This gen is gonna be crazy... hardware/software (compilation)

I am so excited about this gen, I think we might live some kind of a revolution in the gaming industry. What do I mean? First of all we'll have many major industry players entering the hardware market.

Hardware

Microsoft nextbox

Sony Playstation 4

Sony PSVita

Nintendo Wii U

Nintendo 3ds

OUYA (android)

Valve's Steambox (linux)

nVIDIA's Shield (android)

Oculus Rift (vitual reality glasses)

Software

Unreal 4

CryEngine 3

Frostbite 2

Source 2

Luminous Engine

AnvilNEXT

So what do we have here? Tons of hardware consoles, all of them capable of bringing something unique to the industry, some of them being really innovative. So we have all the power we might possibly need. Personally I believe the leap in horsepower this gen will be massive comparing to previous gens. Then if you take a look at all the engines that are being developed at the moment, you can see how far we've gone. Handling impressive technologies and tons of visual details to be displayed on our monitors, more interaction in the game world unlike anything before. Not to forget about the fascinating project of Virtual Reality (Oculus Rift) which is actualy doing well and even John Carmack of idSoftware is a hardcore supporter of the project. Taking all these into account it is hard for someone not being excited over this gen.

I predict E3 2013 will deliver a lot of goodies. Of course one can only wonder, yes we have all the geeky technology and power etc... but does that mean that the actualy games will be really good or they'll just have impressive graphics and will lack in gameplay and story telling. Well nobody can be sure about that, although I'm pretty optimistic (games like Watchdogs, Doom 4, Half Life 3, next Zelda and many many more) still look promising.

So what do you guys think? Are we entering a new gaming era?

PS: One thing is for sure, we'll need a lot of money to support our habit this gen :P

Finally a good system wars thread.

I think steambox + next gen consoles will finally give us Half Life 3. I think Valve was waiting on them. Microsoft is revealing 720 before E3 according to gamespot, so I expect actual games ot be shown off at E3. Ps4 will be unveiled at E3 too. They is indeed a lot to look forward to :)

I have a feeling some of those pieces of hardware will cease to exist within 5 years.

Finally a good system wars thread.

I think steambox + next gen consoles will finally give us Half Life 3. I think Valve was waiting on them. Microsoft is revealing 720 before E3 according to gamespot, so I expect actual games ot be shown off at E3. Ps4 will be unveiled at E3 too. They is indeed a lot to look forward to :)

fr3ddiemercury

Incredibly ironic coming from you :lol:

But yeah; exciting times ahead. Can't wait!

better start thinking up some new animal names for these new systems!

But I'm not going to do it. I'm not some pathetic loser or anything...

Finally a good system wars thread.

I think steambox + next gen consoles will finally give us Half Life 3. I think Valve was waiting on them. Microsoft is revealing 720 before E3 according to gamespot, so I expect actual games ot be shown off at E3. Ps4 will be unveiled at E3 too. They is indeed a lot to look forward to :)

fr3ddiemercury

I agree! But you are never helping the damn cause. 100% of your threads are bad. I think HL3 will come once Source 2 is done.

There is a lot of competition coming but I think some will just fizzle out

I probably won't have any part of the next generation.

I hate the direction the industry is going in.

Digital distribution, no used-games, online passes, day-one DLC, 3D gaming, motion control.

[QUOTE="fr3ddiemercury"]

Finally a good system wars thread.

I think steambox + next gen consoles will finally give us Half Life 3. I think Valve was waiting on them. Microsoft is revealing 720 before E3 according to gamespot, so I expect actual games ot be shown off at E3. Ps4 will be unveiled at E3 too. They is indeed a lot to look forward to :)

Masenkoe

I agree! But you are never helping the damn cause. 100% of your threads are bad. I think HL3 will come once Source 2 is done.

I think this is the general consensus and it would make perfect sense.

I probably won't have any part of the next generation.

I hate the direction the industry is going in.

Digital distribution, no used-games, online passes, day-one DLC, 3D gaming, motion control.

GeoffZak

What´s wrong with digital distribution and no used-games.

It's definitely going to be interesting to see what companies do enter the hardware market, how they go about it, how well they do and most of all what games and features they have on their systems.

