Poll: Who really wants a new console?

[StBishop]

More processing power is always good. There is actually no reason to be opposed to a new console generation.

Finances. I'f prefer if there was not a new console generation until I'm finished uni. That being said, I can always do what I did when the 360 launched (PS3 came out like 18 months after the 360 in Australia).
Play PC games and old games that I never got around to until the console is like $400.00 rather than $700.00

That's reasonable

Let's hold back technology and innovation until StBishop and others like him have finished uni.

Totally reasonable, it's not like they don't have to buy the new console at launch and wait until they have the funds.

Oh... wait... I've got it, YOU CAN JUST WAIT! Wow, such a simple solution.

Seriously, the money argument is such a shit reason for holding back the whole industry.

Except you're forgetting that I was asked if I wanted a new generation.

 

[karloss01]

If they make new consoles with a proper backwards compatibility (none of this download patch or ?we chose only a select few to run?) then I?m for it. As with this generation, the launch titles are usually tame and could have been released on the previous console and/or are generally crap. if I?m going to invest in a new console I want to play my old games on it to tide me over until some good games come out for it.

Also I?d be surprised if Microsoft announces a new this year, I would have expected them to hold Halo 4 for it.

 

[launchpadmcqak13]

I'm 100% for being at the forefront of technology. I want games that I can't tell the difference between it and real life. I want it to be an immersive, encapsulating and fun storytelling experience. Obviously we are years away from anything close, but progress will only bring us closer.

My fears are exactly what they were with the last console generation. Xbox pushed a system that hadn't been fully tested (red ring) and sony arrogantly thought that they were untouchable (600 price tag). I've lost all hope for a decent system in Nintendo with their focus on children/bulk masses, and will not be picking that up. (Wii U is slightly better than a 6 year old 360)http://wiiudaily.com/2011/12/wii-u-has-quad-core-3ghz-cpu-768-mb-of-ram/

With ample time/testing and a focus on the experience/being at the cutting edge of tech, these systems should prove to blow our current gen out of the water. I, for one, can't wait.

 

[Griffolion]

With the announcement of a new Xbox (and possibly Playstation, though I've heard rumors of Sony not debuting a new console), I have to ask; why? Why do we need another console? I've become accustomed to the way my Xbox360 works and do not look forward to having to upgrade to the new Xbox(720?). Maybe I'm just the odd man out on this issue, but I feel like so much more could be done with the current technology.

By the way, a lot of this comes from my hatred of Kinect, and for some reason I feel that the new Xbox will use a lot of the motion feature, which would be a deal breaker for me.

So, what do you want? The current generation, or the next?

There's only so much that can be done with the current generation and we are very close to the limits. The PS3 in particular had a poor GPU (let mainly down by a horrific lack of dedicated memory) and a very limiting amount of main memory that leaves the otherwise beastly processor with nothing to do.

New generations are good, but to be honest consoles don't excite me anyway, I'm more of a PC guy and any gaming I feel like kicking back and doing just gets done on my phone/tablet, especially now that GTA 3 is out.

I've wanted the new Xbox since the release of the Xbox360. The thing is, the X360 was 1 year in the obsolete section before it was even released. Heck, the thing has 256mb of RAM. I can get a gig for under $10 now.

The 360 has 512MB of RAM, it's the PS3 that has 256MB with an additional 256MB of XDR VRAM.

Oh yeah, was thinking about the PS3, but yeah, the thing is, besides the fact that there's 512mb of RAM, the fact is, the Dashboard takes up 90mb of it (its completely unusable), and the XDK takes up a nice chunk at 50-100 MB depending on what features you want to load (want to load the drivers for voice controls? How about video?). By the end, you get about 200-300mb of RAM to work with. When you're dealing with high resolution graphics, the fact that developers have been able to render so much on the X360 is amazing at best.

Heck, the GPU has 500 mhZ of processing power. GPUs at release for cards in the PC were already at the 1.0 ghZ by that time (I can't remember, that was a while ago).

Incorrect, the GPU core clock for many main stream graphics cards back in Q1 2007 were between 500 and 600 MHz. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-video-cards-money,1558-4.html

The memory clock for same graphics cards, however, were between 1500 and 2000 MHz effective rate. Something the RSX was also in line with.

 

[Tayh]

What exactly are those boundaries? Excluding even higher end graphics, what boundaries are the current consoles presenting us as gamers that you feel a more powerful console system would be able to over come?

How about... More then 10 NPC's on per village in Bethesda games, better textures, less pop-in, further view distance, better/more extensive NPC AI and pathfinding, actual dynamic enviroments... Who knows, something we could not even imagine today. Someone's going to push those boundaries, no doubt.

