Source: Ubergizmo
Finally. We are here, on the cusp of a major announcement from Sony on February 20th. The internet is abuzz with rumors of next gen consoles just around the corner. If you ask me, these ‘next gen’ systems should have released in 2010, but that’s besides the point. People are wondering what the consoles will be like. What kind of tech will they have? Any cool features? Well, I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring and lay out what I think Microsoft and Sony should and, more importantly, should not do with these consoles.
What Next Gen Consoles Should NOT Do
Motion Contols
No. Just don’t do it. Stop it. Just stop it. We’ve had enough. When did console gaming become about ‘reaching a broader audience’? Has our beloved hobby become so distilled that we’ve resorted to this?
Really? Really??
I challenge you to convince me that that looks ‘fun’ in any conceivable definition of the word. Despite what MicroSony will have the public believe, gaming on a console should not be accessible to every demographic. We are a niche crowd. You should cater to us instead of trying to get some soccer mom and her 5 year old to throw a virtual football around a terribly rendered scene. I’m sorry, it’s a harsh stance, but it’s my firm belief that console gaming should be for the hardcore crowd (if you want casual, well, you have a smartphone, tablet, or other handheld device).
What kind of bastardization is this? Console gaming should be done with a gamepad, not with you standing in front of your TV, waving around hands, waiting for the lag, then see your horrible rendered avatar to perform a motion that isn’t even remotely close to what you intended.
Just stop it.
Social Media Integration
No.
Become an Entertainment Hub
Let’s be realists here. It is 2013. Chances are, if you are buying a console, you’re probably already somewhat technically savvy. What does this mean? You might already own a surround sound system. You also might already own a so called ‘smart TV’, capable of streaming Netflix, music, etc.
My point is, you probably already own an ‘entertainment box’ of some kind, be it in the form of a Roku, Apple TV, or already integrated into your current TV. Whatever the case, you should be all set. There really shouldn’t be the need nor desire for your console to be your sole source of all your entertainment. Why?
The new consoles should focus on one thing, and one thing only – gaming. I don’t want MicroSony spending resource dollars on integrating Facebook when that same money could be used to creating a better gaming experience. If I want to check my Facebook status, I have a phone. If I want to download music, I have PC. If I want all these experiences at once, I have a Roku/set-top box.
Cross-integration of all these systems is not necessarily a good thing. Please, MicroSony, the consoles should only focus on gaming. I promise we’ll support you more for it.
What Next Gen Consoles SHOULD Do
Truly Next Gen Hardware
I might get hate comments for this, but hear me out. I have a point. Crysis 2 came out in 2011, meaning it was at least in development for two years beforehand (2009). It is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen, despite it being a couple years old.
What do you mean? Now we can finally play the game.
That being said, these new consoles are heavily rumored to release in 2013. This means that the hardware they’ll be using will be a couple years old in order to keep costs down. We can expect the hardware to be customized to work incredibly efficiently and provide the best possible horsepower it can conjure.
The point I’m trying to make is, in my opinion, the new consoles should provide a level of fidelity equal to that of Crysis 2 on a PC from two years ago. If the new consoles have at least 6GB RAM, and a GPU equivalent to at least a 560ti, I will be satisfied. I don’t think this is an unreasonable request. It can be done. It should be done.
Larger Game Worlds
If you’ve been following me on Twitter over the last couple days (@ShankThTank), you may have noticed me freaking out about Witcher 3. I have a couple reasons for doing so. Mainly, I absolutely love the Witcher games. Witcher 2 is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. Incredible depth, mature story, amazing design, the list goes on and on. The bigger reason I freaked out was when I read the absolutely brilliant Witcher 3 GameInformer article.
Source: GameInformer
In it, the developers describe a vast open world, which they think is larger than Skyrim. This world will also reportedly take 40 minutes to travel on horseback. Now, Skyrim isn’t exactly small. When I read that this game will be larger than Skyrim, I jumped up and down like a maniac for approximately 17 minutes straight.
Why do I bring this up? There is one very important detail in this article regarding the release of this game, “Coming in 2014 on PC and ‘all high-end platforms available’”. They aren’t exactly coming outright and saying it, but reading between the lines, you can safely assume this will be a next gen title. And this makes me excited.
By taking advantage of the new tech, CD Projekt RED is creating a massive world. You all know how much I crave exploration. More powerful tech means larger worlds, more detailed worlds, more exploration…more of everything, really.
In Conclusion
It is at this point where I remind you all that I still play consoles. Even though I fully expect the Nextbox and PS4 to not be as powerful as my PC, I don’t care. All I want is a significant leap forward from our current situation. Only by taking that bold leap forward will our industry truly make progress.
