PixlBit

Yeah, it's been way tougher on me than them. I've lived in the same city since I was 5, but they both moved around a lot, so it's just another move for them.

I had a console in my Amazon shopping cart after the MS press conference, because I was almost positive that the PS4 was going to have the same DRM, and the games that MS showed were mighty impressive. I'm glad I waited.

To be clear, I think that the XBO will be a fantastic video game console, and for the people they are targeting, owners should be satisfied. But what I want from a game console I'm getting from the PS4, at least for now.

There can be a balance. Since they introduced the ATB, FF was always fast-paced, except for X which was total turn based. 

I'd like to see them iterate on X-2's combat system. That game required quick decisions but at the same time you could really strategize.

Amen! When they announced that Versus XIII was now XV I was a very unhappy man.

Thank you for joining the site. It's much easier to have a conversation with someone when they aren't posting anonymously.

When did I say that I support this? I mentioned in the article that I'm one of those people that values physical media. I'm a game collector. I still buy CDs. I have a library full of musty books that I cling to like Gollum with the One Ring. When things begin to move closer and closer to an all-digital realm, I'm probably going to stop gaming, and just look back and play things out of my collection.

But you make some assumptions, as well. I don't think that games would be $60 bucks across the board once this happens. I think we would see games varying wildly in price. A game like God of War might be 20 or 30 bucks, while a huge RPG like Final Fantasy or Dragon Age might be more expensive. And there's a good chance that discs will still exist, but we'll pay a premium for them. Those discs would be required to play the game, much as they are now. I've heard reports that the XBO will allow players to play without that 24 hour check in, as long as the disc is in the drive, but I can't verify that.

What's the point in saying I'm out of my mind? That's far from constructive. I feel that I've explained my points well in this article. It's not a future I want to see, but it's a future that I can see happening. This was a cautionary report, not an endorsement of the Xbox One. In fact, I pre-ordered a PS4 immediately following the Sony press conference, and will most likely never purchase an XBO.

I think MS' decision to go with the always on camera is more of a problem than the DRM and always connected thing. But in this piece, I'm thinking long term: 15+ years in the future. Imagine: if there isn't a disc anymore there isn't a used market. If there isn't a used market, game companies can ease up on some of the weird and restrictive things they do. If future consoles are all digital (or allow you to buy discs that have to be in the drive to play) and they lock down their network well enough, there would be little need to be always online.

It isn't neccessarily going to be the dark, oppressive future people seem to think it is. For me as a collector it's not one I'm interested in, but at the same time, I'll have to get off of this ride at some point.

When I was a kid, the used market wasn't really a thing. There were very few stores that bought and sold used games, so we rented a lot.

The all-digital future isn't one I'm interested in, but it needn't be terrible. I don't see why there wouldn't be options for renting games digitally, as well as the potential for varying price points and drastic sales, ala Steam. And who knows...if there's no longer a used market maybe publishers will stop forcing developers to shoehorn multiplayer into games that don't need it.

You know my thoughts on the muted color schemes that have been so popular in games and movies recently. So I'm really  happy to see color returning to games, especially Killzone, which looks like a completely different game now. All of the games you highlighted stand apart from each other, but you could show me screenshots of multiple games from current gen and I wouldn't be able to tell you which was which.

I guess it's a matter of expectations. We've officially reached the point of diminishing returns. Games from this gen are going to remain easy on the eyes, and as such aren't going to age as bad as games from the PSX or PS2 era.

The places where I'm expecting to be wowed isn't in mechanics or graphics, but in the way games behave and how I can interact with the environmen, as well as better collision detection.

And I'm still waiting for realistic hair and clothing physics.

I think you're way too down on what was shown at E3. You can't look for innovation at a console launch. It's just not going to happen, unless you're introducing a completely new input like the Wii remote, and even the Wii launch lineup didn't have much in the way of innovative titles. Those will come later, although if we want to get really reductive, BioShock Infinite is a first person shooter with a sidekick, and The Walking Dead is a point and click game that replaces the pointing and clicking with direct control and QTEs. When you get down to it, they aren't that innovative, but they provide memorable experiences.

For my part, what impressed me was that the games I'm looking forward to in next gen seem to be letting me have my cake and eat it, too. Sure, inFAMOUS: Second Son is a waaay prettier version of the PS3 games, but the thing that got me most excited were the scenes between the main character and his brother. It came off as a natural and easy to relate to type of storytelling. Ditto for The Witcher 3. I was expecting next gen games to be even more restrictive and confined than they've gotten in recent years. But Witcher 3 looks massive while still blowing the graphics snob in me away.

I think the future is bright. Not as bright as it could be, but far brighter than I expected it to be.