This is kinda funny - Next-next talk gen already

What I wonder is if for the next next gen all systems will launch around the same time.

Microsoft gave themselves a lead and the extra year could be spent in giving them a solid 6th year for the 360 and launch "Xbox Next-Next" in the same time frame as PS4.

But honestly, what do we want for the future console systems anyway?

It almost feels to me like we are getting close to a stand-still.

My guess is:
- Dedicated Physics units in all systems
- GPUs with ~8X more power

The end... if the new Wii remote works out really well then maybe we will see that copied. But really, what else can we expect?

 

HD-HD-DVD and Green-Ray Disc drives. There will be a little war to see who comes out on top.

 

lol, perhaps.

What I don't think people get is that with increased hardware power the need for more disc space gets increased by some factors, but greatly reduced by others.

For example, 3D models are cheaper (disk space wise) then 2D art because it is simply a collection of vertices and a detailed texture map, vs multiple frames of high resolution animation.

Final Fantasy, for example, if it would render all of it's cutscenes with in-game graphics the space requirements would be DRASTICALLY reduced.

Not only that, but the trend is to make shorter but higher quality games lately, which can often mean less required assets.

Reminds me that FarCry for PC took about 4GB of installed space but somehow FarCry Instincts Predator fit the original Xbox FarCry plus the "Expansion" on a single DVD for 360.

 

I'll thik we will see more improvements once the internet get upgraded to a faster standard. Broadband is still to slow for many gaming and content delivery concepts.

 

It really seems like we are getting close to a time when consumers/companies decided "hey, let's skip having a 'next' generation this time and wait another 4-5 years"

 

well internet will not be growing much faster than the amount of content i think.. at least in the next few years

sadly i doubt we will ever see a drop in latency, which kinda ruins all complex 1 on 1 fighting games for online play

and the latency or gaming somebody across the pond or australia/japan will always be a pain (since you still can't move bits faster than light )

Haoshiro:
no they can't ... since on the PC nobody gonna stop them making prettier graphics esepecially with physic cards/chips on the horizon
oh and just look at the memory/harddisks for consoles... within 4-5 years 1 TB disks will be standard (current top disk for desktops: 750 GB)

 

If they come out in 4 years, you're about correct. Definitely a PPU (physics processing unit) -- I'm kind of surprised there's not a PPU in any of the current boxes, since they are available on the market now. Too late I suppose.

GPUs will shrink and see a small clock speed increase, and we'll probably see dual-core GPU to keep performance increasing linearly.

One thing you overlooked is storage. In four years I imagine the holographic aspect of storage (i.e. dual-layer, quad-layer optical discs) will have advanced considerably, to the point where we can store hundreds of layers, putting several terabytes on each disk. Where the content will come to fill this much room is beyond me -- the tools don't exist yet to easily auto-generate realistic content, but they'll need to be developed.

Also, not a part of the system, but network capacity will increase, and this will have an effect when new systems are designed for 10-20Mbit connections...much larger games with lower latency hopefully.

I don't think we're at a stand still just yet. There are still just enough cool technologies right around the corner to keep things interesting. Of course I still need to grab an HD set and a 360 before I think too much about next-gen.

 

Next Next Gen will be past HD.....won't be even using Cds. think arm controlers and shades. Purple ray and HDHDHD-DVD

nintendo wats
Sony PS400
Microsoft xbox456789


Bless

 

I left those things out because I don't consider them factors that will have much of an impact on the games aspect of the systems.

DVDs have been in use for sometime and I have yet to hear of a two disc game. When PS2 came out with DVD many CD games had reached 4+ discs, there was an obvious need for more storage.

But where are even 2 disc DVD games now? I don't see any yet PS3 is already trying to phase it out. Point is, if we had not maxed DVD yet, why would we think in 4-5 years we would need more then Blu-ray or HD-DVD? Storage for gaming seems to trivial to even be a defining factor of future generation game consoles.

 

well there is a lower border which you can't cross ... i think between austria and new york the magic border is around 65 ms delay (back an forth afaik) for 9000 km (so for other side of the world it's a whopping 135 ms delay
that's the physical limit which is possible if you have a signal speed with the speed of light, unlimited bandwith, no routing etc.

take in routing (routers might become faster but the increased amount of routing which will need to be done in the future will compensate that), TCP/IP with all it's issues and there won't be any solution anytime soon

 

Who told you about the green ray? No one is supposed to know yet...

Phear teh green ray!