The idea of streaming my PC games from that NVIDIA handheld has me interested. Apparently that's what the one article stated, I still have to read it, will do that on my lunch break.

Anyways, definitely going to be an interesting gen.

No kidding TC, with the PS4 a go, locked and loaded, better strap yourself in brother, it's gonna be balls to the wall, pedal to the metal, strap an ICBM on your back, shine it up and launch that sum'bioitch, wild muther fuking thrill ride. Day fuking 1 TC, day fuking 1. Heil68

[QUOTE="Heil68"]No kidding TC, with the PS4 a go, locked and loaded, better strap yourself in brother, it's gonna be balls to the wall, pedal to the metal, strap an ICBM on your back, shine it up and launch that sum'bioitch, wild muther fuking thrill ride. Day fuking 1 TC, day fuking 1. fr3ddiemercury

I agree with you. It's getting really annoying.

[QUOTE="fr3ddiemercury"][QUOTE="Heil68"]No kidding TC, with the PS4 a go, locked and loaded, better strap yourself in brother, it's gonna be balls to the wall, pedal to the metal, strap an ICBM on your back, shine it up and launch that sum'bioitch, wild muther fuking thrill ride. Day fuking 1 TC, day fuking 1. super600

I agree with you. It's getting really annoying.

2013 is going to be sooooo interesting, like 2005 Againolart4618

[QUOTE="super600"]

[QUOTE="fr3ddiemercury"] Okay, after the 3rd time, it got old. You are at number 257 now.Heil68

I agree with you. It's getting really annoying.

[QUOTE="Heil68"][QUOTE="super600"]

I agree with you. It's getting really annoying.

fr3ddiemercury

I'm mostly excited for the new game engines and Occulus Rift.

I have 0 interest in console hardware, and new console hardware won't be anywhere near as powerful as my PC hardware anyway, so a big fat yawn there.

But the game engines and what they promise to bring to games in 2013/2014 looks amazing.

I'm skeptical about the hardware in both the PS4 and Next Xbox. The WiiU's overall performance is disappointing as it seems Nintendo once again went for the gimmick instead of trying to focus on core gaming and giving devs what they need to make the games they want. I'm thinking that either Microsoft or Sony, or possibly both, with follow suit and we'll be stuck with popular consoles that are well below the requirements that game devs could use to make some amazing games.

As for handhelds, those are dead in my eyes. Tablets and smartphones really beat them out. The 3DS is survive because of Nintendo's very kid-friendly approach and their namebrand, but even they will have it even harder in the future. Sony is pretty much done in that market as the Vita appeals to nobody and is priced $100 too high.

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

Software is the only thing that excites me this gen. All of the major engines, Frostbite 2, Cryengine 3, Unreal 4, and Forgelight are all extremely promising. They provide a lot of flexibility to their devs to pump out high quality games in a lot less time. The only thing that could hurt gaming is if the consoles are severely under powered forcing devs to make their games with a really reduced set of hardware. PC exclusives won't be affected, but the majority of games today are multiplats.

[QUOTE="Heil68"][QUOTE="super600"]

I agree with you. It's getting really annoying.

fr3ddiemercury

you Post dozens of threads all saying the same stupid sh!t and you say other people have no lives?

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

Wasdie

Steambox is by far the most interesting. Valve have a tendency to do great things and never disappoint.

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

seanmcloughlin

Steambox is by far the most interesting. Valve have a tendency to do great things and never disappoint.

You put too much faith in Valve. I'm just skeptical because it's going to have a Linuxbase and the games I want rarely have an OpenGL client for Linux and Mac. It will be great for indie games, but big buget games it's going to be useless unless they are able to get DirectX to work on it.

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

Wasdie

Steambox is by far the most interesting. Valve have a tendency to do great things and never disappoint.

You put too much faith in Valve. I'm just skeptical because it's going to have a Linuxbase and the games I want rarely have an OpenGL client for Linux and Mac. It will be great for indie games, but big buget games it's going to be useless unless they are able to get DirectX to work on it.

Perhaps I do, just going by their track record. Although software has been their strong point in the past, curious to see their hardware front. I can't really see them doing it unless they think they have something worthwhile, doesn't feel like their business style to just gamble heavily.

