Are Next Gen Consoles Really Next Gen?

Ges-sa.co.za: The big Sony announcement of the PS4 left a lot of people smiling from ear to ear. I will admit it was very impressive; we got a glimpse at some of the games coming out on the system and some of the new streaming functionality. The PS4 will no doubt have amazing visuals when it comes out but is it really a next gen console? I mean it is obviously Sony’s next generation console but I don’t believe it is the next generation of gaming.

Don’t get me wrong drastically improved visuals are always a plus, but after watching that Killzone 4 footage I couldn't help but think this is the same game I have played a hundred times before. I want something fresh, a level of immersion in a game that I have never experienced before. I thought that what I was looking for was years off, the kind of thing you see in sci-fi movies where the guys are playing games in virtual reality while sitting on their space ship or something.

[OneAboveAll]

Plot Twist, Next XBox comes with Oculus Rift.

[Mr_Bigglesworth]

That would no doubt one up the PS4, don't think they will though the tech is too far from ready.

[Autodidactdystopia]

Yes they are next gen, what do you think next gen means?

[PS4isKing_82]

That would be very cool but also very expensive.
PS4 & 720 = next gen.
WiiU = it's own gen.

[user3915800]

No next gen its about actual creativity something wiiu dont have,something sony dont have and something we dont know if MS will provide.

As of now wiiu its a failure, did not bring anything new to the table and yea the pad been out for years. Sony brought nothing new except higher spec which to me its nothing more than better looking games. We will see what MS has to offer. but I have a feeling they will be the only one bringing innovation to this gen, In 1 word ILLUMIROOM.

[AKR]

Wii U is a next generation console. It may not feature the same kind of powerhouse tech - but it's still an 8th generation console, nonetheless.

@nlvwithgms ~ The Wii U, a failure? No creativity? Hah! If the Wii U is a failure now, then the Vita is a failure too. They're both in their infancy drought phase - something that ALL consoles go through. In recent terms - the PS3 went through it, the 360 went through it. DS and Wii. And we all know about the early 3DS fiasco. But now look at all those consoles.

The 3DS is dancing in it's own waves of quality games, same for the 360 and PS3. Wii has nearly hit 100 million sales. Once the Wii U inevitabely gets quality software releases, sales will pick up. March is the first month of retail activity, so we'll see a small spike in sales for sure, for the U. So no, it's far from a failure. If it's still performing poorly a year from now, with barely any good software - then we can worry. But it's to early to judge the console ~ WAY to early.

As for it not being creative - Wow. The Gamepad is a table-hybrid. Tablets aren't anything new, but the technology has never been utilized the same way the Wii U is utilizing it. The entire second-screen aspect has never been used in a home console before, and so far - it has been incredibly innovative. Good grief, not creative? Give me a break.

[KUV1977]

I said that even before the PS4 conference. I am a SONY-buyer, just because the games there are more suited to my tastes. What I said before the SONY reveal was that the only thing that could make me not buy a PS4 is if they turned it into a Move-Device and the only thing that would make me buy a X-Box would be if they had an exclusive Oculus deal. In that case I would buy an X-Box without hesitation. Secretely of course, I was hoping SONY would bring the Oculus deal and I still kind of am for E3. That would be mindblowingly amazing. Interesting side-fact: The guy who founded Oculus sold his former company to SONY, so they may have some sort of connection.

Anyway, I think that the Oculus is not the next gen of gaming. The guy complains that Killzone is still Killzone but is amazed at Oculus in Half Life? That doesn't change the game but the way it is perceived. I believe that the PS4 is next gen (and X-box most certainly is too unless they do something really weired which I can't see happening) and I believe that Occulus will come to all gamers sooner or later as a secondary device that you can hook up to your PC, X-Box or PlayStation.

[Veni Vidi Vici]

I think it's more likely that they come out with that projection thing that was reported back during CES.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

It's nice but it's not the same as the Oculus.

[Fr0zeBud]

I think the PS4 and Xbox 720 is still next gen as it will deliver different options as their predecessors e.g. the Share button on PS4 being able to record and stream. The Oculus Rift looks very nice but you will still get time where you just want to relax in front of your TV playing something casual. Nice Read!

[kal-el]

You know what, I have been looking forward to this level of gaming for the past 20 odd years. It does get me a little excited but also a little apprehensive. how many times have we seen Sony PlayStation or the media really blow something out of the water only to be truly disappointed when the product actually launched. I really would love this to be true but i'm not sold yet. Nice read though! As for other features like the share button, I think that is a great idea and something that has been long in the coming. but that alone to me doesn't make this the shift to next gen gaming.

[Mr_Bigglesworth]

Very true the proof is in the pudding, a final hands on with the retail version will be the true test.I thought true VR would never come, lets hope I was wrong.

