Ps4 Officially Announced This Morning

[mad082]

the ps4 and the new xbox will be identical. The xbox will have blu-ray. All it will come down to is if you want killzone or halo TBH... Or forza or gran turismo. To be perfectly honest if you remove the Blu-ray player the xbox has been the top dog ever since release. (this is coming from 6 years experience selling the shit) so it will be interesting what sony does to the PSN to fix it. The Australian Gaming market is a joke though. The amount we pay for things here is through the roof. COD on release is $49.95 in america It's crazy.

Also anyone that says pc gaming is better is right and wrong. PC gaming has much higher up keep costs and to tell yourself differently is a lie. It also has more issues and the ports from console are usually bad. However. If you are willing to put the cash in and are happy every now and then spending an hour or two to get a game to run then consoles will never compare.

Oh also ill add: why the fk have sony not updated their bloody controller design. it has not been changed since the ps1 and its a terribly designed ergonomic controller.

In conclusion of above: a playstation fan will say that its the best, same with xbox same with pc. Its just how it is.

Anyway rant over: let the hate flow through you.

oh not the price comparison crap again. sure, australia could have cheap prices like america if we all took a 50% pay cut to earn the same as what they do.........

[Anfanee]

oh not the price comparison crap again. sure, australia could have cheap prices like america if we all took a 50% pay cut to earn the same as what they do.........

That should have nothing to do with it. especially with how strong the AU dollar is atm.

[mad082]

it should have everything to do with it. the distribution costs (running costs of retailers and wholesalers) in australia is much higher than in the states. plus the fact that these costs are spread across a population that is only a fraction of the size. in terms of hours worked to buy goods, australia is actually much better off than america.

[EeLeYe]

Although everything Marc says is correct, with our dollar being as strong as it is, we're still getting ripped off.

A hearing has been organized for early March regarding the ridiculous prices.

http://m.technobuffalo.com//2013/02/11/apple-microsoft-adobe-pricing-lawsuit-australia/

There is an inconsistency. When our dollar was worth half a US dollar (late last century from memory), everything increased accordingly. The issue now is that since our dollar became more powerful than the US, consumer products, for some reason, have not decreased in the same fashion as they increased.

Take digital downloads for example - a song on iTunes is $0.99 in the US; here it's $2.19. There's no handling or import duties, yet it's more than double even with the strong dollar.

[mad082]

digital media will always be something that attracts criticism. one reason that I can see as to why they haven't dropped the price of downloadable material is to allow physical media versions of the same material (and the sellers of said material) to remain viable. another reason being that tax rates differ. and the wage argument still applies. all the major companies have arms of the company based in australia, so given that they still have to pay higher running costs than their US based headquarters, so products sold in their market will be where they get their funds from. having said that, apple haven't updated their prices in a very long time, so there is some validity to the claims they are laughing all the way to the bank. but so many people are still willing to feed the monster that they see no point to change.

as for the dollar, you will never get products fluctuating everytime the dollar changes, even digital online media. for physical goods the price will usually change based off when the company has to pay for the goods, and then when they get the next shipment of goods. if there is a small fluctuation in the price of goods then the wholesaler will usually absorb the cost difference (be it a profit or loss). this protects both the retailler and the consumer in a way and brings stability to the market.

but this isn't just an australian thing. this is a worldwide issue and australia isn't the most expensive country for things like apple goods. we are well up the list, but not the most expensive.

but this issue goes well beyond retail goods. everyone likes to have a bitch when big companies send their manufacturing offshore, or companies bring in foreign workers. the simple fact is that australians are very quickly pricing themselves out of the market. why wouldn't a company want to bring in foreign workers that will work harder for less money? all the people who bitch about retail prices and say that "retaillers should just drop their prices if they want to remain competitive" should apply the same logic to employees of the manufacturing and building industries, etc. maybe they should drop their expectations of a wage to remain competitive in keeping their job.

[iamhe77]

Speaking of price discrepancies for DLC.

Mates and I are playing Dust 514 at the moment and the price to buy "Aurum" is 1.5 more expensive via the AUS store than the US store.

Makes me lol as I am the only one using a US account.

[ctjet]

so what this about a PS4?

