future of gaming?

[kupomogli]

How can anyone possible say this generation of gaming has nothing to offer? Wow...

Not nothing, but very little compared to past generations.

[Zama]

Personally, I love video games, whether it is from our current generation or from the years of yore I collect them and play them and sometimes, revisit them and replay them (some more than others).

[kedawa]

The kinds of games that I want to play continue to be made, so I'm happy. The fact that they are always overshadowed by crap that caters to the lowest common denominator is unfortunate, but at the end of the day, does that even matter?

[RPG_Fanatic]

All I can say is that if the next gen. is all motion controllers (like the Wii, Kinect) then this is my last gen. that I'm playing. I'll just play classic systems (SNES, Gamecube, PSone, PStwo, DS, PSP & 360) I hate the motion shit.

[Greg2600]

The first crash was due to bad business principles or lack of them, lessons that since have been learned. Not to mention vast capital backing MS, Sony, and Nintendo from short term losses.

[kedawa]

I'd like to see some sort of shake up in the industry, if not an outright crash. The big publishers are getting too greedy and the big three are getting too comfortable.

[Press_Start]

The way I see it, the success of next gen consoles will no longer depend upon boosting graphics but by the 3 I's: Imagination, Innovation, and Invention.

Face it, it's not 1985, we don't have a graphics deficit. In fact, we got more polygons and pixels than what we know what to do with and still the industry is stuck on the tired old notion that better graphics makes everything better. It doesn't...at least not the foreseeable future.

Frankly, I think now's the perfect time for developers to think outside the box, start on new ideas, and look through fresh perspectives and any prospect of a significant "graphics jump" is a gimmick in my mind.

[kedawa]

Games look better and better all the time, but the physics and AI in most games are very primitive compared to the graphics. I don't think much more could really be done with the current hardware, at least not without sacrificing visual quality, so there is still a need for more powerful hardware. Faster storage and shorter load times wouldn't hurt either.

With more powerful hardware, things like destructible environments could be a natural consequence of the physics engine, rather than a collection of scripted events. AI for thousands of non-player characters could play out in real time, making game worlds far more immersive and complex. All of the things that are currently being pushed, like 3D and motion control, would also benefit immensely from a newer hardware.

Developers won't be able to deal with that kind of complexity until they have the right middleware, though, and I think that's partly what's holding back the next generation of systems at this point.
We won't know what's possible until the next generation of hardware and development tools are complete.

[Press_Start]

Games look better and better all the time, but the physics and AI in most games are very primitive compared to the graphics. I don't think much more could really be done with the current hardware, at least not without sacrificing visual quality, so there is still a need for more powerful hardware. Faster storage and shorter load times wouldn't hurt either.

With more powerful hardware, things like destructible environments could be a natural consequence of the physics engine, rather than a collection of scripted events. AI for thousands of non-player characters could play out in real time, making game worlds far more immersive and complex. All of the things that are currently being pushed, like 3D and motion control, would also benefit immensely from a newer hardware.

Wut? Are you serious? No...no...no. We have ENOUGH!

I'm sorry but if Sapphire can pull off PS1-like graphics on PC-Engine's 8-bit processor power, then the possibilities with PS3's colossal Cell hardware are near infinite. And you calling for new hardware now is like calling a whole turkey for a drumstick and then ordering a bigger turkey. It's disingenuous, lazy, and wasteful. We have only scratched the surface with the machines we have now. The problem is we need new ideas not new machines.

[j_factor]

With more powerful hardware, things like destructible environments could be a natural consequence of the physics engine, rather than a collection of scripted events. AI for thousands of non-player characters could play out in real time, making game worlds far more immersive and complex.

And games will become even more bloated and overproduced than they are now. Thanks but no thanks.

[kedawa]

Unimaginative old men up in here.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Not really. Hardware limitations at this point is a tattered blanket of an excuse. Especially since the best physics games I've played have mostly been on the Wii (see also; Angry Birds...).

