Top 7 Features Of Next-Gen Game Consoles
What should the next generation of gaming consoles bring to the table? We examine.
Since we are already talking about the next Xbox, and the new console generation should arrive in the 2013 time frame, we welt it is a good idea to take a closer look at the current generation of devices and their future outlook. It is simply stunning to see how powerful and promising especially the Xbox 360 and PS3 were at the time of their introduction and how much the innovation of the past and next years could change the feature set and require huge bets by Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Here are our seven front-runners.
1. Thin Console
When the PS3 was introduced, it was largely seen as a supercomputer for the living room, with a theoretical raw processing power of up to 2.36 TFlops. Even four years later, there aren't many games that actually use the entire potential of the PS3. In the not too distant future, an Xbox 360 or a PS3 may look like a dinosaur from an ancient time that hosted processing capability in the wrong place.
It is more and more apparent that the model of Onlive is going to be the future. We are getting used to online and on-demand content delivery through services such as Netflix. Onlive is doing the same with video games - especially with a new plan to make games accessible for a $10 fee per month. We already have shown that we do not necessarily care about physical ownership of media anymore, if we know that content is always accessible in a fast and convenient way. If we can access games online anywhere and anytime, why would we download them and not play online right away?
If you think about it, a thin client / cloud gaming approach could also solve other problems consoles are criticized for: It really would not matter what hardware you have at home as long as your service provider upgrades and provides the best possible experience. Especially Nvidia and likes to criticize console gaming today and its old graphics technology. Cloud gaming would give gamers the ability to always stay up to date.
2. Merged Entertainment System
The future game console will further expand into the more types of media. Not only will it be the interface to games and on-demand video, but it may also interface to advanced TV and audio consumption. In the long run, gaming will be just one aspect for an entertainment console as the device will merge various set top boxes and entertainment systems that tie into stationary and portable devices, such as home PCs and smartphones. Console manufacturers have vastly more decisions to make with the next generation of devices than it was the case five years ago. A game console will have to pull content from devices as well as supply it. Microsoft will, without doubt, connect its smartphones much closer with the next Xbox 360 and we are already seeing Android Apps that use the PS3 as image or video interface. Expect this trend to continue on a fast pace: Imagine your smartphone to be capable of accessing a video game through the cloud in the same way you access it at home on your TV. This may not work for all games, but having your entertainment library with you all the time has tremendous value.
3. Human Controller Interface
There is no doubt in my mind that the future controller of game consoles will be your body movements and your voice. Microsoft is leading the way with Kinect - the technology will need years to be flushed out, but it isn't terribly difficult to predict that the human interface is here to stay.
Higher resolution cameras will drive the adoption of much smoother and more sophisticated usage models that feel as natural as Microsoft promised it for Kinect. Clearly, Kinect is not the technology that fits all types of games. There is a good chance that the good old motion controller will stay for a while until a camera and AI system can detect movements in detail that is comparable to today's controllers, but the days of this technology is clearly numbered and this next generation of controller technology should be exciting.
4. APU Horsepower
It is too early to predict which processors the next consoles will use, but it is clear that the human interface will require extremely powerful processors that will integrate CPUs and GPUs. The added processing horsepower will lead the way to more power-efficient consoles and enable much richer menus at the same time. We should also be in the range of processing capability when facial recognition is combined with voice recognition to improve the accuracy of vocal data input. Several years ago, Intel laid out a vision in which a sensor could track lip movements and use the data to improve voice recognition. This could be the first time voice recognition is not just a secondary, but also a primary way for communicating with an electronic device.
5. Hybrid Data Storage
The time of hundreds of gigabytes of storage space for your game console may be coming to an end. In a reasonable cloud-computing model, you could be storing your personal media data, including images and music online and you would not need a ridiculous amount of local storage space.
For the sake of power consumption and mass market appeal, it seems reasonable to assume that future game consoles will drop hard drives and leverage Flash storage as this chip-based technology becomes much more affordable. In 2013, 256 GB of flash storage should cost not much more than a 320 GB hard drive today.
6. Blu-ray
Could you get rid of discs entirely? Possibly. But 2013 is too early in my opinion. There are plenty of DVDs and there will be lots of Blu-ray discs - as well as older games. Dropping a disc drive entirely would alienate the customer base and is not feasible just yet. All console manufacturers will need at least at least one transitionary platform in which the use of online media is highly promoted and the customer base is prepared for transition.
