Poll: Do we really want next Gen consoles?

[Sefa Lagaaia]

Now, before I start my spiel, I understand the benefits of a new console generation, you can produce games that look better, run better, have more content, yada yada yada... BUT, is it really worth it? I mean, where does it stop? are we going to keep going until we hit the freaking roof? I personally would be perfectly happy with a PS3 or Xbox360 (I refuse to say which I have, I'm not that stupid) and yet these companies still think the way forward is to make the technology pretty much the same, but make it faster, I think that if you're going to bring out a new console Generation, make it something like a VR sim, I don't want a PS4 or Nextbox or whatever the hell it is, I want to be able to throw a helmet on and run that shit with my mind, I would be willing to fork over cash for that, not this next gen bull, for which the only good reason for buying it is because all the game companies are now developing for them, why not just stop until we can do something really good with consoles, not just adding the ability to stream from your remote, because I can do that with an HDPVR and some time, I don't need to buy another bloody console for it. What do you think Escapists? Do we really need another generation of the same crap with small improvements? Or do you want the the next big thing? *cough*VRconsole*cough*

 

[Anachronism]

The way I see it, current gen graphics are more than good enough for pretty much any game, and any further advance we could make is going to require huge investment for only a very little gain. We've pretty much hit the ceiling as far as that goes, and we're still getting great games for the current consoles because developers know how to work with them. AAA games are already ruinously expensive to make, and a new console generation is only going to exacerbate that because of the need to keep making graphics better, and because developers will need to learn a whole new set of tools. It's probably going to lead to games having even less content and taking even fewer risks than they do now, because publishers will be even less able to afford to take those risks.

Hooray for the indie, Kickstarter-based PC scene, I say. Bring on Project Eternity and the new Torment.

 

[krazykidd]

I think that , before making a new console, we need to find a more cost efficient way to make games. Games cost way too much to make , and takes too much time to make . Seriously , 3 years and a couple of million dollars for 1 AAA game is way too much . We need to concentrate on reducing the time and money to develop a game whild keeping the same quality . Then we would be ready for a new generation .

But then again . PC is being held back because of consoles. Even though i'm only play on console , i felt that needed to be mentionned .

 

[caseh]

I want the next gen because untill the development focus will shift towards PCs we are going to be stuck with the same boring AIs we had for the last 10+ years.

I don't see why people seem to think that the shift to next gen will just suddenly fix AI issues in games. I get it most likely takes more processing power to implement efficiently but Seriously though, do you think during this gen of consoles devs were like 'oh, well we just don't have the processing power so we'll make it look nice but the AI will be dumb as f*ck', highly unlikely.

Its not like the next gen of consoles will give birth to self-aware AI or anything.

 

[caseh]

Its a human limitation if you ask me rather than a hardware solution.

Few years back in uni we had a project to create a relatively simple turn-based game, so AI was tasked to one of the guys in the team. Using crap like Dijkstra's SPF algorithms etc blah and yet the simplest changes in the way you play would just throw the AI out of whack.

I can't even imagine the ball-ache that goes into nailing the AI in sports games for example, there are just too many variables to pin down and if you play a game enough you will eventually find those missing variables, and exploit em.

 

[DoPo]

Nah, we don't need technology going forwards. Why would we? In fact, do we really need this console generation? What good did it bring to us? I'll be happy myself to just use a typewriter.

If you get what I mean. Technology evolves. A lot. Like, all the time. Old technology becomes obsolete soon and keeping it around tends to be a hindrance. Sure, you may be happy using it, but some people would be happy using sticks and stone, as well as straight up animals labour

Then are we to say "Oh, if they are OK with this, we don't need to be making flying cars". No, technology advances to allow more and better stuff. And those would become obsolete but fuck it - it's a ladder, we can't get to two steps beyond without making the next step.

And how limiting are the current consoles you ask? OK, Dwarf Fortress. If you haven't heard of this game, it's free and the graphics are nonexistent.

This is it. You would struggle to run it on an Xbox 360. I don't think it would run on the PS3, although it may just be horribly slow. Yes, that game. This is just one of the things that the current consoles are limited at. More RAM would get you bigger areas in a lot of games, so you could make levels larger. It also means you can put more NPCs around more easily and with more complex behaviour. More enemies, more allies, heck, more of both - you can watch them fight then. That's all besides graphics

Do we really need this? No. But by the exact same token we do not need anything the current consoles provide. Anything. How can you justify their existence and still deny the new consoles entry is beyond me.

 

[Daft Time]

I'm of two minds about this; cool! As the average standard of power goes up developers will have fewer technological limitations. We could see some interesting innovations as we have had with previous leaps likes this. Which is great and all; but I'm fairly content with what we're capable of creating under the limitations of the current average.

In fact, the new console generation is going to mean I'm going to have to upgrade my PC for this first time in a long time. The current long console generation and focusing on developing for non-PC platforms has allowed me to go a very long time without needing to spend money on hardware to run my games on reasonably high settings.

 

[shrekfan246]

I want the next gen because untill the development focus will shift towards PCs we are going to be stuck with the same boring AIs we had for the last 10+ years.

I don't see why people seem to think that the shift to next gen will just suddenly fix AI issues in games. I get it most likely takes more processing power to implement efficiently but Seriously though, do you think during this gen of consoles devs were like 'oh, well we just don't have the processing power so we'll make it look nice but the AI will be dumb as f*ck', highly unlikely.

Its not like the next gen of consoles will give birth to self-aware AI or anything.

I don't think you realize how limiting 512 MB of RAM and an eight/nine year-old 3 GHz processor really is.