[Mr_Bigglesworth]

I think the new console's will be great but if you put a high end PC in front of me with a Oculus Rfit and asked me to choose that or a PS4/720...I know what I would go for.

[user3915800]

yOUR DOG? pc? Boyfriend?

Probably the dog.

[MontyQ]

well my pc specs from 2 years ago blows the ps4 away 10 fold so if you compare since both now use pc parts then no, but very nice console tho for exclusives

[Neonridr]

well I don't know about blows away. I mean an 8 core PC using DDR5 RAM is still very impressive...

most PC's nowadays only have 4 cores, unless you are spending a premium on a pricey processor...

[PCpower]

Neonridr, the 8 core CPU in the PS4 are WEAK cores. Core count means nothing if each core is weak. Just look at all the CPU benches that show Intel destroying AMD's X6 1100T processor which is 6 core with their 4 core processors. Even Intel's dual core processors destroy AMD's quad core processors. Also GDDR5 gives no benefit whatsoever to CPU's. It only benefits GPU's. An example is an i7-3820 which is 256 bit memory controller gets owned by an i7-3770K which only has a 128 bit memory controller. CPU's are optimized to perform the same, no matter if the memory bandwidth is low. GPU's are a different story. Since the GPU is on the same silicon as the CPU, then they must use GDDR5 so that the GPU will not be bottle-necked.

Do us favor as a consoler and stick with what you know. We PCers know way more about tech than your consolers do. That is why you guys buy consoles because you lack understanding of building a gaming machine and just want something that you pop a game disk in that just works.

[EbeneezerGoode]

i'm all for the PS4 but it's NOT just about core count, it's about the processor's architecture.

On PC Intel pretty much blow AMD away still.

Am sure the CPU will be up to the task in the PS4 anyway.

[Neonridr]

PCpower - so you know the clock speeds on each of the cores to know that they are weak? A little hasty to automatically assume that they are weak.

Look I am in no way saying anything fantastic about the PS4, all I am saying is this time around it's not like they are using tech from 4-5 years ago by the time the console comes out...

How about instead of automatically assuming I know nothing about PC's you can just offer a differing opinion and be done with it?

[leogets]

also the parts aren't as you know it,they r tweaked for maximum performance. who knows what these tweaks can deliver compared to your vanilla set up

[MooseWI]

Yes.

[Link079]

All 3 adopt the GPGPU route with a moderate cpu.

That's the trend going forward

ps4 most MAIN RAM.
WIIU most BANDWIDTH RAM,BY FAR ITS CALLED USING EDRAM,AND THE CPU USES IT FOR CACHE 3MB OF IT THAT IS VERY POWERFUL.

[ILive]

People have way too much expectations. Look at what pc's have the ability to do. Yet, they are not giving us new ways to experience gaming. Gameplay is not going to evolve as fast as graphics. Graphics, however, does bring a new level of emersion.

[Link079]

The problem with Sony fans is you all think that 1.8 terraflops and tons of Main RAM means its going to leave WiiU and maybe Microsoft behind in graphics just isnt going to happen,the WiiU uses eDRAM which is not any old eDRAM but IBM'S new eDRAM it is the future of cpu cores and WiiU has 3MB of eDRAM as cache on that cpu,32MB of eDRAM shared across both the gpgpu and the cpu,and lots of SRAM,means,WiiU can easily keep up it's what devs mean by the wiiu shown no limitations ect in games like NFS WANTEDU ect and how it punches way above it's weight is all down to eDRAM and lots of it,the WiiU is said to be running at 1 terraflop,can perform like twice that ?

[MNGamer-N]

Ram this ram that... I don't care. I play fun games, not teraflops. I have always hated spec wars. Maybe I just am not a big enough nerd to care.

[MasterCornholio]

I honestly don't see how the Wii U is capable of producing a similar level of visuals as the PS4 when there's already a huge difference between launch titles.

ZombiU: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Killzone Shadow Fall: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Screens

Zombi U: http://venturebeat.files.wo...

Killzone Shadow Fall: http://s.pro-gmedia.com/vid...

By the way, Killzone Shadow Fall isnt finished yet so the final results should be even better than this.

Instead of trying to defend the Wii Us weak graphical capabilities you should use the controller as a selling point for it.

If theres one thing that the PS4 doesn´t have is a tablet controller. Which in ZombiU is implemented in a lot of unique ways.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Seriously i hope that Nintendo Fanboys are not so obsessed with graphics that they forgot about the controller (the main reason why i dont like the Wii U)

[AKR]

You're using ZombiU as an example? Monolith's 'X' game is a better example. So far, the Wii U's visuals have been amazing - and it's only 3 months into it's lifetime. So far, we have TWO titles using PC assets - Trine 2 and Need for Speed Most Wanted U. Other amazing looking games are 'X', Rayman Legends (1080p @ 60fps), Nintendo Land, Wind Waker HD and the Zelda Tech Demo.

