We Really, Really Don't Need New Consoles

[The White Hunter]

I really need to watch out for this mystical creature that appears from the ether and devours your previous gen hardware the moment you buy something new. It's odd because I own still working hardware and games dating back to the Intellivision and I've never seen it.

I'm sorry, but backwards compatibility is not that big of a deal. Sure, it's a nice convenience, but it's far from a game breaking issue. Just keep using your old console for your old games if you really want to play them that badly. Then, in a few months at most, when you're probably not playing the old console much at all, disconnect it but keep it handy. Non-existent problem solved.

Except of course that old consoles, like old computers, become basically unusable. My old N64 was damaged, and all 4 controllers were also. Sure I can spend 200$ or so replacing all those with second hand ones that could also break at any point as well as purchase the new 300$ console, but why? Not to mention that I move around a lot and I had recently needed to move continents. It becomes unfeasible to bring with me my old SNES, N64, Gamecube, xbox, and their respective libraries.

But you are right, its not a HUGE problem. I personally solve it by using PC emulation which is in the legal grey zone, but I do feel justified considering that I have these systems and games across the ocean somewhere and its not like the developers make money off them anymore even if I bought them used (and I dont want to buy a TV on top of that). I don't if that's just me rationalizing or legitimate points though.

That gray zone depends on where you are. Here in the UK it pretty much comes down to if you own the software, as in you go out and buy a physical copy, it's yours to do with as you will. So you can run a disc in your PC with emulation if you go and buy it legitimately, or use some kind of adaptor to play a cartridge, or extract the ROM, etc. But not if you download it from a torrent (unless it's some kind of abandonware but thats not likely for console games, publishers being giant IP tanks as they are).

Gotta say I think companies like Nintendo and Sony should consider the market for their retro stuff on the PC. I think they could make some money out of it if they sold old games at a fair price.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

"Ditch the PS4 midnight launch and spend your evening building a decent gaming PC instead. I would."

About fucking time!

At this point it's safe to say that PC has the biggest library of games, period - because I can not only play games from the early 2000's on my PC (compatibility mode ftw) but I also have the option of emulating all PS1, PS2, Gamecube, etc games and upscaling their resolution to make them look better than the original! You know, that thing that new consoles should be able to do by default but can't?
There are also entire archives of countless old flash/browser games available to play for free.

At this point it is far wiser to spend ~$900-1000 on a solid gaming PC than $500-600 on a "next gen" console that won't let you play a single game from the previous generation without having to boot up your PS2 or PS3. Why would you have a whole stack of consoles which "allow" you to play games when you can have a single PC that can pretty much do-it-all?

Sure there are hardware/software issues with PC's that you may need to learn how to troubleshoot and fix - but in the end it's YOU becoming more knowledgeable and YOU who has an endless game library of old classics.

 

[mike1921]

I heard the arguments the last time I brought this up. It's simply not practical to make the new consoles backwards compatible, the hardware's too clumsy, the emulation's too intensive, blah de blah de blah. If that's the case, then don't make a new console. If it can't be done, then you drop the fucking idea right then and there until it can. Full stop. Exclamation mark. The only way a new console is in any way justifiable is as an UPGRADE of the existing generation's console, not a fucking replacement for it. You CANNOT replace a library of hundreds of games with a library of ZERO games and tell us it's an improvement. That is fucking bonkers.

That may just be the smartest thing about gaming I have ever read and I feel like a jackass for not thinking of it myself. I was always pissed off at a lack of backwards compatibility but I was never able to think of it in those terms.

 

[Idlemessiah]

I'm looking forward to the new gen. It means I'll be able to pick up a PS3 dirt cheap for the 4 or 5 games I want it for and not feel like I've been robbed!

 

[Gearhead mk2]

I only bought a PS3 a few months ago, because I'll be dammed if I'm missing out on Journey, Sony Smash Bros, inFamo 2 and MGS4. I don't need a new generation, I still got half the current one to catch up on.

 

[PrototypeC]

Bail the new console generation and stick with what I've got? Buy a big rig beautiful gaming PC instead? I thought that was my plan already. It's almost prophecy. Are you a mind-reader, Croshaw?

I can play:
--PS1, 2, 3 games
--N64 games
--Gameboy/Gameboy Advance games
--Gamecube games
and of course the unlimited number of PC games from the past and into the future. That includes just about every game from Sixth Generation and older thanks to emulation and Good Old Games. If I acquire a Nintendo DS, like I've been planning to, the number of games I can play once again goes way up.