[duffmanth]

You're not alone man. I've been gaming since the late 80's and I'm finding fewer and fewer games that hold my interest. There's definitely a lack of originality these days between the constant sequels and remakes. Shooters and Nintendo are the worst offenders of these things in my books. The PS2 era seemed like there was a constant flow of new games that were innovative and offered something different, but this console generation seems to be lacking in those areas. While there are certain games that I have really enjoyed the last few years like MGS4 and GOW3, I find myself going through long droughts where there just isn't that much that really interests me. I hope this changes or that article might be right?

[Edmond Dantes]

Eh, a Cracked article. I take everything they say with huge grains of salt.

That being said...

I don't think another crash is going to happen, BUT its not impossible either. People are saying games can't crash because they're too entrenched now. Comic books were entrenched in our culture for five decades and that industry still crashed, so there's no reason it can't happen to games too.

Personally I'm not going to buy a next-gen console. I considered a Playstation 3 for awhile (specifically for Metal Gear Solid 4), but I changed my mind for several reasons.

One, gaming is no less expensive than it was in my childhood. In fact it seems to have gotten worse.

Two, consoles are becoming more like computers. I'm sorry but I shouldn't have to install updates on a playstation to play a game.

Three, online is becoming a big thing, and a lot of the more interesting games are DLC. For me this is a problem because I don't live in an area with high-speed internet so I'd be cut off from this.

Four, DRM has become an issue that I just can't accept. In my mind, how it should work is "I buy game, I put it in the system and I play it," but there are some games where there's more to it than this. Just as an example, back in the day I really wanted to play Half-Life 2. Then I read that when the game installs it has to connect to Valve's servers to be authenticated. The question, obviously, is "what if Valve goes down at some future point?" Then I'd be left with a game I can't play. This is an unacceptable scenario for me. I've read that a variation of this exact scenario DID play out during the recent PSN outage, which just fuels my pessimism more.

Five, I really hate motion controllers. I think they're a stupid gimmick that has gone too far and really don't have much practical purpose.

Six, technology itself is becoming an issue. One of the things Cracked siad that was absolutely correct is that to get the most out of most games today, you absolutely need a high-definition TV... which means I would have to buy a separate television and find a separate place to hook it up just for the sake of one or two consoles that didn't want to hang out with my NES. Yeah, heck with that. I don't have that kind of money, and anyway I think HD is just a gimmick.

It should be obvious by this point that I don't even care about PC gaming.

[kupomogli]

Three, online is becoming a big thing, and a lot of the more interesting games are DLC. For me this is a problem because I don't live in an area with high-speed internet so I'd be cut off from this.

There are very few good DLC games. I'm sure you've heard "You get what you pay for." While there are some DLC games that are fun, for the most part that quote is true.

Then I read that when the game installs it has to connect to Valve's servers to be authenticated. The question, obviously, is "what if Valve goes down at some future point?" Then I'd be left with a game I can't play. This is an unacceptable scenario for me. I've read that a variation of this exact scenario DID play out during the recent PSN outage, which just fuels my pessimism more.

The only two games that you can't play on the PS3 without being online are Final Fight/Magic Sword and Bionic Commando 2. Both of those are PSN games with DRM tied to it so you can only play it on the specific account.

The Valve thing also, but it's not exactly accurate. You could play Portal 2 for PS3 no problem. It's just you couldn't use the code to add Portal 2 on your Steam account until the PSN issue was resolved.

[Icarus Moonsight]

...I think HD is just a gimmick.

He's on fire!

[Hep038]

I'd like to see some sort of shake up in the industry, if not an outright crash. The big publishers are getting too greedy and the big three are getting too comfortable.

So you want a crash because the video game companies learned their lessons from the past and have build a stable business that makes money and keeps cranking out games for people to enjoy..... Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

I think a lot of people hope for a crash because gaming has become popular and main stream. It is like that band that was grassroots and then made it big. All the fans form the beginning now talk about how good they were in the past and how they sold out. And the people that like their stuff today are a bunch of sheep and do not know what good music is. Just because they sell NES controller t-shirts in hot topic does not mean playing NES is not cool anymore.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Then they also fail and suck at selling out with only one hardware producer pulling a profit. Stable... Making money,