Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Therad @gcunit
The other thing about VR is that it's really just a display. As far as the game is concerned there's not much difference between a VR headset and a monitor. There are more demands on it because of the way it's experienced but it's not going to need a new console generation to get it right. More horsepower sure but not entire console redesigns.

Think about it. This is the I/O on the HTC Vive....

Power and headphones don't demand anything. The other three? USB & HDMI. that's it...

And you know what?

HDMI and USB are kinda ubiquitous already

[quote=gcunit]

This is precisely my point. If VR takes off in the mainstream then we will obviously see a generation of games designed for VR.

Currently the best chance of VR taking off with the mainstream is with PlayStation VR, impressive as it is, it costs as much as a PS4.
I don't think VR will truly be mainstream till the next generation of consoles.

@gcunit Yeah, just like with the Wii we saw a generation of games designed for motion controls which Microsoft joined in with Kinect.

@AlternateButtons Nintendo and Sony are moving towards a Generation 8.5. Microsoft is making many bold claims with Scorpio, but we know so little, so I'm not sure where to put it right now.

I don't think hardware generations will end, they will just happen more often and with smaller leaps. So half-generations, really.

@BiasedSonyFan almost. Do you have a smartphone? I can buy a game through the store and then it says how many hardware versions back it supports.

For instance, you'll see games compatible for iphone 5 and upwards. Meaning my old 4s is left behind, but my newer 6 is fine.

You'll buy a game that is playable on nx3 and up, but not on nx2, somewhere in the future in this case. Gradual upgrade cycle, no more generations.

Of course, until something totally new comes up... then your scenario pops into view again

@Samurai_Goroh What's the point in half generations? What happens when someone introduces another console upgrade, is that generation 8.75 then? Or what if more iterations follow? When does generation 9 start then? If we're moving towards a system where multiple devices are able to run the games and when upgrades become the norm instead of completely new hardware, then there's no point in calling them generations anymore.

@BiasedSonyFan You can't compare the PS4 and PS3 (or Xbox) like that. The PS3 is a PowerPC based console and the PS4 is x86. The CPU architecture is completely different, and games need to be ported from PS4 to PS3 in order to make them work. The NEO will be x86 just like the PS4 and that means that all they have to do is tweak some settings in order to get them running on PS4 (just like developers do with PC games). That's the big difference; as long as the architecture remains the same, older hardware could technically run newer games at lower resolution (of course until the resolution and framerate become so low that the game becomes unplayable, but it can still technically run on older hardware).

@BiasedSonyFan
The PS3 and 360 were PPC based, the PS4 and XBOne are x86 based. In order for content to exist on both it has to be ported. So the fact that they aren't making games for those platforms anymore has little to do with the inability to scale. It has much more to do with the fact that they're entirely different platforms.

If, for example, Microsoft had stuck with x86 with the 360? Had three consoles in a row running the same architecture? The transition between generations would have been more gradual. I'm not saying that you'd be able to play modern games on an old XBox. What I am saying is that some less demanding games would run on older hardware and you'd get full backwards compatibility.

@Octane From what has been said about NEO, it is most certainly not a 9th generation system. It is just another model of the PS4. The same may apply to Scorpio, however powerful it may be it will presumably run the same games as a Xbox One from '13.

The Nx could be argued to be a new generation for Nintendo, as the game library will most certainly be incompatible with the previous Nintendo console. However, the NX is rumoured to be aiming to compete (and perhaps reach parity) with the other current 8th generation consoles and certainly, the timing of its release puts it in the middle of the current generation. I would say Nintendo would have two different consoles for the same generation, the Wii U ,which ultimately failed to reach its goals, and now the NX.
So, I don't believe the 9th generation is upon us.

@BiasedSonyFan Possibly. It's not an exact science. In the past, the timing of release criterium was the most useful one to draw the line between generations. Now, everything might be changing in regards to how companies approach their system launches and life cycles and that criterium might not be enough. Your guess is as good as mine.

Of course you can scrap the notion of generations, does android have generations? No, they have different versions and it is up to the developers to chose which versions to support.

And it is a good thing for consumers. Some might buy every version and some will buy every third. The one thing you might lose is the "gimmicks", but neither ms nor Sony has made any significant changes to their controls, so I think it is a moot point.

Same principle applies. In fact it would be even easier to do on a console since they can also control the hardware. So why is it such a bad thing that your console suddenly can be supported for a few years more?

Good job picking out the only sentence that isn't a direct response to your previous post.

Anyway; I think you're missing my point, because I wasn't suggesting that people never have to buy new consoles anymore and that their PS4 will run every game from now on. All I'm saying is that as long as the architecture remains the same, there's no need for another ''generation'' as we now it. If Sony releases new iterations every couple of years and supports at least the latest two or three, then I don't see the problem. Does that mean we'll get to a point where the original PS4 can't handle some games anymore? Of course. On the other hand, it could also mean that it could still run FIFA 23 for example, or play some indie games.

However, you're suggesting that at some point everyone has to upgrade; to a PS5. That doesn't have to be the case. If they introduce a NEO 2.0 in 3 years and a NEO 3.0 in 6 years time, they could drop the compatibility of the vanilla PS4 sometime during that period; the NEO will still be supported, but will be dropped three years after that. New iterations will take the place of the old ones and there won't be another generation; not in the sense that we know it. Of course, this is only going to work as long as the architecture remains the same. For now it looks like x86 will be the go-to architecture for a good while.

Just because you don't like what I'm saying doesn't mean I missed the point. And sure I wasn't talking about just backwards compatibility, I know I wasn't. I was talking about scrapping the idea of starting from scratch every few years. Which would inevitably mean full backwards compatibility and a large chunk of forwards compatibility.

Basically it comes down to this. I look at console libraries as they are and I can't say that the console cycle is a good thing. All of the remasters and HD editions of games already out. That generational transition where developers are stretched over twice as many platforms. The fact that people who own a Wii U, for example, aren't getting content currently because development has shifted to the NX. These aren't good things for business or consumers.

If consoles were more like PCs or smartphones? That stuff wouldn't happen to the degree it does. Simple as that. You can repeat all you want that I'm somehow missing your point or that you've won the argument already. But I'm not and you haven't. Because frankly console generations don't need to exist anymore and they're a load of BS. I'm glad they're ending.

@BiasedSonyFan if what you say are true, why are they not on the PC master race train if all they care about is power? (Where by the way, you already have gradual transitions, and indies can be played on old hardware)

@BiasedSonyFan The NEO is going to be more powerful than the PS4.. Not sure if you're just trolling at this point.

I'm not arguing that people will be playing new games on their PS4 in ten years from now, but that was just an example to show what the benefits of hardware iterations are vs hardware generations.

@BiasedSonyFan if octane would get 10 years out of his ps4, why would it be better if he could only get 5 years? Because that is what you just said.

So people buy consoles because they are cheapskates? It would explain why the cheapest often wins a generational war...

And not every game needs the latest console, don't you think for example psyonix would have been better off to have been able to just release rocket league on both the ps3 and ps4 with minimal effort?

@BiasedSonyFan Just like it's the case with PCs; You can't keep you old PC around forever, however there are no generations either. Same applies to smartphones. Why can't the same happen with consoles? New iterations every few years and at some point the old one become obsolete (that's only logical), but there won't be another ''generation'' in the traditional sense – no PS5.

I think people just have different definitions for what a console generation is