Have we seen the end of the generational leap for consoles?

[Fonejackerjon]

Remember how big the leap was from SNES to ps1, it was Massive! 2D to 3D, the ps1 to ps2 Sharp 3d images and blockiness improved, PS2 to PS3 saw the dawn of HD gaming, PS3 to PS4, well...the same games but a bit sharper, PS4 to PS4 Pro...minimal differences slightly better resolution and frame rate, But basically the games look the same.

Even the most powerful PC still output games that look the same as the base PS4, Yes the frame rate is better and yes it might be HD..ier but really from a subjective eye they really do not look that different.

So what will the PS5 be like, I am better the graphic will look marginally better and we will get 4K resolution, but is that enough to justify another ?300-400 for the same games but slightly better looking.

I look back at old PS3 games and current PS4 games and the differences so small, games do look better but no nearly as big as leaps in the past, and I think this trend will continue.

Anyone...bottom line When do you reckon we will get that WOW moment in gaming again? I doubt the PS5 or Xbox 'Anaconda' will deliver that. Have we reached diminishing returns?

Is it a good thing that consoles now have 'smartphone lifespans' As it means we will forever have backwards compatibility as the hardware is basically PC and modern PC's can play games from 1996 thank to similar architecture.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

One of the reasons I'm grateful for growing up in the 90s was getting to see all of the technical innovations in gaming happening right in front of me. Console generations these days can only really increase graphical fidelity and operating specs - all of the big breakthroughs like 3D mapping, responsive AI, realistic physics engines and the like have all been done already. We're kind of at the 'polishing' phase of game development, where all of the groundwork has been done and we're just making sure everything looks as pretty and runs as smoothly as possible. It's a good place to be, I suppose, but nowhere near as exciting (from an innovation point of view) as the late 80s/early 90s, with their clunky as hell graphics but with new engines around every corner.

Now, if Augmented Reality actually catches on that could be an interesting new chapter in game/console design. We've all seen the VR bird struggle to take off and crash so many times I don't hold out too much hope for it, but AR (which gets around the main stumbling block of VR - the motion sickness -) could well be worth keeping an eye on. Like with traditional games consoles, I think the first wave or two of AR focused devices will be clunky as hell (the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrums of their time) but I think we would see the medium mature rapidly as it would be able to take many cues from the already developed games market.

TL;DR: I think console gaming has had it's 'growth spurt' and is now maturing at a steady pace, but there are things on the horizon that have the potential to shake things up again. Exciting times or pie-in-the-sky ideas? Time will tell.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

Law of diminishing returns applies heavily. Now it will be about advancing things like A.I., rendering realist damage systems involving physics, Ray Tracing, etc. Next gen might be even more of a jump than this last one was depending on what they do.

Having said that, even this gen was a decent leap over last. Horizon, God of War, RDR2, all would?ve been severely gimped if they were released on the memory-starved 360/PS3.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

The next WOW moment will be full VR, either like the .hack series(the in-universe game I mean) or the holodeck. Anything other than that? Nah, won't matter.
Like wow, this disembodied hand in this VR game looks slightly more realist than the previous game. Still can't actually touch, or smell anything and I'm limited in my movement and interactivity within the world, and it only cost me $400 for the upgraded VR Nero V.xxII_Radical.

 

[Squilookle]

Last time I saw a leap in what consoles could actually do was going from the N64/PS1 to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/Dreamcast. Since then it's just allll been about the graphics.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

The next WOW moment will be full VR, either like the .hack series(the in-universe game I mean) or the holodeck. Anything other than that? Nah, won't matter.
Like wow, this disembodied hand in this VR game looks slightly more realist than the previous game. Still can't actually touch, or smell anything and I'm limited in my movement and interactivity within the world, and it only cost me $400 for the upgraded VR Nero V.xxII_Radical.

