This Console Gen Has To End. New Consoles – The Time Is Now

Aaron of RipTen: It’s now 2011, the sixth year since the Xbox360 was released, and while it can be argued that we have progressed in leaps and bounds, we’ve ultimately come to a slow halt. The current age of gaming feels like the end days of the Playstation 2, we’re seeing the same games only somewhat prettier, with a few new features here and there for good measure. Sure, there have been games that have revolutionized gaming as we know it – and I’m sure we’ll continue to see game changers this generation, but think of how much more expansive these games could truly be with new hardware

[Invadersims]

I honestly think that we should keep this generation going for as long as we can. I honestly don't feel like the tech is outdated yet, and I don't want to invest in new hardware anytime soon.

[Dark_Charizard]

I honestly think we need new consoles by 2012

[Starhawk]

Yep, can't wait to buy consoles even more expensive than this geneneration and 80$/90$ games ( because development cost will be higher ) even though the PS3/360 aren't maxed out yet.

[Chubear]

There is a group of gamers that have a feeling for the NEED of a new console and another from yet another console that really don't feel the need anytime soon

Can you guess which is which? :D

[Best]

Well if it ended today, clearly the box would win.

[malandra]

there won't be a new generation at least until 2014, that's the earliest for a new Xbox and 2015 the earliest for a new PS

a new Wii might be announced this year and release the next but it won't mark a generation change

after 2011 there will be another round/year of lots of AAA releases, probably 2013 and that's the last one, after that its trading water until the next gen arrives because developers will already be busy with next gen games

360 had a great run but it has reached its limit although it has Kinect to artificially extend its lifetime, and the PS3 still has plenty to offer

[Ryudo]

@Starhawk

Not true, saying current consoles aren't maxed out is pointless, the PS2 ain't maxed out either is the PSX.

The reason games keep getting better is because developers are finding cleaver ways to get around the limited resources consoles have.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 have 512MB of ram, my Iphone has the same amount. it's utterly looney to believe anything other then current consoles are slowing developers down.

When consoles are getting to the point of here phones have more memory it's time to move on.

A new consoles wouldn't cost developers more to make games it would save them money. Look at games being developed as PC exclusive at the moment. The amount of money piled into making the games is way less then a Sony exclusive or 360 exclusive.

They save money because they don't have to spend 100's of man hours trying to get the best out of extremely limited hardware.

[DigitalHorror81]

I'm cool with my NGP and my brand new 160 Gig PS3.

[Reibooi]

I don't think we need to consoles anytime soon. The tech from this gen is still growing and certain devs are JUST now getting into the game.

On top of that I doubt the next gen will happen soon anyway. Sony stated they wanted the PS3 to last at least 10 years which has not yet happened and MS probably wants to keep the 360 around for as long as they can because despite it's high sales they lost a metric crap ton of money early on because of the whole RROD thing. Not to mention launching a new console after just introducing Kinect would be rather ignorant.

Bottom line there are plenty of reasons for both companies to keep this current gen around for at least another 4-5 years.

As for Nintendo. They don't really compete with MS and Sony. The stuff they make tends to stand on it's own. While I think we could use a higher powered Wii I don't know if Nintendo even plans on doing that. It's more likely they will do something completely new.

[Active Reload]

Nope, we don't need new consoles right now. Show me something that presents a huge jump in EVERYTHING the way Gears of War splashed onto the seen, then I'll say we need new consoles.

[ProjectVulcan]

I believe we will see them in 18 months - 2 years. PS3 is still relatively expensive. I do not see sony launching first.

[zootang]

Blu Ray has helped the PS3 a lot and I would like to see it more utilized by all developers. A lot of room for improvement still. I'm confident the PS3 has a while left yet.

[Vherostar]

I dont think we should get new consoles for at least 5 years. Only people who want new now are those who want it to happen before ps3 finally takes over 360. If its graphics your looking for get a decent PC for the price you would pay for a new console.

[jjohan35]

Both consoles are still selling well. There's no point, from a business perspective, to introduce new consoles yet. The way I see it, Microsoft is still making a lot of money from annual subscriptions while Sony is making a lot of money off of their exclusive studios.

[nix]

PS3 is just warming up. not now. maybe in 2 yrs time.

[Daver]

@Malandra

They will be out before 2015 and that is more conceivable than saying at earliest 2015.
I say they will launch in 2013

[Pixel_Pusher]

For the Xbox maybe but the PS3 still has room to stretch it's legs. Still I wouldn't say no to a PS4.

[AngryTypingGuy]

It all has to do with money. When the tech gets inexpensive enough to produce a game without the average company having to worry about going bankrupt should it fail, then the new gen will start.

I'm in no hurry. The PS3 makes amazing looking exclusives and now the 360 will apparently start using tessellations, so this gen still has life in it graphics-wise.

[RioKing]

Yeah DARK_CHARZARD I'm sure you want one and I'm sure your mommy will buy you one as soon as it comes out ;)

[Dee_91]

am i the only who think there wont be a xbox 720 ?
they need more in house studios because people arent going to keep going for timed exclusives

unless they go the nintendo route and just focus on the casuals with kinect
which is what i think will happen
but i was also thinking if the the wii2 had an eye cam thats more high tech than kinect and gave the controllers the same/better tech than move
it would take over the casual market next gen
all in all I dont know lol
ask sega. its not enough room for 3 lol

edit: wow what if sega made a console next gen?
i would buy it just for sonic lol

[MaxXAttaxX]

Yes, because a goddamn iPhone has the same graphical output as PS3.

/s

[HappyGaming]

Saying the PS3 hasn't been maxed out is a stupid argument...

