Xbone & PS4 playable at EB expo in Oct

[t0mby]

Anyone planning on going?

After the recent news that EB Games Expo 2013 would be host to 100 playable Xbox One consoles from Microsoft, Sony has now revealed (thanks do0b) that it will be there in the flesh with the first public hands-on of its next-gen console, the PlayStation 4.

“It’s fantastic that Australians get the chance to get hands on with the PS4 at EB Expo before its official release. This is usually a privilege reserved for industry insiders, now everyone is an insider” said Debra McGrath, EB Games National Brand, Events and Engagement Manager.

McGrath continued “This is a big deal… people are going to be able to look back in years to come and brag that they played it first. We know that this is something that the community have been waiting for and as gamers ourselves we are equally excited. The prospect of hands on game play before the official release is something gamers only dream of. We are stoked that Sony Computer Entertainment Australia has made this a reality for those attending EB Expo.”

[BigSwingingUdders]

Yeah, it'll have a hell of a lot of playable code there, much much more than PAX.

Most of the stuff will be running off production hardware, not target hardware dev kits like PAX, so it'll be the real deal, real games on real hardware

Expect 40% shorter queues for Xbone

[Madmya]

40% shorter queues due to less bottlenecks.

[BigSwingingUdders]

Oh I see what you did there

[t0mby]

Xbone games will probably be behind a paywall.

They may also require you to sign in before you play.

[guttermouth]

So how do these EB Expos work?? Do they have like a massive show floor showing 2nd hand games, while they have a small corner allocated to new games??

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

They also have a designated bus route allocated to it so that all EB staff can make it too.

[t0mby]

They also have a designated bus route allocated to it so that all EB staff can make it too.

With Street Fighter playable on the bus?

[lestat]

Finally something game related in Sydney. Keen to meet up with other ranchers in Sydney at the event.

Should be plenty of near complete next gen stuff to check out. Excite!

[lestat]

I'm heading to the twilight session on Saturday, if any Sydney folk are also attending that session send me a pm.

I'll post some impressions afterwards.

[BigSwingingUdders]

Prepare to be underwhelmed. Nothing there screams next gen, titanfall is running on pc's, as is bf4. Forza seems like an incremental improvement over 4, drive club is plain shit, kill zone is nice in appearance but dull as fuck.

[jizzlobber]

I'm heading to the twilight session on Saturday, if any Sydney folk are also attending that session send me a pm.

I'll post some impressions afterwards.

looks like Gamma and myself will be heading up for that session mate!

[Madmya]

Titanfall is running on PCs everyone. Nothing to see. Pretend it's not real.

[BigSwingingUdders]

Don't get me wrong, Titanfall was pretty fun to play and looked good, but it's jammed into the Xbone booth running on high-spec PC's, using 360 controllers to play, while Sony managed to get every PS4 title running on production HW... The game felt like UT2004 mixed with COD, super hectic and flashy. The Titans during my play sessions felt very over powered though, but I think it's because the opposing team were only using foot infantry and everyone playing was a noob.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see Super Mario 3D World on Wii U looking and playing really bloody good, pity it won't help this late in the game. The size of Nintendo's booth is testament to their current situation, it is one of the smallest at the Expo, tucked away off the side of the main thoroughfare, with only 4 Wii U demo units and a dozen or so 3DS demo pods. While Xbox and PS4 had massive, and very expensive, multi-storey booths packed with demo pods. How the mighty have fallen... but at least Zelda and Pokemon were playable, and both were excellent.

Ubisoft has AC4 running exclusively on PS4's, it looks good but still feels likes it sits halfway between this gen and what a decent PC can produce.

Killzone was on display, but MP only. Once you could get into a match, which took literally 2 mins to sync up all the clients, the framerate was a solid 60 fps. It looks reasonable but it's Killzone at the end of the day, dull. Why the hell Sony thought it was a good idea to launch with a FPS alongside COD and BF4 blows my mind... you'd get it as a tech demo to show off the HW and maybe give SP a go.

Watchdogs was running on Xbone HW on the floor, but I got a chance to see a stage demo running on PS4. Right now, the PS4 version is noticeably nicer with a more stable, higher framerate, less pop-in when driving around, better shaders on the character models and nicer lighting. It's the only game at Expo where you can do a somewhat side-by-side comparison of the two consoles.

One game I liked a lot was Dead Rising 3. It looks kinda balls for a next gen game, but it was really, really fun to play, dual tri-barrel uzi's FTW. I got a demo kill score of 1455 if anyone is going to have a lash

Ryse was playable also, looks good but has a bit of tearing and some framerate dips. You'd only buy it as a graphics demo though, the gameplay is dull as hell. Press A to win feels as deep as it gets, you'd be better off with Dead Rising 3 if you want a fun button masher.

As for the controllers, the PS4 controller is a big improvement over the DS3, feels solid and expensive, the sticks are just right now, and the main triggers are actually functional. The Xbone controller feels familiar, smaller than you'd expect, and the trigger rumble is very cool in Forza. However it doesn't feel like it will last over time, the build quality seems cheaper compared to the 360 controller.

