So are game makers confortable with current consoles?

[Matt²]

Ok so I know Nintendo is planning a Wii 2 or something, but it seems to me that the other game companies seem to be very happy with their consoles.. ie, I haven't heard anything about like an Xbox 720 or a PS4. .. not that I've been listening, though either. I've got a 360 but I don't have enough to buy a PS3 though I would like to get one eventually... I think it will be around the time that the PS4 ever comes out I may be able to get a PS3.

So are we happy with graphics? What can they improve from here? Smellovision?

 

[Hylian]

While I would love to see a new console system soon I feel that a longer lifespan for console systems may be better for the industry as long as it's not to long. I personally think another year or two would be good before they start worrying about releasing new systems.

 

[doomdragon6]

My impressions:

Nintendo actually seems perfectly content with the Wii. Working on the 3-DS.

XBox 360: Just came out with the Kinect in an attempt to reach the casual gamer market, kind of like the Wii. Definitely cooler though, but apparently no really awesome games yet.

PS3: Just came out with their DIRECT Wii control knock-offs, that look silly. (One has a huge pink ball on the end.)

Also, I'd give it a minimum of 3 years before new gen consoles. Right now we're reaching the "updated current gen" stage, such as a 360 slim, etc.

 

[Frank]

My impressions:

Nintendo actually seems perfectly content with the Wii. Working on the 3-DS.

XBox 360: Just came out with the Kinect in an attempt to reach the casual gamer market, kind of like the Wii. Definitely cooler though, but apparently no really awesome games yet.

PS3: Just came out with their DIRECT Wii control knock-offs, that look silly. (One has a huge pink ball on the end.)

Also, I'd give it a minimum of 3 years before new gen consoles. Right now we're reaching the "updated current gen" stage, such as a 360 slim, etc.

The ball on the PS3 changes color depending on what it's doing, but other than that, you're right.

I think both Kinect and Move are destined to fail, since they're both really lame, but I also thought the Wii was lame and would fail too so how right could I possibly be.

 

[AshburnerX]

Microsoft's current plan is have the 360 last until 2015. It's unlikely they'd be doing another console until they had to, as they really don't want to support Blu Ray after Sony made HD DVD irrelevant.

Playstation 3 came out later, so it's likely Sony will be following suit... maybe releasing another updated version of the console when they can cut costs even more.

Nintendo is likely to do a Wii 2, with 360 power graphics at least, but not for a few years... right now they are focused on getting the 3DS done.

 

[figmentPez]

Console generations tend to last ~5-6 years, if I recall correctly.

PS1: 1994 - 1995
PS2: 2000
PS3: 2006

Xbox: 2001
360: 2005

N64: 1996
GCN: 2001
Wii: 2006

It's only been 4 - 5 years since the last generation of consoles came out. There probably won't be new consoles this year, but we might see something at the end of next year if one of the three feels they can steal, or secure, market share by being the first of the "next gen". If it weren't for the 3DS, I'd say that Nintendo would almost certainly have a new home console out by November of 2011, but they may not want to release two new systems in the same year. As for MS and Sony, I have a feeling that Kinect and Move are product testing as much as they are actual products. Those two will most likely put out new systems as soon as they either feel they've mastered motion control enough to integrate it into the main system, or have decided it's only worth being an add-on.

 

[Soliloquy]

I'm actually kind of hoping that the current consoles stick around for a long time. I mean... do we really need better graphics? They're great now, and I think we've reached the point of diminishing returns -- developers are already spending most of their budget making sure that everything looks as real as possible, and I don't think that the amount they'll need to spend to make things even better looking wouldn't be worth the effort.

So unless the next consoles will introduce ideas that will further the potential for gameplay, I don't know why things would need to improve.

 

[figmentPez]

Well, graphics may not need a huge boost in general, but I think games will benefit from more RAM for more detailed worlds, and more processing power for more advanced AI.

 

[Disconnected]

My impressions:

Nintendo actually seems perfectly content with the Wii. Working on the 3-DS.

XBox 360: Just came out with the Kinect in an attempt to reach the casual gamer market, kind of like the Wii. Definitely cooler though, but apparently no really awesome games yet.

PS3: Just came out with their DIRECT Wii control knock-offs, that look silly. (One has a huge pink ball on the end.)

Also, I'd give it a minimum of 3 years before new gen consoles. Right now we're reaching the "updated current gen" stage, such as a 360 slim, etc.

the ball is not pink. Pink is not silly. :angry:

the DS has been remixed more than the downward spiral.

the wii has recycled more games than I thought possible.

I feel the ps3 and 360 are still going strong, it feels the 360 was losing ground and is trying to regain it by grabbing at casual gamers. The PS Move... is... yeah, uhm just something to compare to wii I guess. Like hai guyz look wut we got 2.

I've worn my original xbox out. I still have my ps2. my wii collects dust (what she said! nyuk), I don't own a 360 and my PS3 is going well.

I won't need a new system for 10 more years i hope.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that a Sony head honcho said that the PS3 is going to be around for quite a while. They're happy with it and it's just a matter of what developers can come up with for it. Sorry, don't remember where I read that.

