CAGcast #465: 4K-ish

CheapyD

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The gang discusses the big PS4 Pro and Super Mario Run announcements.  Also, letter carriers.

 Download (1 hours 14 minutes) - iTunes - Google Play - Stitcher - RSS

https://audioboom.com/boos/5026821-cagcast-465-4k-ish
 
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Show Linkage/Notes:

Intro -   System F - Out Of The Blue (Original Extended)

Outro -   Legend of Zelda Rap Commercial
 
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Please submit your show questions via CAGbag or Twitter.

I guess you can listen to Wombat's other podcast, Uninformed Opinions.


 
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You can get these things that plug into the wall and connect to your router in the basement via a power outlet. It makes the range of your WiFi in the area where it's set up better. I knew a guy who couldn't get his Wii U to find his WiFi signel on the other side of his house and he said these things worked. Here's a link to what they are. No clue which one he bought.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Extender-Powerline-Wireless-TL-WPA4220KIT/dp/B00HSQAIQU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473362322&sr=8-1&keywords=wifi+powerline+adapter+Wi-Fi+Range+Extender

 
I haven't listened yet so apologies if it's already been mentioned, but you definitely want to check out the newer style of wifi routers that do a mesh network to cover your whole house. It seems to be where the market is heading. Examples include Eero (https://eero.com/) and Luma (https://getluma.com/).

The basic flow of these guys is that if you have a room that doesn't have good coverage, you just plug in another module near it and now you have good coverage there too.

 
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Great show this week guys. I agree with Cheapy regarding the price of the Scorpio. Phil Spencer has already said that the Scorpio is a premium product and will be priced accordingly. As it should. HDR is the game changer more than 4K and the S already has that. I would compare that to the PS4 Pro over comparing the Scorpio. 

 
I had to pause ny jog to laugh when Cheapy claimed the Xbone S compared favorably on price with the PS4 Pro and Shipwreck said the Scorpio is is much more powerful than it. That is some crazy spin based on the actual facts.

A 1 TB Xbone S is $350, and 1.4 teraflops.

The 1 TB PS4 Pro will be $400, but is 4.2 teraflops.

The Scorpio is supposed to be 6 teraflops, which isn't nearly as big a jump in power as the jump from the Xbone S to the PS4 Pro. But somehow Cheapy thinks MS could charge a $100 or even $200 premium.
 
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I had to pause ny jog to laugh when Cheapy claimed the Xbone S compared favorably on price with the PS4 Pro and Shipwreck said the Scorpio is is much more powerful than it. That is some crazy spin based on the actual facts.
A 1 TB Xbone S is $350, and 1.4 teraflops.
The 1 TB PS4 Pro will be $400, but is 4.2 teraflops.
The Scorpio is supposed to be 6 teraflops, which isn't nearly as big a jump in power as the jump from the Xbone S to the PS4 Pro. But somehow Cheapy thinks MS could charge a $100 or even $200 premium.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting some phrasing here, but the Scorpio being 43% more powerful than the Pro is enough for me to say at a base level that it is much more powerful.
 
"I lived through OJ I don't need to watch the documentary."

Yes, Ship your high school self was so mature that you absorbed every angle of that cultural moment and were wise enough to understand all perspectives.

Is it just me, or does it feel like even Cheapy is getting a little annoyed with narrow minded shit. People can like whatever they want, but Cheapy I think you should stick with video games on the podcast given your cohosts. You never have an interesting discussion, it's just you trying to convince them to branch out a little bit. And then people like me get annoyed because I know how awesome that OJ documentary is :)

 
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Maybe I'm misinterpreting some phrasing here, but the Scorpio being 43% more powerful than the Pro is enough for me to say at a base level that it is much more powerful.
While I don't agree with the person that you're quoting's point, I don't think the point you're making here is very strong either. The Xbox One original was 1.32 teraflops and the PS4 original was 1.84 teraflops. That would make the PS4 39% "more powerful" using your logic. I wouldn't say the original PS4 is "much more powerful" than the original Xbox One. Though at that point you're getting into the semantics of what "much more" really means. I think we're in agreement that the original PS4 is more powerful than the original Xbox One and theoretically the Scorpio will be similarly as more powerful than the PS4 Pro.

 
The PlayStation meeting clearly mentioned how Pro will affect VR and frame rate. Wombat should pay more attention to the things he watches.

 
Picross 3D Round 2 is amazing! It has several hundred puzzles, totally worth it.
Picross 3D 2 and The Witness are GotY.

