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A new platform is likely the reason. If you see the services as mostly-comparable (they are), then why would you jump to a platform that will cost you an additional $200+ over the next five years?

1 day ago on Xbox Live Gold is the Xbox One's biggest strength and weakness

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Nope.

1 day ago on Xbox Live Gold is the Xbox One's biggest strength and weakness

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Bottom line is, it’s not so much feature parity as it is quality parity. I owned a PS3 for about two years (I’ve since sold it). Game updates were huge and slow. The store was really bad (both in curation, and the ability to search out things). Ironically, the Metro update to the Xbox made finding things equally as bad, so maybe there’s not a huge difference.

Online multiplayer was, however, great on PS3. There is little difference between Xbox Live and PS3’s online stuff (aside from, as you point out, a large price difference).

1 day ago on Xbox Live Gold is the Xbox One's biggest strength and weakness

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When Valve detailed their plans, they said they’d have a low-tier (streaming device), a mid-tier (similar to a console in size and price), and a high-end tier (basically, a gaming PC).

1 day ago on Has Everyone Forgotten the Steambox? My Wishlist

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Hah, that’s not been my experience. Admittedly, I don’t leave my PC on all the time (electric bills with a 750W power supply/decent graphics card were outrageous). I do have controller support Xbox controller via wireless adapter. I also have HDMI out to my TV.

As an example, late last year, my brother and I were going to play some Portal 2. I started up my PC (~1.5 minutes), had a Steam client update waiting (~2 minutes), clicked on Portal 2 and there was a game update waiting (30+ minutes). By the time we were actually able to play, I had used up about a third of the time I had to play.

Compare this to an Xbox, where the system starts in about 30 seconds, system updates happen once or maybe twice a year (compared to 20 on Steam), and game updates are small and fast (typically less than a minute). I can, more often than not, be in a game in about a minute on my Xbox. This is all without mentioning installing games (not required on 360), driver updates, etc. I totally get why people play on PC, but it’s really not been convenient for me.

1 day ago on Dealbreakers: How Microsoft is Pushing Away It's Customers with the Xbox One 1 reply

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I feel like we’re internet brothers. I’ve always loved the idea of PC gaming (particularly the price), but the drawbacks are many (several gig updates, driver issues, Steam client updates, etc.). My gaming time is limited, and consoles have worked well with this lifestyle.

That said, if I could get some middle ground (by way of a Steambox), that is always up to date, doesn’t require constant driver tweaks, etc, I’d jump in in a heartbeat.

1 day ago on Dealbreakers: How Microsoft is Pushing Away It's Customers with the Xbox One 1 reply

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Likely PS4 (if I buy a games console). I’m waiting for word from Valve now.

I use my game console to 1.) Play games, quickly and easily, 2.) Watch Netflix. I don’t have cable so that entire 30+ minutes focused on Live TV did nothing for me.

PS4 seems like it’ll have a really good focus on Indies, something Microsoft chased away with the death of XNA. Requiring a publisher (or worse yet, dealing with MS as a publisher) is going to send devs to Sony. I also hate the idea of paying twice for used games.

1 day ago on So what's is gonna be, PS4 or XBO?

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Until Microsoft unequivocally says that they will not charge for used games, I’ve given up hope.

1 day ago on Xbox One: Let's Not Give Up Hope

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Kinect Adventures 2, coming soon, EXCLUSIVELY to the Xbox One!

1 day ago on Xbox One: Let's Not Give Up Hope

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Nooope. I’m sure they’ll release some great games for the one, but if they cut out used games and require internet for single player experiences, I’m OUT.

1 day ago on Xbox One: Let's Not Give Up Hope

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Exclusives are typically some of the best games on a platform (consider Gears on 360 or Uncharted on PS3). I assume you mean it sucks from a “I’m on one platform and don’t want/can’t afford the other” perspective.

1 day ago on Xbox One: Let's Not Give Up Hope

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No.

1 day ago on am i the only one excited in watch dogs?

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Typically lead platform is the LCD. It was not the case last gen because PS3, Xbox, and PC were very different architectures, so very often Xbox was the lead platform (because the U.S. user base was much larger for a time).

2 days ago on Why choosing a Xbox One over a Playstation 4 (for now...) 2 replies

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I don’t follow. I just “test bought” a Nexus 7 and it was painless. In fact, it was quite easy (I use Google Wallet, so it knew my shipping address and payment information). Am I missing something, or is this an overseas issue?

2 days ago on 'Around 5 million' HTC One phones sold since launch

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It’s a thinly-veiled excuse for what is, at it’s core, online DRM.

2 days ago on Microsoft explains Xbox One cloud gaming in an effort to justify online requirement 1 recommend

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I meant the “offloading of processing to our servers” in spite of the fact that the games are able to be played offline.

2 days ago on Microsoft explains Xbox One cloud gaming in an effort to justify online requirement 1 reply

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Truth. I was just talking to one of my non-techie friends last week, and he said Sense on his One was pushing him away from Android. In his words, "In my growing distaste for Android, I realize that my ire may be erroneously singly-directed at Android, when in fact Android is only phase 1. In my case, the phone is then munged up by HTC’s “Sense”, then further with AT&T’s crap. It’s no wonder these things work so poorly out of the box – too many chefs in the soup."

2 days ago on HTC One 'Google Edition' with stock Android reportedly in the works 1 reply 2 recommends

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Man, that was a tough scene to watch. Felt so bad for Peggy.

2 days ago on HTC One 'Google Edition' with stock Android reportedly in the works 2 replies 15 recommends

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To the folks at Verizon: You’re chasing me into the arms of your competitors.

2 days ago on HTC One 'Google Edition' with stock Android reportedly in the works 1 reply 16 recommends

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So this is basically the exact justification that EA used with Sim City, right?

2 days ago on Microsoft explains Xbox One cloud gaming in an effort to justify online requirement 1 reply

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“It’s not that we’ve created a less useful operating system, you’ve just got the wrong mouse!”

3 days ago on Microsoft puts a Windows 8 key on its latest mice, hopes to improve navigation (hands-on) 1 reply 2 recommends

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Totally agree. The issue with Nexus devices is they are dropped into the market with little to no advertising. I think the reason the Nexus 4, 7 and to a lesser degree 10 sold well was because they finally got a decent marketing campaign behind them.

If Google wants Nexus to be a name people recognize (and request), they need to get the name out there. They’ve got a great product, but people don’t know it exists.

3 days ago on 'Around 5 million' HTC One phones sold since launch 1 reply 1 recommend

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The other day I was talking to a friend who told me that he drank “Two 32 oz bottles of water while at work.” I responded, “Damn, that’s a lot of water! I only drink about three 20 oz oz bottles of water.” I was appropriately ribbed for it, and it’s left me with some sympathy for madhavkinfinity.

Also, I’ve been a statistician for eight years, so I should really be better at basic math by now.

3 days ago on 'Around 5 million' HTC One phones sold since launch