Video Games Thread - Gamertags in 1st post

[CaptainHenreh]

one of the coolest quotes i've read on the whole next-gen thing is "we don't even know what next-gen is supposed to look like." from a graphics standpoint, i have no idea what they can do. i mean, i know our current consoles, at nearly a decade old are not cutting-edge any longer, but i've played games on modern day PCs and the differences aren't that impressive. in order to sell this next gen, they're going to have to amaze us... but how?

these are the thoughts that keep me up at night...

It's a good point. Consoles have been really good for forcing programmers to make efficient code. I mean, think about Crysis, which would have made even a top of the line gaming PC scream for mercy in 2007....runs on an XBox360 (hardware that was budget and two years old when C1 came out) in 2012 due to engine efficiency improvements between Cryengine and Cryengine3.

Of course, double edged sword. The reason the games you see on modern day PC's aren't "all that spectacular" is because there are SO FEW titles that are PC exclusive, fewer still that use an engine not at least sort of enhanced for consoles and fewer YET that are designed to take advantage of a PC's extra processing power.

[HAULN-SS]

I think what you will start to see is more levels of interactivity and less pre-rendered content. At a supercomputing conference a couple of years ago, some top end GPUs were impressing people showing interactive water and cloth. That takes a lot of horsepower to run, but would make things like games so much more fun if you can get rid of pre-rendered splashes, AND render the sound that goes with it, not just playing a wav file...as just one example.

Another thing thats probably coming sometime in the future, though not sure with the next gen, is point cloud rendering. Shrinking the atomic unit in a game is going to allow for a lot more detail, and a lot more interactivity as well.

[G.Irish]

Yeah I think the reason you don't see graphically jaw-dropping games on PC's is because the market for PC games has shrunk considerably so it doesn't make sense for a developer to spend $50 million to make an extremely graphically impressive game. A lot of times to make the numbers work they've gotta release a game on console and PC, so the graphics are built to suit console capabilities first and foremost.

That said, with the next-gen consoles I think budgets will be a limiting factor when you talk about taking big steps in graphics. To make super-detailed 3D artwork on a large scale that takes advantage of the extra computing power, studios will have to throw a lot more manpower at a project. That won't be a problem for the big blockbuster games but it will be for everyone else.

That said, one huge advantage of the next-gen systems is that you'll be able to push more characters on screen. In something like GT/Forza maybe you could have 30 car grids. In a FPS you could potentially have 40, 50, or more AI players on screen at a time (not that having 30 guys shooting at you would be fun).

Still, I think Sony and MSFT are going to push their consoles as centers of the home entertainment system and will be trying to highlight connectivity and services as much or even more than the games.

[Mike]

i can't wait. wooooooo!

[Apoc]

I can't wait to not be able to sell my games to someone.

[G.Irish]

I can't wait to not be able to sell my games to someone.

I sincerely hope that Sony and Microsoft are not foolish enough to push through that bullshit.

[Apoc]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-next-xbox-always-online-no-second-hand-games-50gb-blu-ray-discs-and-new-kinect/">http://www.edge-online.com/news/the-nex ... ew-kinect/</a><!-- m -->

Sources with first-hand experience of Microsoft’s next generation console have told us that although the next Xbox will be absolutely committed to online functionality, games will still be made available to purchase in physical form. Next Xbox games will be manufactured on 50GB-capacity Blu-ray discs, Microsoft having conceded defeat to Sony following its ill-fated backing of the HD-DVD format. It is believed that games purchased on disc will ship with activation codes, and will have no value beyond the initial user.

Rumors are just that, rumors.... but I'm pretty sure it's coming. The path has been paved by so much other media it's only a matter of time.

[G.Irish]

It is believed that games purchased on disc will ship with activation codes, and will have no value beyond the initial user.

All I've heard is speculation to that point. It could be an optional thing that would be left to the publisher, or it could be something put on every single disc. What I don't understand is, why would Microsoft take a huge risk by making it mandatory. If the Xbox prevents used sales and the PS4 does not, Microsoft would be giving Sony a humongous advantage. Microsoft has little to gain and a tremendous amount to lose by implementing such a DRM scheme. Only way it won't be a disastrous mistake for them is if Sony puts in such a system too.

One thing I don't find plausible is that the console would require an internet connection to function. There are plenty of people without reliable internet connections, it would be silly to cut those people out.

[Apoc]

iTunes uses DRM and that didn't give the advantage to Zune...

[G.Irish]

iTunes uses DRM and that didn't give the advantage to Zune...

Well for one, no one sold used MP3's either before or after iTunes DRM. It would be more like if Sony sold DVD's that could only be played on one DVD player.

[Apoc]

DVDs have a downloadable copy that only play on one computer. It's a short hop between that and making the DVD do it too. It may not be this generation, but it'll happen. Or perhaps more likely, it'll happen when physical media is gone entirely.

[G.Irish]

Yeah I think that is the future when physical media is gone. They'll get rid of discs, but they'll charge the same amount of money or close to it. Which is a shame, I'd buy more electronic content if it was cheaper. That's why I haven't really taken the plunge on ebooks, they cost too much. OTOH, I get my two favorite motorcycle magazines (PB and BIKE) on iPad because they're half the cost of the print versions.

[Apoc]

Ironically, the only things I'll actually pay for are XBox and PC games because there's a physical disc. Music and software? Yeah, right.

[Apoc]

PS4? Yawn.

[Mike]

MS is so smart to announce second. Take all the good, none of the bad, and do it better. Assuming their ship hasn't fully set sail already.

[Apoc]

This pretty much nails it: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/20/playstation-4-sony-tired-strategy/">http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/20/playst ... -strategy/</a><!-- m -->

[G.Irish]

It all felt a bit underwhelming. There weren't any games to get super excited about. I did think the streaming PS1, PS2, and PS3 games functionality is a cool idea but as always, the devil is in the details. How much of the back catalog will be available? Is it going to be able to perform well enough to get around the problem of lag? The remote play thing for PS Vita was cool too, but that still gives me little reason to buy a Vita. All of the screen sharing stuff was neat but not enough to be a system seller.

Overall I think the unveiling was lacking punch because there weren't any games that one could get excited about, at least not for me. Maybe that'll change over the next few months.

It (and we, as potential customers) needed way more than a falling back on graphics, eye candy and tech demos, which may have served the gaming industry well in the past, but which have done nothing to stem the rising tide of mobile platforms like iOS and Android.

Please. The home consoles are not fighting against iOS and Android in the least, that's just stupid. IOS and Android are taking a bite out of handheld consoles but for now the next Xbox and PS4 have little to worry about from smartphones and tablets. And both of them[Xbox and PS4] will be integrating with mobile devices anyway.

[CaptainHenreh]

Please. The home consoles are not fighting against iOS and Android in the least, that's just stupid. IOS and Android are taking a bite out of handheld consoles but for now the next Xbox and PS4 have little to worry about from smartphones and tablets. And both of them[Xbox and PS4] will be integrating with mobile devices anyway.

Yes, but the average media consumer does NOT have a game console but DOES have a smartphone, so zomg headlines!

[G.Irish]

Yeah I think the smartphone will eventually kill or seriously decrease the market for handheld console games. Home consoles should be fine for the time being since the hardcore gamer market is not really shrinking. However, as I said earlier, some of the big multiplayer triple-A games are sucking so much time out of players that it's making it harder for other games to break through. Long term that could lead to a big contraction in the industry.

[Apoc]

Eventually? It's already killed Nintendo.