As well, my future career depends on me having a strong computer that can run multiple heavy programs, so it's serving me outside of just entertainment as well. The attempts to make consoles more like PCs in this generation (full internet support, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) come off as just sad, because it's Sony and Microsoft assuming what I use my computer for to a fairly large degree, and they're wrong. If they didn't feel threatened by PCs, they wouldn't be trying to make "media centers" instead of fucking video game consoles.

Worse comes to worst, I borrow a friend's console. If they feel like bothering with this generation themselves, that is.

 

[Something Amyss]

graphics and physics tech do not need to get any better to allow creators to realise their visions

But Yahtzee, you charismatic stallion, how am I to justify my 300 dollar graphics card?

At least they now have an excuse to make games that "look amazing" and have "never seen before graphics", instead of delivering unique and engaging experiences that would require actual effort to make.
Whoop-dee-doo, I'm thrilled...

And my prayers have been answered!

Honestly, I think I could live with PS1 era graphics if the games were good. I wouldn't be bothered if we didn't see visual improvement for another 10 years or so if it meant they'd work on something else instead.

Speak for your self. My PC keeps crashing and blue screening when I play games. So, yeah, consoles are my method of gaming that works 100% of the time.

Unless they RROD or YLOD. Or DRE.

I guess what I'm saying is, broken hardware is broken hardware. A BSOD is indicative that something is wrong with your PC.

I find the "lack of backwards-capability" argument moot. Yes, you can have more than one console hooked up to your television. No, I don't want a more expensive console.

It doesn't look like this gen is actually going to see a price break for ditching backwards compatibility. It also isn't really the end-all that you can hook multiple consoles up to your TV.

And consoles won't be holding back PC's as much as this generation has.

For like, a month or two. The PS4's already dated, and it's not out yet. Then we run into the same "problem" all over again.

 

[Sean951]

I think Nintendo was right to put out a new console so they could step it up graphically now that HDTVs are in most households and they are losing out on games because the Wii couldn't run them. I think Sony and Microsoft are right in upgrading, but they are doing it horribly. No backwards compatibility and so much hardware that they have to be sold at a tremendous loss. My PC has 8 GB of RAM, but I need to run an OS in the background and I can still have my game on max, music playing, and a browser open in monitor number 2 without the slightest problem. What the hell is a console going to do with that much memory?

The AAA industry varies a lot. While EA and Co. may be saddened by a lowly 2 million in sales, Nintendo looks at the market and doesn't try and over-hype games to the point that they NEED to sell millions of units. Skyward Sword sold "only" 3.65 million and Nintendo didn't put out any statements about how disappointed they were, though I'm sure they were hoping for closer to 5 million. It's all about the company and how they treat games.

 

[Vhite]

Is it wrong for me to want this industry to crash already? I wouldn't mind loosing generation or two just so all these terrible business practices could die. And we would still have indie games in meantime.

 

[Something Amyss]

the probable 2nd Video Game Crash happens

lolwhaaaaaaat?

There's nothing probable about a second video game crash. Even if the big companies fail, they're not going to have the massive impact that the Atari generation had.

Gaming has passed the fad threshold.

 

[kael013]

Normally I don't completely see eye-to-eye with you Yahtzee (usually over the minor things, I'll admit). However, I have to say A-fucking-men to this; you hit the nail dead center. I started my gaming on the Xbox, but have slowly been moving over to the PC for the past 5 years because the companies in charge of the consoles don't seem to grasp this one basic point.

 

[l3o2828]

If only emulation was easier...and not 'sort of illegal', i would ditch consoles entirely.

 

[Something Amyss]

Is it wrong for me to want this industry to crash already?

You don't want an actual crash. I don't think anyone who says they want a crash understands what a real crash is likely to do to gaming. Or, more appropriately, what it won't do for gaming.

The real question with indie games would be "would that be enough to sustain the distribution services required to keep them mainstream?"

That result, too, might not be what you would hope for.

So in short, let me ask: is it wrong of me to sort of want you to get your wish to see how all the people calling for a crash react when they get what they said they wanted?

 

[godgravity]

Speak for your self. My PC keeps crashing and blue screening when I play games. So, yeah, consoles are my method of gaming that works 100% of the time.

I truly don't mean to sound rude, but this complaint is not relevant.

Why? I would fall back on my old analogy:
"Your PC is like your home. Keep it clean, tidy, and you're unlikely to have any trouble finding anything. Occasionally, some things in your home will need maintenance and may be broken. You have to accept the fact that your PC must be treated equally as such."

That's just my $0.02 on the matter. If you're not good at it inherently, a lot of times da 'googs' can be quite helpful if you're proficient enough in search engine 'key words.'