[EeLeYe]

So for those who have been listening to the live conferences at E3, you'll know that Microsoft have indeed dug their grave even deeper since their announcement of the XboxONE (especially regarding the unavailability of purchasing used games); and Sony are capitalising on this...

[KezR33]

No significant difference IMO.

I'll choose based on what games come out on each and what my friends have.

Until then I'll enjoy cheap, awesome PC games.

[EeLeYe]

I agree; system-wise, there is little difference, but the restrictions Microsoft has allowed for developers to impose on users has caused quite a stir.

Check out everyone's reactions when the Sony guy mentions that used games are supported and 24 hour online check is not required (opposite to MS)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxtVd5BGDt8

[KezR33]

Which means I'll probably end up getting a PS4 because everyone else does.

I'd be very surprised if xbox didn't ditch a lot of those limitations in the coming months though.

[Hank Scorpio]

Seems as good of a place as any to ask the question but is there any word of a new Nintendo console?

I'm a Nintendo fanboy from way back but the phaggetry arm waving and poor graphics made me a sad panda, is there anything in the pipeline that will actually be an improvement over the Gamecube? That I would buy.

[EeLeYe]

Seems as good of a place as any to ask the question but is there any word of a new Nintendo console?

I'm a Nintendo fanboy from way back but the phaggetry arm waving and poor graphics made me a sad panda, is there anything in the pipeline that will actually be an improvement over the Gamecube? That I would buy.

Nintendo have showcased a few games but their main push is of the Wii U, which came out end of last year (I think). No other console is on the cards.

[mad082]

nintendo is a thing if the past in the serious game market. they are aiming at the family market and kids. they haven't been at the forefront of console games since the snes imho. n64 had ok gameplay with the whole 3d world's, but graphics were boxy.

[KezR33]

You may not be their target market but Nintendo smashed both the PS3 and xbox 360 in the last generation of consoles.

[iamhe77]

nintendo is a thing if the past in the serious game market. they are aiming at the family market and kids. they haven't been at the forefront of console games since the snes imho. n64 had ok gameplay with the whole 3d world's, but graphics were boxy.

N64 graphics were definitely blurry but have you played a PS1 game on a PS1 recently? I don't know how I put up with it for "3D" games. Terrible, terrible graphics.

Too bad Nintendo aren't pushing to make "serious" consoles any more. Wii U will be the first Nintendo home console I will not own.

[Anfanee]

it should have everything to do with it. the distribution costs (running costs of retailers and wholesalers) in australia is much higher than in the states. plus the fact that these costs are spread across a population that is only a fraction of the size. in terms of hours worked to buy goods, australia is actually much better off than america.

lol the retailers don't see that extra cash. The game companies that make them do. Its crazy how much we pay just because game companies go we can make more margin there sweet.

[Anfanee]

TBH the debate that the restrictions that microsoft put on the console is a useless one. The only one that will make a difference is the 24 hour internet use. Apart from that they will be the same. Publishers are already and have been putting 1 use codes in games. Sony just said we are not going to do it, it will be up to them. EA and activision already impose 1 use codes. There goes 80% of new release games. I'd expect more and more to do it anyway. It's a shame that companies are doing it but it's where the industry is going.

All sony did really well was a VERY good PR push. They did a good job of making microsoft look like idiots. Apple did the same thing to microsoft years ago.

And considering these are now running PC coding most games that where exclusive will no longer be. I welcome that as a PC gamer. So it will just come down to what you feel like buying. Both have bonuses and both have weaknesses. In saying that id say the ps4 will sell better than the xbox as did the ps3 on the xbox. However key to remember the WII sold the best out of all 3.

Personally ill just stick with PC gaming. It's better in every way.

[ras1983]

8-bit and 16-bit emulators > PS and Xbox

On a serious note, PS has the better exclusives and appears to have more support from indie developers this time round, so it could provide the better games. And the PS4 starting price is cheaper (I think $AUD549).

[mad082]

You may not be their target market but Nintendo smashed both the PS3 and xbox 360 in the last generation of consoles.

I wasn't saying they didn't sell, just saying that they weren't aiming the console at serious games, but more the family market. if course they sold more, given how much cheaper the console is and how much more user friendly the games are for multiplayer and drunks, lol.

and I own a wii (as well as a n64 and snes, ps2, ps3 and the missus has a sega master system)