From there, it will be full brain integration. Ghost in the Shell/Johnny Mnemonic level stuff. And that's when I'll tap out. Because I will not mess with my body and mind like that.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

The next WOW moment will be full VR, either like the .hack series(the in-universe game I mean) or the holodeck. Anything other than that? Nah, won't matter.
Like wow, this disembodied hand in this VR game looks slightly more realist than the previous game. Still can't actually touch, or smell anything and I'm limited in my movement and interactivity within the world, and it only cost me $400 for the upgraded VR Nero V.xxII_Radical.

From there, it will be full brain integration. Ghost in the Shell/Johnny Mnemonic level stuff. And that's when I'll tap out. Because I will not mess with my body and mind like that.

Its does seems so. Technology, not just games have stalled, Smartphones are now all the same minimal upgrades each time and Tv's. It just seems there no innovations around the corner. AR might take off but not for ages.

 

[skywolfblue]

The next generation is 2020 or so?

I really don't see 4k being "worth it", given the average person can't see the difference between 4k and 1080 at regular living room distances.

The biggest most expensive rigs today are having trouble processing VR.

VR still lacks a killer app. A game that says "I need this!". VR seems to be suffering a lot of the same issues as the Kinect. At first there seems loads of potential, but then it turns out to have major limitations/flaws, and no killer app gets built, and then it dies.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

The next generation is 2020 or so?

I really don't see 4k being "worth it", given the average person can't see the difference between 4k and 1080 at regular living room distances.

The biggest most expensive rigs today are having trouble processing VR.

VR still lacks a killer app. A game that says "I need this!". VR seems to be suffering a lot of the same issues as the Kinect. At first there seems loads of potential, but then it turns out to have major limitations/flaws, and no killer app gets built, and then it dies.

You probably right. Without sounding too negative the next gen is likely to be the most boring and have games that virtually look identical to the previous gen unless you have a 4k comparison video and someone says 'well....the water and sky on the ps5 version looks a bit sharper than the ps4 version' mmmm...well worth the ?400 upgrade then

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

VR is the next big leap but we're in for a long, long wait. None of the stuff I've seen or played in VR so far has ever felt like anything more than a fickle prototype.

 

[Yoshi178]

VR is the next big leap

LMFAO!

they sure are taking their sweet time getting that dead horse off the ground then it seems. VR was big for like 5 minutes and then for the last 2 years, people have barely talked about it LMAO!

 

[Fonejackerjon]

VR is the next big leap

LMFAO!

they sure are taking their sweet time getting that dead horse off the ground then it seems. VR was big for like 5 minutes and then for the last 2 years, people have barely talked about it LMAO!

I think he means when people don?t have to wear a monstrosity on their heads and can jack in like the Matrix. Right know it?s still just too gimmicky, but at least they?ve made some bigger strides since Virtual Boy.

 

[Yoshi178]

VR is the next big leap

LMFAO!

they sure are taking their sweet time getting that dead horse off the ground then it seems. VR was big for like 5 minutes and then for the last 2 years, people have barely talked about it LMAO!

I think he means when people don?t have to wear a monstrosity on their heads and can jack in like the Matrix. Right know it?s still just too gimmicky, but at least they?ve made some bigger strides since Virtual Boy.

i actually really want a virtual boy just for the novelty of it at this point. lol

 

[gorfias]

Simply improving graphics has hit the diminishing returns point. My last WOW moment was putting a 4 meg memory pak in an N64 and playing Star Wars Pod Racing. Gameplay hit console perfection with the PS2 controller. It's all been incremental improvements.

That doens't mean there's been no improvement. Go incrementally from PS2 to Xbox One X, and it is notable. Will 8K deliver anything at all? Maybe if you have an 85" TV and sit 3 feet from it.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Last time I saw a leap in what consoles could actually do was going from the N64/PS1 to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/Dreamcast. Since then it's just allll been about the graphics.

