With the announcement of the PS4 and the coming announcement of the next Xbox looks like the next gen console wars are underway! I myself will be getting a PS4 as I have been a Sony gamer since the days of Playstation 1. Nintendo has the Wii U which is off to a rough start most likely because of a lack of any good games. Also the the increasing rumors of the next Xbox to be "always online" and "no used games" is beginning to resonate with gamers and not in a good way. One only has to look at the dismal launch of SimCity and Diablo III to see what I mean. Microsoft would be very stupid to include this feature as Sony and Nintendo allow you to play offline. Relying on their servers to play a single player game is a huge obstacle since things WILL go wrong and not allow people to use the system. I think if these rumors are true they just handed Sony dominance in the new console wars. Which is great for me since I planned on getting a PS4 anyway. Most developers are praising the PS4's X86 hardware and its advanced online features (which are optional). Also another rumor that games on the next Xbox will be required to be fully installed and played exclusively from the HDD rendering the disc useless. This of course would be to combat used games. Another feature that does not sit well with gamers. If both of these rumors are true is the next xbox a failure before it even launches?
I am a XBOX 360 fan but am worried about the rumors I been hearing about the XBOX 720. If it is required to always be online, or does away with used games then I may look to see what direction its competitors go.
PS4: Most excited about this one. 8 core CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and the crossplay with the Vita sounds great. Plus Sony ditched the Cell processor and went with x86 this time around, which will make it easier for developers. I'm a bit worried about the rumors of the "no used games" policy as well as "console always on." If those two rumors are true, then count me out, but if they aren't, then I'll definitely be picking one up. Xbox 720/Durango: Still no official confirmation or reveal from Microsoft yet, but with Sony and Nintendo's competition, I expect a reveal no later than E3. I'm still not really excited about this console due to the rumors that I mentioned with the PS4 being the same for this system. With the success of the Kinect, MS seems to be going in the more casual direction, which sucks for their hardcore fans, but they might take the torch from Nintendo in that area. Despite that, the hardcore gamers will still come back due to the Xbox Live service because of all the money they've already sunk into it. Wii U: Honestly, this is what the original Wii should have been six years ago. Nintendo keeps playing catch up in the console wars, and while the Wii U is largely on par with the 360/PS3 hardware wise, it won't be by the end of the year, and Nintendo will again have the inferior console in terms of hardware. And no, I'm not a graphics whore. I just believe better hardware produces more opportunities for developers to expand their horizons, which is why the Wii U will have crappy third party support like it's predecessor. They'll get by on the obvious Zelda and Mario games, but due to poor sales already and the fact that the hype isn't there for motion controls these days, the Wii U will perform like the Gamecube, in last place.
