Design Flaws In Current Gen Systems:

While we have five pretty well designed machines on the market right now, each of them does come with its fair share of flaws. I decided to use this thread to highlight some of these.

XBOX ONE:

• Flawed OS that is a step back from the Xbox One
• Controller using AA batteries instead of built in rechargable batteries
• No replaceable internal hard drive (offset by full external hard drive support)
• Forced Kinect

PLAYSTATION 4:

• Lightbar on DualShock 4 is annoying and can't even be turned off
• DualShock 4 battery life is shockingly low
• No external HDD support (offset by replaceable internal hard drive)

WII U:

• Low built in memory (offset by full external hard drive support)
• Wii U GamePad battery life is shockingly low
• Off TV Streaming range is variable and iffy
• OS is still slower than it needs to be, and needs some proper streamlining.

NINTENDO 3DS:

• Low resolution screen
• Only one analog stick
• Poor battery life
• Poor ergonomics (for the original model)
• Low FOV for 3D

PLAYSTATION VITA:

• Proprietary, overpriced Memory Cards
• OLED screen burn in :(
• Poor battery life
• Rear touchpad is a drag
• 100 bubble limit on the OS

PSV screen burn in? I've yet to see it or hear of it. How rampant is this?

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its an integral piece to the Xbox One.

I don't know I haven't had any issues using the rear touchpad yet on the Vita, also can't you make folders to limit the bubble problem?

The Giant Bomb guys said something about the PS4 friends list being garbage. Same with the X1 party system.

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its a great addition to the Xbox One.

I very much prefer the old dashboard. It's just easier to use.

Still limited to 100 bubbles, even if you make folders. Which is even dumber.

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its a great addition to the Xbox One.

No, you just proved my point, since Blades is infinitely superior to where the Dashboard ended up being.

OLED burn in. Happens about two years in assuming general usage over that period.

All reasonable complaints aside from the lightbar on the DS4.

I think it's cool and hardly a distraction.

You are insane. The Blades where garbage and slow as shit. The 360 OS is a lot better now. Also, getting rid of the mini dashboard when you hit the guide button was stupid on the X1.

Wait, what?

I've heard a couple people recently mention that the PS4 wobbles, not sure how big a deal that really is though

@charizard1605 said:

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its a great addition to the Xbox One.

No, you just proved my point, since Blades is infinitely superior to where the Dashboard ended up being.

The blades were absolute garbage - laggy and unresponsive.

Vita start and select buttons. Ugh.

Oh God, how did I forget those.

Actually those were an issue on the OG 3DS model as well. The XL fixed those though. I hear the Vita 2000 addresses the Start and Select problem as well.

@R3FURBISHED said:

@charizard1605 said:

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its a great addition to the Xbox One.

No, you just proved my point, since Blades is infinitely superior to where the Dashboard ended up being.

The blades were absolute garbage - laggy and unresponsive.

No.

Mine certainly wobbles but it's not a big deal because I don't play with the console itself.

Agreed, that was a great addition - to have every option you wanted one button press away was a very good idea. They replaced it with voice commands but it isn't as streamlined as it was with the 360 button

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its an integral piece to the Xbox One.

I think that has more to do with the fact that Microsoft wanted to make Metro the design language of all Microsoft products. I doubt Microsoft will make any large design changes to the Xbox One's current OS.

@Nonstop-Madness said:

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its an integral piece to the Xbox One.

I think that has more to do with the fact that Microsoft wanted to make Metro the design language of all Microsoft products. I doubt Microsoft will make any large design changes to the Xbox One's current OS.

I hope they at least improve it's responsiveness or lack thereof. Navigating menus on my brother's X1 is pure poo-poo.

@22Toothpicks said:

@Nonstop-Madness said:

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its an integral piece to the Xbox One.

I think that has more to do with the fact that Microsoft wanted to make Metro the design language of all Microsoft products. I doubt Microsoft will make any large design changes to the Xbox One's current OS.

I hope they at least improve it's responsiveness or lack thereof. Navigating menus on my brother's X1 is pure poo-poo.

The Xbox One dashboard was designed to be traversed with your voice...which is kind of an iffy decision. I would like to see the 360 button return though - have the mini menu pop up when you press it, its easy enough to say "Xbox Go Home" if you want to return to the main menu.

everything as pros and cons

I still find it funny people take that the x1 controller taking AA's is a con. I rather never go back to a wire specially because of the juice running out.

Ever since you changed that sig and avatar you have been falling down stairs headfirst way too many times.

@22Toothpicks said:

@Nonstop-Madness said:

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its an integral piece to the Xbox One.