If the disc drive, in fact, will be dropped, it is more likely that Microsoft will jump right to online media as the company has repeatedly said that it will go directly from the DVD to Online media. We would guess that this move will happen as soon as there is a Netflix that has much more content available and can effectively replace the DVD/Blu-ray player.
7. Lower Power Consumption, Prices
Remember the $599 price tag of the PS3 in 2006? Those days are over. While the next generation of game consoles will be much more capable than this generation, it will be targeted at a much greater audience and Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will go after overlapping markets. A thin client that is tied to subscription fees should allow console makers to offer a future game console for much less money and hit subsidized price points of less than $200 right away.
We should not forget that those power monsters of today do not make much sense anymore. An architecture that uses APUs, flash storage and far less graphics horsepower should be nearly silent and consume a fraction of the power today's PS3s and Xboxes are pulling out of the wall.
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I agree with all of this list. I hope they can live up to it. I also hope they try to shy away from multiple, and highly-priced, subscription services. In theory, wouldn't that bring an annual total of fees quite high? If they do the thin client deal with fees, add your netflix sub, hulu sub, and if companies are forced (because of the great business model of it, investors and boards will demand it, make no mistake) into the dlc-20 bucks a pop like activision does with COD, I would hate to have to pay an extra 100 bucks or so a year to play my console. I feel like that is why i play it less and less and my PC more and more. PC just seems like better value overall. Just my opinion.
They forgot the most important stuff:
Reliable hardware without any YROD/RLOD bullcrap
I simply have to say that I love the SNES computer case mod of the picture!
I don't like the idea of a thin console. Frankly latency will always be an issue, and despite one being able to grow accustomed to it, I don't want to have to grow accustomed to a degradation in game play. Also, with the state the internet may be in in the next few years (with the high probability of being put behind massive public NATs), what will happen to the experience of using a thin client type of console? While the problem would be bad enough trying to connect to a server through the NAT, I feel like it would be a bigger problem for a thin console. I like having my game play processed locally.
While OnLive *MIGHT* be a step in the right direction, at it's current state it offers nothing compared to a standard gaming PC.
Unless they make some major improvements with latency + graphical output of OnLive, it should NOT be a role model for future gaming systems. That would just be scary.
Thinking online content only by 2013 is idiotic. The US infrastructure does not and will not have that type of bandwidth by then. Not only that you negate much of the market world wide that does not. Yes, cloud computing will be critical going forward but at this point it just isn't there. Yes, it won't just be the US gaming market but it is a huge market that cannot be ignored.
I hope the new technology gets fleshed out, not flushed out.
I'm certainly in favor of choices. I happen to prefer keyboard and mouse, as my poor balance would make having to jump and flail around to conduct a sword fight a very hazardous endeavor, to myself and to those people, kitties, and [breakable] objects nearby.
I lol'd.
btw check your spelling, a lot of these articles have errors. here's yours: "we welt it is a good idea [...]"
should be felt
Thin clients are a great idea, but for many games such as FPS, nothing beats local rendering. For that, you are going to need some pretty powerful and efficient CPU/GPU architecture, and that will drive prices up. The "my GPU is bigger than yours" contest will continue for at least one more generation of consoles. Prices could be subsidized by subscription fees towards respective online gaming.
People complained that they had to upgrade their pcs to play the latest games ever so often etc. Welcome to that same trend but with Consoles. I hope you can still play all your old games like you can with the pc.
Oh well, it's all about the money at the end of the day
Your 7 features hardly flow together. You talk of slim efficient boxes which serve to pull information from the cloud but then talk about it being the home media and entertainment hub as well as "will require extremely powerful processors".... The list is interesting in theory but written and thought out very poorly.
next gen consoles should have an upgradeable parts path so they aren't obsolete every other year and can play the games that were made after the console was debuted.
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The Onlive system will never replace a stand alone console or PC as an entertainment system in the current state of broadband throughout the US. It is a novel idea and the price is right. But at the same time having a physical copy in home for when the Internet is down or too slow will always win for now. Also even though Steam is slightly similar, you still have a physical copy on hand once you download it. OnLive does not, so if they somehow change hands, charge more, or flat out die off, then you are left with nothing while if any current console or pc game goes down, besides online based MMO's and such, you will always be able to go back and play what you purchased. Maybe in another 20 years we will finally be rid of 56K and anything else below 6Mbit but until then, the next systems just have to be reliable and extra powerful in this HD day and age.
