Shortest Generation ever?

@Midnightshade29: the consoles barely match an old 7870 never mind titans, there weaker than you think.

The fact compromises are already being made is frustrating.

I vote for creatively starved. Better hardware would just mean a repeat of this gen but with prettier graphics.

Think about it. Game budgets have become so huge that most studios have been forced to appeal to the LCD (casuals). Thus games have become more formulaic (casuals fear change) and hand holding. The only good thing to come out of this is a thriving indie market, but even I can admit most indie games are shovelware.

I can't help but feel the people saying this gen should be cut short are fanboys who are salty sony have such a lead. Because there is no logic in releasing new consoles any time soon for either the PS4 and X1. The hardware argument is null and void because the consoles are selling at a higher rate than their predecessors, so clearly the masses could give 2 shits about PC's power gap. And on top of that, the gen hasn't even warmed up. It's like ending gen 7 in 2008, the best stuff hasn't came yet.

I imagine this generation will attempt to match the mileage of the previous, for better or worse. And honestly out of all the issues this gen may be facing, the hardware isn't necessarily one of them. Could they be better? Sure. But mass production is also a thing.

In short, we still got a good few years ahead of this before new systems come into play. At least I hope so for Nintendo's sake.

And the public went and bought 3 million of these out of date boxes in the US of A last month. Indicating that the public don't give a **** about how much more powerful PC is.

This moronic rule that a generation starts every time Nintendo releases new hardware is moronic.

Let's see if the NX is even powerful enough to run current gen multiplats. Right now it's looking like a handheld that streams to your TV.

@bobrossperm: I'm saying it because I think there's a sentiment that somehow these new consoles aren't powerful enough in the eyes of some gamers. Of course I'm also prodding the idea that the real problem is creative starvation and bean counters that help create beautifully vapid games like the order and doesn't take nearly the risks it did in years past.

@Pray_to_me: it's not determined by Nintendo... Its determined by whomever releases the first next gen console, which happens to be Nintendo this time...

The power has never been part of the console systems and success equation!!!

So not expecting much out of the Nx, but those nintendo fans surely are!!!

This gen should last until at least 2019 and no shorter than that. Companies don't take enough risks because games cost a lot of money to make this gen. There should be more focus on software instead of releasing new hardware so soon.

I'm actually fine with the specs on the Wii U. If it weren't for the stupid account system requiring a new hardware I'd be more than happy to if they stick with it.

I would like to see the new wave of consoles in 2019. 6 years sounds perfect for a generation to me.

^ ^ This.

This gen NEEDS to last atleast 5 more years.

After seeing this gen start, I'm predicting every future gen will start with the first 2 years being mostly Definitive Editions of games at the end of the previous gen. There's not enough games coming out yet. I want another 5 more years of new games before I get bombarded with 2 years of remasters.

I don't see it happening. Last gen is still going on and I don't think the devs have maximized the potential still from the current hardware. If they do rush new consoles out I can see it backfiring in sales.

@GameboyTroy: it's the "games cost too much" argument that I just don't lend any sympathy to... Ideas are free and don't cost money... I'm not sitting back asking for stronger hardware and better looking games... I am sitting back and calling out an industry that has allowed budgets to get so high, not because it benefits the gaming experience, but so that we can keep up with everyone else over spending on lame characters and bad video game stories and presentation.

I look at games like helldivers or OlliOlli and chuckle. Two games that were wildly more captivating through their gameplay than just about every huge budget game that hung from a rack at 60 large.

These huge budgets are gonna crash the industry... Not a matter of if.... But when. Eventually people get sick of playing the same thing over and over.

@bobrossperm: I wasnt reffering to what the public think.

Was just asking a point to other user the consoles hardware is weaker than he thought.

The thought of the industry crashing because of huge budgets makes me feel uncomfortable.

Its kinda funny how Fast Racing Neo might seem better than some of the retail racing games this gen even with less content.

Still waiting for @TheEroica to respond.

its going to be interesting to see what they do.

maybe the NX will be a power house and that will spark the release of the X2/PS5. or maybe not.

i initally thought this gen would be shorter than the last but the one variable i had not considered was the cost of development.

it may be good for nintendo to get a console thats up to speed out (nintendo with the most powerful hardware on the market again, console wise. not seen that in a long time) and for sony and MS to stick with their current hardware for another 3-4 years.

given news like FF7 needing to be broken up, the bottleneck is no longer the hardware. its the pocket. a longer gen may be a good thing for the industry now.

its all too easy to say "yeah lets get a console with 32GB of ram, 2 titan Xs and a 16 core intel monster CPU out...itll be awesome". actually producing games for such a system would be frightening in terms of scale and cost. you think the nickle and diming is bad now?

@GameboyTroy: look at rocket league... How much does Ea spend every year on making fifa and how much did it cost to make rocket league?

Which do you want to play?

This hobby has always been about ideas...

Poor example really. Fifa sells over 10 million each year.

Nin dont tell others when the next gen starts..sorry..they no longer matter. sad but true..Next gen will NOT start until at least 2018..i have insider information..:)

@Boddicker: agreed... Completely.

Hardware, despite being weaker than a i3/750ti combo is not the problem. The problem is the games. Nothing unique has came along yet and I believe people are burning out on the norm.

The issue is that games are taking longer and longer to make and most developers haven't even released their first gen 8 game yet. They have spent all their time figuring out just what these new boxes can do and now people are talking about new consoles? **** that.