It has been too long. I sincerely hope MicroSony don’t fall into gimmicky tricks to capture ‘the broadest audience possible’. They must remember their core audience. They must remember those of us who stay up late pwning newbs in Call of Duty, those of us who delve into the deepest chasms of Skryim to find every last Stone of Barenziah, those of us who propelled Master Chief into a near-deity status. We are the players who truly want hardcore games. We want to be challenged, and not treated as second-class citizens just so Kinect and PS Move can have their say. We want the absolute best hardware possible, the best gameplay, the best gaming experience possible. We believe in you, MicroSony.
Don’t let us down.
Hey Shank, nice read. I would like to counter with my opinion as primarily a PC gamer. I do own a PS3 however I’ve been PC gaming since I started on an Amiga 500 over 20 years ago. So when I think of a living room gaming device, I want something that can do more than simply play games. If I want to do more hard core gaming, I’ll go to my PC and know that as long as I keep it updated, I can play any game I want. My console is more of a casual gaming device and if it can also let me remove a blu-ray player and a streaming box, all the better.
Oh, and yeah, they can keep the motion controllers.
Hey Shank, great stuff, though I have to admit, you got me a little riled up.
I’m going to disagree with you on a couple points, and I can tell already this should probably be a full fledged article, rather than a comment, but here goes.
First of all, media integration. I’ll give you that I don’t need my console to download music, check social media, or surf the web. Those things are pointless in my mind. But I really do like having things like Netflix, Hulu, movie stores, etc available. In my living room, I currently have no less than 6 remotes, not counting game controllers. These are for my various devices, like the TV, the satellite receiver, the bluray player, the ps3, the Xbox, and the Apple TV. I’ve tried various universal remotes, even some fairly fancy and expensive ones, but they never quite work like I want. If I were to buy a new Xstation, I want it to be so good at Netflix, Hulu, and renting movies, that I don’t need to go anywhere else for these things. As it stands now, I use apple tv for streaming movies and music from my computer. I use ps3 for Netflix, because my daughters shows automatically play the next one, I don’t have to stand ready and waiting by the remote to flip to the next one. And I largely use my Xbox for renting movies (though Apple TV gets a lot of that business as well). I’ll admit that I’ll probably never get rid of my Apple TV because my digital media library is so full of apple content that it would be pointless. But I want Netflix, Hulu, and movie renting to be perfectly capable, seamless, and smart in my next console so I don’t have to use a different device for watching these things.
Now, next up is motion control. I used to be like you. Then I took a kid’s foot to the groin. Yah, I’m again leaning on being a parent as a reason I want things a certain way. My daughter loves the Wii, and is having a blast with the Kinect. I personally couldn’t care less if my gaming console had these options, because I agree, they’re laggy, poorly executed, and just dumb. Does anyone really yell “Fus Ro Dah!” at their Xbox?
But here’s the thing. I want the next console to have these options so I can get rid of the wii and Kinect. I want Microsony to spend the time now developing a system that works well, because if its done right, motion controlled gaming is not only a great way for my kid to stay active, to introduce her to the joys of video games, but it also works as a great excuse with my wife for letting me buy it.
I’m not saying that I want next gen consoles focusing their time and efforts on motion control, but what I am saying is that I’m ok if it’s included (or is at least an option). And while I don’t have any statistical data to back this up, I would bet that hardcore gamers are not the priority anymore. I would imagine their research shows that they need to focus all their attention on the casual gamer and his family.
But, sorry to hijack your article, it was well done and well stated, and I agree with a lot of it, just had to put in my two cents (or 200 cents!).
Great comment.
Regarding multimedia, I want my tv to take care of all this. If you want a single device, then let that device be the tv, and not a console. I’d much rather have the console dedicated to gaming. Let the tv do the heavy lifting because, let’s be honest, you’ll be using your tv remote anyway. Why not build that function into the tv instead of having multiple boxes, or bloating the console with extraneous functionality?
Regarding motion control, I agree with you and am willing to bet that MicroSony aren’t looking at hardcore gamers as a priority. And I think this is a damn shame. I am so sick and tired of gimmicks in this industry. I just want a powerful gaming machine I can enjoy, free from distractions. That’s why I want MicroSony to remember their core base.
I would love to see your thoughts in a full fledged article. You make some great counter arguments!
Well maybe you’ll get it then.
ill mull it over during the weekend. 
and your point about wanting your gaming machine to be a beast at gaming at void of gimmicks is well made. I can’t argue with your desire there. Cue the Steambox, I hope?
Steambox will change console gaming as we know it…or at least I hope it does!