I think that has more to do with the fact that Microsoft wanted to make Metro the design language of all Microsoft products. I doubt Microsoft will make any large design changes to the Xbox One's current OS.

I hope they at least improve it's responsiveness or lack thereof. Navigating menus on my brother's X1 is pure poo-poo.

I don't have any problem navigating the X1 dashboard, in fact I prefer it over my PS4. It works best when you use a combination of the controller and voice controls. If something is on my screen and easily accessible I just use the controller and press it, but if its hidden off somewhere I'll just tell my xbox to go to it. I really like the X1 UI and its only going to improve from here.

It's only a problem for people who touch their system after setting it up instead of playing it... Weirdos.

@charizard1605:

I'm sorry, but...how is the PS4 light bar a REAL issue? I understand that not being able to turn it off is a matter of restricted freedom.

But from a design standpoint, i fail to see how it is such a huge issue.

Perhaps, i'm just not thinking of it in enough scenarios due to the fact that i play in a pretty big room with an HDTV that is posted upon a TV Stand that is much higher than my seating height; therefore eliminating the possibility of having the light bar reflecting off the TV screen.

I can assume that it would be much different if it was in a dorm room (for example) and a gamer would have to play up close to a much smaller HDTV?

But even in darkness - another scenario i'd assume would play a role - i don't even realize it illuminating the room.

This whole "issue" seems so irrelevant that i'm surprised there are people genuinely bugged by it.

Never tried the Xbox One dashboard yet, but yes, i agree with the old blades being garbage being an owner of the 360 for a few years.

Okay, maybe not garbage. But from a design point of view, it was just sour compared to the PS3's XMB.

Don't forget to add "Xbox One OS still shows ads despite paying for XBL Gold", I don't think they are on there right now but I am sure in the future it will be covered in them.

Putting online play behind a paywall.

There you have it, the biggest flaw of the Xbone and PS4 IMO. I have never and will never pay for online play, not when PC has been doing it better for years and free on top of it. My next gen consoles will be used purely for offline games and offline co-op.

Meanwhile the Wii U pro controllers battery life is shockingly high. It's got a longer lasting battery than just about any controller I've ever used.

And you forgot some glaring flaws in your list:

-Wii U is underpowered: how could you forget ? There is a thread about this about once a day.

-Xbone is underpowered: Still running games at 720p, still running games under 30 fps.

-Kinect isn't just forced, it's completely useless and has no games to justify its existence.

I have to agree on you with that one, and also disagree to an extent.

On one hand, yes.

I've grown accustomed to not paying for online play for so long thanks to PC and Sony being generous with the PS3, that the idea of having to pay to play online on the PS4 was really off-putting at first. And before I actually got PS+ i really didn't think free games actually justified its price tag because hey, if I REALLY wanted to play "free" games on PC, i could of done that in numerous ways.

But then i actually got the free one month subscription that came along with the purchase of the PS4, and i was pleasantly surprised with it.

I mean, okay, yeah, I don't NEED it necessarily because I tend to play a lot more single player games; but there's something about getting free games - for, honestly, a not so high price - that adds a nice touch to it.

Yes, i can play online games with the PC; but can it play Killzone Shadowfall? nope.

Yes, there are better PC online games that also happen to be an FPS. But it still won't let me play Killzone Shadowfall, a game I actually enjoy playing online regardless of whatever anyone can say negatively about it.

Does a PC does it better? Most definitely.

But there is something about a console that has always lured me in one way or the other, and that's probably the whole couch sitting feel to it instead of a Computer Monitor and a desk.

Not mention,i it also adds more online play for games that won't be on the PC that offer a different experience than what a game on a PC could offer.

And yes, some game experiences on the console just don't happen on the PC & vice versa.

Guess what i'm trying to say is, that it really isn't all that bad when you throw $50 and get over it for the next 12 months before you finally go "Oh, right. I've gotta pay for this shit" after countless hours and a dozen or so free games that you downloaded for the amount you paid that covers 12 months.

Or, that's just my cognitive dissonance kicking in.

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its an integral piece to the Xbox One.

I agree about Kinect....really gives a next gen feel to my console. Now that im used to it i can't go back to not using voice commands it's to awesome.

@eisen_howl: No man, you make some very good points. I don't expect everyone to think the same as me :)

I'm sure lots of people will accept paying for online as not a big deal, or not a lot of money really. But when I think of the people that have justified paying for online since the original Xbox, that have been paying for online for 3 generations now. I can't help but think of the amount of money they have spent SOLEY on an online subscription. And think about how many games I have bought with that money.