The whole 'we need new consoles' thing is bullshit because the primary reason they're suggesting it is either that fanboys hate Sony's lead, or pc people think the PC power gap might create a declining interest in these consoles, which if November NPD was anything to go by, is just not the case. And it wasn't the case when the PS3 and 360 continued to sell millions well into 2012 and 2013.

But yeah, we are going to see production costs and dev cycles increase, and the amount of output per studio decrease every generation going forward. Risk taking is becoming more risky than ever.

@bunchanumbers: I feel like it is because we are stuck with 3rd party across all system now... prior to the original Xbox ... consol gamers didn't share PC games nor did we have a standard controller setup.

Before all that 3rd party almost made exclusive software for whatever system using whatever controller or gimmick it had. Since the PS2/Xbox, controller didn't change outside of what Nintendo does. It is a part of why Nintendo is so left behind by 3rd party and why it is a race of graphical power for at least 2 gen

They launched cheaper for a reason

NX will release next year and I expect Nextbox to release in 2017 with PS5 coming in 2018.

The shortest generations ever only lasted four years before the next generation began:

Gen 1 - 1972-1976

Gen 3 - 1983-1987 (Japan), 1985-1989 (West)

Gen 5 - 1994-1998 (Japan), 1995-1999 (West)

And yet Gen 3 and Gen 5 were some of the best console generations, because of their breakneck pace, with so much happening in those four years before the next generation began... But unfortunately, the same can't be said for Gen 8.

More than making this the shortest gen ever, it's making it clearer that the idea of "gen" is... well, silly. It make sense for when all three companies release consoles around the same date but Nintendo kinda did away with that in 2012. If The NX launches in 2016/17 and Sony and MS don't release I new console by 2018, then can we really consider the Xbox One and PS4 to be "last gen" and the NX to be "next gen"? What if then the new twin consoles release and they're way more powerful than the NX? I dunno it seems kinda silly to me. Convenient for most cases when referring to past consoles, but silly when it comes to speculation about the future, definitions and all that.

This. A thousand times this. The reason these consoles are selling so well is because they are giving us solid performance at a reasonable price. The suggestion of selling a high-end gaming PC as a console is total nonsense. Sony and Microsoft have proven that the box needs to cost $400 or less; if it costs the $800 that folks are calling for would defeat the purpose of having consoles in the first place.

The issues facing gaming right now are not about console power, they are about gamers rating games either a 0 or a 10. A games is either a total flop or the greatest ever with no in-between. This leaves devs with two options: 1) spend an asinine amount of money on game development for new IPs, or 2) make sequels/remakes of previous hits. Which one would you do? That is what is wrong with gaming boys and girls.

Well, we can only hope that the worst generation ever is also the shortest.

yea..finally someone that agrees and has his own thoughts to back up..thanks

Nintendo did this with the Wii. They have basically stepped out of the normal generations. I've been saying this for years, that the way generations are being defined now is just stupid. The way I prefer to look at it, is that they released two Gen 6 consoles (Gamecube and Wii with very similar architectures), and the Wii-U was their very late to the game Gen 7 console.

The NX might reinforce this idea, if it's barely the power of the PS4/Xb1 it would be silly to continue to define new 'generations' with hardware that is generationally... not an upgrade. You can argue that the last two Nintendo consoles have been 'accessory' add-ons slapped onto last gen hardware.

Now if the NX is a substantial gap up from the PS4/XB1 - then I might consider it differently - and depending on if it has any success it might also force Sony/Microsoft's hand to come to market 1-2 years earlier. So I can this this gen being a short one, but it really depends on what type of hardware aspirations the NX has.

LOL. That's not how it works...

No developer or publisher cares, or even knows, what 'generation' it is claimed to be.

This Gen is so slow that it feels like it just started. 2019 is my bet for next Gen.

Go ahead and call the NX a 9th gen console/next gen console, but always remember that it uses last gen hardware.

Nintendo is always a generation behind in terms of hardware and the NX will not reach PS4's power.

@Heil68: is it? They spend millions on that game (fifa) , adding rosters, getting licenses and changing engines etc.... Yet a little no name indie comes along and is on everyone's GOTY list...

I understand a lot of people play the only licensed soccer game out there, but nobody is writing home about it... That's my point.... HEIL! :P

Well its pretty big in Europe I know that and people are passionate about it. But no, it's never nor will it ever get GOTY.

There are plenty of new experiences out there though.

As far as football games go this year:

1. Rocket League

2. PES 16

3. FIFA 16

...But the sales are obviously in reverse order.

Because when Sony is ahead they often rest on their laurels. Plus I doubt that a high selling PS4 would give them no impetus to actually release ahead. They're going to ride the PS4 until they can't any longer.

Honestly I wouldn't mind shorter gens with cheaper hardware and smaller jumps. I would rather not get stuck in a 7-8 year cycle where for 4 of the years the hardware is hopelessly out of date. The PS4 and Xbox One, despite being way weaker than PC hardware, are still providing great looking visuals that are comparable to high end PCs (relatively speaking). It's once the gap between becomes too great is when I have problems.

5 year console gens is enough for me at $300 or even $400 console hardware prices.

@TheEroica:

They don't drop consoles back than,old consoles are still active after new generations launch. FF9 for example,was release in year 2000,months after PS2 ,2 years after DC.

And it told PS1 2 years to pick up the pace,when square announced FF7 jumping ship.