Guess all we can do is wait and see

I'm skeptical about the hardware in both the PS4 and Next Xbox. The WiiU's overall performance is disappointing as it seems Nintendo once again went for the gimmick instead of trying to focus on core gaming and giving devs what they need to make the games they want. I'm thinking that either Microsoft or Sony, or possibly both, with follow suit and we'll be stuck with popular consoles that are well below the requirements that game devs could use to make some amazing games.

As for handhelds, those are dead in my eyes. Tablets and smartphones really beat them out. The 3DS is survive because of Nintendo's very kid-friendly approach and their namebrand, but even they will have it even harder in the future. Sony is pretty much done in that market as the Vita appeals to nobody and is priced $100 too high.

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

Software is the only thing that excites me this gen. All of the major engines, Frostbite 2, Cryengine 3, Unreal 4, and Forgelight are all extremely promising. They provide a lot of flexibility to their devs to pump out high quality games in a lot less time. The only thing that could hurt gaming is if the consoles are severely under powered forcing devs to make their games with a really reduced set of hardware. PC exclusives won't be affected, but the majority of games today are multiplats.

Wasdie

Interesting points.... although I can't understand why people tend to think that MS and Sony will deliver underpowered hardware? I guess most simply judge next gen hardware based on the Wii U, however do not forget that Wii U compared to the original Wii was a big power boost, the same I could expect with box and ps4. Do not compare Wii U to MS and Sony. I mean there's really no reason to bring underpowered hardware, most of the components are much cheaper than they used to be. Ram and GPUs cost less and are way more advanced than they used to be.

About the steam box, I am also pretty confindent that it's not gonna fail us, okay I do not want to over hype it but it seems that Valve knows what they're doing. They even hired economists to analyze the market and the industry, they want to create the ultimate platform based on absolute interaction of consumers and developers. A true economy within the system where everyone could publish easily their creations and everything would be easily tradable within the community. Of course in the end only time will tell.

But my biggest bid would be with Oculus Rift... and next gen engines. Since the '80s industry was trying to implement virtual reality in our daily lives, the lack of available technology at that time was the biggest obstacle. Now things changed a lot, when you see idSoftware supporting it that much you can be almost sure that this thing will turn out to be amazing. Already a lot of tests have been done and it's almost ready commercialy. Then we have this amazing UNREAL 4 engine, damn... one can only take a look at the tech demo to see all the potential behind this technology. Everything is rendered real time up to the smallest detail. Dust particles do behave so real according to the laws of physics, it's insane!

Damn I so want to see E3 2013.

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

Wasdie

Steambox is by far the most interesting. Valve have a tendency to do great things and never disappoint.

You put too much faith in Valve. I'm just skeptical because it's going to have a Linuxbase and the games I want rarely have an OpenGL client for Linux and Mac. It will be great for indie games, but big buget games it's going to be useless unless they are able to get DirectX to work on it.

I agree with you, although I will say, that this certinaly makes the notion of developing an Open GL client a lot more attractive to possible developers. You've got Macs, and now the Steam box + other linux platforms... it's not a huge audience, but the Steamboc might help grow that audience enough that EA and others might take notice.

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

I'm skeptical about the hardware in both the PS4 and Next Xbox. The WiiU's overall performance is disappointing as it seems Nintendo once again went for the gimmick instead of trying to focus on core gaming and giving devs what they need to make the games they want. I'm thinking that either Microsoft or Sony, or possibly both, with follow suit and we'll be stuck with popular consoles that are well below the requirements that game devs could use to make some amazing games.

As for handhelds, those are dead in my eyes. Tablets and smartphones really beat them out. The 3DS is survive because of Nintendo's very kid-friendly approach and their namebrand, but even they will have it even harder in the future. Sony is pretty much done in that market as the Vita appeals to nobody and is priced $100 too high.

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

Software is the only thing that excites me this gen. All of the major engines, Frostbite 2, Cryengine 3, Unreal 4, and Forgelight are all extremely promising. They provide a lot of flexibility to their devs to pump out high quality games in a lot less time. The only thing that could hurt gaming is if the consoles are severely under powered forcing devs to make their games with a really reduced set of hardware. PC exclusives won't be affected, but the majority of games today are multiplats.