Anyway, it's all a bunch of hoo-hah, since we'll be seeing the next consoles in another few years. 'Course, if Sony keeps putting more PS1 games on the network and revamping PS2 titles, then I might just be happy with a PS3 long past the PS4.

 

[AshburnerX]

I would also like to point out that the PS2 is still seeing game releases in Japan at the moment and it's had best selling games as recently as two years ago. Game consoles are lasting longer and longer... 2015 isn't much of a long shot anymore.

 

[Chibibar]

I just upgrade my HDD for my PS3 so I am planning to keep it for a while (since it is my main Blu-Ray Player) I did purchase PS3 AFTER Blu-Ray "won" the HD format war (whatever you call it) I heard (don't have xbox360 yet) that you can't upgrade the HDD like you can with PS3 (I haven't done much research cause I won't have the money for at LEAST another 6 months or so) I feel that small hdd (250gb) for xbox 360 is a bit small especially with all the xbox live games you can download.

I am hoping the system will be around for a little while longer. I believe that the next gen probably would have faster processor, bigger RAM and bigger HDD. The graphics are phenomenal for PS3 and Xbox 360 and higher would take up a lot more media space.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Microsoft and Sony don't need an update yet, their machines were ahead of their time. Both could be played on HDTV's and look good doing it. The problem is 5 years ago Nobody had HDTV's. But people are switching over now, in pretty high numbers.

Wii was designed for the TV's that people had 4 years ago, not the future. As people hop over to HDTV's the Wii just does not look as good. If Nintendo can repeat the success of the Wii in HD, they should continue dominating sales.

 

[Oddbot]

Well, graphics may not need a huge boost in general, but I think games will benefit from more RAM for more detailed worlds

Why is the N64 the only console to ever have the ability to upgrade to more RAM? I feel like it would be any easy thing to add that would give a console a good graphical boost in the last year or two of it's lifespan.

 

[AshburnerX]

Well, graphics may not need a huge boost in general, but I think games will benefit from more RAM for more detailed worlds

Why is the N64 the only console to ever have the ability to upgrade to more RAM? I feel like it would be any easy thing to add that would give a console a good graphical boost in the last year or two of it's lifespan.[/QUOTE]

Because then the question becomes why didn't they just give us the large sticks of RAM when they originally designed it. Besides, RAM is cheap as hell... there really isn't any reason not to put as much as you can in aside from space and heat concerns.

 

[figmentPez]

Because then the question becomes why didn't they just give us the large sticks of RAM when they originally designed it. Besides, RAM is cheap as hell... there really isn't any reason not to put as much as you can in aside from space and heat concerns.

RAM hasn't always been cheap. The RDRAM used in the N64 was actually pretty expensive stuff. I don't know why current gen consoles have as little RAM as they do, though. The 360 and PS3 both sold for a pretty hefty loss for a long time, so I guess every dollar matters to management if it's not a bullet-point you can put in the advertising.

Historically add-ons haven't done spectacularly. The 32X, Sega CD, Turbo Grafx CD, N64 RAM and more were never as successful as hoped and usually had a fairly limited catalog of games as well. Game makers can be reluctant to spend time developing for a smaller portion of the market, and consumers can be tough to convince to buy something that's not a definitive difference in gameplay.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Some N64 games came with the RAM drive though, just like some now are coming with the WiiPlus thing, or whatever it's called, and instructions on how to insert it. It was certainly much handier than the 32x (which I also owned; goddamn what a waste of money).

 

[AshburnerX]

Some N64 games came with the RAM drive though, just like some now are coming with the WiiPlus thing, or whatever it's called, and instructions on how to insert it. It was certainly much handier than the 32x (which I also owned; goddamn what a waste of money).

Yeah, but can't you get Wii's with Motion Plus included in the box now? Nintendo is very clearly telling people that this may not be standard kit now, but it may be very soon.

 

[Frank]

Well, graphics may not need a huge boost in general, but I think games will benefit from more RAM for more detailed worlds

Why is the N64 the only console to ever have the ability to upgrade to more RAM? I feel like it would be any easy thing to add that would give a console a good graphical boost in the last year or two of it's lifespan.[/QUOTE]

Saturn had a RAM cart too.

Only way to play the import of the arcade perfect Capcom fighters.

 

[figmentPez]

Some N64 games came with the RAM drive though, just like some now are coming with the WiiPlus thing, or whatever it's called, and instructions on how to insert it. It was certainly much handier than the 32x (which I also owned; goddamn what a waste of money).

One game came with the RAM (Donkey Kong 64), at least in the US, and a grand total of 5 games actually required the additional RAM to play. Even by N64 numbers the 60-some games that used the RAM at all seems low to me. It certainly did better than the N64 Disk Drive, but it wasn't as successful as the rumble pack, either.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Hm, I had DK64 and I believe Majora's Mask used the RAM--any Zelda game is certainly going to push some purchases.

 

[Oddbot]

Perfect Dark used it too. Maybe Conker's as well, I don't remember. But Rare seemed to be pretty into using at by the end of 64's life cycle.