# What Should By Next Gaming Console Be? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 13, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365 "2012-08-13T11:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365/21 "2012-08-15T17:59:34Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Well, a game released for a given console will almost always work very well on that console. Sometimes there are bugs or framerate issues, but the strictly-standardized hardware makes it pretty easy to ensure that any given XBOX 360 game will run on any given 360 console. > > That’s not really the case for PC gaming; there’s enough variation in PC components that two different people may have very different experiences of the same game (graphics settings, for example), may need to install different patches, or even may be unable to run the game at all, despite having a pretty decent graphics card. (Amnesia, for example, was very picky about what cards it would run on when it first came out). > > This isn’t to say that the additional complexity of PC gaming makes it bad - it can add a lot of richness to the gaming community. But it does mean that, if you’re serious about PC gaming, you really have two hobbies - playing the games, and ensuring that you have a machine that can play the games. And unless you’re building from scratch, you’re probably paying more over a several-year period than a console gamer. (For the hardware, anyway). The 360 is seven years old, and still plays brand-new games; you’ll be hard-pressed to have that with a PC graphics card you bought seven years ago. > > Consoles are a lot simpler. They Just Work, they’re cheaper than a purpose-built gaming PC (and comparably priced upgrading a graphics card every 3-4 years), and they’re purpose-built for play whilst lounging on one’s sofa. (Say what you will about the precision of mouse-and-keyboard control, it’s not an ergonomic delight). > > There are a lot of good things to be said for PC gaming, and a lot of criticisms to be leveled at the consoles. That’s why I generally prefer to have a decent PC gaming box _and_ a console, when I can afford it. But it’s perfectly fair to say that consoles have mastered “Just Works” in a way that PCs haven’t. And PCs probably can’t pull that off, unless they become as standardized and locked-down as consoles - which would be a damned shame in many other ways. I get all that, although I think you are overstating some of issues with PC gaming, and failing to understand the differences between a new game ona console and a new game on a PC. You say that your 7 year old console can play a new game from today. That’s certainly true, but what are you playing? It’s the equivalent to the PC version of the game running at BELOW 720p, no Vsync, no AF and very little or no AA, much simpler lighting and shadowing, lower quality 3D meshes and textures. In other words, I bet you I can play games at around those exact settings with a PC that’s around 7 years old. But of course, most people don’t want to! If you’re gaming on a PC you probably want the game to run at 1080p 60+ fPS, better lighting, textures, etc. But anyway, I don’t know what the heck this has to do with anythign I posted. I said: “I think that once console gamers actually see games that look like the bullshots publishers post on their websites and magazines and not what is actually up on the screen, they will quickly change their minds.” Talking specifically about what next gen consoles will bring to the table - PC level graphics, that, although downplayed today by console gamers who have never actually seen them, when actually being rendered @ 60 FPS 1080p glory on their TV screens by a next gen console, they will fall in love. Justin replied: “I think you overestimate the allure of “it just works”” Which makes no sense in any way shape or form that I can figure out. I’m OVER estimating the allure of how it works? I’m not estimating anything. I’m not talking about console gamers jumping ship to become PC gamers. I’m talking about next gen consoles’ hardware impact on graphics and how console gamers will love it. It sounds like what he MEANT to say was that I was UNDER estimating the allure of consoles, trying to score a point yet again about console gaming’s popularity. But even if that was the case, it simply does not follow given the context of my post. Hence why I asked about clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365/22 "2012-08-15T20:32:29Z")
After looking at the E3 coverage, I think we’re about to see a new revolution in gaming - panoramic 3D headsets. Virtual reality glasses that ‘put you in the game’ have been promised for decades, but the technology has never been there to do it right. 