An Interesting Article on What Sony Should Do to Succeed With the PS4

Earlier this week, I wrote about a rumor that Edge broke news on. That rumor stated that Microsoft will not be allowing playable used games for their next console. There were a couple of other things mentioned in that write-up with the next Microsoft system, but hardly any of the 5,000+ notes on Tumblr had any opinion or 2 cents on those other new features, such as the console’s new blu-ray format, or the new Kinect being bundled with the next Xbox.

Well, in case some of you weren’t aware already, Sony has patented technology that could very well stop the use of used games on their next console. It’s also been rumored for the last two years that both Sony and Microsoft will indeed be stopping used games from being playable at all on their next gen consoles.

Also, for those of you upset with this tactic and think that neither company would ever do this: stop being naive. They’re both companies who need money. That’s what they do. Simple as that.

Steam does it now. You cannot sell or lend out a previously purchased PC game you have bought from Steam. Same idea here, except with consoles. Granted, neither Microsoft or Sony price their digital games low enough to make me want to purchase them online as opposed to handling physical copies, but I’m sure that would change in the future gen of consoles. Hopefully…

And stop kidding yourselves — you’re not going to buy a Wii U if Microsoft or Sony “betrayed” you. You weren’t planning on that ever. Most of you have jobs and can afford more than one console, so I don’t see the need for elitism with sticking with one system for one entire generation of video game systems when you can simply buy another.

So now I’m going to make this perfectly clear before I go on with saying this. I’ll even bold this next statement, as to not confuse some of you with this post.

It’s rumored that the next PlayStation will not be backwards compatible and the next Xbox might not be either. Veteran gaming journalist, Chris Morris, speculates that the new technology being brought onto both upcoming systems will not allow either console to achieve that task. 

Reading some headlines on Kotaku this afternoon, I found this article I’d really like you all to take the time and read, written by Chris Morris. The article goes in-depth into explaining what exactly needs to be accomplished for Sony to succeed with their upcoming PlayStation 4 console. Pretty damn great ideas and a very realistic look on what Sony will be doing with their upcoming console. Read it here. It’ll get you pumped, from a business aspect at least.

And yes, rumors are rumors. But sometimes they can be true. Sometimes.

We may know more about the PlayStation 4 in less than two weeks. Sony has planned a press conference for February 20, and many speculate it’s for the PlayStation 4.

Edge Reports on New Xbox: No Used Games, Internet Required

Edge is reporting new details on the next Xbox system. The biggest news about the new console: internet is required to play with the system and used games will be blocked.

Games will be purchased with one-time-use activation codes, meaning the sole person who uses the code first is the only person who can play the game on their console. 

While the console’s experience now fully lies with internet compatibility, physical games will still be available. Games will now be on blu-ray format for the next Microsoft console, meaning 50 gigs of space for games now.

The console holds AMD eight-core x64 1.6GHz CPU, a D3D11.x 800MHz graphics solution and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. The console will also ship with a newer version of the Kinect.

CONTEST TIME: Reblog this post for a chance to win Star Wars Kinect! [ENDED]

UPDATE: Game over, man. Thanks to everyone for playing!

The rad dudes over at Brisk are hooking us up with a copy of Star Wars Kinect to give to one lucky reader. Not only that, but they’re throwing in a bottle of Brisk that includes a special M-Tag that can be scanned by your Kinect to unlock the game’s Anakin Podracing Mode.

To enter, just make sure you’re following Albotas on Tumblr, reblog this post, and that’s it! Multiple reblogs WILL NOT get you multiple entries, plus it’s just obnoxious, so don’t be that person. Oh, and it also helps if we have a way to contact you in case you win, so be sure to enable your Ask Box.

One lucky winner will be announced this Friday. Good luck, and may The Force be with you.

Also, Brisk is giving away a buttload of radness over on their Facebook page for the next few days, so go peep that business for more chances at getting free things.

