The next gen feature no one is talking about

There’s a lot of talk about what should and shouldn’t be done on next-gen systems.

In this ever-developing market, however, there is one feature that absolutely needs to be a part of every system, intent on have an impact on the market over the next 6-7 years. Detailed patch-notes.

Yes, seriously…

It seems like the most obvious thing in the world, but it’s something home consoles have yet to get right.

[DragonKnight]

Disagree. Patch notes are necessary for PC in case there are problems that the community can fix. Consoles are closed and won't allow gamers access to what is necessary to fix any problems and beyond that reading a list of "security fix" or "increased compatibility" is completely unnecessary and uninteresting.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I do agree that patch notes really are only "needed" for PC for the exact reasons you stated, I do think any patch should include a brief list of fixes that could be looked up say in your download history. I dont need it mandatory to be seen when the patch is downloaded, but at least a way to see what the fixes are ...even if it just says "Network fixes for online"

It for sure would be a nice to have...but not a need to have.

[Minato-Namikaze]

Maybe they are thinking of allowing mods? Would be a welcome feature.

[JeffGUNZ]

You can easily find out what the updates are for by going to sony or MS sites, I don't see this important at all. I also can't believe this is a next gen feature that should really be talked about.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

Not really necessary but it is nice.

For instance if you're stuck in a game due to a "Bug" or are about to commit a game ending glitch-

Just courtesy...

[solidt12]

What the Hell is a Patch Note!? and Why should anyone who just wants to play games should care?

[DragonKnight]

A Patch note is basically a list of what the Patch does. And there is no reason.

[mydyingparadiselost]

I could care less about footnotes on patches. I care more about NEEDING patches in the first place and updates that force new and anti consumer company policy on people whether it's liked, necessary or neither.

[Timesplitter14]

I really wonder how someone ended up writing a whole article about this and deciding it was worth it

[Xof]

Are you new to N4G? Most articles here are people spending a lot time saying even less.

[RyuCloudStrife]

It would be cool if I can know what the patch I'm downloading actually does. Like God Of War Ascension patch that lowered the difficulty, I wouldn't have downloaded that!

[Roper316]

Noone is talking about it because most console gamers probably just don't care about it would be my guess. I know I don't care, I just want the updates to be done & over with so I can get back to gaming.

[JeffGUNZ]

Exactly. I don't understand the need for him to write his article on such a useless topic. Hey, at least it's not another "rumor" article.

[MestreRothN4G]

FFS, you just have to google the version and "patch notes".

It would be a good convenience, sure, but a "must have" feature?

Well, at least he was creative in this nonsense.

[porkChop]

Devs can already do this on PS3, and some games do. But most devs don't see the point so they don't do it. It's not even a "next gen" feature. Patch notes have been around forever, and for console games you can always look up the patch notes online if you really need to. This is such a waste of an article.

[stage88]

I'd like it to see what has been changed/updated?

Is it needed and an awesome next gen feature? No.

[shadow_lawless]

You know what i think would be a great next gen feature no one is talking about, bit random but if that headphone port on the DS4 could actually stream NPC's voices into it as well as online chatter.

there have been so many times that i am playing a game and due to not having surround sound or just poorly levelled gaming volume i cant here a thing the characters in the story are saying.

[stragomccloud]

Funny how when it's Sony, no one looks at the very low clock speed and assumes it's just slow, like developers have done with Nintendo.

[porkChop]

The difference is the architecture.

The PS4 is using a brand new architecture where clock speed isn't as important as what can actually be achieved per clock cycle.

The Wii U is using an 11 year old ancient architecture that's very slow and very inefficient. The fact that it has a slow clock speed just makes the problem a hell of a lot worse.

And developers haven't just "assumed" that the Wii U is slow. They have dev kits and they're tested the system. They know what it is and isn't capable of. They're not assuming anything, the Wii U is just slow, plain and system.

Now that doesn't mean that there won't be good games for the system, because there obviously will be. But most developers are sick of the limitations of this gen and want to move on to bigger and better things, and that's why so many of them are leaving the Wii U behind.

[stragomccloud]

Just because most manufactures don't use risc based architecture, doesn't mean that it's old.

The wii Us Power based architecture is very good. IBM just doesn't make cpus for home computers anymore.

The "old" architecture bit is also invalid because x86 architecture was first introduced in 1978.

The Wii U is using a highly customized architecture, so like the PS3(though not as bad) it will take time for people to learn where it shines. It's not weak, it's just different.

PS3 wasn't weak by any means, and yet Call of Duty games, GTA IV, and countless other games were underpar compared to what it could do, and a lot of developers proclaimed the system just wasn't up to snuff in some areas(namely Gabe Newell and Bethesda as a whole). Yet developers like Naughty Dog have proven time and time again that you need a different approach to a different architecture.

It should also be noted that developers that have actually worked with the system have had lots of good things to say. It's the top brass that don't actually do any work with the hardware, or developers that have just tried to strait port games with zero optimization that have usually bad mouthed the system.

Clock for clock the Wii U is probably faster than the PS4 CPU, just as the single core in the Wii was actually faster than the individual cores of the xbox 360 xeon cpu, though both the 360 and PS4 do have the advantage during both gens because of the number of cores.

That said though, the Wii U does actually have a great CPU in it, it's just that since the PS4 is releasing a year later, Sony could put in tech that is a year newer.

