PlayStation 4 Online-Only?

Demon_Skeith

Demon_Skeith

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The PlayStation 4 – codenamed Orbis – hasn’t been announced or even acknowledged yet by Sony. But a report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that the console, currently under development, was nearly created without a disc drive.

“Sony Corp. considered but ultimately rejected a download-only scheme for its next videogame console, people familiar with the matter said, opting to include optical disk drives rather than break with a decades-old model in the industry,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The Japanese electronics maker’s flirtation with dropping optical drives underscores the rising importance of online networks in the videogame industry, which allow console users to download games, television shows and music without the need for disks or cartridges.”

According to WSJ, Sony is indeed “targeting” 2013 as the year the PlayStation 4 (or whatever it will ultimately be called) will come out.

source

Internet is not good enough yet for online only systems. But one day it should.
 
Demon_Skeith said:
The PlayStation 4 – codenamed Orbis – hasn’t been announced or even acknowledged yet by Sony. But a report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that the console, currently under development, was nearly created without a disc drive.

“Sony Corp. considered but ultimately rejected a download-only scheme for its next videogame console, people familiar with the matter said, opting to include optical disk drives rather than break with a decades-old model in the industry,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The Japanese electronics maker’s flirtation with dropping optical drives underscores the rising importance of online networks in the videogame industry, which allow console users to download games, television shows and music without the need for disks or cartridges.”

According to WSJ, Sony is indeed “targeting” 2013 as the year the PlayStation 4 (or whatever it will ultimately be called) will come out.

source

Internet is not good enough yet for online only systems. But one day it should.
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Doesn't mean its online only. You could download games but still play them offline.
 
Indeed, having a download only option would be terrible. The download times for some of us would be horrific. (It takes me about 7-8 hours to download 5 gigabytes. And that's provided my connection doesn't get interrupted.) Other people have download caps where they only get 300 GB a month for bandwidth and after that they have to pay ridiculous amounts of money per gigabyte they're over.

I like having a disc. It's something tangible that I can sell or trade if I were so inclined. And I can drive to the store, buy the game, get home, install it and any updates with time to actually play the game compared to if I had to download the game plus updates to my system. Realistically digital downloads are not practicaly for full games for me (and even if they were, I still wouldn't want them.)

So, I'm glad they're sticking with the disc drive. (Seems kind of silly that they'd really think to get rid of it too given they fought to get Blu-ray popular only then to abandon it? Seems a drastic mistake to me, like the PSP Go...)
 
Maybe the PS4 would be streaming based, and not download based like Gaikai or Onlive which requires no download or hard drive, but you need to be online all the time to stream games to your console like Netflix, and YouTube, and you pay a low monthly fee of 10 dollars to play an almost unlimited amount of games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i529HQ9HM7Q
 
I think most people can skip a night or a few hours of gaming if the internet is off, and rather have a super low price subscription fee like 10 dollars a month for an almost unlimited amount of games.

Most people also own a laptop, hand held console, tablet, or smartphone which can also play games when the power or internet is off.

Netflix is not as fast, stable or high quality as DVD and Blu-Ray which also has a bigger library, but it is taking customers away from Blockbuster and other rental video stores because of its 10 dollar a month subscription for an almost unlimited amount of shows, movies, and sitcoms.
 
Here's the thing though... Why should I have to sacrifice my ability to play at all when I'm a paying customer? If I've bought a physical copy of the game the only thing that could potentially stop me is a power outage. (But if I'm really determined to play that won't stop me for long... I'll just go fire my generator up and I'll be back playing in minutes.) But if I'm depending on the internet then things become substantially more complex.

Suppose:
1- their servers go down (either by accident or on purpose for planned maintenance) in either of those cases I can't play at all. (Imagine if the PSN outage that happened last year happens on the online-only-PS4... The PSN outage never really affected me, I just played single player games the whole time. )
2- my internet drops off (a tree falls and cuts off internet either for me or the server location has a natural disaster, or their internet gets overwhelmed... like with what happened to Blizzard for Diablo 3's launch) and then I can't play because it's online only.
3- I have an internet cap of 150 GB. And that gets burned through so my net gets disconnected. Suddenly I can't play the system I bought because my internet's bandwidth is gone.
4- my internet isn't fast enough to stream the video and upload the responses needed to play properly. (Can you imagine trying to play CoD: MW4 when half the frames are getting dropped? It's bad enough at times on MW3...) Remember not all internet connections are the same speed/quality. (Plus distance factors into speed too.)


No, despite the fact that offline, disc based systems are more expensive they are also far superior to an online only model. Disc based gaming delivers a more reliable experience with higher quality visuals, fewer frame rate issues (well, ones that aren't due to developers anyway). And I would hope more gamers agree with me.

Furthermore, not all laptops can play all games (some games you can't even get on laptop since there are many console specific games). So if you wanted to sit down and play Skyrim 2 on your laptop because your PS4 was off due to internet outage, you probably couldn't. (Supposing that you can even still get Skyrim 2 offline and it's not online only too.) For the reason that Skyrim 2's system requirements would likely be too high for most laptops. If the power were off though then another issue creeps in, laptops tend to cut down their processing power to preserve battery life so even if you could play before, without an AC power supply the laptop wouldn't be able to run the game.