OT: I'm looking forward to it. It's obvious developers are struggling with what they've got right now. Three completely separate primary systems to develop for, now they're porting to the Wii U too, all with vastly different dev kits, hardware, abilities. Nothing is properly optimized for anything anymore. PC games get stuck with preset untweakable graphics and mouse acceleration, console games struggle to run anything faster than 30 FPS if it's not a tight corridor shooter or 2D platformer and frequently dip below 30 FPS, big glitches slip through the cracks more and more often. If Microsoft's next console uses x86 architecture too, then developing/porting for the PC, PS4, and Nextbox isn't going to be as massive a hassle as it is right now. Better ports, easier development, which means more time could go in for Q&A, more work could be put on letting players explore the worlds again within the linear stories, textures won't have to be insanely compressed just so the consoles won't explode, and maybe we'll finally be able to get out of the uncanny valley of character model animations where everyone has stiff cardboard arms and fingers.

I'll have to upgrade the ol' PC, but I was planning on that anyway.

 

[Legion]

I am completely and utterly apathetic towards it. I don't think it's a bad idea, but nothing I have seen or heard so far has made me look forward to it either.

That may change when we get more details, but to be honest it seems like the console developers are simply trying to make the next gen about multi-media machines and I only care about consoles for gaming. A PC upgrade would pretty much be cheaper and more effective way of continuing with that.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

I like new things and I hate old shit, I now proclaim myself as the Alpha Pariah of the Escapist.

Captcha: 'End of Story'. Damn straight.

 

[uchytjes]

I want it for, if anything, better PC games/ports. Also, the advancement of technology is always good.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Yes, but not for graphics, which seem to be the most obvious and most touted upgrade. The graphics we have on current gen consoles are plenty for any game. But there are a lot of other things that could be improved. For example, and although it's a pity it isn't related to consoles, I saw a video on SimCity's AI recently, in which it was basically stated the game couldn't assign every person an individual life consisting of social, work and home places and preferred ways to get there because it chugs the computer, and I remember thinking "in this day and age, a game cannot just have each virtual person 3 places and routes? Ridiculous."

Very basically though, if it weren't that new consoles are the only way I'll be able to get new games, I wouldn't mind staying in the current gen assuming new games released are as good as the best released so far.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I want a new generation of games as much as the next guy.

It's the surplus amount of bullshit that seems to accompany it that's really bothering me. It's coming to a point where I'm wondering if it's even worth it. At this point, the Wii U seems to have the least amount of nonsense features of all three, and that's including the stupid touchscreen.

There's also the fear of triple-A games becoming even greater epicly bloated affairs.

 

[mohit9206]

Let me begin by saying that i still play regularly on my PS2. In fact i bought 5 new games for my PS2 today which are SSX On Tour, Indiana Jones and emperor of tomb, Tekken 5, Time Crisis 3 and BLACK.
So i really not too bothered by the next generation of consoles as i know i wont be buying them anytime soon. I am not a tech freak so i am very satisfied with mediocre graphics as long as the gameplay and story are good. However i do own a gaming PC on which i play all the latest titles that launch every month. So I voted for Don't mind because although i won't be buying any next gen console I however realize their importance when it comes to getting better ports of console games on my PC.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I think that , before making a new console, we need to find a more cost efficient way to make games. Games cost way too much to make , and takes too much time to make . Seriously , 3 years and a couple of million dollars for 1 AAA game is way too much . We need to concentrate on reducing the time and money to develop a game whild keeping the same quality . Then we would be ready for a new generation .

But then again . PC is being held back because of consoles. Even though i'm only play on console , i felt that needed to be mentionned .

It's possible that it could work out the same.

Tons of money is spent this generation on optimization. Squeezing every last drop out of the 512mb ram available. We've seen that for games like Skyrim, it really wasn't enough and a lot of money was spent on a lot of tricks in order to get a game at or near 30 FPS. Then there's the PS3, which makes porting expensive due to the cell and the optimizations involved there due to RAM limitations.

Companies already have the higher quality textures and assets (the ones you turn on on the PC), and their engines and toolkits have the tesselation, depth of field, and other tricks that make games look "next-gen" already in the bag. For the console, they don't design low-res assets, generally HQ ones are made that are then lowered and compressed to fit and be streamed from a console disc. So basically, these studios have had the graphics these "next-gen" systems can run for awhile now.

The x86 unified architecture of the PS4 and rumored nextbox might actually make things cheaper. Devs could use the assets they have, and apply the ideas they have, without being worried about going over memory and having to design around it. Ports should be an extremely cheap and much easier process than in our last gen. My hope is that graphics look slightly better (take a 360 game, run it in real 1080p with 2-4xAA and 16x AF, more draw distance and DoF) without costing much more money at all (which is very possible), and the new power used to open up levels and increase the sophistication of AI and battle systems. A lot of these hallway games we have now are the result of memory limitations forcing small levels at the graphical fidelity in question.

A major problem that persists is marketing, regardless of console. So much marketing today is redundant, unnecessary, and can cost as much as the game itself or more to produce and run. If next-gen consoles would really beat the hell out of the publishers and make them go bankrupt, why is Ubisoft practically begging for them? Why are indie devs excited about them? Development should be more efficient, engines should include even more out-of-the-box, and less work is required for both porting and working with optimization. I don't think they'll stop insane publishers from doing $25-50 million dollar crazy marketing on TV, Internet, and everywhere fucking else (GTA in NYC, anyone)?

But yes, I'm excited. I want to see what exclusives Sony's teams have been working on, I can't wait to see what the gamepad on the Wii U can really do, and I can't wait for PC ports to not be hindered by their tethering to a system with 512mb RAM. If next-gen consoles would be too expensive and bankrupt the industry, the industry wouldn't be making and pushing them forward.

 

[SweetWarmIce]

If we've reached or are going to reach the absolute limits of the 360 and PS3. Then yes I think we need the next gen consoles when they're ready.