Poll: Who really wants a new console?

[hashtag]

I'd like the newer technology, however I feel as this gen just hit it's stride in 2010. So if the consoles are backwards compatible, yes I would like them if not, they can go die in a hole.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

We're going through the late stages of the console cycle. Remember during the waning years of the PS2 and Xbox? That was when some of the best games came out, since by that point, the developers had been able to work around their console's limitations to provide quality experiences like Shadow of the Colossus, or Battlefront 2.

We're reaching that same point now with the 360 and PS3. Killzone 3 and Uncharted have pretty much pushed graphical fidelity as far as it will go on the PS3. Once the graphics plateau for a console has been reached, then the gameplay begins to improve. The last few games for these consoles are going to be good ones.

I look forward to the new console generation. Just don't expect me to buy the launch day titles. If they are as bad as the PS3 lineup was, I'll wait a year, thank you.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I'm surprised that nobody has said that "we don't need a new console generation because the current graphics are fine" or "New hardware will just increase the already high development costs for games" as these statements appear in just about every thread about a new console generation. So, I will preemptively argue against those two points.

Publishers will want games to continue to have better graphics regardless of weather new consoles come out or not. This is because graphics are a very easy and effective selling point (just look at all the praise for Skyrim's graphics).

So, developers have to spend lots of time optimizing code and making graphical workarounds, which add to development costs. And the more the graphics improve on the current consoles, the more time and money it's going to take to do this.

With better hardware, developers will be able to make better graphics without spending as much time and money on optimization, at least at the beginning of the console cycle.

Obviously, there are more factors to the costs of making a game. However, saying that new consoles will increase development costs for graphics is a partially untrue oversimplification.

An interesting argument, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. Sure optimisation isn't easy, but take a good, long look at the credits for a modern high-budget game.

Look very carefully at where most of the people are employed...

Because honestly, as far as I can tell, since 1995 the average game has gone from about 5 programmers to 20...

But in that same period it's gone from about 10 artists, to about 100 or more... I'd bet that the ever-increasing detail expected amounts to more work than the challenges of squeezing a bit more performance out of an ageing console.

Now, it probably is true that a new hardware generation would probably make it possible to keep graphics at about the same level as they are now, while making much less effort.
But... I suspect any dev doing that will field a lot of complaints about it.

(Also ask yourself why the Wii is cheaper to develop for, because by all accounts, it is...)

Everything you said here is true. However, the two points I was trying to make are that there are many more factors of developing graphics than just hardware power, and that game development costs will go up regardless of weather or not there is a new console generation.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

If it means The Elder Scrolls VI comes out sooner. YES!!!

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

honestly, I am completely and utterly indifferent to this

regardless of when these new consoles were announced its probably going to be a couple of years from announcement until their ready and a further three years from that for the price to drop to a reasonable level and we're past the launch title phase, and in that time its not like they going to just stop making games for the curren gen consoles in that timespan

and even once this 5 year period has passed, you will still have your previous consoles and the games you liked (there is still a SNES and a PS2 in my house alongside the PS3) so i don't really see what all the fuss and drama is about

 

[yman15]

Ehh kinda but tbh I've kind of been more interested in getting a gaming PC instead of another console

 

[Lunar Templar]

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...

hai I would be one of those goons.

and they don't matter if the devs do their jobs right, but since the add campaign will pretty much be 'look how much better every thing looks!!1!111!!eleven!' as the 'great innovation' yeah, the PS4 and Xbox 720 (or what ever they'll end up being called) can fuck right off.

once they go back to innovation in games being more then just it being prettier, and ripping each other off whole, THEN I'll care again.

 

[Laser Priest]

My Xbox is on the verge of an explosive end to its existence after surviving by some miracle for all of these years.

And thanks to family, I have more money in gift cards to tech and gaming stores than I will ever really need.

I certainly would not mind.

My only worry is that my friends might not be too quick to purchase new ones, and I may be lonely.

 

[AT God]

I wont buy one, PC suits me just fine. However a new console generation will make it easier for games to be ported to the PC from the console.

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

I'm honestly perfectly fine with my current loveable x-box 360actually, and as a wise man once said: "If it aint broke, don't fix it".
Also I'm beginning to dislike the use of motion technology; it's like why do we need to get up and use my body? I'm fine with my controller and its a comfortable form to play a game.

 

[zombieshark6666]

I think people will be quite disappointed from their next "big investment". Budgets will grow bigger, games will be shorter and shallow and I predict that more people will turn to the PC. I don't see the next consoles being that successful. There will not be another SNES or PS2 era and that's kinda sad.

I might get a handheld instead.

****Or I'll replace my 360 by a PS3 in a year or two. So many great games to play...

 

[RagTagBand]

Do I want to have to shell out another £500+ to keep playing console games? Nope.

As far as I can tell my Playstation 3 still has a fair share of juice left in it...not so much for the 360, but Unless they pull an exclusive that I actually give a shit about out of their ass I wont be buying the next Xbox anyway. Mass Effect 3 is literally the only reason I own a 360 ATM.

