I mean:

1) You can't say PSN won't cost $60 a year too. Unless I missed out something, nothing is confirmed just yet.

2) You don't know if PSN will also be a marketing clusterfuck.

3) Well, that's not really a positive point, it's just a non-negative. :P

-Online Multiplayer is not $60 a year.

If you pay $60 a year for X-Box Live, you're a chump. It is easy to find for $40, sometimes you can even find it for $35. Mine just expired and I found a promotion online that gave me 1 month for $1.

I'm mute on the console topic until we know what the choices really are.

-Online Multiplayer is not $60 a year.

-Over the past few years, the Xbox 360 dashboard has become filled with ads. There is no reason their next console won't be the same.

-Bethesda releases their games on both consoles, so I won't miss out on Elder Scrolls VI.

Being that many fans of Halo like Xbox and many Halo fans are probably also Bungie fans, I think that the Xbox population will probably be greater than the PS4 population. Unless something crazy happens and the PS4 turns out to be vastly more popular than Xbox, I don't foresee PS4 having a greater population.

In the long run, the must-have console will probably be the console that has the greater player population.

This is nothing. Ever gone through a generation transition before? Things are going to get ugly/hilarious (depending on your point of view).

I can't wait.

I will be assigning different weights to a variety of categories according to their importance in order to make the best rational decision I can possibly make.

Or, I could save myself a ton of time and effort and just buy whichever one is the most sexy.

:)

Here's where it currently stands.

Yoshida confirmed that the hardware will play all games and that it can be used offline. But, he later implied that publishers will have the ability to do something to charge money. They won't say anything else. It's not clear if they were just referring to the current online pass regime, or something like it, or if the console employs technology that allows publishers the option to block a game entirely until it's licensed. Unfortunately, despite Yoshida's early words, the situation on the PS4 is just not clear.

Thanks. That clears it up for me, at least as much as is possible.

EA's already pioneered locking single player content behind the "online pass" in KOA:Reckoning

WHAAAAT??? Ack, I was thinking of picking that game up at some point, too. Despite knowing the universe is now defunct, I thought the combat in the demo seemed like fun.

Fairbanks ice cream is fun.

Ice cream is amazing.

Fairbanks is just OK.

Let's resolve this. If you had to choose between:

1-Having ice cream in Fairbanks
2-Not being in Fairbanks but also not having ice cream

Which would you choose.

Any particular reason you hate fun?! :P

Fairbanks ice cream is fun.

Ice cream is amazing.

Fairbanks is just OK.

Any particular reason you hate fun?! :P

Fairbanks ice cream is fun.

At the moment, I'm going to purchase it on the PlayStation 4 for the prettiness and Xbox 360 to experience it with my friends. An exclusive next-generation release on the PS4 is going to see me on being an early adopter solely for Destiny.

If it comes out for the next generation Xbox, I'll purchase it for that console if it you're able to cross-play with Xbox 360 users like you could with original Xbox games. If not, then I dunno. Maybe sink further into depression? Become a hooker? Open an ice cream stand in Fairbanks, AK? Who knows...

Yoshida confirmed that the hardware will play all games and that it can be used offline. But, he later implied that publishers will have the ability to do something to charge money. They won't say anything else. It's not clear if they were just referring to the current online pass regime, or something like it, or if the console employs technology that allows publishers the option to block a game entirely until it's licensed. Unfortunately, despite Yoshida's early words, the situation on the PS4 is just not clear.

All we have Durango are rumors, but the rumors all point in the same direction of a universal block/new license required.

My personal belief is that both systems will have functionality allowing publishers to require a new license for used games. I hope to be wrong about this. Even if the tech isn't there, I think you'll see an expansion of the online pass system to do the same thing. EA's already pioneered locking single player content behind the "online pass" in KOA:Reckoning, so really, they don't need the console manufacturers to be a on board, it just makes it easier.

In the end I'll probably lean towards whichever one has a better online network and more comfortable controller.

On that note, from the pictures I've seen of the PS4 controller it looks like they made an effort to contour the hand-grips more, like the 360 controller. So I'm hopeful that it will finally be decent to hold.

It's hard to compare on that basis yet, though, since we don't know what the next XBox's will be like. It wouldn't be at all foolish of them to keep it essentially the same shape, with possibly some new input mechanism (touchpad, etc.) tacked on. Personally, I wouldn't mind if they went ahead and integrated the chat pad. But who knows, maybe it'll be something completely new and unique?

I like the concepts they're showing for the PS4. I like it more than the PS3 and most importantly, I get the feeling they've tried to address the shortcomings that system had. I probably will get one at some point. Probably shortly after it gets its first God of War game.

But on the other hand, all of my gaming friends are on XBox Live, I've liked the selection of games available for the 360, and $60 a year isn't enough that I really notice it. So I don't think the PS4 is really tempting me to a degree that I'm likely to get it first and have to start up a whole new friends' list. This could change if the next XBox has something about it that really puts me off - the used games issue is a possible factor here, for instance.

Actually, has it been CONFIRMED that the PS4 allows used games? I hear people talking about it as though it were a fact, but all I'm certain of is that Sony didn't mention it at the reveal event. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything.

and keep paying $60 a year for XBL on top of that.

I know this has been a sticking point this generation, but it's not going away. Sony showed off some impressive services, some of which even they said weren't working yet, and I really doubt any of that will be free. It would take money to maintain that infrastructure, money that i don't think console or game sales could cover. A page on their social network will probably be free, and maybe online pay, but all the video sharing will likely cost some measure of money (even Bungie charged for that). The fact they didn't talk about costs at all during their presentation almost guarantee's that it's nothing to get excited about

Not that it's all peaches on the Microsoft side. At best I expect a tiered service to be introduced (starting at the current price) and at worst, a general blanket price raise, but that's a bit too much speculation, even for me.

As you said, time will tell, until then, I'm not committing to anything. Although, wouldn't it be great if Bungie was the first developer to offer cross platform play to Sony and Microsoft!!