You're kidding, right? The step from PS2/XBox up to PS3/Xbox 360 was huge in terms of what games could deliver. If nothing else the step up from the PS2 with 32mb of RAM (with an additional 4(!) dedicated video memory) and Xbox (with 64mb of RAM) to 512 in the PS3 and Xbox 360 allowed for vastly more data to be processed and temporarily stored. The "open world revolution" of the late-00's was made possible by this massive increase in internal memory, which allowed for big open worlds that were actually filled with seamless gameplay activities instead of discrete instances with load time. Sure, a lot of that memory was used for increase graphical fidelity, but a lot of games also used their new found treasure trove of memory to implement advanced gameplay systems, such as actual physics engines. GTA IV was lauded because of its extensive use of the early, rudimentary HAVOK engine and The Force Unleashed drew upon physics heavily for the novelty factor of having force powers actually use the physics engine. Games like BioShock also showed what could be done when you could have advanced status effects like fire, oil and freezing on both geometry and NPCs and interacting with each other, something that simply had not been possible in real time with just 32mbs of RAM.

The increased storage of the BluRay/HDDVD (the latter being a massive dud, though) also allowed for more raw game. A lot of that was more graphics sure, but higher quality audio, more audio in general and more complex level design were all things that were suddenly enabled when the 8gb per disk restriction was pushed to upwards of 40gb in one stroke.

I have no quarrel with saying that the upgrade between PS3/Xbox 360 to PS4/Xbox1 was pretty incremental and was chiefly about graphics. But to say that the leap from the sixth to the seventh generation was only about graphics is to do it a huge disfavor. A lot of the modern gameplay that we are used to today was introduced in the seventh generation and was made possible by the massive increase in processing power and internal memory that the seventh generation brought with it.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Last time I saw a leap in what consoles could actually do was going from the N64/PS1 to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/Dreamcast. Since then it's just allll been about the graphics.

You're kidding, right? The step from PS2/XBox up to PS3/Xbox 360 was huge in terms of what games could deliver. If nothing else the step up from the PS2 with 32mb of RAM (with an additional 4(!) dedicated video memory) and Xbox (with 64mb of RAM) to 512 in the PS3 and Xbox 360 allowed for vastly more data to be processed and temporarily stored. The "open world revolution" of the late-00's was made possible by this massive increase in internal memory, which allowed for big open worlds that were actually filled with seamless gameplay activities instead of discrete instances with load time. Sure, a lot of that memory was used for increase graphical fidelity, but a lot of games also used their new found treasure trove of memory to implement advanced gameplay systems, such as actual physics engines. GTA IV was lauded because of its extensive use of the early, rudimentary HAVOK engine and The Force Unleashed drew upon physics heavily for the novelty factor of having force powers actually use the physics engine. Games like BioShock also showed what could be done when you could have advanced status effects like fire, oil and freezing on both geometry and NPCs and interacting with each other, something that simply had not been possible in real time with just 32mbs of RAM.

The increased storage of the BluRay/HDDVD (the latter being a massive dud, though) also allowed for more raw game. A lot of that was more graphics sure, but higher quality audio, more audio in general and more complex level design were all things that were suddenly enabled when the 8gb per disk restriction was pushed to upwards of 40gb in one stroke.

I have no quarrel with saying that the upgrade between PS3/Xbox 360 to PS4/Xbox1 was pretty incremental and was chiefly about graphics. But to say that the leap from the sixth to the seventh generation was only about graphics is to do it a huge disfavor. A lot of the modern gameplay that we are used to today was introduced in the seventh generation and was made possible by the massive increase in processing power and internal memory that the seventh generation brought with it.

Not to belittle the RAM leaps of the last couple of generations but nothing has ever quite changed the way people play and experience a videogame like going from 2D to 3D. Everything this side of the 5th gen has felt like a natural evolution of mastering fully 3D graphics and enviroments. There was of course such a thing as faux 3D or 2.5D graphics (ie. Doom) before *actual* 3D though I think that was mostly (exclusively?) on PC. As far as consoles go, the way we relate to games has changed very little on a basic interactive level. I really believe VR - however it's packaged - is going to be the next leap but like I said there's a ways to go before studios master the form, let alone make it into the norm.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

The last game to blow my mind beyond mere increases in graphical fidelity was Mario 64. Just controlling Mario and exploring his move set around the outskirts of the castle was more fun than 99% of anything else at the time in terms of gameplay. It was like the proverbial lid was blown off the jar of possibilities.

