Moments when you felt the next gen had arrived (this generation)

You all know those moments- it happens when you see something, and you know the next generation has arrived. You see or play something that simply would not have been possible before, that has only been enabled by these new machines. Moments like the original Ridge Racer. Like Super Mario 64. Like SoulCalibur. Like Halo 2, Half Life 2, or Metal Gear Solid 2. Moments like Wii Sports, like Gears of War, like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

You know the ones I am talking about.

People like to say that that didn't happen as much this generation, and while I am inclined to agree that this generation was an incremental step up over the previous one, it did give me at least two moments where I contemplated, and thought to myself- this is next gen.

These were the ones:

• The first time I tried SharePlay on the PlayStation 4. I played some of DriveClub, and quite a bit of The Order over SharePlay, and I was taken aback- the person I was playing with was in another country, in another continent, across an entire ocean- and here I was, playing a game on his console, with minimal input lag (I think it was less than half a second), with the graphical quality intact. I was remotely playing a full game on someone else's console over the internet. This was a true 'next gen is here' moment for me
• Super Smash Bros. on Wii U has an 8 Man Smash mode. The first time I played it, I couldn't stop laughing, when it hit me- eight people. At the same time, on one screen and one console. Eight people local multiplayer. It has not been done before, and certainly not in a game as frenetic as Smash. But here we were, eight of us all squaring off against each other on a massive, chaotic map, in full 1080p and 60fps. It was beautiful. It was glorious. It was next gen.

Those are mine, what are yours?

And before lemmings come in and accuse me of running a smear campaign against the Xbox One again, because it is the only console I didn't include in the OP, well that's because I haven't played enough on the Xbox to truly find anything that gave me that sort of a moment.

Mine was when i first used the Wii U Gamepad for off-screen play. I was like yes, this is the future. Dual screen 2 player just felt so amazing also. Then using the Gyro in Splatoon, i felt, yes, this is the future of console shooters. I guess drawing on Miiverse too, was pretty fun. Playing vs the World online blew me away, i still cant get over it, i love playing with the whole world even though i dont speak their language, futuristic shat right there.

I much prefer the continual improvement that comes from PC to the generational jumps that come from consoles. So in answer to your question, I don't notice the leaps because I don't really experience them.

It's incredible that you have to clear this out.

still waiting

Mario chase 5 players with one entirely playing separately from the others on the gamepad, amazing.

Playing ZombiU, and realizing the WiiU's control method actually made for some interesting games.

Besides that, not much.

Being able to suspend a game when the PS4 is in rest mode, or if you go to another app like Youtube. Feels pretty next gen to me.

Off TV Play and Nintendo Land were definitely some 'whoa' moments too, but eh, on the whole, not 'next gen' as much as 'of course.'

Same with Suspend/Resume.

I have yet to play something that made me feel that this generation isn't mostly an hd uptick from last gen. I've played great games packed with familiar fun, but nothing that has wowed me in that respect.

Well.... Actually now that I think of it, the nemesis system in SoM is the most uniquely next gen concept that I've played.... And it was wonderful. Unfortunately lord of the rings is boring, but the nemesis system in a Star Wars game or just a straight up new ip would be divine...

This...

from a graphics standpoint the only thing that pops out for me is star wars battlefront. thats the closest to a gears moment this gen for me (i have no interesting in actually getting the game though :S) and its been slow coming. but credit where its due, the game looks stunning and nothing last gen comes close...not even crysis (unmodded).

uncharted on the vita was also a big step up. that was a wow moment for handhelds has to be said. having reed running on it too was very impressive.

from a gameplay standpoint i got nothin. its mostly just better looking versions of last gen games. maybe the whole building thing in fallout4...but i havent played that yet. but there isnt a defining get 8 thing. open world is the most popular thing but there is nothing new about that. plenty of open world games in previous gens.

Nothing yet has really impressed me.

It's not really changed that much over the years.

There hasn't been that moment yet. Not a single game I've played this generation can even remotely resemble the word "groundbreaking" or even "progressive".

Mk8, Bayo 2 and tropical freeze. Clear visual advantages from last gen games, great and consistent art, polished technical chops and in the case of Nintendo's games it was a titanic jump, almost like a generation and a half.