 
This fall is crowded with new hardware, PS4 slim, Xbox S, PS4 Pro and PSVR. I don't think it's a great idea for sony to release all three around the same time. Maybe they should have waited to put out PSVR or directly competed with scorpio and released Pro in 2017.

 
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Why does it feel like the shows have been so low energy lately? Maybe its just me but comparing to an older episode of the Cagcast, this week felt like a entirely different podcast. I remember when you guys would argue something until one of you (usually commander cheapy) had to push the conversation forward since it was taking up the whole show.

Also Cheapy when is the site going to get fixed, so many things are messed up. What is funny is how when you launched the database you pushed heavily into getting people to participate. Shipwreck would talk about how he wanted to put together the database and thats how he and you (cheapy) met. Now it sits there missing entries and features to continue it. Something as simple as having your collection number chnage when you add to it.

The front page has a "top post by link traffic" which is obviously messed up since it always has random threads from years ago. I click on them and can't figure out why its show the ones it does.

Cag Blogs are rarely used and we are lucky if someone makes a blog post once every two weeks. It doesnt help that the featured blog post is from January 2015 by FriskyTanuki.

There is also a section where it shows upcoming releases and currently the only game on there is Final Fantasy XV with the old release date of September 30th

The banners on the front page for mobile are also huge compared to the other ads.

These are just a handful of problems that come to mind. Can we please get an update on CAG. Im not pointing these out to say the site is horrible but to help you better it and make more money. Imagine a list of upcoming games that when clicked took the user to a list of retailers that they could pre order from. A database were members can easily check if they own a game or if they need to jump on the latest deal of the day from amazon.

Also why did you stop compiling the weekly ads? I guess the overall question is

When are we going to make CAG great again?
 
Man, Cheapy bursting out laughing when Wombat said he uses $1 headphones made me burst out laughing too. Good job!

Alot of good discussion here.. for me I have a 1080p display with no desire to upgrade to 4K anytime soon. Sure I would get benefits using the PS4 Pro (bad name) in only 1080p but not enough for me to buy a new system.

I still have at least two years on my extended warranty with my PS4 so by then I will see what the new playstation will be.

I think Xbox must be pretty excited, knowing the Scorpio is seemingly going to be way more powerful than the PS4 Pro.

Changing a PS4 hard drive is way easier now than when I did it.

1. Plug external hard drive and backup all your data

2. Replace internal drive with new one

3. Re-download firmware via USB

4. Plug back in external and copy all your stuff over

 
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A bit surprised by the immediate warm reception by Ship and Wombat for Super Mario Run (also, why the heck wasn't this named, "Run, Super Mario!"?). It's literally the same exact gameplay and art style they've been using for the last decade since the "New" brand started in '06. It's just spun into a stripped down mobile format.

Not to say that it doesn't look amusing enough for a phone game, but just a bit amazed that this glaring facet of it was completely missed by the crew, instead calling it "really polished".

There's no doubt it will sell fine; if a business can recycle assets over and over and they keep selling, it's a quick buck and easy decision. Good for Nintendo, not so much for the fans sadly (you guys touched on that last point, with the hardcore fans bit).

 
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Not sure how all 3 of you missed it, but they showed Farpoint for PSVR has "roughly doubled the rendered pixel count compared to the standard model" on PS4 Pro, whatever that means in the end.

A link with timestamp is below. Personally I'm waiting to see how many other PSVR titles support the extra power of the PS4 Pro.

https://youtu.be/11XjMplfTd4?t=31m9s

 
While I don't agree with the person that you're quoting's point, I don't think the point you're making here is very strong either. The Xbox One original was 1.32 teraflops and the PS4 original was 1.84 teraflops. That would make the PS4 39% "more powerful" using your logic. I wouldn't say the original PS4 is "much more powerful" than the original Xbox One. Though at that point you're getting into the semantics of what "much more" really means. I think we're in agreement that the original PS4 is more powerful than the original Xbox One and theoretically the Scorpio will be similarly as more powerful than the PS4 Pro.
The only place where much more powerful is accurate, is when you compare the PS4 Pro to the Xbox One S. It's three times more powerful, and only costs $50 more.
 
Only Apple people think Bluetooth headphones are cheap. Also, the battery on them runs down while regular headphones never need to charge.
http://youtu.be/RgBDdDdSqNE
 
You can always count on Wombat to give the everyday man's perspective, cut through the marketing bull and answer the questions that everyone want to hear:

Do I need this?

