So the Ps4 and Xbox 3 are coming... Of course they're coming. It sure seems like some people are surprised but I don't see why. So kids it's time for my predictions and rants. Yes rants. Let's start simple, for any and all of you techies like me I know you'll agree with me on this, can we PLEASE get at LEAST a gig of system ram this generation? please? When are console makers going to dump some ram into a system? It's the cheapest component in a computer and it's the one things console makers cheap out on the most AND it's a major need for large texture resolutions which is a MAJOR part to good graphics. So please, at least a gig and if you ask me I say go crazy and go for two gigs.
Names, let me just cover names real quick. The Ps4 I'm ok with, I get they stuck with playstation and just want a numerical index to their console generations. But if the next xbox is called the 720 I'm going to bludgen myself to death with my 360. The thought of merely doubling the number for whatever sake doesn't make sense. The 360 was named aptly so because it was bringing a new 360 degree level of network connectivity to your entertainment world. At this moment one can only guess how many times I watched the microsoft xbox press conference for the 360. But it did exactly that, let's face it, Xbox 360 has changed gaming forever. Well xbox live to be percise.
Hardware, for us techies we all wanna know. Of course we want, maybe even need to know. As I already said we need at least a gig of system ram. At least, two would be amazing and I can't even fathom four at the moment. Even though my home PC has eight. The CPU and GPU I'm not too worried about, it's obvious the gaming industry understands what to do in that department. Though I would like to see less R&D and more raw horse power in the chips, for all of sonys hype of the Ps2s emotion chip it was just a outdated intel and for all of the Ps3s mighty 9core CPU they bottle necked it with only a half gig of system ram. Finally though, it's time to get rid of motion based storage mediums. CDs, DvDs, Blu-Rays, anything that spins needs to go. It's too slow. It's out-dated. Let it go folks. Solid state is the future, motion based reading just can't keep up. I'm not saying put a solid state hard drive in the new consoles, that is way too expensive. But games on some type of custom SD card I think is right, going back to a 'cartridge' system may be exactly what this industry needs. A custom SD card which can be producded cheap, though not as cheap as a disc I know, could hold gigs of data and have much better data transfer rates. Of courrse some kind of Solid State Optical would be ideal, keep the cheapness of discs but get the transfer rates of optics.
The Future. I could go on and on about this.It's pretty simple, the first person to photo realistic graphics wins. Or has a big head start on being near the end of console generations, well at least generations with purpose. They will always be willing to sell you a new console as long as you're willing to buy it but that's a different topic. Once photo realism is a graphics standard the final tech leap for visuals will be quantity. It's great you can make one guy on screen look photo realistic, now I need a valley filled with soliders that all look that good. Once you can do that, the hardware will be done with. Someday there won't be a physical storage medium, everything will be through the internet. The xbox will just become an enclosed network you purchase everything through, elimiating buying games. Instead if you can buy anything you'll just buy point cards or possibly redemption cards for games through the network. But there won't be any actual content or data in the card. You'll just punch in the 16 or 20 digit key and redeem it for the content or 'points'. The sad thing is the price of games won't drop just because the cost of those games drops.
Of course the games, can't wait for a few things. God of War, we all know there will be another, if sonys smart it will be on the Ps4. Gears of War, the series may or may not be over but Epic will make another series like it or work out some way to continue or otherwise remake it. The next generation of consoles will bring a whole new level of gore into your living room, and I cannot wait for relic to make a sequel to SpaceMarine on this next generation. Let's hope we get another Batman Arkham on this new generation, of course we will but is it even possible to do better than City? I really hope we see a new Duke Nukem, I loved Forever and hope the Duke never dies. Last two which I'd like to mention though there are probably hundreds worth mentioning is, Call of Duty and Fable. Call of Duty is going to become a online only soon, and Elite will be the paid version of a otherwise Free to Play game structure. MW3 was good, the writing was mind blowing but the single player content was virtually non existant. It reminds me of the old counter strike single player if any of you remember what that was. Except much better. Finally Fable may finally have the chance with this next generation to become the game Peter Molyneux keeps apologizing to us for telling us he was making but didn't actually make. I don't know what this new Fable coming up is exactly but it seems it's not a true successor to Fable 3 but more of an off shoot. Hopefully Fable 4 and I hope Black and White 3 (crosses fingers) come out on this next generation and blow us all away.