Are You Ready For A New Generation Of Video Game Consoles?

Given what we've seen:
- MS really wanted to get the 360 out before the PS3. It might even be said that they rushed it, what with all of the quality control issues (RROD).
- Sony didn't rush, but lost some market share to the 360, had the most powerful and most advanced machine, and the highest price tag.
- No one knew what Nintendo was going to do, and then Nintendo went in a completely different direction from PS3 and 360 with the Wii, focusing on new inputs and add-ons while keeping the overall price of the machine low by keeping the overall technological power of their machine low.

So, MS had a 1 year jump on its competition, Sony had the highest price point and the most powerful machine, and Nintendo did their own thing. In my view, this sets up an upgrade cycle of Nintendo first, then MS, and then Sony.

With this current gen, these machines were marketed as direct competitors, despite release dates and price points. The consumer would buy one of these systems, and generally not the others, hence furthering the "there can be only one" mentality of the console wars.

If this plays out how I see it, consumers will have a solid 1-2 years between the release of each console. During this time, their money can be saved and used toward the purchase of another, different console rather than feeling that they have to pick one from a field of three.

I'm just thinking out loud here, but it feels to me like it's actually getting set up this way because the Wii is underpowered and virtually has to be replaced before the PS3, same with 360 with quality control issues, lack of HD/BluRay, etc.

Then again, I have no idea how this would impact 3rd party development so I guess I'm just talking out of my ass.

 

Biggest probelms with the wii are the graphics and the games.

 

Yet they are the best selling console by a long long way.

DD

 

One of those reasons is the same reason "crappy" kid-friendly movies are made and shown in the theaters...and continue to be made and shown.

Darn kids, heh.

 

I agree with this, especially given the cost of the new motion systems. The motion controllers breathe new life into the HD machines. I am waiting to see if the Move and Kinect become part of the default hardware bundles.

If Nintendo squeezed another 4+ years out of old hardware using novel controls, why not Microsoft and Sony? Could this be the moment when add ons are successful in getting third party support?

 

Absolutely, we need to stay on track for the PS5..

Ghost Of Christmas Future Taunts Children With Visions Of PlayStation 5



SOUTHFIELD, MI—Bored with scaring elderly misers, the Ghost of Christmas Future is spending the holiday season taunting modern children with visions of Christmas 2016's hottest toy: the Sony PlayStation 5, a 2,048-bit console featuring a 45-Ghz trinary processor, CineReal graphics booster with 2-gig biotexturing, and an RSP connector for 360-degree online-immersion play.

"You know how kids are—a year is an eternity to them," the wraithlike specter said Monday during a visit to the Southfield home of 13-year-old Josh Kuehn. "So just imagine showing them something they'll have to wait 14 years for. Teasing them with a glimpse of the PS5 is the ultimate torture. They absolutely lose their minds. It's like saying, 'Hey, kid, you'll be an old man before you ever get to touch this.'"

The Ghost of Christmas Future said he has visited more than 125,000 homes since Thanksgiving, offering children an agonizing sneak peek at what they cannot have for another decade and a half.

"I like to appear in the living room with a PS5 hooked up to 2016's most popular TV, the 4'x8' Hi-Def Sony Titania," the Ghost said. "Then, I'll say in my best spooky voice, 'Jimmy! Behold what your kids will be playing while you're slaving away at an office job to support them!'"

Driving the children mad with PS5 lust, the Ghost said, is a multi-step process.

"I usually start by showing them Toteki Aluminum, one of the future's most popular fight-and-chase games," the Ghost said. "It's far from the best available in 2016, but it always blows their mind to see the guy get hit with the falling sign while the drops of sweat fly off his face. You can see the whole scene, distorted, in each of the individual drops. That gives them a good preliminary idea of the graphics technology we're dealing with."

The Ghost said he then likes to show Airsledz, a racing game in which jet-powered sleds whoosh through a four-dimensional racing course in the sky. The game, he said, enables the player to compete online against dozens of other players all around the world.

"They always ask if you can play it on the Internet—it's so cute how they still call it 'the Internet'—and I tell them, 'Hey, you can play this against 63 other PS5 owners simultaneously. At least you can in 14 years,'" the Ghost said. "And you should see their jaws hit the floor when they learn about the add-on accessories that enable users to actually fly around the room during gameplay."

Once the capabilities of the system are conveyed to the children, the Ghost likes to push them further over the edge by showing them games specially targeted to their age group.

Younger children, he said, salivate upon seeing Level One of Zonic Fugue. In it, Zonic, the indigo-colored son of Sonic The Hedgehog, faces off against Chuckles The Echidna in a Terrordactyl sky-joust, attempting to earn the Ankle Rockets he needs to gather the five Chaos Sapphires that, when combined, form the master key that opens the Melody Dome.

To break the spirits of children 12 and up, the Ghost runs a brief demonstration of Back To Werewolf Island. The horror-action thriller, he said, will be produced in full 10.8 Omneo sound and feature new music from 40 of 2016's hottest skagcore acts, including FU3P, Dredgerous, and Frances Cobain.

"Sometimes, the kids will start getting defensive and say, 'Yeah, well, I don't know any of those characters, so big deal,'" the Ghost said. "That's when I pull out DC vs. Marvel."

The Ghost said he shows the children a brief clip of DC vs. Marvel, in which cinema-realistic figures of Spider-Man and the Joker dash across impossibly detailed city streets, attacking each other with dozens of different offensive maneuvers while leaping, somersaulting, and throwing objects.

