This topic was just floating around in my head and I decided to inquire about it. Based on past events, modern technology, and personal thoughts on the matter, I want to obtain as much speculated knowledge about the next-generation consoles as I possibly can from the forum-dwellers of the Bethesda Softworks forums. I've divided my questions into several categories:





Hardware/Software

In terms of hardware/ hardware (RAM, hard drive space, graphics cards, etc.)/software capabilities, what do you think we could expect? Graphically, what types of new features and general image quality could we expect? What about supported resolutions and framerates. Another issue I'm curious to know is if, as with the PS3, any of the newer consoles may be "difficult" to program for. Is Sony aware of these difficulties with the PS3 and would you expect them to make their next console a bit more dev-friendly?

Pricing/Quality'
I'm not sure if this is entirely true, but I've read that the 360 has an average failure rate of somewhere between 50 and 60%. That's one of the reasons I've avoided buying a 360, as the console I buy is my lead platform and I like them to be relable. Ironically, my PS3 suffered a yellow light of death-related issue. I'm not sure what the failure rate of PS3s are, but as far as I'm aware, it's lower than the 360's, yet my PS3 broke. This is a huge issue for me. I can't buy a platform that I should EXPECT to break. In addition, i've heard the 360 doesn't have checks in place (Rubber stoppers?) to prevent a bit of movement of the console from scratching a disk. As a result, I'm just paranoid about moving any platform, at all, while it's running. What could we expect in terms of the quality and reliability of next-generation platforms? This is my number one priority and concern. In addition, how expensive could we expect them to be at release? What about various points after release?

Timing/Amount of Consoles
When do you think we may start to see mention and finally witness the release of the next-generation consoles? In addition, do you think any companies other than Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony will join the competition? Which may be likely be the first to be released? Second? Third? Other?





I understand many of the answers may be complete guesses, but I'm just curious to know what you all think. It seems as though we're getting a bit late in the current console generation and I would expect to see the next-generation announced sometime in the near future. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please discuss while I go eat some pizza.


P.S. If there's anything I may have missed that you would like to comment on pertaining to the next-generation consoles, please do so.

I cant really comment on the hardware/software because I really know nothing about that sort of thing. However, my guess is that next generation consoles will be announced at E3 2012 (except Nintendo, they might announce the "Super Wii" at this E3) with a release date of Q4 2013.

Based on patterns of previous generations, I predict that consoles will grow bigger and bigger in size, and more and more expensive so that only the five richest kings in Europe can ever afford them.


Let's hope to god so. After all the pratfalls in the PS3's early years, and all the arrogance displayed, I hope Sony get its act together to do everything it can to make its latest machine that much more enticing for devs to fiddle with.


No comment, but I'm pessimistic. Faulty hardware is always going to be a fact of life, more so the more complex it gets.


So far, mum's the word on the next generation of consoles. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this generation lasts a little longer than the previous ones. As for any newcomers, well if anyone else is planning something, we haven't heard of it.

Consoles can't be upgraded like PCs can, so the hardware within them need to run cool so as to avoid failures, but still output decent performance. (30 fps is what you should expect from a console.) Yet they need to be future proof. The GPU in the ps3, for instance, is 6+ years old. Yet it still works. If the new consoles were released this year, my guess would be that they would have the equivalent of a Radeon 5x card and a high end i5 CPU. But that's just me speculating.

I wouldn't expect the consoles to be easier to program. The developers had issues because it was "new" technology. Now that most are used to it, I wouldn't expect that to be a priority.

Because consoles are mass produced and much cheaper than gaming PC's, they can only last so long. I would like to see (especially Microsoft) use better thermal paste on their components, but other than that there isn't much they can do while still staying competitive price-wise.

As for timing, I wouldn't expect new consoles to be announced for at least another year, and not to be released for two. Sony and Microsoft just came out with their motion controllers, and Sony has hyped up their 3D capabilities. They would have shot themselves in the foot if they have plans for an upcoming console. That said, I would expect Nintendo do so something much sooner than Sony/Microsoft because of how ridiculously outdated the Wii's parts are.

I forgot to ask one price-based question. How expensive do you think brand new games for these consoles will be, in addition to my other questions?

I was going to make a topic about this some time ago but I forgot, might as well post this link in this thread

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/43373/It-starts-here-Next-Xbox-talk-begins

Also, I wanted to comment on this. Faulty hardware sounds like a fact of life, but is a 50-60% failure rate common/acceptable?

I heard http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kaldata.com%2Fcomments.php%3Fcatid%3D4%26id%3D55129&sl=auto&tl=en that Sega has a console planned. Not too sure how trustworthy that source is.

'Course not. Granted, I don't know how accurate those "estimates" are, but the fact that the high failure rate seemed to do little to deter 360 sales does not bode well.

