@arqe @Lockjaw2000 I am personally taking the approach that any feature "coming soon", to the PS4 will not necessarily arrive or will arrive GIMP'ed in some shape or form.
But I have never had faith in the Sony software team. Their hardware is generally pretty solid though.
@Lockjaw2000 Steam is only usable for about 2 weeks without an internet connection.. something I only found out recently after using steam since before Source. It's a shocker.. but also goes to show that a 2 week check-in policy is not too draconian.
Lack of focus on games I think was due to their self belief that people recognised the XBOX brand as a gaming brand and wanted to highlight everything ELSE the console will do.
@arqe @Blank2k2 I'm not sure that's true. There were many good aspects to their vision, but also ridiculous problems (24hr check-in???). If you let tech guys run the show they often lack common sense in preference to a wider vision/goal (I know as I'm a dev).
I think in this case, Microsoft just let Homer Simpson design their new digital policy. Fortunately, they had time to reverse the policies and have now given themselves more time to consider each of them again... hopefully from a slightly different angle.
@berserker66666 Well, to be fair, if there weren't laws against slavery, child labour, minimum wages, then many companies' morals would be tested in the rush for profits.. it's what companies exist for.. (almost) all start as a way to make someone rich.
I think Microsoft are losing their way a little. The same as many large companies. It's often not until the last minute before total collapse that they wake up and realise things have got progressively worse over the years without them really knowing how or why.
You can only hope that Microsoft are starting to learn some serious lessons in many aspects of their business recently.
@berserker66666 Depends on your country.. In the EU it's impossible for their terms to override basic consumer protection laws.. and if they GIMP your console they will be legally responsible for providing a refund (especially if the update is mandatory.. which it always is on XBL).
I cant imagine them developing radically different FW for different regions as managing such branched code would be a nightmare.. so the EU may just stop such a backwards step from happening anywhere.
@Merseyak The 24 hour check-in was amazingly bad news.. but it's nice to see Steam taking on some of the other ideas they had, and will probably continue in that vein (family sharing, transferring/selling digital copies to another account etc..).
Innovation, even when it's been badly implemented, spurs progress in a competitive arena.
I have no doubt some of the original features will be reintroduced.. but we can only hope that they will be better thought out second time around.
@HairyMetalHead I don't think PS4 games are in this mix.. PS1, PS2, maybe PS3 and other older hardware software.
Unfortunately, looking at the very limited success (ok, failures really) of other game streaming companies, I am doubtful if these streaming features will ever be more than a token effort. I also wouldn't be surprised if they also had a very limited number of titles available for this service.
But.. Sony are a big company, so we can only hope that they can put in the resources to make this work... and keep it going for more than 1 or 2 years!
@MAGIC-KINECT @arqe Nope, mine could take only two games that size. But the largest game is only around 3GB at the moment. Some games just work better on the iPad than they do on console. Of course a PC suits almost every game type (with the right controller in some cases).
@Lamesy @arqe I also love some of the games on the iPad. XCOM, Battle Academy, Warhammer Quest, Ace Patrol are all excellent games suited to touch controls.. no other controller are needed. Card-based games like Magic, Talisman are also excellent on touch devices, although not really my cup of tea.
Some game types suit iPad, some consoles, some PC's.. some more than one, or all, of these.
I tried XCOM on a console and I really didn't enjoy it.. played on the iPad and it's fantastic!
But if you only like playing FPS or action games, then touch controls are really not suitable.. I guess it depends on how wide a variety of games you like to play.
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