The next generation of gaming is coming

[Stu]

maybe it's me but over the last two generations i've yet to see any real innovation.

[Canas Renvall]

Yes, legitimized motion control, HD graphics, the rise of downloadable content, controllerless games, the mainstream-ization of online play... Psh, naaaaah. That's nothin'.

[Darkmoon]

OK, I realize my opinion is woefully ill informed, and hope some of you techy types can set me straight here. But I'm kinda wondering if going to the Next Gen is really a great idea. I shall now explain.

As I understand these things, the current generation of games are taking more time and money to create than the older ones because they're harder to make. So each game is making less of a profit despite the prices going up. I noticed in the UK that they tried raising prices a year or two back up to £50 for new games...and it didn't work.

So, if we get a next generation system with even more power an shiny tricks, won't they be even more expensive and time consuming to make games on? And as I understand it, the consoles themselves don't tend to make money for quite a while. They're sold at a loss so the games can be published, which do make money.

Of course, I may be horribly wrong here, but wouldn't putting out new, even more expensive consoles with games that take more time and earn less money be a bad buisness plan?

As I said, I have no real idea about this crap. Hopefully someone can fill me in.

[Kaneco]

hmm...All I'm worried about here is that the least likely thing to be featured in this system
is the lack of Gamecube Backwards Compatibility, but I hope the rumors are correct that
they'll still be supporting it for another generation especially with as to how the system will
support 1080p HD...here's hoping for the old games to be rendered as such as they look in
the PC emulator of the Wii (which games are rendered up to 1080p and not upscaled) and
not just a simple upscale stretch.

I have about 50 (almost 60) GC games and about 28 Wii games (with a few more to buy).
I have really enjoyed the Wii so far with all the time I've spent in both single, multiplayer,
Netflix, and among other things such as homebrew.

[Mr. Spencer]

If this thing isn't capable of subspace communication I'll commit a hate crime.

[Scream]

I don't usually hate consoles or anything (well maybe like 10 years ago) but for some reason I feel intense hatred for the Wii and Nintendo. I think it's their business model, assuming people are stupid or something..

[killer7ITA]

Crytek want 8GB of RAM in next-gen consoles... O_O'

http://www.gamerzines.com/ps3/news/crytek-next-gen-8gb-ram.html

[Scream]

OK, I realize my opinion is woefully ill informed, and hope some of you techy types can set me straight here. But I'm kinda wondering if going to the Next Gen is really a great idea. I shall now explain.

As I understand these things, the current generation of games are taking more time and money to create than the older ones because they're harder to make. So each game is making less of a profit despite the prices going up. I noticed in the UK that they tried raising prices a year or two back up to £50 for new games...and it didn't work.

So, if we get a next generation system with even more power an shiny tricks, won't they be even more expensive and time consuming to make games on? And as I understand it, the consoles themselves don't tend to make money for quite a while. They're sold at a loss so the games can be published, which do make money.

Of course, I may be horribly wrong here, but wouldn't putting out new, even more expensive consoles with games that take more time and earn less money be a bad buisness plan?

As I said, I have no real idea about this crap. Hopefully someone can fill me in.

Software can be difficult to get right.. We can see things are changing with multiplatform development, content delivery etc. They'll need consoles to stick around for longer and to do that will need a lot of forward thinking and communication with developers, I think the whole process will improve the same way the Internet has improved over the last 15 years or so. Everything just works right now, before it was a massive pain in the ass to do anything.

[Branden_Lucero]

Crytek want 8GB of RAM in next-gen consoles... O_O'

http://www.gamerzines.com/ps3/news/c...n-8gb-ram.html

about as retarded as ever. 8GB as far as gaming and windows applications go, there's nothing that has ever consumed even 5GB. but that alone isn't gonna make gaming better and Crytek knows this. is it useful? does more equal better especially if it sits there unused? if Crysis 2 can run on 512MB of split RAM for the PS3 and 512MB unified RAM for the 360, then its gonna be a long ways before these consoles ever manage that. i say maybe the next generation, we might see between 2-4GB and that's it.

[Zombie_X]

I suspect the next generation of game consoles to have graphics that are comparable to that of modern PC games. So maybe we'll see Crysis/Crysis graphical quality on the next generation.

As for the "Wii 2" I think they need to step up their game and bring something new. I pray the tough screen controller is just a rumor because that idea does not sound good to me. I thinking on how easy it would be to bust the screen.