Up close, the HW units are like chalk and cheese. The Xbone is certainly a big VCR and it ran pretty toasty also, you could hear the fans working hard to keep air running through it, but I think the demo pod enclosures didn't help and restricted airflow a fair bit. The PS4 is comparatively small, ran a lot cooler and quieter, but it didn't have any enclosure to restrict ventilation though.

My overall impressions from the show was next gen definitely feels likes an incremental upgrade right now, but both consoles have enough going on for you to have a great xmas with whichever one you choose. If you go Xbone with Forza, BF4 or COD and Dead Rising, you'd be pretty happy with your choice. Else PS4 with Watchdogs, BF4 or COD and Knack (it was actually reasonably fun and pretty polished), you'd be pretty happy also, even more so if you have a Vita for remote play.

If you don't either right away, you're not missing much honestly. Wait a year for the HW issues to smooth out and some more compelling software to come around.

Oh, Dying Light looks shit-hot also.

[lestat]

I'm heading to the twilight session on Saturday, if any Sydney folk are also attending that session send me a pm.

I'll post some impressions afterwards.

looks like Gamma and myself will be heading up for that session mate!

[lestat]

Good impressions, next gen is really like current PC games on medium settings.

I've already lowered my expectations, but I'd just like to get a feel for the controllers, if the PS4 controller nails it I'll probably switch to that, I play my vita often and it makes sense to have 1 sub and be able to use remote play. Besides it's slowly being confirmed that PS4 is indeed more powerful and ms have given me no fucking reason why I should give a shit about kinnect, I think MS screwed up big time dedicating so much silicon/budget to it.

[BigSwingingUdders]

Yeah, don't expect to be blown away, just enjoy the games and the new HW.

Oh, KI was very fun. It another one of those games that kinda sits between current gen and modern PC in terms of visuals. Well worth a look regardless.

[guttermouth]

Sounds like the Nintendo both is the exact same one they had at PAX in Melbourne this year, with the exact same games. Nintendo Australia is just so damn pathetic, always has and always will be.

[Madmya]

Xbone running hot? I'd say it's due to the pod. Every other article I've seen has said the opposite.

[BigSwingingUdders]

Well the vent on the top of the console wasn't obstructed, which is where most of the air was being pushed out. The console had a perspex clamp over the top of the unit, covering about a 1/4 to 1/3 of the top at the front. The sides were clear, the back of it was recessed into the demo pod.

If it runs toasty like that, you certainly don't want to run it in an entertainment unit with the top of the console obstructed in any way.

[jizzlobber]

Just got back from me hetero threesome with Gamma and Lestat, not a bad event I guess, don't have anything to compare it to to be honest.

I kinda went into this as a MS fan with an Xbone pre order open to changing that to PS4 if it has a clear and significant power advantage, that hasn't changed.

First up the xbox booth was MUCH better than the playstation booth, heaps of xbone pods out in the open so we could easily take a look, only titanfall, dead rising 3 and ryse were behind closed doors and required lining up to see... the forza v8 supercar was there, everything was laid out nicely, was all well lit and generally looked snazzy.

the PS booth was mostly PS3 stuff, you had to line up to get to the PS4 stuff up stairs, we only wanted to look so it would've been good to have this stuff in the open but we had to wait ages to get up there... and when we did there wasn't a lot there really, way more xbone units at the expo than ps4 units... plus it was very dark with no wow factor.

controllers-
i'm not sold on the xbone pad just yet, will probably just take some getting used to but the trigger/bumper and stick positioning felt kind of odd
the D-pad is miles better now, there's a nice click when pressed, don't need a game running to know it's good.

PS4 pad feels real nice, the triggers are the best i've felt, they feel perfect to me, sitting just right with good resistance.
the D-pad failed my fireball test miserably however, maybe it was just the one I held but I couldn't roll out a fireball, the transition from one direction to another resulted in my thumb getting bogged every time.

games-
ryse- looks real nice, but it aint for me, ordinary gameplay
dead rising 3- fun! thousands of zombies to mow down, but shimmery and barely next gen really.
forza- sharp and smooth, other than that it's fairly similar to forza 4 I think.
KI- particle city!! looks pretty, still not screaming next gen though, but not much does really.
driveclub- heaps of track side detail, 30fps though... looks promising
killzone multi- I dunno, a couple of times I saw texture detail change when up real close... first time the player was looking at this blurry wall right on front of him and I thought "fuck that's a blurry..." pop! "oh shit, that took too long to do that".
Lestat seems to think it has a dynamic resolution, i'll let him explain what he saw.

oh... saw gt6, bathurst track.
framerate is so inconsistent, sometimes it's smooth enough, ass smoke or detail and it just goes to shit, at times it's a slide show!
plus no v8 supercars or damage, really dissapointing... don't get excited at that excellent trailer.

i'll finish with a pic of myself at the event... notice anything in the background?

[Madmya]

No way! that's awesome!

Good impressions too, good jerb.

[t0mby]

Good impressions Jizz.

[Mavy]

Is that Steve O'leary you're pointing to?

[jizzlobber]

you win
our favourite industry personality