"They usually start trembling at that point," the Ghost said. "That's when I go in for the kill by casually mentioning that the game comes packaged with the 2016 feature film of the same name—not on DVD, of course, but on SCAP. Ten times better."

The few children unbroken by DC vs. Marvel are invariably finished off by the sight of Star Wars—Episode IX: Jedi Destiny, a game which employs the world's most advanced artificial-intelligence algorithm to place the player inside the film's climactic battle sequence on the planet Mon Jeedam.

"With more than 12,000 distinct soldiers, creatures, and vehicles fighting at once, and the option to command the New Republic Fleet, the Imperial Armada, or the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion Force, it's not merely the best Star Wars game that's ever existed; it's an interactive film that looks better than any movie that's ever been made. No child has failed to sob hysterically at the sight of it."

The PlayStation 5 will be available in stores Nov. 12, 2016, at a list price of Δ399 New Dollars ($199 Canadian).

 

I'm ready but my wallet isnt.

 

NYTimes had an interview about how Japanese games were losing influence and part of it was an escalating arms race over blockbuster budgets.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/one-on-one-keiji-inafune-game-designer/

EA loves to outspend everyone, but it seems to be working.

 

if only PC games are still a priority for developers..

 

Wake me when sony comes out with that playstation that shoots spores up your nose.

 

Well IMHO as gaming consoles become more powerful I think you can expect the time difference between consoles to become longer and longer. There are many reasons for this:

1. More powerful machines so game makers take longer to maximize the new tech
2. Higher cost with each new cycle of systems so developers want to wait longer to maximize their return on each generation
3. More avenues for technology. Before it was just the SNES and Sega saturn. Now you have smart phones, pcs, laptops and portable gaming devices like the PSP to compete with the traditional game console. Rather focusing on just one game platform, developers can work on upgrading the the platforms available.

So as time goes on each gen will take longer and longer to come out. Personally though, I think the PSP needs an upgrade. The PSP GO doesn't really do anything unique, they need a psp 4K which can play PS2 games on a handheld.

 

How many of you guys have that much time to play all these games?
On top of that how many of you can afford to buy all these game systems and accessories plus the necessary equipment to have a good experience?

for example.

i have xbox360 elite : $280
plasma tv: $1100
surround sound: $600
extra controller: $50
internet service: $40/month
xboxlive: $50/year

ok, let's say I buy a game: $60
how about time?
work: 8 hours
sleep 8 hours
dinner: 1 hour
exercise: 1 hour
social life? 2 hours
tv watch: 2 hours
shopping/groceries: 1 hour
laundry/cleaning?
married?
kids?

why are people not ready for new systems?
answer:
Time and money

 

If you can afford it for your kids. They have all the time in the world.

Maybe that's why Wii was so successful, because they were aimed for kids who basically have nothing to do but play outside (do kids even do that anymore?).

 

Does the Wii need a new console to handle a controller that can sense being squeezed? That would make Punch Out a bit more realistic a little more awesome.

 

I dont think we are anywhere near next gen consoles.


The graphics for the PS3 and the 360 are fine. I would guess there is probably improvement that can be made in graphics for both systems.

I think the thing people forget is that, at some point the price of developing games with amazing graphics is just going to become so high that we will see less games being made.

You dont play either of the two systems and think "I wish the graphics were better". The whole idea of consoles upgrades in the past is that you'd get massive leaps in graphics and hardware upgrades to the point where the PS3 and 360 are both outstanding all round systems. Great graphics, sound, they are both fast....really, what more would you want?

Throw in the controllerless ad ons that cut into the Wii market.....what are people really thinking a next generation of consoles will bring to the table?


I think this current get for Sony and MS will be around for a very long time. The costs to develop new consoles and the cost to develop games for them consoles....it will just be way too high. Yeah both Sony and MS will see console sales slow for this gen, but I think for the first time that will be offset by things like sales on XBox Live.

 

The question isn't if we (the collective we) are ready for a new console, it's if we can pay for one.

I'm not talking about the economy, just as a PC gamer that knows a little bit about hardware. I'm not thinking that Microsoft or Sony wants to lose a crapload of money again anytime soon. They're just now just make some profit from the hardware, they've been raking it in on some software though.

No way they are skipping the gravy train of a mature hardware platform that actually (gasp!) makes a profit for once. That's one of the best things about consoles, as they get older, the games don't stay the same age. (Paraphrasing a lil there from Dazed and Confused) Developers learn about the hardware and can optimize code for it. Efficient code can be better than more brute force hardware. Still don't think that the current gen of consoles is really up to snuff hardware wise though.

They can play games in HD. That's great, but 720p is pretty low res. Of course with consoles you are sitting farther away so it doesn't matter as much. So the issue is really more on an effects standpoint. Can the current consoles be upgraded through firmware to add additional effects? What's the current limit?

To be honest, I think that the current gen of console hardware is still more than capable of doing it's intended job. As a PC gamer I just wish they'd make a frikkin' console with keyboard/mouse/other utility support so I don't have to spend a grand every 3-4 years on a new machine.

That's a next gen console I'd support. One that's fully capable of normal internet browsing, disc burning, other devices supporting (memory cards and whatnot), and what the hell, a tivo as well.

I would put money on that being the next console. The "home media center" that also plays games. With a controller. Damnit.