Problem here is that there are too many fanboys that believe everything they read, especially when it is negative press about "the other camp"'s console. Misinformation and fanboyism is becoming pretty ridiculous around here, and it is interfering with facts and playing games. That thing that gamers supposedly care about.

[porkChop]

x86 is a family of many architectures. The x86 CPU's of today are completely different than 30 years ago. They are all separate architectures.

The Wii U CPU is NOT faster than the PS4's CPU clock for clock. The Jaguar CPU's are new, and they are state of the art. Very efficient. The Wii U's CPU has already been confirmed by many developers to be much slower than both the 360 and PS3 CPU's.

The Wii U's Espresso CPU is literally a shrunken-down overclocked tri-core version of the Wii's Broadway CPU. And The Wii's Broadway CPU was a shrunken-down overclocked version of the Gamecube's Gekko CPU. It may be much smaller now, and it may be faster due to higher clock speeds and more cores, but it's still the same CPU and the exact same architecture. It's still just as inefficient.

Also, it's funny that you bring up fanboyism considering that YOU were the fanboy who brought up clock speed in the comments of an article talking about patch notes.

[stragomccloud]

...and the risc architecture of the Wii U is pretty different from the the risc architecture of the Gamecube.

Anyway, I'm sorry but the PS4 is hardly state of the art. My desktop CPU eats the PS4s for breakfast.
The PS4 is using a mobile APU, and while it is the best mobile APU, it is still a mobile APU.

The Wii U was built for a single purpose, the PS4 is basically off the counter PC parts. I'm not saying that the Wii U is more powerful, because it isn't by a clear margin, but the margin is not as much as you might believe, and even PCs a few years old are more powerful than a PS4.

And actually, it is not a shrunken down version of the broadway, and IBM have themselves said it is a new chip. It uses a lot of the same designs as Power, but it's eDRAM configuration is more reminiscent of Power 7. As thus, it's a CPU that can't really be directly compared with anything.

And I'm no fanboy.
I'm a PC gamer first, and a console gamer second. I have a sweet gaming rig, a Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS, and a Vita. I've been gaming since the days of the NES and have owned almost every major system since those days including NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, N64, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, DS, Dreamcast, Gamecube and a PS2.

The reason my comment ended up here is actually pretty funny, and I just now realized it. I read one article, and then posted my comments in the N4G comments section of another article's page.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

You mean the future that includes Apple, Valve, Android Boxes, and your local cable company in the same space as MS, Nintendo and Sony? Yeah, you're right. No one talks about that future.

[Hicken]

SO off-base it's painful.

Where's Apple's console? What are the odds of these other consoles making a serious dent in the market? Cable companies?

You make me laugh. No, you make me shake my head.

Edit: "Future market," blah, blah. You're quick to say that, but slow to expound upon it. That implies a lack of knowledge ON said subject.

Who gives a damn about the "living room battle?" We're talking about consoles. GAMING CONSOLES. Apple will NEED A GAMING CONSOLE in order to compete against the likes of Sony and Nintendo. By the same token, Microsoft is probably gonna lose the set-top box battle against Apple... and even Apple will likely lose out as the functions of such a device are absorbed right into televisions, themselves.

Guess you forgot about those, huh?

And again, big cable has WHAT to do with gaming consoles? Are they gonna be able to provide the same experience you get on ANY console? No? Then guess what: NOT IMPORTANT.

Maybe, juuuuust maybe, if you had some sort of facts, evidence, quotes, links, ANYTHING to back up your claims, someone might be inclined to agree with you. As it stands, you just look like yet another know-it-all who knows nothing.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Apple doesn't need a console to compete in the living room battle. And the fact that you don't understand this proves you're clueless about the future of the market.

And you don't know about the plans of big cable? Well you're also very uninformed. This is more than just Sega Channel.

[BlindMango]

Am I the only one in the comments section that agrees with this article in the case of having the patch notes included with the update?? I have always sat in my chair waiting for the update to download and say to myself, "man, I wish the patch notes were right there so I can see what's being fixed/added to my game" - right there on my TV instead of taking all the extra time to search it on Google

Lmao why are people trashing this guy? So what if it's not PC? Why the hell would you not want to know what the patch is for? Good idea that I have been wanting personally!

[Gazondaily]

I'm with you on this. Patch notes are important for the more discerning gamer and judging from the nature of the comments on here, clearly console gamers aren't as astute as their pc counterparts (which I know isn't true but the sentiments here suggest so).

[danthebios]

what i think is a cool feature for next gen is let say you have two ps4 consoles and two t.v's,you can play co op with a friend on different consoles and t.v's in the same house or different rooms without the need of a modem or going online,hmmm is that even possible if it is WOW!!

[Peanuts110]

I always wondered what was in those updates. I always thought they were selling a slightly defective product, take the money now and run to the bank. If it sells well then they will invest a little more money to fix it.

[sprinterboy]

I 100 percent trust the manufacturer when updating I have never once felt nervous about doing a FW update or any update for that matter, if I did`nt trust them 100 percent then I would probably not buy the product in the first place.

[-Gespenst-]

Yes you're placing an incredible amount of trust in games patches, but even with patch notes, that doesn't preclude the possibility that they've left details out of the notes themselves for whatever reason, or that, even with the inclusion of notes, something has still gone overlooked and still messes your game up.