We are yet to experience true next gen

There are a lot of articles at the moment talking about next gen. This has mainly been triggered by Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2 DX11. Some are saying that these games are next gen, including the developers of Crysis, Crytek, but I would personally rubbish these claims. I must explain that, to me a generation in gaming is dictated by new consoles. PS1 was a generation from PS2 and PS2 was a generation from PS3. So, I would argue that next generation, though close, is not happening now at all. Next generation will happen, I think as early as fall 2012. The new consoles will bring with them a new generation.

Why is next gen not happening now? Well, there is no doubt that at the moment Crysis 2 DX11 has the best graphics ever. Battlefield 3 will likely beat that when it’s out and Witcher 2 should get a mention too along with Crysis 1. These games however are not next gen, and I will explain why, though their developers say they are. History is repeating itself. Games like Crysis 2 DX11 and BF3 are very reminiscent of games like Far Cry 1, Half Life 2 and FEAR. The graphics of games like Far Cry 1 were, at the time, unreal. Far Cry’s graphics were not possible on PS2, yet if you look at screenshots of it now, it looks last gen. I predict the same is happening here. DICE have said that Frostbite 2 is a next gen engine, and I agree with them but it isn’t producing games at the moment that are true next gen, including Battlefield 3. The same thing happened with Half Life 2 which used the Source engine still used today on great games like Portal 2. Again HL2’s graphics weren’t able to be produced on PS2. The game was released on Xbox 1 and looked and ran very poorly compared to the PC. Though the Source engine is a current generation engine, Half Life 2 isn’t. If you play through Half Life 2 now, it certainly plays like a game that came out in 2004. If you compare the graphics of Killzone 3 or Gears of War with Half Life 2 now, there is only one winner. Episode 2 certainly looked better, but I think the same think will happen again with these games like Crysis 2 and BF3. The PS4 and 720 will be able to produce better graphics than both BF3 and Crysis 2.

With the exception of 2006 the best graphics this gen have always been found on PC. In 2006 the 360 found it's main franchise and the PS3 was released. At the time it is without doubt that Gears of War 1 had the best graphics ever seen. Gears of War 1 on 360 had the best graphics at the time including PC games. This crown was swiftly taken back by the PC a year later when Crysis was released. This will happen again I believe, that the new batch of Consoles will take the crown for graphics and this will truly mark Next Gen. PS4s graphics will be to BF3 and Crysis 2 DX11 what the PS3s graphics are to Far Cry and Half Life 2. Though I’m sure the PC will again swiftly take back the grown, maybe with Crysis 3? Another perfect example of this would be Battlefield 2. Another game that can’t really be compared to graphics this gen, but certainly was better than anything graphically the PS2 ever produced.

So, my assumptions are completely based on what has happened before. I could be wrong. I do expect that new consoles will be announced at E3 2012 and released either the fall of 2012 or spring of 2013. I believe that the Uncharted 4/5s graphics will basically be near to real life. I don’t desperately want new consoles now, but this is mainly because they’ve still got one last hurrah with Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3 and Forza 4.

[theonlylolking]

" Battlefield 2. Another game that can’t really be compared to graphics this gen, but certainly was better than anything graphically the PS2 ever produced." That is how some wii games were.

I dont think next gen will start until the first next gen console gets released. The current gen will not end until the last company releasing a console releases it.

[MintBerryCrunch]

next gen does not ALWAYS mean better graphics, a game can look beautiful but if its gameplay and mechanics are outdated, it doesnt make it truly next gen, there are still a lot of games this gen that havent wavered that much from the formula that gave them success from last gen

graphics are one thing, if CoD ends up being 1080p looking super realistic yet with the same gameplay we have seen since CoD4, then it is not next gen

[bwazy]

Exactly, look at Guildwars 2. While not the most graphically appealing (just wait) in the traditional sense, its extremely extraordinary art style is definitely next gen. Especially with all its new and straight up innovative concepts it is a game that will define its own genre and others as what is truely known as game design

[tee_bag242]

I couldn't agree with you more. To me it feels as if this gen's innovation hasn't deviated from last gens recipes at all. Voice chat while gaming online has been a nice feature (technically not this gen)and a bump in graphics is always welcome.

But, I'd like to see developers take a few more risks with gaming. Maybe even take a few steps back and take some notes from the 16 bit days where a simple beat em up was alot of fun and somehow allowed alot of replay value with friends.

I really think developers need to take a more lateral approach with game design and gameplay - NOTE: this is just a example - 3D hardware and technology has progressed dramatically.. but 2D hardware and technology hasn't. Just because were are talking about 2D here, it doesn't necessarily mean old school graphics or 2D gameplay mechanics.

I don't want to sound unappreciative but quite honestly I haven't been overly impressed this Gen. Graphics wise I was blown away the first time I saw GOW screens and GT5 Prologue but game play and genre variety hasn't developed a whole lot.

[zerocrossing]

I agree, we wont truly be playing the next gen titles until the next gen consoles are released, The graphics and gameplay of this gen are very impressive but so were the PS2's just before it passed the torch to PS3, Now look at the difference. To coin a phrase "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".

[JOHN_DOH]

If you think next gen consoles are gonna beat a high end pc built for gaming than I think you're gonna be disappointed. PC doesn't have a budget for cost or power it's up to the user. Consoles have to be affordable for the masses and have to fit into a small case. Gears might've been best on consoles but wasn't that special on pc. sorry it's true.

[tee_bag242]

You are correct in saying this. At the end of the day, games are basically made on PC's to begin with - kinda end of story really. But being practical, many PC gamers don't have access to that sort of grunt.
This is exactly the same for a windowed amount of time when a new console is released.

- In this situation:
Dev's have alot more incentive to optimise code for such a platform whereby they know exactly what sort of resources are available. During this windowed or honeymoon period of the console; it usually results pretty amazing stuff when compared with the games on the gamers PC rig.

[JOHN_DOH]

yes consoles games look great considering the hardware they are using but pc will always have the best graphics because of things like triple sli/crossfire with 1200 watt power supplies. I think it's a little overkill though since the software hasn't really been pushing graphics that much.

[zerocrossing]

I don't think unless you're a avid PC gamer many people take PC graphics in to consideration, Like you say games are made on a PC and they will always look better on them there's just no arguing that, But since most people seem to be console gamers they wont be seeing next gen until the new consoles are out.

[DasTier]

The next gen will always be just that, NEXT gen. Waiting to play it is like waiting for the day after tommorow as it will constantly change

[trounbyfire]

agree 100%
in fact i just made a comment about this to a guy.

[Hicken]

Yes, "next gen" is dictated by the consoles, NOT by the PC. And with good reason.

The phrase "next generation" on PC is generally used to refer to individual components on PC: the "next gen" graphics card, or a "next gen" sound card. This means a computer can have next gen parts right along with current and previous generation parts, making the PC... something.

But a PS2 is not a PS1. The GameCube is not an N64. Consoles come out and have definitive differences from their predecessors; you can't upgrade an NES to make it run Wii games. On the other hand, I could turn this POS, third-hand desktop I'm using into a pretty good gaming rig.