issues --- consumer confidence in it as a company and it's ability to deliver. I have no doubt that the Xbox ONE is probably a great console but I currently have my doubts that the company behind it is able to properly deliver. In this new gen it's not about your past history but how you redefine yourself with this new gen of consoles. Both Sony and MS need to prove that they can deliver --- meaning hold off on dumb comments and actions. Keep your people in check, PR or otherwise. Right now both companies' actions speak louder than any words and MS has a great deal of Cons on my chalk board due to stupid decisions. Sony has been very careful this time and I commend it for doing so. Only time will tell.
A great deal of what's been heard from MS, and developers lately has been major hype. If all of this is possible and with the amount of time ---nearly eight years--- that developers have had to think about what they've wanted to achieve, gamers should see some of those results day one of the launch of the Xbox ONE and PS4. We shouldn't have to wait until a year or two years from now to see results. The truth is these guys are dreaming of what they'd like to achieve but have no idea or road map as to how to get there just yet. It's great to reach, but don't promise what you can't achieve, because everyone is watching. With every console generation comes a ton of broken promises. Sometimes it's just good to surprise us by doing what seems impossible instead of talking about doing it. They may not have had the consoles to play with but they have had very powerful computers to experiment on long before now. Something about this new console generation already seems flat no matter how much hype I hear or tech is placed in front of me. I really hope that MS, Sony, and developers prove me wrong as I'd love that at this point. It just all feels like more of the same at this point.
The truth for me is that the extra $100 dollars/Kinect wasn't the deal breaker but Microsoft's attitude has been. MS needs a little humble pie. I'm not really impressed by Sony or Microsoft's game line up for the PS4 or Xbox One---too many of the sames games being released on the PS3 and Xbox 360. The one or two exclusives they have aren't big enough to determine which I would buy. I already have a PS4 and accessories paid for but not because of the release games but because I realize that Sony offers something a little different for me in the long run that MS always runs short on---more Adventure/Action games. MS consoles stress FPS's more than anything and that gets a bit old for me. MS is going the ego route that Sony went with the PS3 --Sony learned from its mistakes. Hopefully MS will learn a lot quicker and I will buy a Xbox One at some point next year. To be honest I don't care who wins the console war as long as both companies remember what's important and can bring out quality games minus the BS that we keep hearing about how great the systems are. Let the gamers decide how great they are once we have them in our hands. Believe me we will tell you.
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