Topic: The last generation?

I'm not saying anyone is doomed here. Yes, this could very well be the last generation IF both the X1 and PS4 fail completely, and their respective companies pull out of the gaming business due to unprofitability. What I'm trying to get at though is instead is, what if they're successful? Where does hardware go from here? The visual difference between a PS3 and PS4 is there, but not big enough for a casual consumer to notice. If the PS4 were instead a $10,000 supercomputer, would there still be a substantial difference in graphics between it and the PS4 we're getting? So what justification does Sony have to release a PS5 EVER? If they wanted to revolutionize the controller the way Nintendo does every generation, they could just release a new controller, and provided they actually make some first party content for it and start bundling it with the PS4, there's no reason to get a PS5. That goes for ANY peripheral. And what happens if they do release a PS5, but there's no discernible difference in game quality between it and the PS4? How do you make a better console with with more features without just making a PC at this point? Heck, even that could be done with an OS update. Oculus Rift? Razer Hydra? Both could be added as peripherals to the current generation.

Nintendo is of course, the exception to this rule. I can still see them having one or two consoles left before hitting the same brick wall. All they have to do is come up with some awesome new controller and make sure the console is backwards compatible. Eventually though, even Nintendo will have no reason to make consoles, as consumers will demand a price point for hardware that is lower than what the hardware costs to manufacture. At that point, Nintendo would just want to make games for something that everyone already has rather than go through the expense of a new generation. Every game company may end up just releasing a Steam-like digital distribution service for PCs, with retail games that can be installed in case you lack an internet connection.

What could possibly be done to make the next generation better? Is this effectively the last generation?

The visual difference between a PS3 and PS4 is there, but not big enough for a casual consumer to notice.

The visual difference is there but your not going to see a massive graphical difference with the first lot of games, these consoles have to last years as time goes on you'll start to notice the difference even more. Try doing a real time open-world game with no loading times and graphics like The Division or MGSV on the PS3, you haven't got a cat in hells chance. Look at all the MMORPG coming over from the PC where as before these things wasn't possible for the PS3, you are going to see a lot smart AI with better physic's etc also and a lot of open-world games. Also power is not a single objective [graphics], as for a PS5 it will happen the console power is going to go up god knows what new technology will be out in 7-10 years time. The top technology of today will be replaced making todays technology a hell of a lot cheaper in 7-10 years time. technology = power = for games to evolve.

I dont think we have to worry about PS4 or the XBox One failing. I know from preorders alone PS4 will be a success and after MS reversed their polices with the Xbox One I am sure that it will be some what successful.

You'll find that most people just want the same thing over and over again, and will buy new things just because it's new. Even if the generation after this coming one are literally the same consoles with a few "new" features, people will still buy them in droves.

And if all else fails, I doubt handhelds will be going out of style any time soon.

@banacheck MGSV is coming to PS3.

Completely hypothetical, but it would certainly be interesting if both Sony and MS just outright dropped out of the industry and left Nintendo to be the only big boy left in town. A repeat of 1983's video game crash if you will. Mind you I don't think such a scenario will ever happen. Just a passing thought of what could be or could've been.

@WingedFish I can assure you Nintendo would be the first to go if such a scenario were to happen. Console games would have to be completely unprofitable in any way, and Nintendo has the least to fall back on out of any company.

Well since PS5 and the Nextbox aren't coming for another ten years or so, 5-6 years from now Nintendo should recall the Wii U and make a console with comparable specs to the PS4 and X1.

@pntjr And they'll be playing catch-up again, just like they're doing with the Wii U. I don't think that's really a good idea, personally. I'd rather they continue going in a different directon. At least with the Wii U, I know it'll have different games than the Xbone or the PS4, even if those games may be few and far between.

I want to wait until November to see if Nintendo made the right choice with the Wii U or not. Don't forget about the Ouya as well.

The Ouya is a joke. And this is coming from a Wii U owner. 10 people will buy one.

I don't know, I remember when people thought that the iPhone was going to flop.

1.The cost price of the Tegra 3 chip set is $25 if they got it at cost and the rest of the mats and manufacturing for free= 160K units
2.Lack of developer buy in: there are no developers that JUST focus on Android because it does not monetize well.
3.Open: they make rooting super easy which means piracy will be super easy.
4.Lack of experience in the VG space
5.Content drives device sales. Today they have zero content, costs to port an existing title? 100k+
6.Who wants to buy a device with 8GB of space, 1GB of ram and a low end chip-set?
7.I literally don’t know a single person that wants to play a mobile game on a 60″ screen
8.Also capital related: as soon as they get the Kickstarter money they have to pay the IRS as Kickstarter money is booked as income
9.They have zero distribution into retail, do you think Amazon will be promoting this?
10.3DO

The "i" part is not important, the "phone" part is. It's only a successful video game device because everyone has one at this point. The Ouya is a game console only, so people will only buy it for games.

In order to sell a console, you must have great exclusive software. That takes first party developers and exclusivity deals with 3rd party publishers. Ouya doesn't have the money for either. Also, it's significantly less powerful than even portable consoles of this generation, and without the install base there's no incentive to port, which means even less people will buy one. So no one's making new games on it, no one's making exclusives for it, no big name developers are working on it, and it has no other purpose outside gaming. Yeah... not going very far there...

Evolve into what? Exactly what is possible now on the PS4 that wasn't possible on the PS3? I'm sure Bethesda is going to have a great time but the rest of them are just going to pump out a mess of detail until your screen just looks like noise and there's no way to reasonably tell what you're doing. Just look at the single player for Battlefield 4 for an example of that.

BUT THE 3 GAMES (I might be being generous?) THAT WILL USE THIS CORRECTLY PER YEAR WILL MAKE IT JUSTIFIED COMPLETELY!!!

this is more because it's expected to have more powerful consoles and to try to make AAA gaming not collapse onto itself into debt (well mainly PS4 in this regard, don't know about Xbox) more than any importance of new gaming power, don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise. At most the evolution will involve specifically anything involving online and cloud and that's where the advantage of MOAR POWERZ will go to.

GTA5's size sounds more impressive than almost anything shown for the next gen consoles. And honestly the only games that I feel flat out couldn't work on current gen with enough work are MGSV and maybe FFXV. Like, I don't have a problem with new consoles at all, and their launches sure look better than last time. But they aren't suddenly doing TEH IMPOSSIBLE!!!1! It's just hype and few more unnecessary, if cool, super advanced gaming effects! PARTICLE EFFECTS FOR EVERYONE!