Is the Playstation 4 About to be announced??

[FPAlpha]

AlphaMan wrote:

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Actually, I think it would be a pretty smart move for Sony and Microsoft to block used games.

Maybe from a pure business side of things.. these aremeasures that usually would only come to mind by an economy major who's purely looking at the numbers and trying to improve them but forgets the bigger picture and the oddities of the branch they are working in.

Imagine a car manufactures who binds your new car to your ID card or something like that.. the whole car market would tank (not really comparable to video games i know).

I'd bet that most gamers would suck it up and deal with it over time.

And this is why Sony and maybe MS are even thinking about it however companies might miscalculate the gaming community (as Sony has proven with the release of the PS3).

If both of them block used games by whatever means then gamers would have no choice. If even one doesn't it might be the deciding factor in the next generation console wars given that technology wise both consoles are closer in capability and so it's once again down to taste and preference.

If (and it's a very likely if) Sony announces the PS4 on the 20th and rumors are true that they'll block used games MS has the chance to evaluate this move for a few months and decide what they will do.

[Haggis and tatties]

People who buy second hand games are not going to start buying full price games simply because they can no longer play second hand games....all they are going to do is wait for then to go on sale or a GOTY edition........I have no idea were the gaming industry gets these crazy ideas from........next they will be going after steam for having game sales claiming its costing them all money. lol

[Robert Maxwell]

Haggis and tatties wrote:

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People who buy second hand games are not going to start buying full price games simply because they can no longer play second hand games....all they are going to do is wait for then to go on sale or a GOTY edition........I have no idea were the gaming industry gets these crazy ideas from........next they will be going after steam for having game sales claiming its costing them all money. lol

But, as was stated upthread, Sony and MS already don't make money off of people who primarily buy used games. Knocking those out of the equation actually makes the consoles more profitable.

Although it's arguable whether driving Gamestop out of business is good for their profit margins.

[Takeru]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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The PS1 and PS2 were not that underpowered. I'd say the PS1 more than held its own agaisnt the Saturn and even the later N64. The PS2 was less powerful than the X-Box but again not leagues behind, certainly not Wii-level underpowered.

I'm really not a Sony fanboy but I just don't agree with these assessments from people. Though maybe I'm alone in that...

I wasn't completely serious, I don't expect anyone at Sony to point at the Wii U and decree that the PS4 has to be less powerful. I just want them to remember that the PS1 and 2 were not successes because of their superior technology, it was a combinaton of great marketing, a great game library and various mistakes Nintendo made in their arrogance. The Wii's success is even more proof that you don't need to be the most powerful.
I knew the PS3 would be a failure compared to its predecessors when I heard the now legendary "599 US DOLLARS!", at that moment they became the Nintendo from a few years before, thinking they ruled and could do everything until they fell flat on their faces.

What's worse is that they apparently still plan to sell their consoles at a loss while at the same time blocking used games. Are they nuts? For most people there are two reasons to buy used games:

A) I can't get it new
B) I can't or don't want to pay the full price for this medocre looking game

If a game fits one of those categories I won't suddenly buy it new when it's not available new, I won't buy it at all. I'm also not interested in keeping games for eternity, I sell many of them after I finished them or lose interest, if I can't do that anymore I will become more picky and most likely buy less games in the future.

[Bob The Skutter]

They've already had EA and others complaining that Steams sales devalue their products and hurt the industry as a whole depressing market prices.

[Bob The Skutter]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

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But, as was stated upthread, Sony and MS already don't make money off of people who primarily buy used games. Knocking those out of the equation actually makes the consoles more profitable.

Although it's arguable whether driving Gamestop out of business is good for their profit margins.

But as I said, trading in games gives people the money to buy new games, which will hurt their profits because new sales will drop as well as used.

[BillJ]

I really don't think its a smart move by console manufacturers to block used games. One, it will drive down console sales and two, it is just going to drive piracy of games.

[Haggis and tatties]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

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But, as was stated upthread, Sony and MS already don't make money off of people who primarily buy used games. Knocking those out of the equation actually makes the consoles more profitable.

I thought they brought in one time online passes for second hand games, so they could make money from them...........now after all the complaining they want to throw that money out the window and make no money whatsoever from people who prefer second hand games. lol

You have to love the logic in that. ......i can only assume second hand players were not buying these one time codes then.

Although it's arguable whether driving Gamestop out of business is good for their profit margins.

Is Gamestop the same as Game over here......prices so high they have a surgeon working behind the counter ready to whip your kidney out when you want to buy something from them, even second hand. lol

[Ood Sigma]

I also think that knowing that the games can't be traded in will cause people to be more selective about which games they buy... why spend $60 on a game that you might not like and you can't trade in at all to recoup at least some of that cost.

This might lead to prices on new games dropping faster just so they can move software. So if you are the sort of person willing to wait a few months for a game you might benefit by waiting for the price to drop.

I don't trade in games personally, but I also usually wait for the price to drop or choose from used games. Right now the only game I think I would buy immediately at full price would be a new Mass Effect game.

[Haggis and tatties]

^^Can you imagine buying Aliens CM for £40 and then being stuck with it because it wont run on another machine.

[Kelthaz]

AlphaMan wrote:

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I own 2 Vitas. It doesn't need a redesign, but a price drop and third party support would be great. Gearbox Software was willing to give up their code to another studio in order to bring Borderlands 2 to the Vita and Sony didn't take them up on the offer. I wish they would've.

Cheaper to manufacture, better battery life, HDMI out, etc. True, the real problem with the system is the software, but a hardware revision would be a good way to relaunch the system.

[AlphaMan]

Takeru wrote:

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... What's worse is that they apparently still plan to sell their consoles at a loss while at the same time blocking used games. Are they nuts? For most people there are two reasons to buy used games:

A) I can't get it new
B) I can't or don't want to pay the full price for this medocre looking game

If a game fits one of those categories I won't suddenly buy it new when it's not available new, I won't buy it at all. I'm also not interested in keeping games for eternity, I sell many of them after I finished them or lose interest, if I can't do that anymore I will become more picky and most likely buy less games in the future.

... and all of that puts negative price pressure on the games themselves. So if the retail price of the game goes down, more people can afford to buy it new. The more people buy new, the HD twins and software developers can collect their fees.

I don't expect either Microsoft or Sony to have the guts to do this, but I do see a way in which this could work. The $60 price point would have to go though.

[AlphaMan]

Kelthaz wrote:

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Cheaper to manufacture, better battery life, HDMI out, etc. True, the real problem with the system is the software, but a hardware revision would be a good way to relaunch the system.

It's funny you mention that. I just saw some Sony patent for a Vita with an HDMI and USB out port on the internet somewhere.

But there is some port next to the game cartridge that I have no idea of what it is at this point.

[AlphaMan]

Have you all seen te picture of the PS4 controller prototype on the Internet lately? I have a screen cap I want to post, but I seems that that feature was disabled on TrekBBS.

[AlphaMan]

WSJ.com is reporting that PS4 will play PS3 games via an internet streaming service!

http://m.ign.com/articles/2013/02/16...l-stream-games

Report: PlayStation 4 Will Stream Games
“The new technology… will allow users to play games delivered over the Internet…”
February 15, 2013
by Colin Moriarty
Not surprisingly, the PlayStation 4 rumors have been flowing as of late. With the expected reveal of the console coming this Wednesday, February 20 in New York City, it only makes sense that little bits of information would begin to emerge about what we’ll be seeing.
The newest rumor is in regard to the next PlayStation’s ability to stream games. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that “Sony Corp. is planning to offer technology to stream games to its next videogame console,” according to its own sources.