Next Gen gaming begins

tonicmole

tonicmole

Now that the PS 4 and Xbox One has launched it is safe to assume that games will take the next leap and finally start to push our hardware. Realistically though, this may take some time. However there are a few games that introduced some of the upcoming tech we should be seeing in the coming year. At the top of my list is Batman: Arkham City. It features some pretty amazing cloth simulation I haven't ever seen before in game. Tomb Raider 2013 also throws some physics our way in the form of yarn hair, and some funky lighting.

In the end MOAR, is what this "next generation" will be about. Sure we'll see some fancy sub surface shaders, and insane layers of lighting, but at their core, I'm going to assume games will stay fundamentally the same. Minor poly count bumps, higher draw distance, and so on and so forth. Basically current gen games with higher ultra settings. I don't see games lowest settings looking any different then they have for the past five years. Everything coming with this generation will likely be optional. Undoubtedly we'll see a few mecha games that have cores that push the limits, but financially I think we have hit the breaking point. Hints why not every game is Skyrim. In fact the biggest change may be how close the consoles will resemble the PC. Sims 4, is likely to be the same on all platforms, for the first time ever. All in all the gap between PC and consoles will likely be limited to mods. Not that I'm complaining. Everyone deserves an awesome gaming experience.

But I digress. Despite all this, I am excited to see what the next year will bring us. Watchdogs being high on my list. I'm even borderline giddy, but not like a school girl. More like a creepy bum hovering over a half eaten can of beans.....
 
The problem is that all the new advances are on hardware, and not just any hardware but graphics hardware. The systems are bigger and better, and it helps, but at the same time everyone expects cloth simulations and high-res specs and shaders and photorealistic deformation maps and what have you. All of that takes gpu, sure, but it also takes processor. More than that while it's not as bad as the ps3 apparently was, the hardware tends to be rather limited in what you can make it do beyond that. Not having done anything for the new consoles, I still doubt that you can load stuff onto the gpu as a secondary processor. More than that, no publisher or gamer would let you, because if it doesn't look super amazing they'll bitch and whine. So you're limited to the hardware as provided for what you can get away with, and since we're still in the days of hard drives we can't use our storage as a secondary ram drive to dump all the stuff to load (I'm waiting for that day to hit.. once permanent storage hits comparable speeds to RAM (as in a fraction of, not so far in the dust it's not even funny) then I can see the game changing (heh) as assets can be loaded on demand from disk and ram is used for all the quick calculations you need then and there, not preloading. Then we'll see some big stuff happen with simulation aspects.

That's what I want to see, actual AI in big worlds. It's sadly not the focus of the 'next gen' stuff.. on the other hand, whiule Sims 4 is going to be cross-platform, part of that is because they seem to be simplifying aspects of the underlying simulation, and smoothing it over with great graphics. You won't be able to toss something like Dwarf Fortress onto them and expect much however, as it's all simulation without the graphical stuff to distract from what's missing under the hood. In turn, developers will do the best they can but the inherent hardware limitations are still there (just raised), so we will see more of the same because no one develops for just the PC in big titles. Except for a few here and there that show off dramatically the differences you can have. Remember, Sims 4 may be cross-platform, but the original Sims could never have been (and that sort of dichotomy will always remain)

Still, at least we have modding. Also I'd like to see Watchdogs, but unless it hits the PC I don't tend to play a game, and 'console exclusive' means I just shrug and ignore it. Maybe in 10 years we'll have a working PS3/360 emulator and I can play the current exclusives then. o_O

Edit: And to sum up my position, here's Yahtzee!
 
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Gondar said:
The problem is that all the new advances are on hardware, and not just any hardware but graphics hardware. The systems are bigger and better, and it helps, but at the same time everyone expects cloth simulations and high-res specs and shaders and photorealistic deformation maps and what have you. All of that takes gpu, sure, but it also takes processor. More than that while it's not as bad as the ps3 apparently was, the hardware tends to be rather limited in what you can make it do beyond that. Not having done anything for the new consoles, I still doubt that you can load stuff onto the gpu as a secondary processor. More than that, no publisher or gamer would let you, because if it doesn't look super amazing they'll bitch and whine. So you're limited to the hardware as provided for what you can get away with, and since we're still in the days of hard drives we can't use our storage as a secondary ram drive to dump all the stuff to load (I'm waiting for that day to hit.. once permanent storage hits comparable speeds to RAM (as in a fraction of, not so far in the dust it's not even funny) then I can see the game changing (heh) as assets can be loaded on demand from disk and ram is used for all the quick calculations you need then and there, not preloading. Then we'll see some big stuff happen with simulation aspects.