A Little Bit on the Terms of Service Side: Remember that time that Sony boned their customers by blocking them from the PSN until they legally agreed to waive their rights to a class action suit? Well now you can swap “Sony” and “PSN” for “Microsoft” and “Xbox Live”. Thankfully, you can write in within 30 days saying you want to opt out of that part of the deal. It sucks that once one company pulls a dick move all the other companies follow, as if it’s not a big deal since they weren’t the first to do it. Now where are my stamps?

Hey folks, I was on Twitter (follow me @hunterf if you’d like, I’m fairly active.) and I saw a tweet offering a bitchin’ deal on Halo: CE Anniversary And thought I’d pass it along to you guys. If you plan on buying it, you should probably order it now and from Newegg. With this coupon code, you can get the game for only $30, which is a pretty damn good price. The game won’t actually be available until November 15th, but you could but it now, forget about it, and think of it like an early Christmas present for yourself. The coupon code is: EMCYTZT622 for those of you that would prefer to just copy and paste it.

Microsoft as the Good Guys? Nah.

I recently read an article in Wired magazine about how Microsoft’s Kinect has reignited the hardware hacking scene. One thing they touched upon is how MS did a total 180, first by saying that they didn’t condone the use of the hardware through anything other than a 360 console, then by saying that they openly support Kinect hacking. In fact, as you probably know, they’re releasing drivers and an SDK for Windows. A big and sudden turnaround like this isn’t seen that often, so when it does, it comes off as a little fishy. And I hate fish.

What I’m getting at is that MS would have you believe they’ve been the good guys all along. They’ve even gone as far as to say their initial negative reaction to Kinect hacking was simply a PR blunder and that they’ve always meant for it to be pseudo-open-source. Maybe I’m a cynical asshole, but I have a hard time swallowing that one. Microsoft saw an opportunity to heighten their stature among us nerds and seized upon it. They knew there was no going back after Kinect was hacked within days of its release. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. They knew their best bet at that point was to feign enthusiasm rather than play their same old grumpy role.

I’m not a Microsoft hater, and I’m not saying that an official Kinect SDK is a bad thing. Not at all. In fact, it was an undeniably cool move on Microsoft’s part. And that influence is spreading quick. Now Sony (doing what they do best) are playing catch-up and releasing drivers for their Move hardware.

What I’ve always been weary of though, is business’ fawning in order to gain support and, ultimately, customers. Manipulation by corporations is usually considered to be the stuff of tinfoil-hat-wearing schizophrenics, but unfortunately it’s a reality. What we have to remember is who’s really on our side - the side that wants to improve technology and society. Is that Microsoft, McDonalds, and Wal-Mart, or the (whitehat) hackers who are coding all sorts of useful Kinect apps? I think the answer is pretty clear.

Oh God: Mad Catz to Publish Games

Makers of subpar third party hardware and the company with the cheesiest name ever, Mad Catz, are getting into the publishing game. They have just inked a deal with Microsoft which says they can now submit games for publication. Their CEO has announced in a press release, “The execution of the Xbox 360 Publisher License Agreement marks an important milestone as we pursue our longer term goal of expanding our participation in developing, publishing and distributing games.” Mad Catz haven’t put out many impressive accessories other than some of their arcade sticks (which still aren’t better than Hori’s) so let’s hope their games are of better quality.

Peace Not War.

These ring were made by Kelly Sapp aka egyptianruin. Bookmark her Etsy shop, Kelly’s Keychains, which is currently down until July 17th while she preps for Otakon 2011.

From the artist:

Why are console fans always at war? Can’t we just get along? <3

I didn’t include Nintendo in this because it seems to be the PS3 and XBOX 360 fans who are always feuding.

Made from polymer clay. Rings are completely adjustable.

Iron Man 360 Shows Stark Attention To Detail (hurrr).

Best console mod ever right here? As Gizmodo details, a 19 year old sculpture student modified an Xbox 360 to match Iron Man’s hot rod red & gold suit and stuffed a glowing blue Arc Reactor in there to boot. To top it all off the lights surrounding the Arc Reactor match the rings on the front of the console. And check out the Stark Industries logo on the top of the hard drive. That’s craftmanship right there.

If you have $1000 kicking about it’s going on eBay right now.

[via Gizmodo]