Games, I could probably buy a PS4 with that amount of money. And those are games I actually own, whereas with PS+, if you ever cancel your subscription you lose every single game. People keep saying they are free games, but it's a paid rental service. You aren't getting any of the game for free (as you are paying for something) and you lose them once you stop paying (so it's renting). As a game collector I would never be for a system like that. I like to own my games.

And yeah, I have had some great fun with online console games as well, like Resistance 2s multiplayer was awesome. But when I say that PC has done it better I mean that almost every online PC game that needs to, makes use of dedicated servers. Things that actually cost money to keep running. Whereas most console online games so far make use of peer to peer. So I have no clue where my money would go to, except for the pockets of the console manufacturer.

But most of all I'm against paying for online because of a principal. I can have enough fun on consoles with SP experience and couch co-op, so I'm not paying for Live or PS+ any time soon. But I won't blame others for doing so :)

"Controller using AA batteries instead of built in rechargable batteries"

built in would just turn into this:

"DualShock 4 battery life is shockingly low"

I want the ability to use my Eneloops with my controller: much higher mAh and they're good for more charges. I don't want to get stuck with a crappy internal battery because you know they'd go cheap on it.

MS should've given people a rechargeable battery pack + cable with every controller though. But then they couldn't push their crappy play & charge kits so you know how that goes.

Well with my track record of engineering, I'll decide to not pick on the work of others.

Aye, this happens more prominantly with blue hues, for some reason the blue is more likely to burn in (also the blue is usually first to 'wear' out with OLED screens)

For that reason, I recommend changing the background of your Vita away from the blue.

Bottom screen scratching vertical lines on the top screen for the original 3DS model. To this day, I don't think this has been addressed yet. Correct me if I'm wrong.

@charizard1605 said:

@TwistedShade said:

I don't know I haven't had any issues using the rear touchpad yet on the Vita, also can't you make folders to limit the bubble problem?

Still limited to 100 bubbles, even if you make folders. Which is even dumber.

@R3FURBISHED said:

Microsoft has a history of improving the shit out of their dashboard during the Xboxs life span. I don't get how Kinect being mandatory is a bad thing - its a great addition to the Xbox One.

No, you just proved my point, since Blades is infinitely superior to where the Dashboard ended up being.

@Telekill said:

PSV screen burn in? I've yet to see it or hear of it. How rampant is this?

OLED burn in. Happens about two years in assuming general usage over that period.

Wow. Different strokes for different folks. Blades were absolutely ridiculous. Just looking at that pic reminds of how blah that interface was. Dashboard destroys that old trash.

I actually agree that the XOne OS is a step back from the 360s in some ways. I don't agree with AA batteries being a problem though, because I'd rather be given the choice than being stuck with the pathetic built-in battery that the dualshock 4 has.

As for the PS4, I'd add the OS as well as a flaw. The XOne OS may be a step back (from the 360s), but its still a heck of a lot better than anything Sony has came up with.

PS4 Cons:

Should have background changed for OS. Also, Would like to see OS support launchers maybe like Android?

XB1 Cons:

Severely underpowered

Half Baked OS

Wii U:

For what I expected out of it, it's perfect. The games while not in quantity, have exceptional quality

Black also burns 'in' towards greenish hues.

My wallpaper has been switched away from the default blue to a Persona 4 Golden theme, so it's all yellow and stuff :P

I think it's pretty common.

My screen is burned, but I'm not whining about it.

... Alas, I did not know about the blacks burning to greens. Oops, I've had a gray background on my Vita since I had it.

Dat Golden theme. From dat game I still have not played.

How could you forget ps4 wobble?

That's a poor excuse. There is no excuse for terrible flaw that causes the wobble.

@Rage010101: It's not an excuse if you honestly don't care, which I don't. Also, my console doesn't wobble. I gave it a shot... Nothing. Either way, no crap's are given as long as it keeps playing my games.

Not a big deal at all. You have to put a decent amount of pressure on the corner for it to do that.

Almost spot-on imo. Except the lightbar for the DS4 is neither annoying, nor causes distraction for me at all. Although, the battery life is a major letdown...

But I added a few more negatives from my experience with the xbone..

I wish my DS4 could use replaceable AA batteries. The battery life on the controller is abysmal. It might as well just have been wired.

The light is annoying, but permanent marker made it bearable.

My PS4 wobbles; however like others have said it isn't a factor if your not screwing with it.

Xbox 1 OS is absolute disaster. Like it was invent by Chinese during Korean war to torture American with.

You can buy pattern sticker online for lightbar with PS symbol, clan name, other design if bothers you this much and you do not use camera.

Wii U, for all its emphasis on external storage, doesn't support USB 3.0. It's the most egregious flaw I can think of.