X-Box one: A comedy of (t)errors

[Dracos]

500 dollar launch price.

They're insane.  Completely insane.

[Brian]

Didn't PS3 launch at that price?

Edit: Yes, it did -- for the cheaper (smaller HD) version.  Bigger HD was 600$.

[Dracos]

Yes, and it was a bad choice that dramatically weakened their position in the marketplace for years to come?

[Brian]

I'm not getting the cut of your argument.  I understand you think that they're stupid, but do you think they're selling too low and will bankrupt themselves?  Selling too high and won't make sales?

For contrast, the PS4 has been confirmed to be releasing at a lower price point than the PS3.

Is Sony more, or less insane?

[thepanda]

I don't think that question mark was meant to be there.

[Dracos]

For clarity:

I think the price is ridiculously high for a console and will deflate early numbers by putting a high barrier on early adoption.

[Grahf]

Should there be another thread for the Playstation 4 stuff? I'm not sure, so I'm just going to post it here, because it can always be moved if need be.

So, I guess no DRM, no anti-used measures, and a $399 price point. I honestly haven't been this pleasantly surprised in a while. I'm not saying this makes Sony suddenly the ultimate good guy, but it sure puts them above Microsoft in my books at the moment.

[Brian]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/kWSIFh8ICaA

[KLSymph]

The fine print disclaimer really undercuts that joke.

[Brian]

"You can't 'share' your digital (non-physical) copies."?

While being able to share digital games would be a neat idea, I ... honestly can't agree.  They're saying, "You can give a disk to a friend, just like you've been able to since you were swapping NES carts as a kid."  It's specifically trolling/mocking X1 for being so stupid.

It's unfortunate that Sony is being lauded for not taking away something we've always had, but it's more unfortunate that X1 is taking it away.

[KLSymph]

There's that, but I meant it more in the sense that:

The joke: PS4 allows you to share your games easily, unlike X-Box.
Disclaimer: Unless you're dealing with non-disk games, multiplayer, Playstation Network, PS PLUS, blah blah blah legal boilerplate text.

Setting aside whether Sony or Microsoft is the good guy in this round of the console wars, I'm just decrying bad joke construction that ruins a good jab from Sony toward Microsoft. I'm sure there are reasons why the disclaimer is there and I understand that non-disk games must have issues that disk games don't, but cramming that banner into the joke turns the narrative into "Ha ha, X-Box is complicated, and we at PS4 are simple (Disclaimer: TONS OF COMPLICATED PS4 LEGALESE)".

It makes the joke inconsistent, and unless you take time to think it through, a little hypocritical.

[Brian]

Nnnnnoo, the only limitation on trading is that it only works for discs.  The disclaimer also mentions that you have to have an online account to play online, which seems to be an anti-stupidity warning.  "If you've got a plus account, and loan your game to someone who doesn't, they can't play online."

That 'complicated PS4 legalese' is shorter than twitter's limit. :\

[KLSymph]

Nnnnnoo, the only limitation on trading is that it only works for discs.

Sure, but that's implicit in the joke where one guy is handing over a disk. Further explaining that limitation in a text disclaimer makes the joke less pithy.

The disclaimer also mentions that you have to have an online account to play online, which seems to be an anti-stupidity warning.  "If you've got a plus account, and loan your game to someone who doesn't, they can't play online."

Adding an anti-stupidity warning to a joke isn't necessary if Sony's in it to make the point and get a laugh, assuming that the audience of the joke is people who would follow console news and thus have a decent grasp of the difference between disk and digital.  It's necessary only if Sony's trying to protect itself legally.  Adding something extra to a joke to protect oneself legally undermines the joke.

That 'complicated PS4 legalese' is shorter than twitter's limit. :\

Which is still too long, and too complicated, for that joke since it's trying to emphasize PS4's simplicity.  As I understand it, the narrative goes like so:

XBox One: Many complications to sharing your games.
PS4: One step to share your games.

Adding any legalese to PS4's one step weakens that narrative.

[Brian]

[KLSymph]

I could watch that .gif for hours.