Hence... I'm extremely worried and very confused. :confused:

bump

Hardware/Software
Full DX11 support, 500gig HDD

Pricing/Quality
$300+, high quality

Timing/Amount of Consoles
Probably similar to what happened with the Wii/PS3/360, but we probably won't see any news for several more years. anolysts have stated previously that the 360 has at least four to five more years in it.

4-5, eh? Maybe we should be expecting DX12 support, instead?

On another note, I've heard PS3s use something called OpenGL in place of DirectX. Is this true? What is OpenGL? How will DX features work with OpenGL? What does this mean for the future of Playstation gaming (as in "How will it differ from gaming on platforms that support DX?")?

NExt gen consoles need upgradable parts. Upgradable GPU, CPU, Ram, etc. They already have the Hard drives upgradable, whynot expand it to the rest of the system.

I read something on google sci/tech news about how the new gen is going to be released around about 2015. Long time to wait yet so don't worry about it and kick back.

Well, frankly, there are only two major upgrades consoles could implement. Better GPU technology (on par to cutting edge GPU tech in gaming PCs) and faster CPUs. The 360 has 3 processors working in parallel, and that was revolutionary for its time. Specially made, but now we have Quad-Core tech in PCs. Microsoft did that to get higher processing speeds at lower power consumption and lower heat generation.

The major flaw in upgrading console technology is heat management. I have an i7 quad-core. I bought a quality heatsink that uses stovepipe technology and it is MASSIVE (about 4-5" high from the MB). It's quiet and keeps the CPU nice and cool, but at the cost of size. There is no way to put an i7 into a 360 case and cool it effectively under load. You'd need a bigger case with very effective air flow. Add in a fairly current GPU card and you're really cranking out the heat. Liquid cooling might solve this issue, but the tech has to be idiot-proof for consoles to rely on it. Perhaps more stovepipe technology and an all-metal external case operating as a giant heatsink to expand cooling to not just air drawn through the case but shunted to the outside as well, but I'd be concerned about the case getting hot enough to cause burns when touched or the cost of using such material for the console's casing.

We have more than adequate tech to boost CPU/GPU output...it's getting it into a console package that's the hard part. Adding more RAM or bigger HDDs or better DVD players is practically a non-issue.



Supposedly the newer 360s (even before they came out with the slim model) were improved to stop the chronic RROD failures. I think the high failure rate is more due to pushing a product out before it's well-tested and flaws are corrected than anything else. I'd hope the next gen of consoles would be more thoroughly tested....for Microsoft to put out two console designs in succession with high failure rates would be a very bad thing for consumer confidence in their products. Being forced to expand their base warranty by 2 extra years certainly wasn't cheap for them.

No computer should be moved while in operation....well, except for laptops, and those DVD drives have special spindles that lock in the disc so it won't wobble. Consoles use standard trays, so it should be common sense to never move the console while it's running.



Xbox 360 came out when? 2005? It's now 2011 and they are still making games that exploit what it's capable of. PC gamers may gripe that overall games are not doing anything remarkable on PCs because they are coded for console-level performance, but when you consider the average PC gaming rig can cost $1,000-$2,000 to build/buy, consoles are always going to have a very large gaming market compared to PC.

As I pointed out above, the big hindrance to the next generation of console is heat management. The tech is available to upgrade hardware but not to effectively cool it so the parts don't cook themselves overnight. What good is faster speed and better graphics if the console suicides in 6 months from heat stress? I would say that this is why the more popular performance-based consoles are not coming out with anything revolutionary. They have to find a way to pack more power into a small package and make it affordable and durable.

That said, I think makers like Nintendo have an advantage. I don't know how powerful the Wii is or if its capacities can be vastly expanded without heating problems. If I'm correct, the Wii is a lower intensity of graphics compared to what 360 and PS3 push for, so maybe a next-gen Wii could be produced sooner than the next Xbox or PS design.

Well I don't really know what to expect for processor speeds, maybe 2.0 ghz dual or quad core. All I think is what is todays standard for video graphics? 256 or 512mb? Maybe we will even get 1 gig or video ram other than tha, I have no idea what to expect. PS3 is a joke. I don't see no difference between PS3 only games to 360 only games, graphics are about the same so why is it so much harder to code in for the PS3? Hopefully as someone said already, Sony get's thier crap together and make it easier and not harder for people to make games for them.


Again, here PS3 is a joke. At least if your 360 dies, Microsoft replaces it very easily. From what I hear, anyone who got the Yellow ring of death either had to jump through hoops with Sony to get it fix at thier own expense or were SOL. At least with Microsoft no matter how bad a rep they got, they fixed it or replaced it at thier own cost. So who is the better company? Microsoft with the higher failure rate but will fix and reapair at thier own cost or Sony where you have to jump through hoops? Keep that in mind next time my friend.