 

[Something Amyss]

I kinda want a new console.

I want better technology. I'm even willing to pay.

 

[Maveroid]

I am a bit worried about all this advancing technology (as dumb as it may sound).

I have considered being a handheld-only player 2 years ago when the DS was at its peak, but I actually turned to PS3 and Xbox360 even though I was a bit afraid of the whole mainstream/multiplayer/social gaming perspective that those consoles promoted.
Now I got the 3DS and thought about skipping the next generation of consoles again, but being a handheld gamer doesn't mean much anymore.. Especially with the release of the PS Vita which is 'just' a portable PS3. I know that this is awesome and of course everything about it sounds cool,... But still...

Now, even a new 3DS game costs $40. I don't know how much the actual development of a portable game costs, but I would wager that its high enough for most developers to not implement any innovative concepts as there is no guaranty for such games to sell anymore (just like the little creativity crisis that developers for PS3 and Xbox360 are currently facing).

So, I already have a problem with this generation and I believe that this is the last checkpoint before we face the blockbuster-only era of gaming since even handhelds are turning in that direction. The next generation is going to feature the best-looking games that everyone can enjoy and even better online capabilities. Everything will be so awesome!... And that's saddening (as pessimistic as that may sound, I don't want EVERYONE to be happy when it comes to my favorite hobby).

Maybe I am exaggerating, sorry for the long post...
... But I think next generation is just going to be me, my iOS device/tablet and a Windows 8 installation disc which will allow me to play games on my Mac computer (because my gaming laptop died).

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

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

Well, I can think of about seven.

1. It costs me more money. The console itself, new controllers, cables, etc. Most people want to get good use out of their consoles before forking out more money to upgrade for this reason alone.

2. It may or may not be backwards compatible. If it is not, it costs me more space, and more hookups to my TV. Or, if I decide not to have twenty consoles active at once, it costs me all my old games.

3. A new console means that more games will not be produced for the one that I own, forcing me to invest again or be left behind.

4. A new console means that games I own will become obsolete and pass from public conciousness, despite their still being relatively new. IE, my Guitar Hero won't be cool any more. People will want to play the new Guitar Hero, despite it being basically the same game.

5. More processing power doesn't help much unless I buy a new TV to experience the graphics on. Therefore, it either costs me hundreds for nothing, or it costs me a thousand for a small upgrade to technology that is already adequate.

6. Launch day bugs, patches, EULAs and endless loading times that result from such.

7. To prove you wrong.

Now, none of these are arguments for not coming out with a new console ever. There should absolutely be new consoles someday, but they should come out far enough from the last one to bring something NEW to the table. A few more sticks of RAM just aren't going to cut it.

Again, if I'm being asked to shell out an extra rent check's worth of money for the next console, and then shell out still more so that I have even one game and one extra controller to play on it, then I better be getting more out of the deal than slightly smoother graphics and a loss of support for my old standby.

If I had the money to continuously buy upgraded tech, I'd be a PC gamer.

 

[DeadFOAM]

I don't have anything really against it. I just got a 360 about 6 months ago, so I'm kinda frustrated that there's a new one coming out. But oh well.

Progress is good, more power is good.

As long as its backwards-compatable so I can play my 360 games, I'll be happy

 

[ChaplainOrion]

I would buy it, but only if they bring something really good to the table. Hopefully they'll do what Sony did and add blue ray and whatever else they've created since.

I'll probably keep to my tradition and get it when the Halo that comes out for it does. I played the Original Xbox and Halo 1 first, and I played Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 first.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Well, this generation is starting to show some technological limitations, but I don't think I can afford new consoles any time soon. If they launch at anything close to the price of the last generation, I think a lot of people will have second thoughts about buying them in this economy.

I mean, better hardware is never a bad thing, but I also can't really bring myself to get that excited for it. When I think of the games that have required the most processing power and had the best graphics in the past five years, I find that very few of them were games that I actually enjoyed. I agree that it's about time for some new hardware, but I'm not going to care unless developers start using it in more interesting ways.

Also, it better be backwards compatible for real this time, because I'm running out of shelf space for these giant plastic boxes.

 

[DrunkPickle]

Yes; but - and I know this may sound unrealistic- I would prefer if the next generation console would be developed by a company other than Sony or Microsoft. I feel like they focus way to much on advertisements and fancy, useless commodities/features, rather than improving the actual product.

 

[FoolKiller]

I'm not saying to stay on this generation forever, but definitely give it some more time to live out its usefulness. It just seems like it has a couple more good years left in it.

Actually no. The consoles are close to their limits, devs already use stupid methods to limit the amount and complexity of things the console has to render, thanks to the low amount of ram complex AI is not possible and so on.

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

Which is why I never understood why they always create consoles with such limitations in RAM. Either put more in or make the expansion pack like the N64. We already have a hard drive that can be changed. Its already going the way of the PC. We should be able to bring more out of it.