I'm getting both of the new consoles, but I'm more excited about the long-term potential of the XBO.
From where I sit, Sony is making the perfect console for today's gaming. Microsoft, in my opinion, is much more forward-looking in their approach.
First, they didn't throw motion controls under the bus. As an old fart, I'd really like to play in a holodeck before I die, and if that's ever to happen, then someone needs to advance motion control beyond the waggle of the Wiimote and the limited capacities of Kinect 1.0. By lowballing and making the camera in the PS4 an optional extra, Sony has ensured that no one will support Eye or Move. You'll see a couple of Sony games made around the tech to sell it, but no third party is really going to try to make an exclusive game for it, simply because it's a peripheral that the whole userbase won't have. By including Kinect 2.0 in every console, developers will have more reason to at least try to take advantage of it.
Second, they're taking connected gameplay seriously. Too seriously for some, obviously, but as one who has had at least one console connected to the internet since the Live beta in 2002, the online requirement is not a concern of mine. I see all these naysayers talking down about how the cloud is useless for gaming. I get the feeling a lot of these people were talking down Xbox Live about seven years ago.
Third, they're leading the way into the new gaming market space. Are they going to get hit hard early in the generation? I fully expect that they will, given the higher price and the shitstorm raging around them these days. However, it will then be up to them to adapt and adjust to the market conditions, and prove that their new model can work. It won't work if they control game prices and try to keep them higher than what people want to spend. They basically are offering publishers a direct line to gamers. I think at some point a publisher will get bold and start offering their games cheaper at launch if you download as opposed to getting the disc. That's all it might take to get this thing rolling. MS is ready for the scales to tip to digital downloading...perhaps too soon, but if they're right, they're going to be in a spectacular position to capitalize on it.
The only concern I really have with their big move to a digital console is that my games may not work at some point. However, the fact that both MS and Sony took the step of going back to x86 based programming and abandoning their proprietary systems tell me that both companies are very likely tired of the awkwardness that comes from telling customers that their stuff won't work on the next generation of consoles. If x86 is the new standard, then BC should almost be automatic going forward, for both Sony and MS.
And of course, there's the games. Forza 5 is really all it took to get me on board, but Project Spark and Quantum Break looked amazing. On the fence about Ryse - beautiful looking game, and from what I've read, the QTE buttons are optional and intended for people learning the game...but it has the look of one of those games that's about six hours long. Will wait for reviews, and probably a price cut.
Oh yeah, TitanFall and Halo in 2014. Looks good to me.