Can I put off this purchase?

An the answer for the iphone 7 was no and no. I'm with wombat, I don't want to pay more for earphones if I don't have to.  

 
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So, i don't really understand the PS4 Pro. Who is the market for this thing? It seems even more half assed than the Slim. 

 
I haven't listened yet so apologies if it's already been mentioned, but you definitely want to check out the newer style of wifi routers that do a mesh network to cover your whole house. It seems to be where the market is heading. Examples include Eero (https://eero.com/) and Luma (https://getluma.com/).

The basic flow of these guys is that if you have a room that doesn't have good coverage, you just plug in another module near it and now you have good coverage there too.
Holy fucking expensive!

 
only andriod people think $25 is expensive
Ugh, this is what annoys me with Android/Apple zealotry...

BT headphones aren't that expensive, very true. I will give that to claim they're expensive is an overstatement, the hardware has been around long enough that you can find a cheap pair anywhere by now.

But being forced to buy BT headphones sucks. I own 2 pairs of them, one more "high end" than the other. What my Apple friends here are missing is that the audio quality on a good pair of BT headphones (your only choice with that phone) will suck, in price relation, to a wired pair.

If you're spending money to be in Apple's exclusive cool person's club, I don't begrudge you. Just make sure you spend the money to get decent headphones to go along with it. So that pretty much excludes Apple's Beats, unless you just want to be a poser.



TL;DR
Oh yes, do enjoy the $25 wireless audio quality to go along with your expensive new phone. I guess.
 
Ugh, this is what annoys me with Android/Apple zealotry...

BT headphones aren't that expensive, very true. I will give that to claim they're expensive is an overstatement, the hardware has been around long enough that you can find a cheap pair anywhere by now.

But being forced to buy BT headphones sucks. I own 2 pairs of them, one more "high end" than the other. What my Apple friends here are missing is that the audio quality on a good pair of BT headphones (your only choice with that phone) will suck, in price relation, to a wired pair.

If you're spending money to be in Apple's exclusive cool person's club, I don't begrudge you. Just make sure you spend the money to get decent headphones to go along with it. So that pretty much excludes Apple's Beats, unless you just want to be a poser.



TL;DR
Oh yes, do enjoy the $25 wireless audio quality to go along with your expensive new phone. I guess.
You can still use your wired headphones, you just need a Lightning adapter or Lightning cable. I'll probably be buying a new pair of Sennheisers in a few months and I'm pretty sure the new HD 5 Series will come with a standard cable and lightning cable. Sure, it's an annoying inconvenience, but I still like my iPhone better than I liked my Android.

I'm hopeful that the next iPhone Plus will have a jack, but I'm not too worried about it. By then someone will sell me a good detachable lightning cable.

 
So, i don't really understand the PS4 Pro. Who is the market for this thing? It seems even more half assed than the Slim.
To people who just bought a big 4K TV and want to show it off. At least that's how the clerks from Best Buy will sell it. Which makes the exclusion of 4K Blu-ray support such a head scratcher.
 
It's so frustrating to listen to podcasts while struggling to figure out where the hosts skill levels are, Mortal Kombat pun wise.  Great to hear you three address this right at the top of the show and really set the expectations for the remaining hour.  I hope other podcasts pick up on this listener friendly practice.

 
So, i don't really understand the PS4 Pro. Who is the market for this thing? It seems even more half assed than the Slim.
It's a more powerful version of the most popular console on the market at a slightly higher price point. The market is people without PS4s and people with PS4s who want better graphics.

As for the slim - "First impressions: better than the existing PS4 in almost every way."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-hands-on-with-the-playstation-4-slim-cuh-2000
 
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Ugh, this is what annoys me with Android/Apple zealotry...
you're actually part of the problem you claim to be annoyed by...I swear andriod people are more touchy than apple folks. I don't use Apple to be "cool" (are you 12?) I use it because I think it's better and I hated my andriod phone. Regardless, It's not my time to even upgrade my phone.

And I can easily use my wired headphones if I want, so you are also wrong there.

For the record, I used my BT headphone with my (non-apple) gps watch. It's much better than having cords dangling like some neanderthal. Y'all are probably still screaming about not having floppy drives in your Dells.

 
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The messaging at the conference could have been more clear, especially for 1080p television owners.  Here's what convinced me to go ahead and put in a no-obligation preorder at Amazon (taken from the playstation blog):

Q: What benefits does PS4 Pro provide when played on a non-4K HDTV?
PS4 Pro offers benefits even if you play on a HDTV that isn’t 4K. Depending on how the developer chooses to use the increased processing power, games with PS4 Pro support are able to render higher or more consistent framerates, increased environmental and character model detail, improved overall visual quality, and other related visual enhancements.