Also the backwards compatibility should be perfect and the video for those games should not just be upscaled like the Xbox360 and PS3. It needs to look cleaner like PC emulation. I was downright disappointed with the way the PS3 handled the old games in terms of video. The games, while looking better than their PS1/PS2 hardware versions, were still blurry. I expected the PS3 to employ anti-aliasing and just emulating them like a PC but no...

[Mr. Spencer]

PC gamers have for the most part always had this air of arrogance about them, the kind of cunt who spends his time and money modding some computer only to brag about it on forums in one huge online cock measuring contest.

[Vito]

i just need them to confirm game cube and wii BC and ill buy it day one.

[MeganGrass]

Crytek want 8GB of RAM in next-gen consoles...

That's pretty damn stupid, and I guarantee that absolutely no console developers are going to do this, and for several reasons.

1 - It would increase the price of *console* anywhere from 200-350$. And that just covers the cost of RAM.

2 - 95% of games that will be developed wouldn't even use 1/4 of that amount of RAM.

3 - The console itsself would have to be the size of a small PC. 'nuff said.

4 - The motherboard would be huge (see above) and production cost would be ridiculous, adding about another 100$ torwards development. That's 400-500$, already.

5 - Power consumption would be ridiculous, thus making the end user's Electric Bills ridiculously high. There goes another 25-100$ just playing video games. We're up to 600$.

6 - Disc drives, cooling units, HDDs, components for the motherboard, special processors, etc. will add another 100-200$.

700-800$ to produce a single unit, retailing at or around 500$. The console maker would lose out on profit... just to please Crytek, a company that primarily makes games for the PC? Yeah-fucking-right.

8GB of memory is way too much, even for a PC. Unless you're in a high-end development company making insane-quality movies and textures, that amount of RAM is just a waste of money. As mentioned by someone else, even the most high-demanding PC applications will only use a couple GB of RAM, again, for video/texure editing & creation.

I can't stress enough - 8GB of RAM for a video game console is the biggest hare-brained idea i've heard of yet. 10-15 years from now when the PS5 is in production and another format war (BD-HDDVD, for example) is raging on, sure, why not. Next-gen? Hahahahahahahahahaha




Note to video game console developers/Crytek:

People have decent PCs, already. Really. Just stop.


About the Wii 2/Nintendo:

I hate to say it, I really do, as I love Nintendo, but they're in the fast lane to becoming the next Sega.

I dread the day that Nintendo stops making consoles because they can't keep up with other major companies. Slow down! Take some notes, innovate and look torward the future, not the present gaming industry.

The Wii was almost a failure because Nintendo failed to truly innovate. Instead, we got a repackaged GameCube with flashy motion controls with double RAM (which is funny, because DEV-GameCube units use that same amount). Flash forward to the present, and they've become something of a joke.

[Dracarys]

I liked Nintendo, until they released the Wii. I will do my best to never buy a home console of theirs again, their game quality has gone down the crapper since they realised the Wii audience will accept a lower standard and buy tens of millions of such games so hopefully Capcom will not give them a home console exclusive RE game again which is about all that would make me buy one. They even ruined Metroid.

[MeganGrass]

They even ruined Metroid.

Of course it's just my opinion, but I have to disagree.

Next to MegaMan and Resident Evil, Metroid is my favorite video game franchise, and I loved the Prime series.

I just recently replayed Prime 1 (first time in about a decade, now). Although my end-time was shite, I still enjoyed it very much. I took my time, awed at the environments in 720p, got frustrated at times (the Omega Pirate, particularly) and got giddy with each power up. Sounds like a Metroid game to me.

Storywise, I didn't really dig the "Chozo Lore", but meh... you don't have to scan that crap if you don't wanna. Also, the puzzles were lacking, but it didn't take away from my experience.

I remember Prime 2: Echoes being a pain in the ass, due to all the backtracking that takes place, but I remember it being fun to play and it gave a sense of accomplishment after completion. I plan to replay this one, soon.

I never got a chance to play Prime 3 - it sold out before I could buy it, and people online want a small fortune for the Trilogy set.

Metroid: Other M... the best I can say about this one is that it's about damn time Nintendo gave Samus a real personality and backstory. I didn't enjoy the repetitive scenery and small battles, however. Nor did I like the control scheme... but still, it's Metroid.

Metroid Pinball was kinda lame and Hunters has horrible controls and all-too repetitive scenery. I hated the latter.

I gotta admit, i'm tired of the back stories. I wish they would pick up where Fusion left off, and go from there... in 2D, Super/Fusion style.