The future of "Next Gen"

[SaGe]

Do you think the next generation should not create consoles?

I had an interesting discussion over a few beers last week and basically thought it would be better to just have the major companies provide a dev kit or drive as their hardware for PC's .... I mean the hardware on the PS4 and XBone are almost low end by now. At this point, any PC can out perform the console hardware in a few months (or even weeks) time after launch. Curious to see what you think on this subject.

 

[keiler05]

I don't see how that would happen. It doesn't sound like a bad idea though. Maybe they can create their own Steamlike software with "big picture" and have an usb adapter so you could easily have the controller work as it does on the consoles. Maybe it could work like that or just start making them with much better specs but then again it would bring their price up and they just try to get to as many people as possible. Why do you think so many people now play mobile games, and they play shitty micro transaction ones that end up costing you hundred of dollars.. which is a real rip off.. but it's because it's more accessible, not everyone reads up on the latest gpu... cpu.. news and likes pcs.. some see it as very expensive or they're just afraid of the keyboard/mouse combo.. etc etc..

I don't see this happening, but if it does it'll be interesting to see what would they come out with instead..

 

[SaGe]

Great feedback, I've been tracking SEGA for the past few years. how can a company that stopped making consoles STILL be profitable to about 2/3's of their revenue when they were. It's branding that made them profitable. YES I agree that they are milking the hell out of Sonic (I'm still recovering from Sonic '06), but honestly they have a fan-base that follows their every move. Titles like the Sega Classics collection, Monkey Ball and a few others Keep the company in the black/Green year over year.

The next generation of consoles will need to evolve and 3rd party options like steam seem to be the wave of the future. It's sad that Mobile gaming is known for the transaction Mining that we know companies like "KING" are infamous for. This will pass soon enough, but at the same time the Free to play model is basically the same situation via Consoles (Currently PC being the biggest market for it).

The last thing I would want is another video game market crash like in the late 80's, but honestly we are losing soo many great 3rd party studios that I can not say for sure we are not going toward the same path as that crash. To be relevant you have to grow and evolve. I think we are in the moment of greatness that will eventually lead to the uncanny valley of video games. if we keep the course we should come out with something unique and accessible to anyone anywhere... the question is, can we wait that long and are we willing to live though the beta's to see it to fruition.

 

[keiler05]

Yea hopefully It doesn't come to that. I think one of the reasons why some great studios crash is because they don't get to sell the games they hoped for (the amount). Unfortunately we have a bunch zombie fan boys that buy every shitty AAA tittle that comes out and doesn't research or looks into indie or not so popular games (not because they're bad, but since they're a smaller studio they might lack the advertisement part). I'm referring to call of duty and battlefield. I started playing those games since MW2 and battlefield bad company 2. 2 great games, bf being the best one in my opinion. Then they released battlefield 3 and cod black ops. Bought them both but barely played bf3, got more into black ops (didn't have many friends to play bf with) Then they start charging the Premium and (idk the cod name for it) which is like 50 dollars on top of the 60-65 dollar game. So now they're making games and selling them for $110+ It's insane.. They don't make games with great content.. it's like just having a factory pumping out shitty games.. I'm done buying those games for that amount of money lol.. I wait for steam sales.. or buying them on G2A.

I think we need more developing studios not making half as games and then just forcing dlc.. Make a great game that doesn't even need dlc. Then, surprise everyone with one but that has a great amount of content. Show the people that you care about the games you make and not only for $$. More involvement with the community.. Etc.. Etc..

How late in the future is next gen expected? I mean.. the ps4 and xbone just came out basically.. and it took them like 8 years to come out

 

[SaGe]

I want to take some time and pull some data before I respond. But you have a well informed view of the industry. I'm impressed!