V3rciS

Interesting points.... although I can't understand why people tend to think that MS and Sony will deliver underpowered hardware? I guess most simply judge next gen hardware based on the Wii U, however do not forget that Wii U compared to the original Wii was a big power boost, the same I could expect with box and ps4. Do not compare Wii U to MS and Sony. I mean there's really no reason to bring underpowered hardware, most of the components are much cheaper than they used to be. Ram and GPUs cost less and are way more advanced than they used to be.

About the steam box, I am also pretty confindent that it's not gonna fail us, okay I do not want to over hype it but it seems that Valve knows what they're doing. They even hired economists to analyze the market and the industry, they want to create the ultimate platform based on absolute interaction of consumers and developers. A true economy within the system where everyone could publish easily their creations and everything would be easily tradable within the community. Of course in the end only time will tell.

But my biggest bid would be with Oculus Rift... and next gen engines. Since the '80s industry was trying to implement virtual reality in our daily lives, the lack of available technology at that time was the biggest obstacle. Now things changed a lot, when you see idSoftware supporting it that much you can be almost sure that this thing will turn out to be amazing. Already a lot of tests have been done and it's almost ready commercialy. Then we have this amazing UNREAL 4 engine, damn... one can only take a look at the tech demo to see all the potential behind this technology. Everything is rendered real time up to the smallest detail. Dust particles do behave so real according to the laws of physics, it's insane!

Damn I so want to see E3 2013.

It's not just about cost for "next gen" console hardware, it's also the realities of physics. Modern PC hardware is powerful, and much more efficient in terms of operations per watt, but they are still quite power hungry compared to older tech. You just can't power and cool something equivalent to a modern high end PC in a console form factor. Nor would it be cost efficient.

Now, that doesn't mean that console hardware isn't going ti impress the average console gamer. Outside of system wars, where console gamers dismiss PC hardware capabilities off-handedly, things like higher resolution textures, longer draw distances, better lighting, higher FPS, etc, etc WILL impress average joe console gamers significantly.

It's just that for a PC gamer, the hardware isn't goign to be impressive in the least.

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

seanmcloughlin

Steambox is by far the most interesting. Valve have a tendency to do great things and never disappoint.

Hardly think so, at best Steambox is going to be a low-end pc with restrictions.

It's not just about cost for "next gen" console hardware, it's also the realities of physics. Modern PC hardware is powerful, and much more efficient in terms of operations per watt, but they are still quite power hungry compared to older tech. You just can't power and cool something equivalent to a modern high end PC in a console form factor. Nor would it be cost efficient.

Now, that doesn't mean that console hardware isn't going ti impress the average console gamer. Outside of system wars, where console gamers dismiss PC hardware capabilities off-handedly, things like higher resolution textures, longer draw distances, better lighting, higher FPS, etc, etc WILL impress average joe console gamers significantly.

It's just that for a PC gamer, the hardware isn't goign to be impressive in the least.

Kinthalis

Hmm... really I don't know. I mean I understand that when a console is released, it's hardware is on par with current PC gen for like a year maximum. After that period PC hardware surpasses console for good, still saying that the average PC gamer won't be impressed is kinda harsh, I dunno!

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

The Steambox could be interesting, but it's going to be Linux based so it will take 5+ years for there to be enough software support for the thing to be viable. With Microsoft constantly updating DirectX and giving it a lot of support, it's going to take quite a bit of convincing to get the big studios to make their games in OpenGL instead.

MK-Professor

Steambox is by far the most interesting. Valve have a tendency to do great things and never disappoint.

Hardly think so, at best Steambox is going to be a low-end pc with restrictions.

Valve itself stated that steambox is not going to be a PC, it will belong to the console family.

[QUOTE="fr3ddiemercury"][QUOTE="Heil68"] You just jelly and the world class gaming that Sony delivers and the unprecedented 3 GOTY's. Thank you Sony. so in conclusion, you can just fuk off then and problem is solved!Heil68

Considering you registered in 04' Heil you are pretty low level... I mean I'm almost 37 and I registered at the end of 07

I probably won't have any part of the next generation.

I hate the direction the industry is going in.

Digital distribution, no used-games, online passes, day-one DLC, 3D gaming, motion control.

GeoffZak

I'm with you.

I don't really have high hopes for half of that listed hardware, but we shall see. Regardless, the start of a new generation is always a great time. The next few years will be awesome for us gamers.