PlayStation 4 and XBOX One last of the disc based games.

[ThinkPad560X]

The PlayStation 4 and XBOX One is coming out soon and these consoles are going to be very Internet usage "Need the Internet to fully work".
From the current consoles PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 at the very end they started to make games digital for purchase over the PSN / Live. There was talks about the XBOX One that the disc was just a code to use once and never use the disc again, not sure if they changed it as they were going to be DRM before. Im guessing around in the middle life or end of the PS4/XBOX1 developers will be ditching discs and selling digital only on the consoles, and soon will be the only way of purchasing games for them. Where I live I still dont get good internet serivce, I upgraded from Dialup back in 2008 for DSL witch is the highest I can get in my area. So these Consoles my not work out for me, I downloaded a PS3 game and couldnt use the internet at all while the PS3 was downloading the game and it took 2 days. So had to connect the PS3 when not using the internet to download.

[Cigarguy]

"Discs" in general is slowly going away as the lp did when compact discs became popular. About the only thing I use my DVD/CD drive for on my laptops and desktops is flashing BIOS. Maybe it is time to start using it as a coffee/beer holder. At least it'll get used.

[Medessec]

Yep. Sorry to say, but I think Flash Memory Devices will completely replace CDs in the removable media, and the Internet will supersede software distribution.

Quite sad. I liked having a Blu-Ray Burner over my friend's laptops having DVD-RW drives.

I'm not thrilled about the introduction of either console, mostly because underneath, they are almost exactly the same (AMD APUs).

PC gaming SHOULD be the future. WASD+Mouse will always be superior to two joysticks or some odd peripheral, games will always be cheaper thanks to Steam, and... hey. Superior Graphics performance by far, as long as you know what you're doing. Not to mention keymapping, macros and other awesomeness.

The only reason people buy a console (We're talking XBOX 360/PS3 and newer, where PC games are poorly ported for marketing purposes) is to avert the small, easily surmountable problems associated with PC gaming... i.e, pressing the power button and having to navigate an Operating System... oh my goodness, that's terrible. Not to mention... *gasp*, plugging in a USB controller or peripheral, or dealing with actually installing the game to the Hard Drive.

Another big issue is that people take from their own experience out of arrogance, because they think they know everything. For example, a "hardcore console gamer" only plays console for gaming, because he once spent $300 on a brand new laptop, only to download Call of Duty: Black Ops to it and expecting it to play the game decently.

It's horrible. Consoles are a money pithole. Games are expensive, DLCs are expensive, there's no easy modding, and your gaming experience is completely at the mercy of whatever online service the console supplies (XBOX Live, nice but takes your money; PSN, flaky but free) PCs teach you skills you need in the now. PCs are morally right. PCs are the best gaming platform as of now, period.

It was a different story a decade ago, but consoles and PCs are nearly the same now. Consoles merely take a whole PC and streamline it for gaming only, exploiting those who just want to game and have money.

Apologies for the rant, but not too many people on here share an interest in consoles, so I'd figure on sharing my full opinion. This topic wasn't going to receive any other attention.

[ThinkPad560X]

I have both, PCs and consoles. I mainly use consoles for just quick power on and play and then PC for better grahics and mostly modding the game. Gmod "On Steam" was fun for combinding diffrent games into one kinda but quit playing that due to too many updates to it and lots of controls stopped working. Most of my maps I made on Hammer Editior will not work. I would and like to just stick with PC but my main problem is the consoles with the Exclusives. For Example, I like the Halo series, I have Halo CE and Halo 2 for PC after that Microsoft stopped making for the PC and made for XBOX only. same goes for the Metal Gear Solid series only 2 for PC, rest on PlayStation. I play them for fun but also the story. As for the digital only I still dont have good internet and takes hours to download a game. And hearing all these DLCs of games being shipped not complete or locked and have to pay to unlock dont intrest me. I think these next consoles "PS4,XBOX1" I'll wait a year or 2 before seeing about getting one. I even recently heard rumors Microsoft may bring back DRM later in the future.

[Medessec]

I don't mind buying consoles for the same reason... I like the exclusives and the convenience. Consoles WERE a fantastic gaming solution too... SNES, N64, PS1. I absolutely loved all the Rare quest games, Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day. Then there was Perfect Dark... and the Spyro games(first ones anyway were good) and Crash Team Racing. Then Heavy Rain on the PS3, and Gran Turismo 5.

