4889

Nothing much to add to the discussion here, but I consider myself an avid gamer and hobbyist and a tech geek.

Two months ago I won an Xbox One in a contest. Cool right? I was pretty stoked, I can tell you.

I got it shortly after winning it, and couldn’t wait to hook it up. I did. And then it took most of an evening to download a new patch (mostly because the Xbone for whatever reason didn’t seem to want to accept the password for my wireless network, even after putting the info on a USB stick. I had to create an unencrypted SSID to get that far). It was kinda cool, and sorta clunky. I bought Dead Rising 3 and Ryse to play on it.

I had an ok time with Ryse. I had an ok time for a shorter time with DR3. Mostly, my Xbone collected dust. Giving it voice and kinect commands to do stuff is neat for a while…but it wasn’t that neat.

Two weeks ago I did an inventory of my console games. I’m not a big seller-backer. I tend to keep 'em. What I discovered was that out of 90 or so 360 games, exactly 2 games in my collection were totally 100% exclusive to that platform: Fable 2 and Forza 4. That’s it. (Halo and Gears are neither of my cup of tea.)

I sold the Xbone with the two games (with caveats about their usability under another XBLive account) on Craigslist last week for $450.

Been on the lookout for a PS4, and this afternoon they showed up across the DC area at Best Buys. No bundle, no nada needed, bought it for instore pickup.

In almost every way, my PS4 experience has been superior to the Xbone experience. Easier to set up, easier to navigate when you get used to it, and PSN+ seems like a ridiculously generous service for the price.

I’ve always been vaguely ambivalent to Sony–I was always an Xbox Guy.

I think that’s changed…and when Xbox has lost me, I can’t imagine that I’m the only person with similar tastes they’ve lost.

4890

It’s been a few months since I’ve finished it, so this will be from memory. It’s a really weird mishmash of fake and real events. There was a rebellion in Britain led by Boudicca and the Iceni during the reign of Nero. However, her father had nothing to do with it, and it was put down by the Roman general Suetonius. Also, they go to York at one point in the game, but it wouldn’t be a Roman colony for another decade or so (instead of London/Londinium, which was sacked by the rebels). Nero was not that old (and wouldn’t live to be as old as he is in the game), nor did he ever have sons, and the Commodus who fancied himself a gladiator was the son of Marcus Aurelius (this entire portion of the game is basically Gladiator). Rome wouldn’t be taken for another 300+ years, almost 400, but Ravenna was the Western Empire’s capital by that point.

4891

I’m not a Roman history expert and I don’t have any experience with Ryse but I know that Rome was sacked a couple of times in its history but not by the Britons as far as I know. As far as Roman emperors with God complexes, I think most of them were relatively down to earth as far as that was concerned although no down there were a few megalomaniacal ones. As for the Colosseum, I can’t comment as I haven’t seen the game but I think it was a relatively structurally advanced building (remember that Roman civilization at its peak was not matched again in the West until the 15th century). If I recall correctly, it had platforms in the floor that could be raised and lowered and I think it might have actually been flooded at one time in order to recreate sea battles against either the Carthaginians or the Mediterranean pirates. That would have been quite a feat.

4892

That is amazing. How did they raise and lower the platforms? People power turning cranks below the Colosseum? Or, I suppose they could have been using horses/donkeys/mules too.

4893

When you tour the Colosseum, they talk about the elevating floors, and the other advances they constructed to sate the appetite for spectacle. It’s pretty awesome stuff.

4894

Oops! I thought I had misread this as a joke and deleted a previous reply. It’s been a few months since I played, so this is from memory. The game is a mishmash of real and fake events. The Britons did revolt during the reign of Nero under the leadership of Boudicca and the Iceni. However, Boudicca’s father had nothing to do with it, and the revolt was put down within a year by the Roman general Suetonius. Nero never lived to the age he is in the game, nor did he ever have any sons. The Commodus that fancied himself a gladiator was actually the son of Marcus Aurelius (this part of the game is essentially Gladiator). Rome wouldn’t be sacked for another 300-400 years, but at that point the Western Empire’s capital had been moved to Ravenna. One thing I found strange was that they go to York, which wouldn’t be a colony for another decade or so, instead of London/Londinium, which was sacked by the rebels. And some emperors did fancy themselves as more than human (Caligula being an early example), but they weren’t common. There was a general shift hundreds of years later to a different style of leadership, though, where the emperor/empire went from the principal of principate (first among equals) to dominate (lord).

4895

Wow, so much more of the game is based on real history than I would have expected. That’s really interesting. Thanks ryan!

4896

If you’re interested in Roman history then I highly recommend checking out Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast about the fall of the Roman Republic. It’s a huge five-parter and it’s brilliant.

4897

So I see the Xbox One has finally gotten a new media remote and it’s…I don’t even know what to say. I know more buttons doesn’t exactly mean better but I am underwhelmed. Still better than the PS4 remote though.

4898

Like+++

4899

Well, the old one had all those number buttons making the remote unnecessarily big. This one looks reasonably streamlined.

4900

Don’t understand the logic behind a remote. I thought that’s what having the Kinect was all about. Is it meant to replace the Kinect so it doesn’t have to be connected anymore?

4901

Money dude. Money!

4902

The remote needs the Kinect connected as that’s where the IR blaster is, unless I’m mistaken.

4903

So when they release a kinectless sku, the separately sold remote won’t work! :)

It’s a bit odd actually. The XBone main unit apparently has a front facing IR receiver and the IR blasters are connected to the main unit as well. But I have also read that Kinect is required for the remote to work properly - what is the Kinect doing that makes it necessary for IR reception or blasting? Is this just more justification for the Kinect as a required peripheral?

4904

I imagine they will just include a standalone IR blaster, possibly at no extra cost to the user so they can retain that advantage.

The tv functionality is one of the few advantages the xboner has over the ps4. If i was running microsoft i wouldn’t give it up to save a few bucks per $400 SKU.

As it is now, i’d rather get a ps4 and a harmony remote.

4905

The PS4 doesn’t work with Harmony remotes; Sony is too cheap to include the 50 cent IR receiver. It’s one of the reasons I went with the XO first. Logitech sells an adapter for the PS3 ($37 at Amazon), so I would think they would eventually sell one for PS4 too.

4906

But if you enable the HDMI link you can use any remote on your PS4, maybe I think. I don’t actually care for using a remote just for watching movies. Maybe if it had the cable box passthrough it would be needed but it doesn’t. Though I do have a issue with using the controller on the PS4. Since I switch between the PS3 and PS4 a lot I never know what button does what on the PS4 as they switched it around from how it was on the PS3.

4907

Eurogamer is reporting that in the UK they announced a Titanfall Xbox One bundle, and it’s £30 cheaper than the current price of the XB1 there. So a price cut and Titanfall thrown in for free too. I wonder if the U.S. will see a similar bundle or discount?

4908

The bundle will be available in all countries the console has been released so far. However, the UK appears to be the only market to get a price cut.