That full on, traditional generational graphical leap from Ps3 and 360 games though? Still waiting. Part of the reason why I haven't got a Ps4 yet.

Inb4 cowzard1605

I'm still waiting for that "Now this is next-gen moment".

Seriously, pause and [alt-tab] are next gen features for the consoles? Wow I didn't realise they were so far behind.

Playing Black Flag/Killzone Shadow Fall/ DR3/Ryse

Pip boy app

@Heil68: oh Heil.... Lol

@Desmonic: @charizard1605: cowizard1605.... This thread is bias!

In terms of graphics, I'd go with Ryse, on the Xbox One. Despite the PS4 being the more powerful console, I wasn't all that impressed by Killzone Shadow Fall. But when I saw Ryse on the X1, that looked "next gen" to me.

Gameplay, none. Graphics, Driveclub in a thunder storm.

shiny coat of paint wise- battlefield 4

The same as every gen, the price of the consoles when first released.

Being able to use Spotify while playing GTAV. Greatness Arrived.

The minute I spent money on a new console.......

I have yet to have a next-gen experience and I'm almost into the next-gen as far as processing power. Pretty shit gen.

In terms of presentation, Witcher 3. Bloodborne also had moments where I felt the visuals had truly reached another level. As far as gameplay goes, well, that's tough to say. Both TW3 and Bloodborne are built on previous games. They are the result of iteration, not innovation.

But maybe looking for the "a-ha moment" in gameplay is a mistake. Perhaps what next-gen really means is edging a formula closer to perfection. BB and TW3 certainly fulfill that expectation.

The Phantom Pain, on the other hand, had some stunning visual sequences and even some nice innovations but felt like a step backwards, overall, because it did not fulfill its potential. So maybe "next-gen" is just a matter of preference, ie, we tend to think of the better games as more progressive, whether they really are or not.

When I played Ryse on my launch X1.....never seen a better looking game at that point. And everytime I say "Xbox record that" after I do something cool......still feels next gen every time.

on handhelds, when 3DS when I Ocarina of TIme 3D and Luigi's Mansion on my new 3DS XL, big step up from the DS

for consoles, when I saw Dead Rising 3 gameplay, other people had 1080p/60fps filters on but I saw the graphical achievement in the sheer number of NPCs being rendered in a large open world environment, and all the mayhem to be had in such an environment, on top of that it was by far the best game offered out of any next gen systems launch line-up (probably among the best exclusives yet offered this gen) and judging from reaction videos to gameplay it's a barrel of fucking monkeys

Call me heartless, but i have never felt that thing ever.

I'm impressed with the curent gen, but i'm not having any funny feeling in my pants from it.

The Witcher 3, Batman AK and AC Unity for next-gen graphics.

Probably when I played BloodBorne, The graphics, look and feel of that game was amazing and that really made me feel like I was playing a next/current gen console.

And how can anyone call this a "smear" campaign when you're just asking for people's experience in gaming.

Honestly... Nothing I can think of at the moment. Plenty of good games, but nothing that's overtly made me say "shit, that couldn't be done last-gen."

When i played Ryse on Day 1. Rotating the camera around that beautiful armor and seeing each strand of hair reaching up from that gorgeous helmet. Then fighting the boss in front of the burning wicker cage. Yea, that was nice.

Graphics weren't really doing it for me. But I did get that feeling when I first played FM5, because of the physics mainly.

Arkham Knight has an impressive amount of detail on the Batmobile and Batsuit, but I wasn't super blown away.

When I saw Deep Down reveal footage but then soon realized that it's yet another pre rendered footage pretending to be in-game. Wasn't blown away by anything after that.

Playing Second Son.

when I shoved a gtx 970 in my potato pc and it started playing games well :P

man this place went wild when they showed that trailer. shame it was a complete lie

so far nothing this gen has really impressed me. Right now all the big developers are playing this gen very safe and are scared to really think outside the box.

@charizard1605: Excellent post. The Xbone just doesn't do it for you yet.

This^

The moment I powered up the PS4.

Please edit the title to put down the PS4 as well