 

[keiler05]

I want to take some time and pull some data before I respond. But you have a well informed view of the industry. I'm impressed!

haha well i'm just a gamer myself and I see what's going on. I have a friend like that.. he just buys every call of duty when it comes out and barely plays it after a while... It's just sad.. and he doesn't even give a chance to other types of games.. Hopefully people realize how bad they're getting ripped off and start going towards the other smaller budget games. I don't know if the devs do this but theres alternative ways of ads now, just talk to any gamer youtuber and they might ad the game for you.. same thing with linuxtechtips.. you can advertise on that.. and a lot more people would be able to see perhaps try the game out.

Another problem I see is games being a little over priced for early access.. I mean.. don't charge 19.99-29.99+ for an early access.. Specially if you're not well known.. But I still like the early access aspect of it, and if you take feedback from the community and apply it in the game maybe that helps it become a much better game. There's a lot they can do, don't know how much they do but I hope to see more indie studios get bigger. I know Sony, despite all the bad they do, they support indie gamers so that's a great thing.

 

[SaGe]

The industry as a whole will need a significant impact before we see a change. perfect examples of this are the Wii and mobile gaming. At this point the gameboy is the highest selling handheld of all time and continues to do so after each release. But NO ONE saw the mobile gaming and micro transaction branding coming. For some reason... COD and BF sell well because of the market they are pushing for. NRA and a few others push these games and use them as recruiting tools and training tools. COD Modern Warfare was based on campaigns I did in Iraq and Afghan. (my former commander was the consultant on this game and we even had a few of their dev and mo cap people follow us around for about a month). Weapons are a big market here in the US and will continue to be for a very long time I'm sad to say.

Their approach to this current gaming design is just poor. A friend I met online, works for EA and he tells me all they do is basically retouch old tech to a new engine. the stories are loosely based on 24, Tom Clancy novels, Online fiction and CSI backlogs. After getting the team to build the game they get to about 80% done and start they lay off process. They cut everyone they feel is not needed and the work that is not completed becomes DLC. Great logic right..? There is a reason why the 3rd parties are not making or hitting the goals made by their marketing teams... the popularity of pirating. it's become more and more apparent as of late. 4 gaming generations ago this was not an issue. it was when the gaming age starting using CD formatting that made pirating easier and accessible to the masses. GTA 5 made millions... but if you take a look at their logs.. it shows that only a quarter (1/4) of the recorded data on the game itself was from legal copies of the game. There were even complaints from Pirates about the Online component not working when clearly that was not a working emulation on illegal copies that were live and running. Skyrim, Sims 4, Fallout 3, Dragon Age (various) all successful games but it was their popularity among the pirating community that really got the attention of the industry. This is why we have DRM, this is why games are forced out incomplete and why we can not meet this quotas. Darksiders 2 is one of the best games out there.. (it's basically adult Zelda) and it sold horribly... yet when you look at the server data. (Only 1.4 million copies sold across consoles and PC) they have had well over 6million copies of the game hitting their servers. (A Brother of mine [soldier] worked at THQ and worked on Darksiders and it's follow up, that is how I got that data) Its said that all we see these days are follow ups to games that we know. the odds of seeing something new or unique is very rare these days. Devs and marketing can not risk the chance of making an OK game and only selling a million copies.... the budgets for games are well in the stratosphere. Uncharted 2 cost $20 Million to make and sold 6million copies in total. That was a profit on their back end since the marketing options made the reminder of the budget. (it basically Broke even and made profitable by console sales)

Honestly though.... the future of the console is on borrowed time. the shelf life of the console used to be 10 years. that was not the case of the PS3 and Xbox 360 or the wii. I feel that the consoles are following the Microsoft Windows or Apple iPhone release windows. Every quarter or so they are looking to improve hardware for cheap and over time the quality of the products are falling. the popularity of mobile games and indy options will define the next generation of gaming. games like Little Big Planet have redefined what UGC (User Generated Content) is and how it should be maintained. The gaming culture is growing old... it's ok now to have a 40ish and 50ish person to be a gamer. that was not the case only 15 years ago. with Unemployment and crap wages, I do not see a parent with a mortgage shelling out $6-800 for a standard gaming box. I guess time will tell... but I know for sure that the Pirate culture will continue much like Napster, Bearshare, limewire and a few others existed.