For the other devices, sure you can game on them... but not the same games. I can't play Battlefield 3 on my cellphone. My phone is too limited to do that (both in terms of input method and hardware specifications.)

Though your renting movies example doesn't quite work as an example here because for games you'd have to compare netflix to buying movies... Which is another story entirely. (One I do not have numbers for.) But even if it were a comparable situation it doesn't hold true here simply because of how different games and movies are.
 
Maybe there would be two versions of the PS4. A cheaper portable version which cost 100 US dollars or less, and can also be powered by batteries for only cloud/online-only gaming, and another version which cost 500+ dollars for people who are willing to pay more for a more powerful disc and hard drive version which can also play games offline, and online-only if they choose to.

Users can also use their own hardware like Laptops, Desktops, iPad/Tablets, Smartphones, iPod Touch, etc to play games via online-only if Sony makes an App or program for the device which let users stream games which they purchase to their devices, and connect a Keyboard, or USB, or Bluetooth wireless controller to it for controller based gaming. This would mean more people can now play Playstation games without the purchase of a Playstation via Online-Only game streaming, and an App installed on their laptop, desktop, ipad, smartphone, ipod touch, etc.

There are new rumors that Sony is planing to buy a Cloud/Online-Only Game Streaming company possibly Onlive or Gaikai in the near future :

Here’s an interesting little rumor: Sony is reportedly looking into streaming game services, and more specifically aiming to acquire either Gaikai or OnLive. Information has pointed towards Sony purchasing a cloud gaming company and announcing the buy at its E3 conference this coming Monday. Sources have told MCV that Sony is poised to sign an agreement with “a high profile cloud gaming firm.”
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http://www.slashgear...chase-30230844/

I think there are many casual and poorer gamers with high speed internet who just want to play games from any where in the world with a high speed broadband internet connection via a game console, device with web browser, laptop, PC, Smartphone App, Tablet, Hand held, and Smart TV, or Cable Box with internet connectibity, but only pay 10 dollars a month, or a low price of 30 dollars or less per game to have the game streamed to them via the Internet like Onlive, Gaikai, and other game streaming services which are similar to NetFlix, but for games without dealing with free hard drive space, scratched/cracked disc, hard drive crashes, data corruption/lost because of a failing hard drive, hardware specs, overheating/RROD/YLOD, backwards compatibility, and other more technical tasks.

It's true the graphics are not as good as modern console, but it is good enough for a large percentage of people who rather be mobile, and easily play their games at home, at work, friends house, or Smartphone where a high speed internet connection or 4G internet is available like Onlive Mobile.

 
Indeed, the Vita might be a good way to test out if Online-only work since all the Vita needs is an App to play Online-Only games, and it is more convenient then carrying a bunch of cartridges to play around home, and work with fast wi-fi.

I think The Vita uses the PS3 to stream games, but your PS3 needs to be on at all times when you are using the Vita remote play option, so it is not very convenient compared to using the PSN Plus cloud gaming if it comes out this year.

 
tetutato said:
Doesn't mean its online only. You could download games but still play them offline.
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Indeed. Online isn't ready for downloads that big. Download only means you must have a fast connection and I can't afford an extremely fast connection for downloading games. It's ridiculous to think it's ok to purchase games in that way if it will take one almost forever to get it. Not to mention you'll have to install it as well. More than likely... not always the case as of current though.
 
Steam is Download Only, and it is doing very well with PC gamers compared to PC Disc based games which don't sell well in retail stores. With the cost savings with download games, you can save money, and use the money towards a faster internet connection.
 
froggyboy604 said:
Maybe the PS4 would be streaming based, and not download based like Gaikai or Onlive which requires no download or hard drive, but you need to be online all the time to stream games to your console like Netflix, and YouTube, and you pay a low monthly fee of 10 dollars to play an almost unlimited amount of games.

Click to expand...

This would definitely not be the case just yet... It would have been at least leaked or announced by now.
 
tetutato said:
This would definitely not be the case just yet... It would have been at least leaked or announced by now.
Click to expand...

I read rumours online on blogs that Sony plans on buying a Cloud gaming company like Gaikai or Onlive, and will release details during E3 2012.

But, I feel Sony will make all their devices with screens like PSP, Sony PS3, Vita, Laptops, Netbooks, Smart TVs, Desktops, Tablets, Smartphones, and other brands of electronics be able to use their newly purchase cloud gaming company for gaming since they can have more potential customers then just limiting it to the PS4 which most likely will not be out for a few more years.
 
froggyboy604 said:
I read rumours online on blogs that Sony plans on buying a Cloud gaming company like Gaikai or Onlive, and will release details during E3 2012.

But, I feel Sony will make all their devices with screens like PSP, Sony PS3, Vita, Laptops, Netbooks, Smart TVs, Desktops, Tablets, Smartphones, and other brands of electronics be able to use their newly purchase cloud gaming company for gaming since they can have more potential customers then just limiting it to the PS4 which most likely will not be out for a few more years.
Click to expand...

Well I've heard of that and I believe that's official now. But it was only for a service that was to be provided on PSN. They never meant the service to be their entire console. If they did, the PS4 wouldn't need all it's high end hardware.
 
These next-gen consoles are scaring me. Microsoft wants to prevent used-games from working, Sony ALMOST removed a disc drive, the Vita uses proprietary memory cards, and Nintendo's tablet controller seems awkward as hell to use :s
 
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