This is good news for the kiddies and people wanting a cheap gaming/multimedia setup. But still my PC by then will still be 2 to 3 times what the next gen consoles will be at release thats just how I roll. I couldnt dip below my current 2560 x 1600p resolution I currently play at. 1080p is so 2008.
1. Thin Console - Sure. Who would not like a smaller platform unless you plan to merge components then let the thing be bigger.
2. Merged Entertainment System - Perfect. To me this would be the grail, just keep it away from "the cloud". My stuff, my house, my control.
3. Human Controller Interface - Do not care for it.
4. APU Horsepower - More power is good.
5. Hybrid Data Storage - Take cloud computing and blow it out your butt. Future consoles should combine the use of SSD and HDD which would be upgradeable by the owner of the console.
6. Blu-ray - Keep the disc or some other physical ownership of the games. I want something in my hand not stored on a virtual server somewhere.
7. Lower Power Consumption, Prices - Yes. Lower both please.
8.Upgradeable - Not going to happen but a nice pipedream.
For those people that haven't figured it out "thin console" means a thin client, not a physically thin piece. The rest of the crap on the list like APU, blu-ray etc are counter to this.
While cloud based gaming is probably the future, I'm not too fond of the idea. First of all, many people still have slow or even metered connections. Second, I just like seeing and drooling over hardware and game boxes. And call me a control freak, but I want files on my system, not somebody else's. Especially if that someone else is an enterprise.
I agree with all other points though. I'll just think positive and look at 'thin console' as a physically slim console (yes please!) rather than follow my voice of reason and read it as 'thin client' (no thanks!).
2. Merged Entertainment System - Perfect. To me this would be the grail, just keep it away from "the cloud". My stuff, my house, my control. 5. Hybrid Data Storage - Take cloud computing and blow it out your butt. 6. Blu-ray - Keep the disc or some other physical ownership of the games. I want something in my hand not stored on a virtual server somewhere.
Why are people so afraid of could gaming?
You sound like an 80yr old that refuses to learn about computers.
Cloud gaming is a GOOD THING..
1. You don't need expensive hardware to play HD games.
2. Your saves and "Your stuff" can be saved on your console's HDD.
Apperently this guy has never purchased a movie from the playstation store. If that playstation blows up is the movie you bought gone with it? NO!! You get a new playstation login and download the movies and other stuff you already own. If they sell virtual items they will always be force to keep a record of your purchase so they know you have the rights to it. Also, if we can learn anything from onlive it's that monthly subscriptions that many different games will likely be an option in the future. This would mean that don't have to actually BUY the games. It's like infinite rental.
Cloud yea right more like a deadly fog on what limited freedoms and control that still remain for the average user. I much rather have the games that I paid for on a device that I can hold in my hands rather than a "cloud" hosted by some monolithic all consuming corporation. Consoles need to be upgradible and from the start have a more modular build incase of failure that bricks the whole damn system. The ps3 isn't that very powerful. one SPE is disabled to help improve yields, another is reserved for the os. The RSX is horribly outdated and is the only Gefroce7 gpu still in production and it is horribly slow and holding games back as badly as the limited system ram. 256mb you got to be kidding I got a pentium mmx rig with twice that. The x360 well if you like red ring then buy! At least the online gaming is going good so long one has a decent lag free connection.
Weak areas of consoles, no upgradibility except for storage. Weak or lack luster gpus. Very minimal ram. Poor cooling that leads to failure of the physical machines. Cloud will only make things even worse.
next gen consoles should have an upgradeable parts path so they aren't obsolete every other year and can play the games that were made after the console was debuted.
You mean a PC?
1. Entire content library of future consoles available via digital download. No DVD, Bluray, CD, etc. Its too messy to find all of that stuff and it would make so much more sense to just download them from the cloud. Basically Steam for the consoles.
So the Microsoft Kinect needs years to "flush out?" Is the Kinect a member of the Taliban that needs to be flushed out of hiding? Or is it an incredibly large dookie?
Fleshed out. Unless you really mean to send it down the drain.
I'll add:
)
8. full set of options in the package... like webcam, microphone, keyboard, HDMI cable (or the connectivity of the day) etc...
9. customizable user interface
10. voice recognition
11. NAS storage support or remote disk access (to be able to share/retrieve documents like photos, saved games, music etc...)
Also the NAS storage will add a layer of backup and security to the console.
