Are you tired of the current-gen/want the next-gen to come around?

[RoyWill Rumble]

Yes, yes, self-entitled white people problems. But I feel like the current consoles are God-damned stagnant. And the video games industry is suffering because of it--creatively, and technically speaking. And it's annoying. Seriously, when my laptop can keep up with, and often surpass consoles? You know a generation's life-cycle has gone on too long.

Anyway, with the Wii U being announced, and then news being sparrrrrrrrrrrse as fuck despite the fact that the system is out by Christmas, and Microsoft and Sony essentially saying outright that consoles won't be announced at E3, and the earliest we'll be seeing any news/new consoles is 2013, I've gotta say that's some ol' bullshit. Seriously. I'm content with the PS3 and 360, but we need new systems for Christ's sake. Games can still look fucking great, but they don't wow me anymore. Not after seeing what PCs can do now. A few years ago it was different, but now PCs just fuck consoles up the ass. Console games can still wow me artistically, but from a pure 'HOLY JESUS THIS GAME IS BEAUTIFUL IT LOOKS REAL WHAT THE DICK' perspective? Nah, son. And dear God, we need some improvements in AI. Please. And just, new systems will bring so many more advancements in bullshit to do with online services, and how DLC is handled, and so on. Ugh. Uggggggghhh.

It pisses me off to no end that there is no news of new consoles aside from the Wii U, and the Wii U, from rumours, is basically comparable to what we have now. Fuck that. I also think that Sony and Microsoft have to both go balls to the fucking wall. The next generation needs to make very, very noticeable leaps forward in all facets. If they're incremental upgrades? Fuck off. This console cycle has gone on for seven god-damned years. That's insane. I don't want systems comparable to computers now. Give me something better. So then at least consoles won't feel so dated so quickly. That was a huge problem with this generation. It wasn't long before consoles started feeling dated, and developers finally gave PC gamers competent ports.

I just want new consoles. And I want them to be fucking amazing. Problem is, these current consoles are still raking in an ASS-LOAD of money--specifically the 360. And Sony has other shit to worry about, like the poor Vita reception, and basically every division of its company that isn't the Playstation Division. So Microsoft has no incentive to push things forward. Neither does Sony. And it seems like both are waiting to see what the reception to the Wii U's gonna be. It's just incredibly disheartening, to me, that we've got nothing to look forward to for E3, and nothing to look forward to for quite a while. I'm not a Wii U dude, personally. I'm not sold on it. And even if I was, it would become obsolete soon after its release because theoretically, Sony and Microsoft will finally get off their asses and release new consoles by the end of 2013 or by early 2014, rendering the Wii U essentially useless. Third-parties aren't gonna wanna develop for an out-of-date console, and Nintendo will be back to the state it was in with the Wii.

Anyway, yeah. Discuss.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Will? Yum.

[Your Mom]

Nah I'm good. Even if new consoles did come out theres no way we could afford to buy them. Games are great right now. Let them keep working in the background on something spectacular for next gen and lets just enjoy the greatness we have now.

[Crybaby Bunting]

What people generally seem to forget is that we're kinda in a recession and not many people can really throw £400-£500 on a brand new console.

I mean, the games industry can't really rely on people blowing £40 on a brand new game like they once could, which has allowed minor downloadable games to really kick off on our current generation. I think the industry will try and ride out the recession until we see substantial growth and THEN prepare themselves for releasing a console.

Until then we'll see a huge boom in Xbox Arcade games (and equivalent PS3 games) and about two 'premium' games per developer per year for a while

[Ruki]

I'm excited about what the future of gaming has to offer (just as long as we still use disks. Fuck cloud games), but I am in no rush to get there just yet. Plus, I will likely wait a few months after they release before getting a new console because: a) price will be fucking dumb b) don't the first consoles usually have some bugs that need to be worked out?

[RoyWill Rumble]

Problem is, though, to me, games aren't great. Well, they're great, but they're fucking stagnant--they've reached a plateau in programming and graphics, and innovations come now from ideas. And a lot of ideas can't be pulled off because of limitations in the current hardware. Big-ass worlds in RPGs feel hollow at some point, because A.I. is not advanced enough to program enough things. Graphics, again, feel dated. They don't wow me like they used to, because PC games just fuck them up the ass.