 

[Griffolion]

(Wii U is slightly better than a 6 year old 360)http://wiiudaily.com/2011/12/wii-u-has-quad-core-3ghz-cpu-768-mb-of-ram/

That's not true, lets compare specs roughly

WiiU

Quad Core, 3 GHz PowerPC-based 45nm CPU, very similar to the Xbox 360 chip.
768 MB of DRAM ?embedded? with the CPU, and shared between CPU and GPU
Unknown, 40nm ATI-based GPU (most likely a 4800)

XBOX
triple-core IBM 3.2ghz
90 nm GPU with 10 MB eDRAM (Most likely a ATI Radeon X1900/X1950)
512MB RAM


Notice how the WiiU has a better CPU, it has 70x the EDRAM and has a GPU which is a few generations newer and has the tech advancements of the 7000 series.

The fact you think it is slight better is, actually it isn't surprising at all after reading a few threads.

From what I've read, much like the newer Xbox 360's, the processor, memory and GPU will be on one die, acting very much like a SoC within phones. This cuts back on space in the device itself and centralises the main core areas that will require cooling.

The name of the game with consoles has always been to create a stable, constrained platform to get developers to create the very best within the environment.

 

[AngloDoom]

Just do what I usually do - cry for two or three years after the console is released, while saving up and waiting for the console and the good games to go down in price. If you think this current gen needs more love, give it just that. Don't let the rest of the world hold you and my impoverished ass back.

My 360 is just about shagged anyway, it was a second-hand, three-time Red-Ring-o'-Death survivor that now clunks like a Howitzer when you turn it on. Hopefully next generation will actually be stressed-tested a little.

 

[Fishyash]

Finances. I'f prefer if there was not a new console generation until I'm finished uni. That being said, I can always do what I did when the 360 launched (PS3 came out like 18 months after the 360 in Australia).
Play PC games and old games that I never got around to until the console is like $400.00 rather than $700.00

If that was the case, wouldn't you want it to come out sooner, so when you finish uni the console will probably be cheaper, and have more games available? Or is the fact you want to buy it when it first comes out that important to you?

 

[Littaly]

Wouldn't be able to afford one if it came out, so I'd rather this console generation takes its sweet time to die. It's not like all possibilities of this generations has been exhausted anyway (even though Ubisoft seems to think so).

 

[kaizen2468]

I prefer the end of system cycles. People start pushing the limits of the consoles and making the really good games. Not a fan of system launches where it's retarded expensive and the games suck.

 

[barbzilla]

Hmm, I'm wondering when the first goons will show up to tell me that graphics don't matter and based on that we don't need more power...

Well I have great news for you then, with the amount of time it takes to push production on a few million units of a new console (not to mention produce games for it) you are looking at a couple more years of gaming goodness from your current generation hardware.

 

[StBishop]

Finances. I'f prefer if there was not a new console generation until I'm finished uni. That being said, I can always do what I did when the 360 launched (PS3 came out like 18 months after the 360 in Australia).
Play PC games and old games that I never got around to until the console is like $400.00 rather than $700.00

If that was the case, wouldn't you want it to come out sooner, so when you finish uni the console will probably be cheaper, and have more games available? Or is the fact you want to buy it when it first comes out that important to you?

More worried about them discontinuing games on my current console.

 

[ThreeWords]

Because, if everyone thought like you, we'd still be playing Super Mario Bro's style games. Technology advancement would stagnate.

Also, it would give modern game development a push, allowing them to advance beyond the boundaries currently set by the console limitations.

Super Mario Bros > Modern Warfare

Just putting that out there.

 

[Tayh]

As I read more and more of this thread I've come to realize something. The ones who want a new generation are the PC gamers and the ones who don't are the console gamers. I think that statement speaks for itself. It's rather arrogant to ask for a product that you're not going to spend money on yourself.

Arrogant, maybe. But look at what you just wrote.
You want everyone else, console and PC gamers alike, to play on obsolete hardware or gaming technology just because YOU don't want to upgrade.
I call that Selfish.

 

[suitepee7]

Also, the announcement of the new consoles wouldn't bring them before 2013, most likely 2014.

Good point, that would give the current gen enough time to live out their life cycle and provide the remainder of fun they have left.

not to mention another year or so grace period where most big budget games are made for both versions, just a crappier version for the older models. to be honest, there is no huge rush anyway, the announcement will literally just be "its official, we are going to make a new console", and maybe detail a couple of features. you might not even get a name. personally i think consoles are due an upgrade in technology. i don't want more features really, just better and faster versions of what already exists, and i'll be very pleased

 

[Shiny Rabbit]

I didn't vote. I would be more than happy for a new console, however, it would have to offer something more than a graphics upgrade that will take months or years to be seen. Smoother online play with more features, better media playback (e.g. blu ray on Xbox or support for more digital video formats.