Additionally, PS4 games that render below native 1080p (maximum quality for HD TVs) on the standard PS4 can be elevated to render at full native 1080p on an HDTV.

The way I see it is that I'm getting an upgrade for $250 (after trading in my original PS4) that will ensure I'm getting the best-looking version of current and future playstation games for the next few years.  And I'll see even greater visual benefits if I decide to get a 4K set w/HDR down the road.  It's not as powerful as a PC, it's not as powerful as the Scorpio, but it's the best option if you plan on staying within the PS ecosystem.

 
I have an iPhone 5c (I think???) because no one has made a new phone that makes me want to upgrade. This one is paid off and it works fine since I don't play games on my phone. I can look up things on the internet, check social media, and listen to music and podcasts.

I find myself frequently charging my phone while listening to my headphones though, so seeing the new iPhone 7 really makes me think my next phone will be something in the Android space. Obviously since I'm still using an iPhone 5c, I am not the "have to have the newest phone" type that Apple is marketing to.

I disagree with those of you that said the iPhone is a luxury item. Luxury items can't be had for $35 payment plans. I see homeless people with iPhones around Las Vegas so I don't think it's much of a luxury item.

[attachment=23642:14263974_10154294291775709_7388843734999657392_n.jpg]

 
you're actually part of the problem you claim to be annoyed by...I swear andriod people are more touchy than apple folks. I don't use Apple to be "cool" (are you 12?) I use it because I think it's better and I hated my andriod phone.
Sorry, this "andriod" user was attempting to be tongue in cheek to the $25 BT headphone comment troll, but obviously that went up in flames faster than a Samsung battery.

Please use your Apple phones, I have no issues with them. Just don't mistake Android users as neanderthal cheapskates who don't know what a good phone or UI is. And do realize if you didn't like your specific Android phone, you had dozens more models with competing features, screen sizes, price points, etc. to choose from.

The fact that the new iPhone comes with the audio adapter is good, considering people don't have to run out day one to purchase a dongle. That would really piss users off. And dropping the headphone jack will lead to benefits with the phone's features (from what I've been reading). Bigger battery, better camera, more haptic input sensors. All very cool things, and even more promising into the future.

All this still doesn't change the audio quality of $25 BT headphones. If you seriously spend hundreds on your phone (or watch), then you should be ready to drop a hundred minimum on decent BT headphones.
My other concern with audio going through the data jack instead of a 'dumb' headphone port is this: Having only the data port for audio output makes it possible to lock down audio lacking the right permissions, like HDMI can do with movies. I don't think it will happen on the iPhone 7, but who knows what the future holds?

And also for the record, some PC manufacturers had stopped using floppies before the iMac, just like the Android-based Moto Z dropped the audio port before the iPhone 7.
 
The OJ documentary was excellent. I had no idea how popular and well known he was in America before the murders. I appreciate Cheapy recommending it.
 
As a daily IOS and android user, I think Cheapyd should be open to getting a non-Apple phone.  Last year, I traded in my iphone 5 for a Galaxy Note 4 and have had no regrets (I still use an ipad daily).  There are many cool things I’m able to do on my Note 4 that Apple will likely never allow on iphone, such as leaving handwritten notes on my home screen and expanding memory with a micro sd card.  Both platforms have their advantages and disadvantages.  Unless you have tons of purchased content (i.e. games, movies, music, etc.), the experience on both platforms is largely the same, so it’s not that hard of a switch.  I have yet to find an app I used on my iphone that is not available on android.  If you aren’t that interested in mobile gaming and can deal with certain games coming to ios first, you can’t go wrong with either operating system.  Get the phone you want whether it’s an apple or android.  It will do what you want it to do just fine.  Sorry Apple and Android fanboys, your phones (and you for that matter) are not as special as you think.  

 
As far as not being allowed to pull into people's driveways as a mail carrier I've never heard of that. I'm pretty sure in our general intro that I attended about a year and a half ago up in Columbus, OH everyone is allowed to pull into driveways both City and Rural carriers. Although different offices and states may impose different rules on their carriers. The only rule is you are supposed to back into the drive way unless there is room to turn around at the end because backing into the road is a big no no.

Pulling over the curb or into a yard is definitely not something we are supposed to do though :p.

 
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