When is the Next Generation? What Will it Be?

[Hate]

Recently, I've been looking at a lot of the developments in video game history, from the first "Pong" machine to the "Playstation 3-" and I've been wondering about recent developments and how they're going to die into day-to-day life.

When pong came out, it had a few features that made it unique- it was low-resolution, largely expensive, unavailable, and it was kind of a stupid game. The basic constructs of it made the game seem stupid, and linear in its genre. No one really wanted it, and if you had it you played a couple games a day, tops. Eventually you always won.

Games nowadays, however, are rooted in rough competition. With the human element being widespread and the popularity on the rise- people play games through video more now than ever before. The systems are expensive, yeah, but they've been working on getting cheaper. Now people can play games for hours without it getting old, and without the same competition. Games have also been getting more interactive- on the wii you can play games that are almost exactly like the old-school arcade point-and-shoot games that existed in the 1990's and early 2000's.

Although the most popular games are First person shooters- games are fast becoming more and more integrated in genre, much like movies. Left 4 Dead functions as a first person shooter, but comes down to cooperative survival horror. Call of Duty is a pretty straightforward FPS, but online play and customization, as well as the "achievements" system provides a much deeper RPG style of play, as well as room for improvement in character set-up as well as skill.

The Wii has a lot of good games, too. I just got Call of Duty: Reflex, it's not bad. I really like it- Super Smash Brothers is awesome, but the online gameplay for both games is much smaller than XBL. XBL, however, is a total fucking rip-off.

Tl:dr: What do you think the next generation of games will be like? When do you expect it to come out? What's the fan base going to be like? Will they get harder or easier?

[TruthWielder]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztDEhkJ84CQ

[Hate]

Originally Posted by TruthWielder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztDEhkJ84CQ

Cool, but that's so far away.

Find something more recent, yeah?

[TruthWielder]

Haha, well to be honest man the only way to go once graphics capability is maxed out (which will probably happen within 20 years) then the key to gaming will be creating engrossing story driven experiences.

Were on a technology high right now but guess who's dominating in the long term? The wii. Its innovation will be its saving grace and the swansong of traditional video games.

[Yggdrasil]

Next-gen games'll probably involve some sort of 3D visual elements, what with that segment of electronics technology is being developed so fast nowadays. I'm betting these first baby steps in 3D visuals will in the future lead to marketable, fully-immersive 3D virtual-reality environments in video games. Can you imagine?

[JustAnotherAsshole]

They make a new generation of consoles about every ten years, don't they?

At least Sony seems to, right?

EDIT: Also, technology is getting so much better so much faster (At an exponential rate, right?) that everything we buy will be obsolete in a month or so. How the fuck are we expected to keep up?

[Hate]

That's true, I do believe that interaction and replay will be a huge influence on video games. I don't think single-player gameplay is the future, though. Online gameplay is much better, in my opinion, because NPC's just cannot provide the level of competition to compete with humans. Sure, Artificial intelligence is getting pretty big, but I doubt they will ever achieve the level of actual people in our lifetime.

But, with video games getting more and more based on real-world movements, I believe that the next, more interactive video game system is going to triumph over PC gaming- that is if it's not the PC.

[Combat Womabt]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherAsshole

They make a new generation of consoles about every ten years, don't they?

At least Sony seems to, right?

EDIT: Also, technology is getting so much better so much faster (At an exponential rate, right?) that everything we buy will be obsolete in a month or so. How the fuck are we expected to keep up?

PS: December 3, 1994
PS2: March 4, 2000
PS3: November 11, 2006

More like 6 years for recent trends.
Microsoft has said they wanted the 360 to last till about 2015 though.

And you are on an interesting line of thought. My friend is a firm believer in The Singularity, and he holds no doubt in his mind that it will happen in our Life time.
Take me for example. I am 21. How far has technology come since 1988? How far will it go in another 20 years?

[Σnigma]

Virtual reality would be a good start.

[Vizier]

Originally Posted by Σnigma

Virtual reality would be a good start.

I remember when it was the big hype. Then came along the Virtual Boy and failed miserably.

I think the games are going to be about more realism and in-depth play, like the Wii, but better.

[trickster]

I miss arcades. Around here, "arcades" are really just a few different games thrown on the side of a bar or restaurant - usually crappy games like "Golden Tee".

Well, what I want to see is a self contained unit... like "Virtual On". I'm talking about those big, lunky machines you USED to see in arcades, like the ones with the motorcycles... some of you may see where this is going.

Basically, a unit you climb in to, has 3D, surround screen style (I guess kinda like a mini imax?), full environment immersion, and a couple of sensors on the sides that detect motion of your arms. Throw in a motorcyle seat with some handle bars and BOOM!

IMAX ROAD RASH

The new consoles are neat and all, but the gameplay hasn't changed much since GoldenEye or Perfect Dark. Get object in crosshairs, push button. It gets old. The multiplayer hasn't really made it any different, in that I still get an object (player) in my crosshairs and push a button. Sometimes there are a few different buttons to push, but it's still just "Push the button". Playing a video game, to me, should not be like George Jetson's job. I know that doesn't apply to all games, but a disappointingly overwhelming majority.

[JustAnotherAsshole]

Originally Posted by Combatwomabt

PS: December 3, 1994
PS2: March 4, 2000
PS3: November 11, 2006

More like 6 years for recent trends.
Microsoft has said they wanted the 360 to last till about 2015 though.

And you are on an interesting line of thought. My friend is a firm believer in The Singularity, and he holds no doubt in his mind that it will happen in our Life time.
Take me for example. I am 21. How far has technology come since 1988? How far will it go in another 20 years?

I knew it was something like that.

Anyway, as for singularity and the pace at which technology is improving, check out Moore's Law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law

EDIT: Eventually, the human brain won't be able to compete with computers in terms of processing speed and whatnot. Soon, there will be computers more intelligent than any man could be, and we'll task them with building even more intelligent computers.

Shit could get very strange in our lifetimes.

[L33tz]

My friends there is something that exists which puts all these games to shame.

Life.

[JustAnotherAsshole]

Originally Posted by L33tz

My friends there is something that exists which puts all these games to shame.

Life.

Life's shitty. Why do you think people play games instead of going outside?

[shopping cart for brains]

Originally Posted by Hate

Cool, but that's so far away.

Find something more recent, yeah?

lol, I like how the most recent comment thinks this is real.

[Vizier]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherAsshole

Life's shitty. Why do you think people play games instead of going outside?

Yeah, normally we can't shoot the fuck out of random people, nuke civilizations and be ninjas in real life.

[Combat Womabt]

Originally Posted by Vizier

Yeah, normally we can't shoot the fuck out of random people, nuke civilizations and be ninjas in real life.

I have been getting a massive urge to play Civilization lately, and this post didn't help....

[imawolfrawr]

2015 is when Microsoft will release their next-gen system. Even though project Natal comes out this year they are not considering it next gen. Though it will be heavily based on what project Natal is. I would give a link (where MS said 2015)but I read it like 3 months and not sure where.

[shopping cart for brains]

I think Natal is dumb as shit. If I wanted to play games which require the effort of moving around I'd be outside, not staring at a TV.