 

[mike1921]

graphics and physics tech do not need to get any better to allow creators to realise their visions

But Yahtzee, you charismatic stallion, how am I to justify my 300 dollar graphics card?

At least they now have an excuse to make games that "look amazing" and have "never seen before graphics", instead of delivering unique and engaging experiences that would require actual effort to make.
Whoop-dee-doo, I'm thrilled...

And my prayers have been answered!

Honestly, I think I could live with PS1 era graphics if the games were good. I wouldn't be bothered if we didn't see visual improvement for another 10 years or so if it meant they'd work on something else instead.

Eh, I wouldn't go that far, ps1 games, at least the 3d ones were pretty damned ugly. Late PS2? Sure I guess but let's not underestimate visual fidelity and authenticity. Graphics should certainly not be the main focus. I for one do not feel I would be anywhere near as big into gaming if this [http://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/FFVII-CLOUD.jpg] was what 3d games generally looked like

For like, a month or two. The PS4's already dated, and it's not out yet. Then we run into the same "problem" all over again.

Is it really? People are able to do pretty cool optimization trickery when working with consoles because everyone has the same hardware, which is why our current consoles survived so long on like half a GB on RAM. Also, no it's not really dated. Yea it's not on the absolute cutting edge but it takes a pretty long time for that cutting edge to reach the point where it's dated. All of my hardware is at least 4 years old and it was never at the absolute cutting edge yet I still seem to be able to run most games on high.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

If only emulation was easier...and not 'sort of illegal', i would ditch consoles entirely.

Well it's in a better place than ever before. The emulation teams out there really have made some huge strides in making everything more user-friendly, usable and stable. You'll still need to go through a short guide and get your hands on a "legal" (open to interpretation) BIOS of what you want to emulate, but after that it's fairly smooth sailing.

The best part is the ability to insta-save games at any moment, the emulator simply freeze-captures that emulated frame (at that point in time) and you can continue from that exact frame later.
Oh and playing PS2 classics rendered at 1920x1080 with 4x anti-aliasing = your mind will be blown. The entire graphics engine gets re-rendered at that resolution and games like Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy X-2 and Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner look better than most PS3 games!

 

[Mr_Terrific]

So Yahtzee wants another 8 years of ridiculous load times, the samey plastic man graphics from Unreal Engine 3, upwards of 3 discs for Xbox, mandatory instals, re-skinned games labeled as sequels with zero improvements....You'll deal with all of that and more, just so you can play a bunch of PS2 games on your launch fatty or a third of Xbox1 games on the 360. And we're siting the WiiU as the example of why we don't need new consoles?
This gen can't end fast enough.

Lastly, I'm so tired of people crying about BC. Just keep your Xbox/PS3. No one is forcing you to trade. /stopbitching

 

[duchaked]

for it's simply that point in time when gaming becomes all about tech and graphics instead of just...gaming. it's prob the few times in life when I end up watching movies or tv shows instead of playing games in my free time.

I suppose this is where people start to laud pc gaming but again lol "techs and graphics" ...Netflix is waiting

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

I'll hold on to the wait and see approach. For the time being I still have dozens of great current-gen games to play. I must admit that I have not seen a single thing about the next gen that excites me, but I'll probably get a PS4 later in its life cycle.

 

[mike1921]

So Yahtzee wants another 8 years of ridiculous load times, the samey plastic man graphics from Unreal Engine 3, upwards of 3 discs for Xbox, mandatory instals, re-skinned games labeled as sequels with zero improvements....You'll deal with all of that and more, just so you can play a bunch of PS2 games on your launch fatty or a third of Xbox1 games on the 360. And we're siting the WiiU as the example of why we don't need new consoles?
This gen can't end fast enough.

Lastly, I'm so tired of people crying about BC. Just keep your Xbox/PS3. No one is forcing you to trade. /stopbitching

The precedent that PC has where my PC is pretty much backwards compatible with everything, including any console that came out before the PS2, and the PS2's introduction of BC to the market makes it a reasonable demand. I played through all of FFIX on an emulator and could have well done so on a computer worse than the PS4. Apparently Persona 4 is perfectly playable on a PS2 emulator, those are my favorite games of the last two generations. Why the hell can't the PS4 at least have a disk-check and software emulation system so I can at the very least do that on there? Are you seriously telling me that the less-than-2MB ePSXe's functionality is beyond the scope of the PS4?

I don't want to fiddle around with my 360 and PS3 if I have 720 (unlikely) and PS4 (Likely). I want to buy my console, set it up, and be done with the back of my TV. I have sat on games I've owned for months because I couldn't be assed to move consoles from one TV to another because it's a hassle.