3D goggles always wind up looking like a little TV screen projected into the distance. Then I read about these things: [The Oculus Rift headset](http://oculusvr.com/), and I’m convinced that in the next year or two we’re finally going to achieve the promise of a holodeck-style virtual reality, albeit with a headset on. These headsets use OLED panels, special optics, and special video drivers to give you an image that fills your entire field of view. Built-in head tracking and low-latency hardware causes the visual field to move with you as you move your head, giving you full immersion. Right now you can buy the dev kit which includes a pair of prototype goggles, a copy of Quake 4 BFG written to support the goggles, and an SDK for adding support to other games. Currently, the goggles run on two 640 x 800 OLEDs, which gives beautiful images at a decent but not ‘real world’ resolution. The main limitation right now is the ability of current gaming hardware to render two images at higher resolution at a framerate high enough that panning is smooth. But the next generation of consoles should have hardware that can go higher. A pair of these goggles, with say 1280 X 720 OLEDs for each eye, with a 120hz refresh rate and high frame rates, would be an amazing experience. From what I read from the reviews of E3, everyone who tried them on was blown away by the experience, and major developers were signing up to work with them on the spot after experiencing them. The next-gen consoles needed a ‘killer app’ for them to make economic sense. This might be it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365/23 "2012-08-15T20:40:14Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > It sounds like what he MEANT to say was that I was UNDER estimating the allure of consoles, trying to score a point yet again about console gaming’s popularity. But even if that was the case, it simply does not follow given the context of my post. Hence why I asked about clarification. Yes, I meant underestimate. Brain fart, what can I say? But if your whole post wasn’t another shot in the PC vs console wars, you’ll have to forgive me, I was whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365/24 "2012-08-15T20:51:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Yes, I meant underestimate. Brain fart, what can I say? > > But if your whole post wasn’t another shot in the PC vs console wars, you’ll have to forgive me, I was whooshed. I was responding to the assertion that next gen console’s better graphics wouldn’t be much of a selling point. Console gamers, who have no idea what a game looks like on modern PC hardware, but decry any purported difference as a pack of lies from PC “elitists” will, once they actually have a chance to see modern game engines on next gen consoles, LOVE the experience. Just like last gen when they were “perfectly content” with SD until HD (well, kind of HD) games came out and they were blown away. Not sure what that has to do with console’s ease of use. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365/25 "2012-08-15T21:13:40Z")
Do you really like first party Nintendo games? Are you willing to take a chance that you won’t get many 3rd party games that are worth a damn, at least compared with the other systems? If so the Wii U is your choice. I’ll be picking one up, because hey, Mario, but I’ll also likely buy either a new Xbox or PlayStation when they come out as well. If you’re not that into the Mario/Mario Kart/Zelda/Metroid games or only plan on buying one console this cycle you might want to wait until there’s more info on the new PS or Xbox before you decide. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365/26 "2012-08-15T21:57:29Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I agree that more powerful hardware equals more than just better, more immersive graphics. It could mean better AI, more varied animations, denser, more realistic areas, more interactive environments. It has pretty much never meant better AI. It could, but it never does. And the rest of those things will occur in small volumes, but people mostly won’t notice unless they backwards compare. > [@](#): > > I think that once console gamers actually see games that look like the bullshots publishers post on their websites and magazines and not what is actually up on the screen, they will quickly change their minds. > > Ignorance is bliss and all that. On the other hand, this is a baseless assertion. If this were really the case, then you would’ve expected what are now the current gen consoles to have flown off the shelves like hotcakes when they came out, but they didn’t. And they were a much bigger improvement on the PS2 than the next gen stuff will be over what we have now. Seriously. How long did it take before the people who were satisfied with SD started to buy HD consoles in meaningful numbers? Similarly, your assertion that gamers were “blown away” by HD consoles is not borne out by initial sales numbers. Oh, except for the Wii, which was the console that basically didn’t do anything new graphically. I think you sorely overestimate the ability of pretty graphics to sell people expensive hardware. Now, on the other hand, if the Oculus really does become “all that” and ships standard with a next gen console? Then you’ve got a Wii-quivalent on your hands. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-by-next-gaming-console-be/631365.md?page=1)