Forbes Article About PS4, Xbox 720, and Nintendo "Us"

Nothing really new, but I thought it was interesting to see an article like this about the new next-gen consoles that are still so far away:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/28/game-consoles-nextgen-tech-intel-cx_cm_0729consoles_print.html

 

Was that the helmet?

Um...that seems a little too crazy IMO, although I guess things could change in 6 years or so. Maybe keep the head-tracking idea, but do it differently. Seems like it was be easier and "safer" to continue down the road they're going, although I gave up trying to predict this kind of stuff a while back.

I'd rather keep it roughly the same, maybe just slightly less extreme (although that will probably happen regardless).

That seemed to make the most sense, although I will say that the more I think about it and the longer it takes to happen, the more I start to question this strategy.

Based on current trends, I'd be a bit more worried about Microsoft than Sony, especially if it takes another 6 or so years to get a new console (maybe not counting a Wii HD). Both will have a lot of tough decisions to make though.

Never really got into the gaming-device-as-a-phone idea, but I guess it could be pretty interesting. I know there are rumors that Sony wants to put out a PSP branded phone (or something like that), although those have been going on for a long time. I think you can actually use the PSP as a phone using Skype, although I'm not sure how good it is. Probably pretty awkward in its current form, something that would probably be much different in a device designed specifically for making calls.

 

Yeah, 2018 seems a bit too far off. 2012 is probably about right though. I could possibly be OK with 2014, although that starting to push it.

Yeah, I was thinking something along the same lines (basically where I got the term "head-tracking" from). I don't quite like the idea of having to put on a headset or something like that though. Maybe you could accomplish something similar with multiple cameras and/or sensors though (use facial recognition or something). Not sure if there is software out there that can handle this, but maybe it will be possible in another 5-6 years, especially as more research is done into user-interface technology.

I guess the next thing to look at is whether this will really improve games. The technology is pretty awesome, and it has its uses in a number of areas, but if it is going to be the next big innovation in gaming, it needs be offer an improvement over the old model. Nintendo (or whoever) would have to come up with a lot of great software that uses it well, making it easy for everyone to understand and enjoy. There's a lot of great tech out there, but it is sometimes difficult to find a way to use it correctly. Technically speaking, the technology with the Wii isn't particularly complex, but Nintendo was able to figure out a great way to implement it into a video game console.

I'm not so sure we'll see a repeat with the high prices when next-gen comes around, or at least I would think both companies would think long and hard about repeating history. Well...given the economy and other factors, that's probably not accurate, but I think both companies might try to play it a little safer with their next consoles. The next transition would be a bit easier than the last one; the move to HD, as well as other factors, made things kind of difficult.

They think about the next consoles as soon the current one hits store shelves, if not sooner. Pretty sure they already had some things planned for the PS3 when the PS2 was barely released. IIRC, development on Cell started around 2000 too.

If the systems are on the market for 3-4 extra years, this probably isn't a problem. Sony has done well with this strategy for 2-3 products, and I don't know if they'll be willing to make too much of a drastic change. Maybe too early to tell, but PS3 will probably still get them a lot of money...maybe even w/o counting anything related to Blu-ray.

I'd rather have more powerful systems and longer console generations, so I'd rather things stay similar to the 360/PS3...or perhaps a bit more like the PS2 might be a more accurate comparison.

I don't think the PC will be much of a competitor to these consoles for most people.

 

I agree. The PS3 was a bigger jump, and I'm not sure it would be necessary to do the same in future consoles. But the jump to the PS2 was still pretty big, and I think it might be something MS and Sony would try to stick to in future consoles. At least with the PS4, Sony wouldn't have to worry about extra costs with a new optical disc technology, and they possibly won't have to spend as much on designing and manufacturing a CPU (this might also help drop the costs for backwards compatibility, although it might depend on the PS4 using a Nvidia GPU).

You can still get a relatively big jump in hardware power while still providing a console that isn't too expensive.