At the end of the day even if the PS4 was released tomorrow with 2010 technology it would make PS3 graphics look outdated.

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

2012 is too soon. 2013 definitely. Each generation the cost of creating games goes up and as the cost of creating games go up devs have to try to get as much out of a generation as possible. So expect each following generation to be longer than the last.

[pixelsword]

Basically, the manufacturers are going to wait out the world economic collapse that's underway, so you're out of luck if you think a new console will be coming out in the next two years. The only console that really future-proofed itself was Sony; Microsoft still has the Windows OS mentality where a new product is made available every two years, so they kinda punked themselves out on the 360.

Nintendo is poised to put out a new console, they probably waited for the newest tech to cheapen so it can sell a newer console at a price that is competitive with the current gen's consoles. This is the year that Nintendo may be able to retake the gaming world if they do it right.

[PoweredParaglider]

I do agree with this sentiment.

Although somen fanboys want to believe otherwise, the ps3 is now over 5 years old and the 360 is 6 years old.

Both consoles struggle to run good-looking games above 720p. Even at this low resolution, we have to contend with dropped frames, comparatively poor textures, pop-in, slow loading, screen tear and the list goes on.

To say the ps3 somehow has significant untapped potential compared to the 360 is simply naive. If there was so much untappedn potential in the ps3 we wouldn't be seeing ps3 crysis running at the lowest resolution. That's a no-brainer.

As far as optimisation goes, both consoles will show marginal graphical improvements, sure, but after 5-6 years, the ps3/360 hardware is OLD in anyone's language. Also a no-brainer.

I would be keen to see more powerful processors coupled with a combination of move/kinect to harness some of the cool kinect hacks we have seen, maybe with the accuracy of the move controller, or something like it.
That would make the next gen worthwhile, imo.

No need to reply if all you want to do is fanboy hype the ps3.. that's getting old too, isn't it?

[BX81]

Look at it this way. Only a hand full of devs have really pushed the systems. So we get new systems and 90% of the devs can't even make good looking games on the old systems. Where is the science in that? I say wait a couple of years, maybe around 2014 then push new systems. It's clear in this gen a lot of devs haven't figured out how to make great looking games. Let's play catch up, then move on.

[Spydiggity]

we won't see new consoles til the developers settle on a new format. the thing about DVD was that it was a huge medium. when blu-ray hit, it just wasn't the same kind of hit. sure they look better and hold more, but ppl already had their dvd collections.

the obvious choice would be digital distribution, but the problem is that there's no way to predict where the tech is going. it would be foolish for MS or Sony to jump on the digital distribution bandwagon if cloud gaming ends up being the better choice...or there could be another tech we don't even know about.

i don't see blu-ray lasting another generation.

my money is on a combination of the cloud and digital distribution. digital distribution alone would mean needing very large HDDs, and by removing blu-ray/dvd publishers could keep costs down and the consoles themselves would be cheaper to make if they didn't need a disc drive.

no matter what, it's gonna be a few more years. pretty sure sony is still down money on development costs of the ps3 so they aren't going to be in a rush... and since MS is still winning month over month in the US, they aren't going to jump to a new gen either. they are profitable and will be happy milking it for as long as sony is.

i'm leaving nintendo outta this because you just don't know what they will do. they made more money than god with the Wii, so they could easily jump to a next gen console...the question is will they? the last 2 times they tried to keep up (n64, and gamecube) they didn't do so hot. i think they'll wait to see what 3ds does and wait for 3d tv sales figures before making their decision.

[Theonetheonly]

dude i had a major epiphany

i looked it up and they have thought of it but while listening to this dude talk i came up with the idea to use 3d technology to make multiplayer same screen gaming on set of glasses sees one screen at 01hz and the other player sees his screen at 02hz

i almost shit myself that no one thought of that but i looked it up and sony has but still how cool would that be to game IN FULL SCREEN (i remember hating having to share the screen) full on multiplayer with 240hz tvs you could prally do 4 player OMG please make this happen i would be so happy.

[dabri5]

There seems to be some really bad misconceptions regarding new consoles on this site.

1: Sony said PS3 will have a 10 year life cycle
- So did PS1 and PS2. they both DID have a 10 year life cycle BUT Sony started selling the next gen console 5-6 years into that cycle.

2: PS3 and 360 still have untapped power or are just now hitting their stride.
- Just because it took a console a while to start producing good looking games doesn't mean anything to sales division of companies. They will push to release a new product when the old one starts to run out of market share.
Previously, when the price of the console gets low enough, it opens up to a new bracket of sales. To keep from not having income from the higher bracket, they release a new product.

3: development costs for games are still too high.
- development costs on average have gone down since the beginning of this generation. Most studios have already developed the tools they need to work with this and next gen consoles. The big difference between this and last gen was updating all the tools/ talent so they could work with multicore processing. Time to develop a game has gone down some and so has the cost. When next gen hits, you will see a bump in both, but nothing like what we saw last gen. Also, there is heavy talk about next gen consoles pushing digital downloads hard. This should cut costs for everyone. I am 95% sure we will not see a raise in price for a new game because of all of this.

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Because of all of this, I expect announcements for new consoles to start this year. I then expect those consoles to be released late next year, early 2013. Not all of them. Just the initial one or two. I doubt Sony wants as big of a time gap between MS release and their next console as last time though.

[paintsville]

Sony definately needs the next gen to come quickly. I mean antiquated RAM architecture, inferior GPU, convoluted CPU, bandwidth bottlenecks. These things have all contributed to the frame rate, tearing, fill rates, lighting, shadowing, alpha, "mandatory" installs, and ssao problems we've seen on the system since it's release. Next gen for Sony can't come soon enough.