How big of a difference is there with X360/XONE and PS3/PS4?

There are many new games coming out as we all know, and most of them are still going to be released for the X360/PS3 even though that transition to next-gen with XONE/PS4 has taken place.

As the title says, how much of a difference is there graphic-wise between the old and new consoles? Because I recently got a PS3 and the games look amazing even though it's technically last-gen.

So is it better to get the new hardware to play the new games? Or just stick with my X360/PS3 until the time comes?

If you haven't played the last-gen games, then do it. Still, there is a notable difference from last-current gen.

If you have the money upgrade, if not... You should wait until the games start to become more focused on the current gen imo.

Purely in terms of technical specs, the difference between the 360/One is smaller than the difference between a PS3/PS4. Either way, while it's certainly noticeable (mainly the resolution increase), it's not a gigantic improvement. PS3/360 Gen games still look great and there's a huge library of cheap games available for purchase/download.

While I plan on retiring my 360 sometime soon, I can't imagine ever letting go of my PS3. Unlike previous gen (namely PS1) games, 360/PS3 quality graphics will never become unplayably ugly to me.

Like was said above, there definitely is a difference graphically... A cross-generation game like AC4 for example, I noticed a difference. Whether it's worth upgrading to next-gen yet, that's up to you really. You might think the difference is negligible.

Maybe wait a bit if you're happy with your PS3. Then upgrade when there are more games out.

The difference graphically is quite immense but we've hit largescale diminishing returns. Last gen they were able to make games look great with a lot of modern rendering techniques that were a lot more efficient and could run on a toaster. There are new rendering techniques that are now able to be used on the PS4/Xbox One that couldn't work on the PS3/360, but titles using those techniques are yet to hit.

I can't really quantify the difference in numbers but the difference is massive. Playing Killzone Shadow Fall on a PS4 is a generation ahead of the best looking PS3/Xbox 360 game, and we've only begun the generation. While games like Uncharted 3 and Gears of War 3 had an entire generation of optimization, the early games on the PS4/Xbox One do not have that. Games like Ryse and Killzone Shadow Fall look a generation ahead (at least).

Even multiplats, which last gen looked barely better than their 6th gen counterparts, look a generation ahead. Games like Assassin's Creed 4 look amazing on the PS4 and are noticeably higher resolution and higher fidelity than the PS3/360 version.

Though as I said, we've hit diminishing returns. Games got pretty good looking last gen on outdated hardware. While new games look spectacular compared to last gen games, those who aren't as in-tune with video games aren't going to notice as huge of a difference because of diminishing returns. The PC has struggled with this for years now.

I have them all.

The first year is always rough on games, but that's why I keep my old machines too.

This ain't my first rodeo.

When games come out that are not cross generation games, you will notice a difference. Hands down. If you look back at when the 360 launched, the graphics of the games in the first year were upres'd versions of the last gen games or ones with slight improvements, and you see how they look now, say GTA5 graphics on the same console, and its a completely different generation fo game ont eh same hardware.

Same will apply this gen.

Right now its mostly crossgen game, so the difference wont be massive. Having said that games like Diablo 3, and Metro look substantially better than their lastgen ports.

Too early to say anything, as most of the cross gen stuff is geared towards giving console gamers a taste of 1080p60, something which you'd normally only see in PC gaming.

~10x

If you want to continue enjoying the console experience you will be forced to upgrade to a new console at some point.

The majority of 360/ps3 support will probably drop before the consoles drop below $400.

It really makes no sense to continue playing on the last gen consoles when you can get the better console versions of games for same price.

If you hold out really long then you might save $50 on the console purchase.

Would you rather wait another 2 years for a possible $50 price drop or start playing much better versions of multiplats now?

@1fragleft: Stick with PS3 or 360 for now.

There's a noticeable difference on illumination and anti-aliasing (jaggies) but that's about it, i'd say wait until end of 2015 to upgrade to next gen. there's really not a single true next gen game on any console, unless u count tech demos like infamousSS, Killzone, Ryse, etc, which look godly but are not really good games.

As well as higher res, better shadows, more af and better textures.

BF 4 is a completely different game on next gen. Diablo 3 is 1080p 60fps on PS 4.

Why spend same amount of money to play inferior versions of multiplats?

Even Madden looks a lot better on next gen

I define it the way Epic Games does. They say last gen consoles were basically 250 gflops machines. PS4 is 1.8 tflops and X1 1.3 tflops. So PS4 is 7X as powerful as last gen and X1 5X.

Agreed.

There is a big difference in graphics from last gen to current gen.