As for price? Doubt it. They'll be expensive, yes, but I really don't think they'll be that much more than the current consoles were at launch--cheaper than god-damned 599 US DOLLARS! The Wii U doesn't need to be expensive, because it's conceivably barely better than current hardware. And current hardware is hella cheap. Microsoft and Sony would be fucking insane to try to gouge people for prices when the Wii U will have already been out for about a year by the time their consoles are out.

I just... eh. I fucking hate it, personally. Again, entitlement, yes, I know, but I'm just spoiled by what could be. And I'm annoyed that I look at my pile of games and go "These are fucking awesome. But Christ, they could be so much better." And obviously there's gotta be working being done, but not making any illusions to it? I think it's kind of an insult to gamers.

As for the whole 'premium' thing, developers have NO impetus to release premium games now. It is, undoubtedly, the end of the cycle. I think it should have come sooner, or things should be announced, but eh. There's no feasible way that this generation goes well into 2014. The first few months, maybe? But that would be fucking insane to push it past January or February. Game development takes a long, long-ass time. A good eighteen months for the 'premium' games. Even the shit games take a while. What's the motivation to make an amazing game when you could wait six months and release it on a new console?

Edited May 18, 2012 by Will? Yum.

[Summers]

Nope, I'm happy as is.

[apsham]

Consoles are the ultimate bore to me now - don't know why really. I'm perfectly content with my gaming laptop.

[Ruki]

Consoles are the ultimate bore to me now - don't know why really. I'm perfectly content with my gaming laptop.

Xbox to PS3, then PS3 to Xbox, then Xbox to PS3 and then PS3 to PC in...2 years?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I'm totally happy with the PS3 right now, not that I play console games much at the minute.

I would like the Vita to get some more games out though.

[Benjamin]

I actually want them to go back to the PlayStation 2 days. You know, when gaming was cheap

[apsham]

Consoles are the ultimate bore to me now - don't know why really. I'm perfectly content with my gaming laptop.

Xbox to PS3, then PS3 to Xbox, then Xbox to PS3 and then PS3 to PC in...2 years?

Yeah it's been a wild ride. Amazing, I broke even right up until the point that I bought the PC. I just happened to find great ways to sell off the console/games.

[=BK=]

No, I love my PS3 and have no desire to get another expensive console.

[King Ellis]

Personally, no.

I'm not that fussed on the graphics side of things and i'm in the school of thought of 'how much better can they possibly get?'. That said, I haven't actually seen a PC that runs on 2 super graphics cards or anything so I guess ignorance is bliss.

That and things that people have been complaining about in recent years (DLC, online passes, DRM, online at all time etc etc) will probably only get worse. There's already been countless rumours to that effect over the past few months.

Sure, i'd probably something up eventually but not till a year or so has passed. I'm just not that fussed about it now. Launch line ups are never that strong and you have to allow the gremlins to be fixed.

Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo probably wont have much choice but to price them highly on release. There are people that will pay it, you have to recoup costs from R&D, marketing etc etc and production costs would be back at a high point before tapering off over the years.

And unless this progress into the next gen somehow makes it easier and cheaper to develop games, then things aren't going to get any better for developers. It seems to happen all the time now that you put out one flop of a game or it doesn't make quite enough money back and whoops, you're closed down.

[Adam]

Yeah graphics aren't any great fascination of mine, as long as I can see what's going on I'm fine most of the time. I am excited for the next generation of consoles but I am not looking to see them for another year or two, maybe even three. Times are tough right now for most and a console and all the additional stuff is extremely expensive. I've not played my 360 much the last couple of months but I think that's more to do with boredom with the games I have and a lack of interesting new releases for myself.

[Your Mom]

Problem is, though, to me, games aren't great. Well, they're great, but they're fucking stagnant--they've reached a plateau in programming and graphics, and innovations come now from ideas. And a lot of ideas can't be pulled off because of limitations in the current hardware. Big-ass worlds in RPGs feel hollow at some point, because A.I. is not advanced enough to program enough things. Graphics, again, feel dated. They don't wow me like they used to, because PC games just fuck them up the ass.

