
Amazon reviews from the PS4 and Xbox One next-gen console wars - mbennett
http://blog.roguecode.co.za/Amazon-review-from-PS4-Xbox-One-next-gen-console-wars
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Someone
Many of those charts would do well in a "Most confusing graph" competition,
especially as a series.

For example, the "HOW HAPPY VERIFIED REVIEWERS ARE WITH THEIR CONSOLE" pie
chart at first glance makes PS4 look a bit better than the Xbox, because the
graph above it uses black for PS4.

You have to click he radio button to see that that is correct, by a tiny (I
expect not statistically significant) margin. Whether that holds for 4-star
reviews, too is kept hidden from the readers.

One could just as easily show the distribution over all star rating for both
devices in one graph. More information, easier to grasp.

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vezzy-fnord
The console wars are quite pointless, I think.

Maybe it's just regression and nostalgic delusion, but I find that the
consoles of old (up to the sixth generation) had novelty in their designs and
ability to mod them.

But now I find them to be dull. Unless one really wants to play exclusive
titles, I find no reason to own a console.

~~~
deelowe
Agreed. I've been trying to put my finger on why this console launch feels
lackluster to me, and this is it. There's simply nothing novel here with
either device (wii-u doesn't count does it). I'm bearish on consoles at this
point. While the launch numbers look good, I'm wondering if these units really
have legs. It's clear gaming isn't the top focus with either of the parent
companies, so this will be interesting to watch.

Valve/Steam/Steambox OTOH, is a fresh and exciting prospect(to me).

~~~
foobarian
The sad thing, from a technical perspective, about most of the recent
consoles, is they are basically PCs. There is no more crazy ASIC design
leading to graphics performance light years ahead of non-console computers, or
the last console generation. For a while there we got used to the new gen
consoles being leaps ahead of the current state of the art anywhere (including
PCs). However, once GPUs got commoditized and mass produced, continuing that
trend became impractical. The good news is that while next gen consoles won't
be leaps ahead of state of the art, this is not necessary to have good games,
and an extremely fun gaming experience not possible on any other platform.

The sad thing I mentioned above is at the same time very exciting to me--once
there is no crazy custom ASIC design, developers won't have as much trouble
writing games. You basically get a PC with a blessed system configuration and
a well known API that will lead to more and better performing games than
during the last generation.

As far as console vs. phone or PC, I don't see them going away any time soon.
They have many advantages over both.

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venomsnake
Well iPad is as close to a console as a device could be. 3 year support,
yearly refresh that brings good incremental improvements and probably they
will surpass consoles when the cycle moves on - so they will only need a way
to stream and controller.

~~~
berntb
I love my iPads. But where can I get something like Dark Souls for them? The
console niche puts more GBytes of graphics etc into a world. You just don't do
that for the iPad. Not this year and probably not the next either, anyway.
(Edit: Please prove me wrong :-) )

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venomsnake
I was envisioning the future. But the iPad model is a perfect console - long
enough to make sense, short enough to not stall innovation.

Now I cannot predict the future. But we have had amazing games running on way
less cpu, gpu and ram - and install base in a way is king. Right now we are in
the GameBoy era of the iPad. The games grew with their auditory - if you have
demand for quality writing, deep story and mature games - they will show up.

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rtpg
This highlights one of the more disappointing aspects of the internet, where
group-think leads to essentially mobs of people creating fake reviews on
amazon.

I wonder what goes through the minds of people when they do that. I mean
they're probably aware of the fact that they don't have the console. More than
that, what do they have to gain from doing this?

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incision
_> "More than that, what do they have to gain from doing this?"_

Gaming console wars are a great example of people who have confused their
self-worth with their preferences/possessions. Combine that with viewing the
world and this contest in particular as a zero-sum game and there you have it.

People creating fake reviews to feel better about "themselves".

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mda
Why do people spend time on useless graphs for something that could be
explained clearly in 3-4 sentences?

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steveklabnik
Sometimes, pictures show information better than words.

Also, infographics get embedded, which still sends traffic your way...

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hdevalence
Yeah, but these pictures don't show the information that well. You can't see
the numbers side by side -- you have to click between and have an animation
run. In addition, they use a two-dimensional representation for one-
dimensional data, which is bad because people are bad at judging the sizes of
areas.

It's not about making charts, it's about making bad charts.

~~~
mbennett
The writer does not seem to be a paid journalist and they helpfully provide
the raw data.

Perhaps someone will make a better chart and post it.

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happywolf
Definitely there could be some "die-hard fanboys from both sides of the fence
are attempting to create bad rep for the other", but there are other
possibilities as well: 1) Some people bought from other channels are upset
enough to want to vent their disappointment on Amazon (quite likely, as I did
that to a book that I bought elsewhere to warn off others on its issues) 2)
People with vested interests (paid or otherwise)

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csmuk
And perhaps bigger news in the UK (not sure about other countries): amazon
console sales are xbox 360's in the top few slots. No sign of the "one" or
PS4.

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dandellion
The PS4 will be released the 29th in Europe.

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Nekorosu
Seems legit.