I played Halo too, both on XBOX original and PC. I've stopped buying Halo since Halo 2. And I've played Halo 3, Reach and 4 on my friend's Xbox 360, I know for a fact, I'm not missing much. Story, again, is fantastic... but ergh. Halo was BORN half on PC!

I own all the older consoles I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum... and I also own a CECH-A01 PS3, the original $600 PS3 with Hardware-emulation for PS1/PS2 games. Right now, I think that particular console will be the very best entertainment system that anyone can own ever, for a long time. The PS4 isn't backwards compatible at all, same with the One. Both consoles are pretty much x86 AMD APUs, so many new games will be PC-Xbox One-PS4 almost every time, but still. PCs hold the advantage, through and through. Only chance I'll wind up with either the One or the PS4 is if I ever get a real slick deal, or one is handed down to me. And I still probably won't use it.

Also, not sure if you heard... but apparently the PS4 is experiencing a "Blue-Pulsing Light of Death" issue... related to possible damage during shipping. You should look it up.

Consoles have their place, no doubt the PS4 is a fantastic feat of engineering and not everyone buying it is a stereotypical fanatic, but it's the COD/Battlefield crowd, the "sit and stare" gamer, the guy who buys console not because he wants the latest and greatest in gaming experience, but so he can waste that good hardware away playing the same 2-3 games over and over again, for hours at a time, packing it against the wall or stacking empty Carls Jr. bags behind it, then getting mad when it shuts off due to overheating.

[ThinkPad560X]

Yea, I own every Nintendo Console release "Model" Normal/Mini as well for the PlayStations and XBOX except the PS4/X1 as I said. The Wii U Im still waiting for the next Mario 64 world. Never liked the Wiis, wish they brought Galaxy 1,2 for GameCube. I did have the CECHAo1, that played 1&2 but the red light came on, then the PSU quit after sent for repair. I got a replacment CECHG01. It dont have the card slots or 4 USB nor backwards. but I got it out for the closent and tryed turing it on and dont power on, the red light came on it back then too and put it away and got the new Slim1 and been using it, but want to get my fat one fixed. My PC can play PSone and PS2 games disc. I got an emulator and they look better graphics wise on the PC. I even bought the GameCube/Wii LG drive that only reads those discs, but it still dont read the discs.. Would of liked to get XBOX emulator and find a cartridge USB adapter for NES,SNES,N64 games.

[Medessec]

CECH-A01s are probably the most touchy PS3 ever made... the owner either needs to be extremely familiar with hardware diagnostic, or the PS3 has to be heavily modified to outlast any potential problem. However, I've done a few things to my CECH-A01 and its solved pretty much all overheating/false-overheating issues, and it's purred like a kitten for months despite thrashing it with GT5, Arkham Asylum, and Heavy Rain. First thing I did was place more leverage on the metal clips pressing the CPU and GPU against the heatsink(I used dimes. ), I've also peeled off the GPU's heat spreader and applied AS5 under that(highly recommended fix for CECH-A01s) as well as applying AS5 to the CPU and GPU heat spreaders themsevles, I've used a later version of the PSU, part no. APS-231 from later Fat PS3s, and it seems to run a bit cooler and help a bit. I've also put soldering flux around the sides of the CPU/GPU to prevent false-overheating. There's numerous other fixes, such as getting a 19-blade fan, and even water-cooling kits. But I like to keep my hardware all original...

I'm always wondering why people haven't gotten around to making an XBOX original emulator... I mean, the XBOX's CPU was basically a Mobile Pentium III processor. All the games had to be x86. I use PCSX2, pretty much the only feasible PS2 Emulator to use as far as I know. Quite a few games will run no problem(Kingdom Hearts) but some games require tons of fine tuning and research(Gran Turismo 4) before being even remotely playable. I absolutely love how PC Emulators have graphics fronts that allow for the actual game to be rendered at higher resolutions, I especially love seeing N64 games being rendered on my laptop as if they were going from the N64 through an HDMI cable.

Well... if you're looking to get them for the sake of collecting... then you might just end up with them, but again I probably won't. I'm in college, and will be for a few more years...