[Angelone]

I would definitely unplug the camera whenever I'm not using it, heck I do that with my webcams on my computer. I really don't like the thought of people watching me.

[CanRay]

I would definitely unplug the camera whenever I'm not using it, heck I do that with my webcams on my computer. I really don't like the thought of people watching me.

And that's when the X-Box One transforms and you find out it's a Decepticon.

[Mirikon]

I would definitely unplug the camera whenever I'm not using it, heck I do that with my webcams on my computer. I really don't like the thought of people watching me.

And that's when the X-Box One transforms and you find out it's a Decepticon.

Better than what happens when you try to mess with the PS4. That one transforms into a Hentai Decepticon.

[CanRay]

I would definitely unplug the camera whenever I'm not using it, heck I do that with my webcams on my computer. I really don't like the thought of people watching me.

And that's when the X-Box One transforms and you find out it's a Decepticon.

Better than what happens when you try to mess with the PS4. That one transforms into a Hentai Decepticon.

Good thing the Ouya is coming out and is an Autobot.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Ouya?  Is that pronounced "Oh, yeah!"?

[Angelone]

I don't like certain features of both systems and I hope you can turn them off instead of just having to deal with them.

[The_Gun_Nut]

From what I have seen, AngelOne, that is not the case.  However, since I don't have any of them sitting in front of me at the moment, I can't say for certain.

[CanRay]

Wait and see, wait and see.  If M$ can change things so quickly now, they can change them right back.  And so can $ony, who is surprisingly not leading the charge for harsher DRM for once (Maybe the rootkit/Music CD thing learned them.  Yeah, right!).

[mtfeeney = Baron]

I understand some of the complaints, but it seems like most of them are unreasonable and extremely paranoid.  How are we supposed to turn the modern world into the future if we're afraid of future tech? 

Can you picture Star Trek with people paranoid about the computer constantly listening for commands?  There are microphones and cameras and trackers everywhere.  "Computer, what is Commander Riker's current position?"  Oh, no can do, sorry.  We're too worried about the computer listening in on us and reporting our chat contents to the Federation.

They made used games less feasible, so what?  You don't have the right to use used games.  Does this cheat you?  Of course not.  I feel bad for the used game stores, though.

Always online?  This one is a pretty big failure, I agree.  If I had to guess, I'd say this was their answer to the proliferation of Xbox hacks that allow the use of pirated games.  The failure isn't about how it's "unfair".  The failure is due to many people still not having constant internet connections.  That was a pretty big oversight on MS's part.

Back to the Kinect.  What are you people doing in front of your TVs that you're so worried about people discovering?  Or get more paranoid.  What are you saying anywhere in your house that you're afraid "the Man" is going to hear?

[All4BigGuns]

Back to the Kinect.  What are you people doing in front of your TVs that you're so worried about people discovering?  Or get more paranoid.  What are you saying anywhere in your house that you're afraid "the Man" is going to hear?

You're really pulling the "if you have nothing to hide..." card? Really?!

Whether you have anything to hide has no bearing on the fact that a camera and microphone always on in your living room is a MASSIVE invasion of privacy that carries with it an equally massive potential for abuse. Especially with a certain law that was enacted earlier in the 2000s and recently expanded.

As to your mention of Star Trek, if human civilization were to the point of everyone working for the betterment of humanity like it is in the show, I would be all for it, but as of right now...HELL NO.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

It's not just a one-day change.  It takes steps to get to the future.  Google Glass sucks, but if we don't go through this phase, we'll never have Shadowrun contacts/glasses/goggles.

[CanRay]

Actually my problem with Kinect is that I don't have a living room for it.

[I_V_Saur]

The last console I bought was a Gamecube. I'd like to share my thoughts on why I am refusing to buy into the newer lines of consoles. (But am happily willing to accept a friend's donation of their 360, thanks)

They don't make em' how they used to.

The GC/Xbox/PS2 gen had a contest, to see which was more sturdy. The conclusion was that the Gamecube could literally survive a sledgehammer, and work reliably.

Remember the GameBoy Color? I recall one in a museum, that survived a bombing, when the soldiers didn't.

Remember reverse compatibility, so that the constant flux of new games could interact with the old, a-la R/B/Y to G/S/C? So that you could actually enjoy your game for five years or so, even when you had a new system coming out as soon as they built up the hardware for faster, smoother, and all around more awesome gameplay?

Remember when Pikmen became a hit?

Anyone remember Prince of Persia, the first one?

Gaming used to mean a constant push of tech. If it could be done, they were working on it. Machines got faster and faster, so we could do more. The progression of graphics could be easily displayed with a Mario timeline - every single title looks a little bit better. They threw in more CPU and RAM, they made screens higher resolution in expectation of the increasing outputs. Internal storage. Multiple save files. Mobile gaming.

Remember Final Fantasy? Remember how everyone, ever, gets an ending? Not just the main character, everyone? Where the plot took up about a quarter of the sheer data on the discs, give or take?

In the start, games were made by a single person - such as Space Invaders. When we got to systems like the N64, and PS1, there were divisions cooperating on each individual game. Storyboards spiraled. Artwork could cover the interior of your house.

Yeah. There were bugs. Lots of them. Sloppiness, a lack of practical knowledge about the tech being used, time constraints, they all factored in. Frankly, I'd rather play those glitchy, horribly broken games, than the uninspired steaming piles I have shoved at me today.

We have home PCs able to compute a million or so digits of pi in less than a minute, with CPUs standing at about 3.0 GHz, almost always multi-core these days. We have connections from PC to PC capable of moving a library in data, in half to an hour, depending on the size of said library. We have hard drives averaging a Terabyte or more, which is about seventeen thousand hours of compressed music formats. (mp3, for example)

The tech is there, and we've got the know-how to utilize it.

Where are all the creative games and titles? Where are the mind-blowing plots? Where are the astonishing game mechanics?

Have we set our sights too high?

Alright.

Where are the seamless loading transitions promised in a Tony Hawk game more than five years ago? Where are the Turing-capable A.I. opponents based on code we've been putting into contests since 1991?

I'll stick with my Gamecube. It won't break, it has a wide list of games that are still in retail, and if worst comes to worst, I can buy another hundred, make a tank, and roll up to Nintendo's HQ as a reminder.

[RHat]

...  To be fair, just because we can program really sophisticated algorithms doesn't mean that those same algorithms can be made to work in live time, even with all the tech power behind them these days.  Technical feasibility is especially relevant for AI code.

Having to work in live time presents a whole different level of technical complexity.

[mtfeeney = Baron]

Until we went to discs, backward compatibility was less than unheard of.  NES>SNES?  Nope. SNES>N64?  Nope.  N64>Wii?  Nope.  The Playstation was the first line to offer backward compatibility, starting with the PS2, but they killed that with the PS3.  The Xbox 360 offered a modicum of backward compatibility, but it was far less than stellar.  Computers are the only place where there's been much in the way of compatibility, and that's because it's not a console limited to a specific form factor.