As for price? Doubt it. They'll be expensive, yes, but I really don't think they'll be that much more than the current consoles were at launch--cheaper than god-damned 599 US DOLLARS! The Wii U doesn't need to be expensive, because it's conceivably barely better than current hardware. And current hardware is hella cheap. Microsoft and Sony would be fucking insane to try to gouge people for prices when the Wii U will have already been out for about a year by the time their consoles are out.

I just... eh. I fucking hate it, personally. Again, entitlement, yes, I know, but I'm just spoiled by what could be. And I'm annoyed that I look at my pile of games and go "These are fucking awesome. But Christ, they could be so much better." And obviously there's gotta be working being done, but not making any illusions to it? I think it's kind of an insult to gamers.

As for the whole 'premium' thing, developers have NO impetus to release premium games now. It is, undoubtedly, the end of the cycle. I think it should have come sooner, or things should be announced, but eh. There's no feasible way that this generation goes well into 2014. The first few months, maybe? But that would be fucking insane to push it past January or February. Game development takes a long, long-ass time. A good eighteen months for the 'premium' games. Even the shit games take a while. What's the motivation to make an amazing game when you could wait six months and release it on a new console?

I dont see how it's an insult to gamers. They dont want to reveal anything about the work until they've got it down for sure what they are doing. I dont understand this constant rush to move on to the next thing. You admit that the games now are amazing yet they aren't enough for you. Whats going to change? They might look a little nicer? I don't know I mean everyone has opinions at all but in my mind they could go another 2 years with what they have now. Wii U is only coming out now because they were so behind in the first place. If anything needs to change it's the $60 price point for everything. Thats the insult to gamers.

[Rich]

Nope, I'm happy as is.

[Dingle]

I think the only thing I would like for current gaming is the scope for open world games like GTA to feel completely authentic and like the city really does live and breathe. IV made great leaps along that line but there's still a lot more that can be done. However, I've no idea if IV pushed the systems to their limits or not and what games do push them to the limit. (Ooo yeahh, push it to the limit). I don't mean graphically, because I'm happy enough with how the current games look and whilst I do expect games to reflect real life with their graphics one day in my time here, I don't care about it insofar as actually playing my games.

Ellis was bang on about needing a cheaper way to develop games though. Too many company's are taking big hits from the recession so we're just going to get the same shit year-in-year-out with the occasional big idea that works out well. Too many gamers are happy to just buy this years/half years version of COD or Battlefield for developers to really worry about pushing boundaries though. But that's a different discussion.

[Colly]

I'm just gutted my PS3 isn't backwards compatible.

[New Damage]

I do agree that games are mostly stagnant right now, but I don't think that's the console's problem: it's the developers. There are no/very few interesting concepts coming out, every game is a sequal or another game in an already bloated genre (ie. FPS). I don't buy many games now (partially as I'm older and have to pay for them myself as I don't get pocket-money ) partially because there are very few games that come out in a year that I actually want to play. It felt like MW3 was more of a necessity than looking forward to it, in the sense that everyone else would be playing that now, so I'd have to get it just to play with them online. It was essentially a £40 map pack with a new and even more confusing single-player storyline bolted on.

Whether it is because I'm older or because between generations coming out I completed a Games Development degree (which if anything quelled my passion), it's just lacking fun. We've all had this discussion a few times, but whilst graphically good GTAIV wasn't fun to play. It just seems to be an expendable business as the moment, where they release a game like WWE, FIFA or even COD, then the next year re-release it with different menus and different characters/players/maps. I can't say I blame them with the first two at least, but it's just overall not very fun to play like a Vice City was. I think the most fun I've had from a single player experience on the PS3 has been the Uncharted series, even though I don't actually own the first two. I played the third one through again for only the second time this week, and it made me smile a big kid like Vice City, MGS and Spider-Man 2 did.

[Meacon Keaton]

Nope, I'm happy as is.