Future Gen Consoles

[AgnesIO]

Was having a little think, and started wondering..

Have consoles (as we know them) reached their peaks? I mean, what could you really add to our current 'next-gen' consoles? I will base this on the PlayStation 3 as I know more about it than the xBox.

The PS3 supports 3D gaming, has a blu ray player, has USB ports, has a good online mode, has a 'motion controlled' 'add on' (the PlayStation Move) and on board storage (where you can currently get up to 320gb of HDD storage out of the box). So this leaves the question; are there any more realistic upgrades that can be made to the modern console?

When you look at the PS2, there were obvious upgrades that could be made. These included having 1080p games - after all HD was not exactly 'futuristic' when the PS3 was released. Then you could look at onboard storage. Another extremely viable option, which Sony and Microsoft both used. Next you could look at the drive used in the PS2 - nothing special. And again, when creating the PS3 blu-ray - although seriously expensive - was around. But if we now look at what is already around for the PS4 to use. What is there? No better image quality than before hand, no better drive that could be used, I guess you could put in an SSD - but, really?

Are the future of consoles all cloud based - a similar concept to onLive? But is the world ready for a seriously good cloud based console? Huge areas of the world are not ready for completely online based gaming - the internet connections that are available for people are, at present, not good enough.

So, what do you expect to see in future consoles?

[Stephen!]

Better hardware. The PC equivalent of the PS3 graphics card is the 7800GTX, which is worth around £25 today.

[matt$]

Hardware updates like stephen said, a new look to the console and wala people will go out and buy it they don't need to add major updates to it because its a 'next gen' console so people will go buy it anyway.

[dbgtz]

Just hardware, higher res supportable and 3d not being sub-hd. Next gen will be quite a simple upgrade in my opinion with it literally just being like it is now but a little more powerful.

[peteyt]

Who knows really. I bet when the PS1 came out we thought how can this get better.

But I think the next PlayStation will have better hardware, better graphics etc.

[GommeInc]

These suggestions of "better hardware and graphics" aren't going to make a console enter the future of gaming. If they were to enter a new era of gaming, they will need new hardware and new gameplay (graphics, sound etc.) A new Playstation e.g. the Playstation 4 will just be the PS2 for the PS1, both basically in the same generation of gaming, just one is better than the other but no major improvement, like the GameCube and the Nintendo 64. A new generation will literally have to change the way we think about gaming, and all three of the current gen consoles; the Wii, PS3 and 360 have all changed the way we play games. Fitting the consoles with better hardware won't push them into the next generation, it will just make them slightly better than their previous models. It won't bring anything "new".

People are forgetting what "generations" of gaming are. Generations aren't minor updates like hardware with bigger HDD space and improved graphics, they need to be a step above that with new features and functionality, and HD was a HUGE improvement on graphics. Internal storage for the PS3 and 360 was another key game changer for both the PS3 and 360. The Wii was next gen because of the WiiMote and online play (as with the PS3 and 360 respectively).

[Stephen!]

HD was a HUGE improvement on graphics. Internal storage for the PS3 and 360 was another key game changer for both the PS3 and 360. The Wii was next gen because of the WiiMote and online play (as with the PS3 and 360 respectively).

Which were all made possible from better hardware.

Hardware is the core. Hardware runs the software that you use.

[dbgtz]

These suggestions of "better hardware and graphics" aren't going to make a console enter the future of gaming. If they were to enter a new era of gaming, they will need new hardware and new gameplay (graphics, sound etc.) A new Playstation e.g. the Playstation 4 will just be the PS2 for the PS1, both basically in the same generation of gaming, just one is better than the other but no major improvement, like the GameCube and the Nintendo 64. A new generation will literally have to change the way we think about gaming, and all three of the current gen consoles; the Wii, PS3 and 360 have all changed the way we play games. Fitting the consoles with better hardware won't push them into the next generation, it will just make them slightly better than their previous models. It won't bring anything "new".

People are forgetting what "generations" of gaming are. Generations aren't minor updates like hardware with bigger HDD space and improved graphics, they need to be a step above that with new features and functionality, and HD was a HUGE improvement on graphics. Internal storage for the PS3 and 360 was another key game changer for both the PS3 and 360. The Wii was next gen because of the WiiMote and online play (as with the PS3 and 360 respectively).

Well the big push, for sony at least, will be better quality 3D. I'm guessing they will use the cell still because they bought the factory from toshiba or something and I think there is a cell with double the SPUs(?). Probably will use a better graphics card. I imagine microsoft, assuming they go for the hardcore market, will try to push 3D too because if their main competitor (at this current time) is doing it, then they will do it. So in the end they literally just need what they have now but more powerful hardware. I would like it so that, people such as EA, would make the online modes more similar as the PC BF3 is 64 players whereas console is 24 per game. I would still rather play with friends though. I'd also like to see higher res textures, mostly for FPS games, where it doesn't blur when you're right next to it. I only experienced this on a basic texture in killzone 3.

[Firehorse]

Well take a look at what has happened in the past. With each new console release they've gotten closer to being PCs. First the psone, did gaming and had a CD player, was a little behind what PC graphics could achieve.
ps2 - did gaming, dvd player, online gaming started appearing, graphics stepped towards what PC's could handle at the time.
ps3/xbox 360 - online gaming big part, graphics stepped up to match that of a PC from their release years, multimedia, internet browsing, video streaming, social interactions online.

So my predictions for the next generation of consoles will be a step to catch up with PC graphics, improve the social interactions, massive hard drives are now cheaper and cheaper so I wouldn't be surprised if in the future you'll be able to download a 30gb game from a digital store. I really wouldn't be surprised if MMOs started appearing for consoles. The next bit is obviously down to the game developers to make use of the higher specifications and show what the next generation consoles will be capable of. (I doubt they'll manage more than a high end PC can today).

[GommeInc]

Which were all made possible from better hardware.

Hardware is the core. Hardware runs the software that you use.

Better hardware? So The 320GB PS3 is the "next gen" PS3 because it's got a "better HDD" than the 64GB? What made the PS2 and PS3 different from each other was internal storage and the removal of memory cards. It's not better hardware, it's new hardware. The PS4 would need more than "better 3D" to make it next gen. It already has it for a start. Next gen needs to be "the next big thing" - something new, not something improved or "made better".

I think that makes sense at least The PS4 would only be a real next gen console if it actually has amazing improvements or anything new that makes it stand out from the PS3.

So my predictions for the next generation of consoles will be a step to catch up with PC graphics, improve the social interactions, massive hard drives are now cheaper and cheaper so I wouldn't be surprised if in the future you'll be able to download a 30gb game from a digital store.

I would love it if we see a PSPC or a Xbox P60 come out, to mimic the PC market