Wave Race 64 was pretty cool too in terms of realistically simulating the waves and having them affect how well you can perform.

 

[Squilookle]

Last time I saw a leap in what consoles could actually do was going from the N64/PS1 to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/Dreamcast. Since then it's just allll been about the graphics.

You're kidding, right? The step from PS2/XBox up to PS3/Xbox 360 was huge in terms of what games could deliver. If nothing else the step up from the PS2 with 32mb of RAM (with an additional 4(!) dedicated video memory) and Xbox (with 64mb of RAM) to 512 in the PS3 and Xbox 360 allowed for vastly more data to be processed and temporarily stored. The "open world revolution" of the late-00's was made possible by this massive increase in internal memory, which allowed for big open worlds that were actually filled with seamless gameplay activities instead of discrete instances with load time. Sure, a lot of that memory was used for increase graphical fidelity, but a lot of games also used their new found treasure trove of memory to implement advanced gameplay systems, such as actual physics engines. GTA IV was lauded because of its extensive use of the early, rudimentary HAVOK engine and The Force Unleashed drew upon physics heavily for the novelty factor of having force powers actually use the physics engine. Games like BioShock also showed what could be done when you could have advanced status effects like fire, oil and freezing on both geometry and NPCs and interacting with each other, something that simply had not been possible in real time with just 32mbs of RAM.

The increased storage of the BluRay/HDDVD (the latter being a massive dud, though) also allowed for more raw game. A lot of that was more graphics sure, but higher quality audio, more audio in general and more complex level design were all things that were suddenly enabled when the 8gb per disk restriction was pushed to upwards of 40gb in one stroke.

I have no quarrel with saying that the upgrade between PS3/Xbox 360 to PS4/Xbox1 was pretty incremental and was chiefly about graphics. But to say that the leap from the sixth to the seventh generation was only about graphics is to do it a huge disfavor. A lot of the modern gameplay that we are used to today was introduced in the seventh generation and was made possible by the massive increase in processing power and internal memory that the seventh generation brought with it.

I'm not saying the potential wasn't there- I just haven't seen any games bring anything significant to the table since then. It's all just been graphics, graphics, graphics

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I think you're in for a surprise then. Don't worry about graphics and shiny things, worry more about future business models.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Not to belittle the RAM leaps of the last couple of generations but nothing has ever quite changed the way people play and experience a videogame like going from 2D to 3D. Everything this side of the 5th gen has felt like a natural evolution of mastering fully 3D graphics and enviroments. There was of course such a thing as faux 3D or 2.5D graphics (ie. Doom) before *actual* 3D though I think that was mostly (exclusively?) on PC. As far as consoles go, the way we relate to games has changed very little on a basic interactive level. I really believe VR - however it's packaged - is going to be the next leap but like I said there's a ways to go before studios master the form, let alone make it into the norm.

You're right and I never meant to imply that the 5th gen wasn't the most pivotal upgrade in terms of console generations. My quarrel was with the idea that the 7th gen was just about graphics, when it was the generation that brought with it most of the gameplay and game systems that we still use 10 year laters. It is not as pivotal as the switch to 3D, but it is way, way more significant then the relatively incremental upgrade in graphics between the 7th and 8th gen.

GTA IV stands as the testament to how significant the improved hardware of the 7th gen was. A world much bigger than previous games, a fully implemented physics engine, procedural reactive animations, a metric fuck ton of radio channels and licensed music, TV shows within the game and seamless transitions between open world activities and open world traversal, just to name a few things that weren't related to the graphics. There's a reason why GTA IV got such rave reviews at launch, because it was the game that showed just what the hardware of the 7th gen was capable of doing. GTA IV has also aged terribly and is today a mediocre game at best, with a lot of people questioning how it could ever get such unanimous praise, which shows how commonplace the revolutionary features of GTA IV have become. People tend to forget how constrained games of the PS2/Xbox era actually were in terms of design space, because the paltry memory and processing power at the tail end of the 6th gen put a pretty low roof on how complex games could be.