It's great we have a front row seat though....

 

[keiler05]

Damn that was very educational. Wow that shocked me about EA, I knew it was them! I had a feeling because DICE seems to be a decent studio but I was like "I bet is EA making these guys come out with shitty stuff" I mean, look at bad company 2, it was an awesome game!! And that was a game they did just bsing around (at least with the story mode, i think I read that somewhere) I used to be a pirate myself (still am a little bit) but it was because I was a teen and my parents didn't have enough money to give me to buy videogames. Now that I have a job I buy the games (because I'm too lazy to deal with all the ***** stuff.. plus I like steam achievements lol)

I'm trying to get away from gaming, or at least cut down on the time I spend on it. I became a truck driver here in the oilfields of west texas and I've gained weight. So I need to start working out and being more active for my health sake.. Everything in moderation I guess.. Instead of 6+ hours of being in the computer maybe 2-3 and call it a day.. lol.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge, let me know if you got skype or teamspeak maybe we can talk some more on there. Do you play League of Legends? or any other Online game at the moment?

 

[SaGe]

Damn that was very educational. Wow that shocked me about EA, I knew it was them! I had a feeling because DICE seems to be a decent studio but I was like "I bet is EA making these guys come out with shitty stuff" I mean, look at bad company 2, it was an awesome game!! And that was a game they did just bsing around (at least with the story mode, i think I read that somewhere) I used to be a ****** myself (still am a little bit) but it was because I was a teen and my parents didn't have enough money to give me to buy videogames. Now that I have a job I buy the games (because I'm too lazy to deal with all the ***** stuff.. plus I like steam achievements lol)

I'm trying to get away from gaming, or at least cut down on the time I spend on it. I became a truck driver here in the oilfields of west texas and I've gained weight. So I need to start working out and being more active for my health sake.. Everything in moderation I guess.. Instead of 6+ hours of being in the computer maybe 2-3 and call it a day.. lol.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge, let me know if you got skype or teamspeak maybe we can talk some more on there. Do you play League of Legends? or any other Online game at the moment?

I really like the community here. It's by far my favorite since CodeJunkies (the former action replay site of PS2 era of gaming). I'm not a fan of FPS, I was a soldier for over 10 years and honestly I can't get into it without having memories of the real thing. So I just avoid it altogether. 3rd person games are fine.. I have no issues with a Gears of War or GTA. it's just the first person thing that triggers memories I wish to forget.

Health is important. I'm now in to online advertising and data trafficking. it's fun... kinda feels like the matrix at times when things go well.. and a shyt storm when things go horribly bad. but over all it's always something new. I hear you on the weight gain... now that i'm not as active as before I see the libby's catching up. So now I make time (at least an hour a day) where I spend it doing a bit of cardio and plan to add lifting to the work next week. Should be fun!

I have skype, but am barely near a PC to use it. when I am it's my 2 hour window of gaming and checking out the responses here. Next month I plan to cut out all social media. Working in advertising I see all the major brands basically data mining the audience at hand. (you me and everyone) that data is really lucrative, I want to see what happens when you limit the reach of data nodes to the major social networks.
Call it an experiment.. but I should be fun to see the results/impact of my actions moving forward. I mean Google owns everything these days... their Data network is beyond the search engine. they are an ad network, a price exchange, a tech company and a HUGE R&D outlet. you basically can't hide from them since they are involved in everything. (even the ads here are from Google and a few others I work with). I want to limit my digital footprint and see how it develops.

OK, I'm off to my hour of Witcher 3 and than an interview this afternoon with Google. Be safe and remember to be Awesome today and every day after.

 

[sladie2blades]

Witcher 3 devs said about consoles and the improvements of the W3 game world, It was only possible with the consoles market... Of course I'm a PC gamer, but what is the point of always talking about the far better graphics of the PC.
No consoles = no PC for games.