I don't think nobody will join the consoles war, but then again, I never thought Microsoft would either since it seemed an impossibility that they can even make a "dent" with Sony and Ninetendo. But success they did. So if anyone did, it will come out of the blue and anything can happen if the hardware and marketing is good. Microsoft didn't spend millions of dollars in marketing for no reason. It worked. But I don't think it will because nobody wants to take a gamble like Microsoft and spend 100s of millions of dollars just on advertising alone to just take a chance.

The first to release will be Nintendo again. Why, because almost everyone has a Wii now and they just can't sell anymore. It's not that it's bad, it's just who wants one, already has it. Once the games stop selling, then Nintendo will make a new version. Now the question that needs to be asked is, Will Nintendo go the same route and just make the game CD based or will it incoperate music and DVD capabilites as well so we can watch DVDs and listen to music as well. Will the go even further like Microsoft and Sony and try to make it an All-In-One Entertainment system? I don't think so but who knows.

Once Microsoft sees Nintendo getting more of the gaming sales because it's newer, then Microsoft will release a new Xbox and then Sony will cry and moan again, and do the same a year or two afterwords.


Who says we are getting late? Don't forget the International Space Station is still using 386 computers for it's day to day functions, so there is lots of life to the 360 and PS3. I guess Skyrim will tell us if the current consoles need to be updated or not. The only console that needs to be updated is the Wii. Why, because to me, it feels like it's aimed for kids, and I wouldn't consider it a True entertainment system. I like the idea of the 360 and PS3 because my son needs only ONE console in his room, not a Wii and a DVD player etc.While it may not be the all in one for the living room in my house, (wait, I think it is) but it's great for the kids to have in thier room.



I think you mentioned price later. I believe as usual it will sell for around $500 when it first comes out, then 2 years later will be in the range of $299 as it is now.

I just really hope all the gimmicky games will stop, like motion controllers and stuff like that. While I don't have the Kintect or The Move yet, I find the Wii a joke. We bought our son Star Wars Clone Wars for Christmas and he finished it in less than 8 hours. WTF? The look on his face when there was nothing else to do, I was sad for him. I did say, well you got to move around like a Jedi, but he said something like "yeah but what do I do now? I guess it's time for Fallout 3 and Oblivion" or something like that.

I do wish and hope that if microsoft wants to be serious about gaming then have mouse and keyboard input as well. I think this is more important than trying to make money of controllers. I like to use a keyboard for chatting or surfing the net. This is what I like about the PS3, I can surf the new, while the 360 you can't do it. Also if Microsoft decides to say we can surf the net, better not make it Live Gold exclusive otheriwise, who will use it then? Might as well stick to the PC then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_OpenGL_and_Direct3D

OpenGL is basically a clone of DX that isn't licensed by Microsoft.

Already talking about Next gen consoles? Man this game generation when by fast.

I want a liquid cooled system with 64GB of RAM, 4 way SSLI/Crossfire X with 16GB of VRAM, 4TB in SSDs, 12 Cores Xeon CPU, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt on my PS4 :spotted owl:

And PSone, PS2 and PS3 compatibility :stare:

The way Sony is going, nobody will be able to programme anything for the PS4. Hopefully they will make it actually worth if for developers to actually use the power of the PS3 or PS4 and not just be a port.

If anything it's the exact opposite. Sony's been working with developers and has made the NGP very developer-friendly. Studios have been gushing over how easy the system is to work with, so I imagine that to carry over to the PlayStation 4.

Hardware: 1 GB of RAM, some PPC-based processor with a high clockspeed and excellent multithreading. I HIGHLY doubt a Intel-based processor will be in them, and some custom GPU not easily comparable to desktop GPUs, and is significantly weaker, but works very well due to high optimization. It'll also probably have built-in WiFi and a Blu-ray drive.

Price: sub-$500 with an under 10% failure rate on average. Initial console will have a higher failure rate


This isn't true in the least:

1. OpenGL predates DirectX, as well as Direct3D

2. OpenGL is not a full package like DirectX, but rather just a graphics API like Direct3D (which is why it is only compared to D3D in that article). DirectX alternatives are SDL and the whole OpenL family (of which OpenGL is a part of -- note that while the OpenL family share many things in common, they are not actually related to each other for the most part, being developed by different people)

3. OpenGL has many features and calls that D3D lacks, and vice-versa.

In the end, OpenGL is a more professional library*, whereas Direct3D is really only targeted for gaming. In recent years it has made some headway into CAD and other professional technologies, but it is still quite limited in use.

*By professional, I mean used in jobs by graphics designers and CADs and the like, I don't mean to say games are not professional in the least, but are targeted at consumers, not other professionals.

Also the PS3 does not really use OpenGL, but just has an OpenGL wrapper. It uses Sony's own proprietary 3D library.

I don't mean clone as in an exact copy, just that they both achieve the same thing. (rendering graphics)

What is NGP?