12. bluethooth connection to connect the console to the cell phone and be able to talk through the console... (well... skype everywhere is also an option
13. support for touchscreen TV (or devices like the surface device)
14. ability to rip DVD and make a local library which made all the movies available without having to change the DVD (and without doing this through a computer)
well... its all... for the moment
Why are people so afraid of could gaming?You sound like an 80yr old that refuses to learn about computers.Cloud gaming is a GOOD THING..1. You don't need expensive hardware to play HD games.2. Your saves and "Your stuff" can be saved on your console's HDD.Apperently this guy has never purchased a movie from the playstation store. If that playstation blows up is the movie you bought gone with it? NO!! You get a new playstation login and download the movies and other stuff you already own. If they sell virtual items they will always be force to keep a record of your purchase so they know you have the rights to it. Also, if we can learn anything from onlive it's that monthly subscriptions that many different games will likely be an option in the future. This would mean that don't have to actually BUY the games. It's like infinite rental.
I think people put too much trust in corporations to do the right thing. I don't. It has as nothing to do with being old or young. It has to do with being a sheep following the corporate shepherd or being the sheep that looks around every once in a while to see where you're going. I don't like the idea of spending my money on something and then someone else having control of it. You might think you own that content on the "cloud", but you really don't, read the agreements, don't just click "I agree" and assume everything is peachy. It's not.
I work with computers all day, believe me, things can go wrong with online data. Any data. Sure, you can ruin a physical disk too, but that depends on how careful YOU are. I don't want to spend my money and have to worry about how careful THEY are.
Long Live PC! The next gen console now!
If that playstation blows up is the movie you bought gone with it? NO!! You get a new playstation login and download the movies and other stuff you already own. If they sell virtual items they will always be force to keep a record of your purchase so they know you have the rights to it.
Wow, I'm so glad for you that you have enough money to just go buy another PS3 on a whim! Replacing a broken DVD or Blu-ray disc is much cheaper. Chance are, I won't break ALL of my physical discs at once. But if the cloud fails, guess what? No movies, games, music for you!
Don't much agree with number 3. I played a Kinect the other day and I must say it was way over-hyped. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea, but I don't see any hard core gamers using this seriously. I think mostly it will be used to get some the Wii people to switch over. Have you noticed the demographics in the Kinect commercials?
When it gets as good as Minority Report, then they'll have something. Till then, those physical controlers are here to stay. I remember 25 years ago, they were telling us that by the year 2000 the mice and keyboard would be obsolete and that voice commands would be the main human-computer interface. Riigght.
What I'd like to see if a PS4 is a modest increase in power, more of an evolutionary upgrade.
Processor keep the cell, just updated with all 8 cores working, more cache and a bump up in speed to 4Ghz, easily doable at 32nm considering what they did on the original 90nm. The new processor would also be much cheaper then the original.
GFX here we would see a major boost as at least 4gens have passed since the PS3 came out. Something along the lines of Cayman would be ideal but built on 28nm should make it cheap enough and with low thermals.
Throw in the new 100gb Blueray drive, should be priced similar to existing drives today.
Ram would see a huge jump, 1GB dedicated to graphics and 4GB for the system. Harddrive at 1TB would be more then enough.
USB 3.0 including connectors on the back, Bluetooth 3, Sata 3.
Built from the get go with move/kinect as well as regular controlling in mind and not an afterthough.
Keep the initial price at $399 and you would still take a lot smaller loss then the original PS3 took.
The OnLive approach to gaming may very well be the future, but I don't expect to see it in this next console generation. I would be mildly surprised if it was even in the generation after that.
Consoles are about offering an affordable gaming experience, so obviously OnLive supports that goal. But the OnLive approach also requires reliable, high-speed internet. In Japan, they may be all ready to go on this front. In Amercia, Canada, and Australia, though, we may need another 10 years before the majority of the target console market can meet those internet requirements without frustration.
I personally doubt the next generation consoles will use SSDs as their primary drives. Consoles are, again, about offering the best gaming experience as cheaply as possible. It doesn't matter if a 256 GB flash drive is 1/10 the price it was five years ago; if a magnetic hard drive is cheaper and can do the same job, then that's what will be used. These companies are out to make a profit, after all.
Human Interface Devices are the future... sort of. I think the technology has fantastic applications in certain types of games and entertainment. For many games, however, nothing beats having an array of buttons under your fingers, and nothing ever will. The controllers may get more clever, such as how the Wii added motion tracking to the traditional controller, but they will still provide buttons and joysticks. Maybe one day we'll get holographic controllers that create the tactile illusion of buttons... but there will still be buttons.