If that's the level of quality we're seeing now, I',m quite excited to see what the Wii U will produce later down the line, when devs get used to the tech.

The Wii U isn't weak. Lower specs than the PS4, yes. But don't expect another Wii vs. PS3 scenario. The gap is much smaller this time around. Wii U should be able to keep up well with the competition, if devs decide to push the console's hardware. Criterion (Need for Speed Most Wanted U) already has shown that they're prepared to do so. Frozenbyte (Trine 2) as well, and Monolith ('x'). Same with Ubisoft (Rayman Legends).

- Even though the Wii U isn't in the same tech-league as PS4 ~ history has shown that the weaker consoles usually come out on top.
PS1, PS2, DS, Wii and 3DS says hi.

[Link079]

Try because WiiU isnt flexing its muscles with launch games,but trying to get 3rd partys bk where as Sony have 3rd partys that trust in the ps4 ect ie are using Nextgen engines,Watchdogs is running on wiiu as we speak means no issues in development and it will look identical to ps4,the games on WiiU around the time ps4 launches will be nextgen wiiu games like Beyonetta2 ect X and much before that you have Wonderful101 and Zelda Windwaker ect NFS WANTED U looks nextgen basically looks like pc version on high/ultra in fact NFS wiiu looks as good as anything ive seen on ps4 and X/Beyonetta2 are the only 2 games thus far that actually look Nextgen,oh and project CARS,is ps4 getting Project CARS ?

[Tornadobounce]

Nope. I spoke to a PS1 that just got back from the future. It said it grabbed a few upgrades and is ready to kick ass again.Apparently his buddy xbox got stuck there for not paying its yearly online subscription fee and has to work it off for another six to 8 months before it can return.

[guitarse]

Seriously, an article making judgements about a bit of hardware he hasn't used and games that none of us (bar maybe rare exceptions) have even played, to tangent off about hardware he's never used again...

Well that was insightful.

[aliengmr]

Well what defines a "generation"?

Among all the fanboy battles going on there has been the question whether or not what Sony showed was going to be anything more than a more powerful Playstation.

This hasn't been an attack on Sony but the very concept of "next-gen" and what it actually means. Will it be defined by better looking versions of the same franchises? Or will a fundamental change be introduced?

It may be too early to tell, but its still a fair question.

[Veni Vidi Vici]

I first found out about the Oculus last summer and it was love at first sight. THAT is what I want for next gen. This article pretty much summed up my feelings perfectly. Pretty new graphics are nice but I'm to the point that I want more than just that. Nice graphics don't immerse me enough to get me all giddy inside like new consoles used to do. I need something more and the Oculus is it.

Just watch this video:

http://vimeo.com/59342255

[EbeneezerGoode]

Am waiting for my Oculus DEV kit as I write... proper VR really is the next step we've been waiting for but it'll be a couple of years before it fully takes off (from a consumer standpoint) so I doubt it'll will be in any next gen console at launch.

Also for GOOD LOOKING games Oculus takes a lot of horsepower as it needs 60fps for each eye (one screen divided into 2) to feel right (words of oculus themselves) so even some current top end PCs won't be able to do that on the best looking future oculus games, ie GPU upgrades will be needed - a 680 will just scrape you through on basic games for now - so certainly no GPU tech in the consoles will achieve good looking games @ 60fps per eye (120fps) - though it could easily do older looking games ok. doubt sony would want that level yet.

In a couple of years if/when OR takes off and developers start coming out of the woodwork then I'm sure Sony and MS will be interested in it (or their own similar tech) but unlike PC where it's a free for all, the console makers have a lot of legal stuff and health and safety stuff to comply with which makes first gen VR tech an iffy proposition (and by first gen i mean first viable gen not counting the old crap going back 20 years)

Either way I wish nothing but success to Palmer L and Oculus rift and will be supporting it as much as I can! It is the answer to a dream I've had for 20 years.

[Hassassin]

please tell us your experience when you receive it. :)

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Oculus Rift may be the be all end all....but I have ZERO desire to wear those goggles to game.

[Fr0zeBud]

Yeah i don't think it will be comfortable to do all your gaming with goggles. You will still want to have your normal console or platform to enjoy

[strickers]

What's the betting that all these " same old games. Not next Gen " are purchasers of COD and Halo every single time?

[aliengmr]

Grats on missing the point.

Unless you consider a better looking Killzone to be something that was altogether unexpected.

Take off the fanboy hat for 2 seconds and consider what is being said.