Pros and Cons of Multiplats

[Exhuminator]

Really though, Nuon should have been the final console. A DVD player that plays games - what more is there?

Dude by that logic, I'm surprised you didn't say the LaserActive should have been the final console. I mean with the LD-ROM² PAC it could even play TGCD Ys!

[ElkinFencer10]

Really though, Nuon should have been the final console. A DVD player that plays games - what more is there?

Dude by that logic, I'm surprised you didn't say the LaserActive should have been the final console. I mean with the LD-ROM² PAC it could even play TGCD Ys!

Man, the Pioneer LaserActive should have been the end-all-be-all. It plays laserdiscs AND video games. It's pretty much the gaming master race (and one of my goals in life is to own one).

[marurun]

I've heard the Mega Drive / Genesis Pac is pretty unreliable, though, so be prepared for the possibility of having to do a complete recap/overhaul.

[Xeogred]

I basically agree with most others on the first page.

In the past as Bone was getting it, it was a neat thing because ports differered in terms of graphics, sometimes levels or other changes, censorship, music and sound, and so on. I especially love how some Genesis games were on the Sega CD and vice versa, for some insanely different experiences when it comes to the music. If you're a fan of some of these games, it ends up being cool owning multiple versions to see the differences and see what you favor.

Nowadays it does nothing good. Multiplatform games generally look and run worse than exclusives. Go back and play some of those early PS3 titles, that still look great today, because the developers were able to focus entirely on maxing out the potential of one piece of hardware only. So much time and resources are wasted on optimizing games for a bunch of platforms at once. Don't even get me started on the cross gen stuff, I'm glad that's finally dying out.

In the cartridge and hybrid cartridge/CD era, it was cool. Now, it completely sucks. Nothing good to see here. Pro exclusives all the way.

[Tanooki]

That's pretty much it alright. The difference between the PS4 and X1 in general when you come down to anything on more than one device (including PC) either console game is almost surely going to be a bit watered down for the worst system to accommodate it. In that case if you have a fairly decent computer with a good video card, it'll kick both their asses. If you're just a call of duty, sports, fighting, racing type yearly grab player stick with whatever your buds are using multiplayer for, or if not, whatever is cheaper at the time and offers other services you may like (kind of like how only Amazon Video has a Sony contract for Prime watchers.)

But, if it comes down to exclusives, buy whatever system makes stuff you like. If you like some FPS, racing, third person shooter stuff go with the MS box. If you like more variety going into Uncharted and God of War stuff to the cutesy Jak n Daxter, Sly Cooper, Tearaway, LBP stuff get a PS4. There's really nothing more to it, get the system that makes games only for it and optimized for it you like. Hell easily said Nintendo WiiU can be thrown in there because if you really just like Nintendo first party stuff, who gives a damn if it's the weakest supported system because you just want that.

[Sarge]

Yeah, that's why I bought a Wii U to begin with. Gotta have my Ninty fix.

There's almost no difference between the PS4/XB1 this time, at least from a practical standpoint. Usually the biggest difference is that the PS4 version might run at a full 1080p, whereas the XB1 might only do 920p or something like that.

[Tanooki]

Exactly, and yeah that X1 did do that for a time, not sure if it still is. This year will make the difference, at least if you were a Sony fence sitter as a good selection of them only games will pop up in the A grade quality realm with I think Uncharted leading it off. At that point (this year) you get a system somewhere between now and a Christmas gift, or you still think it costs too much, or you're just waiting on MS to get their act together for the same reasons. Unless you're someone who waits until a system is dead to buy it to get insane deals as people dump their junk for the next.

[Exhuminator]

Unless you're someone who waits until a system is dead to buy it to get insane deals as people dump their junk for the next.

That's my trick. I jump in on a console at the end of its life during the transition stage to its successor. Everybody's dumping their stock for the old console and prices are crazy cheap. Also the library is huge by then and you get to cherry pick the very best stuff based on plenty of review information. So it's cheap awesome game after cheap awesome game for a good long while. Last-gen gaming has a lot of advantages. The biggest disadvantage is you're always late to the party.

[ElkinFencer10]

Unless you're someone who waits until a system is dead to buy it to get insane deals as people dump their junk for the next.

That's my trick. I jump in on a console at the end of its life during the transition stage to its successor. Everybody's dumping their stock for the old console and prices are crazy cheap. Also the library is huge by then and you get to cherry pick the very best stuff based on plenty of review information. So it's cheap awesome game after cheap awesome game for a good long while. Last-gen gaming has a lot of advantages. The biggest disadvantage is you're always late to the party.

You also run into the problem (especially with Nintendo's games) that the really really good ones sometimes get really expensive rather than really cheap or stay about the same price as launch (Fire Emblem is the prime example of this, but Zelda, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros never really get a whole lot cheaper for the most part).

I'm always (well, at least since this gen since it's the first one where I've had a job and controlled my own finances) an early adopter (day 1 for Wii U and PS4, two weeks after launch for Xbox One), and I get a lot of games new (especially Wii U and PS4, Jesus Christ), but the bulk of my collection - the "Oh, that might be fun" games rather than the "Hell yes, I HAVE to play that" games - are definitely at the end of a console's life span. Probably 75% or more of my PS3, 360, and Wii collections were acquired after the releases of the PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U.

[Exhuminator]

You also run into the problem (especially with Nintendo's games) that the really really good ones sometimes get really expensive

It's true that some titles get really expensive due to limited runs and scarcity, but I think that since most the library will be hugely discounted, it balances out in the last-gen gamer's favor overall. First party Nintendo game prices live in their own world though, and are outside the equation entirely.