That's what I want to see, actual AI in big worlds. It's sadly not the focus of the 'next gen' stuff.. on the other hand, whiule Sims 4 is going to be cross-platform, part of that is because they seem to be simplifying aspects of the underlying simulation, and smoothing it over with great graphics. You won't be able to toss something like Dwarf Fortress onto them and expect much however, as it's all simulation without the graphical stuff to distract from what's missing under the hood. In turn, developers will do the best they can but the inherent hardware limitations are still there (just raised), so we will see more of the same because no one develops for just the PC in big titles. Except for a few here and there that show off dramatically the differences you can have. Remember, Sims 4 may be cross-platform, but the original Sims could never have been (and that sort of dichotomy will always remain)

Still, at least we have modding. Also I'd like to see Watchdogs, but unless it hits the PC I don't tend to play a game, and 'console exclusive' means I just shrug and ignore it. Maybe in 10 years we'll have a working PS3/360 emulator and I can play the current exclusives then. o_O

Edit: And to sum up my position, here's Yahtzee!
Click to expand...

I think you under estimate the flexibility of the next gen consoles. Most of what you describe is exactly how they work. No single piece of hardware is for a specific purpose. Basically the CPU and GPU can switch roles, or piggy back on each other. What ever is needed at the time. What you described is basically the core idea of a gaming console. It's hardware mutates and twists for the occasion. Hints how massive games like Skyrim, and GTA 5, and so on can still run on console with 512 mb of shared memory......SHARED! That's right.....the GPU and the system share it. Imagine what they can do with 8 gb's!

Now, I hate the business of consoles, don't get me wrong.....M$ and Sony will eat you alive if they could, but the technology is awesome. These thing's launched in 2005-2006.....and still produce games like the Last of Us and GTA 5! It should have been technologically impossible. In closing.....the technology in the next gen consoles is really exciting, you just have to ignore the whole console culture......they are PC's with fancy OS's....that is all.
 
PC's with slow ass processors though.
 
1nstance said:
PC's with slow ass processors though.
Click to expand...

On paper. Likely not in actual performance. If Killzone 3 launched on PC the minimum specs would be astounding. Which....actually is another point to remember. Our system specs are not the average PC owner. PC games are held down by people running 2 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo's. The average specs of PC users are generally far lower then the current console generation. We are not normal.
 
Neither the Xbone or PS4 appeal to me at all. They look pretty much identical to their predecessors aside from slightly better hardware, and "exclusives" aka, games that their respective companies have held hostage with massive amounts of cash. I'm going to stick with my PC, or maybe buy a Wii U once it gets some better games.

I'm skeptical that console gaming will last another generation at this rate. It's the law of diminishing returns- more powerful graphical hardware = games costing hundreds of millions of dollars more to develop. As a result, publishers and studios are becoming more risk-averse, and pushing out the same generic shlock year after year because it's proven to sell. Games are going to continue becoming more and more expensive and riddled with more unreasonable bullshit microtransactions as publishers lust for cash to stay afloat, or see how far they can push people(I'm looking at you Forza 5, and Saints Row 4). Sooner or later average consumers won't be able to afford console gaming, and we'll see another industry crash.
 
shitface said:
Neither the Xbone or PS4 appeal to me at all. They look pretty much identical to their predecessors aside from slightly better hardware, and "exclusives" aka, games that their respective companies have held hostage with massive amounts of cash. I'm going to stick with my PC, or maybe buy a Wii U once it gets some better games.

I'm skeptical that console gaming will last another generation at this rate. It's the law of diminishing returns- more powerful graphical hardware = games costing hundreds of millions of dollars more to develop. As a result, publishers and studios are becoming more risk-averse, and pushing out the same generic shlock year after year because it's proven to sell. Games are going to continue becoming more and more expensive and riddled with more unreasonable bullshit microtransactions as publishers lust for cash to stay afloat, or see how far they can push people(I'm looking at you Forza 5, and Saints Row 4). Sooner or later average consumers won't be able to afford console gaming, and we'll see another industry crash.
Click to expand...
shitface said:
Neither the Xbone or PS4 appeal to me at all. They look pretty much identical to their predecessors aside from slightly better hardware, and "exclusives" aka, games that their respective companies have held hostage with massive amounts of cash. I'm going to stick with my PC, or maybe buy a Wii U once it gets some better games.

I'm skeptical that console gaming will last another generation at this rate. It's the law of diminishing returns- more powerful graphical hardware = games costing hundreds of millions of dollars more to develop. As a result, publishers and studios are becoming more risk-averse, and pushing out the same generic shlock year after year because it's proven to sell. Games are going to continue becoming more and more expensive and riddled with more unreasonable bullshit microtransactions as publishers lust for cash to stay afloat, or see how far they can push people(I'm looking at you Forza 5, and Saints Row 4). Sooner or later average consumers won't be able to afford console gaming, and we'll see another industry crash.
Click to expand...
Dude, I totally thought the same thing! Then Sony and M$ sold a cool million. What I think we fail to learn is that Pokemon, Mario, WOW, GTA, COD, and Halo define gaming, only one is exclusive to PC. Also, hang out at a GameStop and you'll see.....the demographic for consoles will never own a PC. They love COD and their name is T-bone.
 
Instead of buying a console, I would rather buy an Alienware X51 anyways. Realy nice machine.
 
You don't get the point. The Alienware X51 is a realy nice alternative to a console. It's affordable and it has the size of a console. Around €700 and you have a decent system.
 
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