What we want to see in a next-gen console

While this may seem like a little thing to some people, independent developers are a crucial part of the next generation of game development and over the last few years have created some of the best games such as "Journey" (thatgamecompany), "Super Meat Boy" (Team Meat), "Hotline Miami" (Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin), and "DayZ" mod (Dean Hall).  While these games might not be your blockbuster titles like "Halo" or "Assassin's Creed", they offer a wide range of gameplay that you may not have been able to experience before.  There needs to be an easy barrier to entry allowing current and future independent developers to get their games onto each console marketplace.  Currently Wii U and Playstation 4 have openly said they are giving independent developers the space to create what they want, but with the recent news of Microsoft ending support for XNA (Microsoft's coding platform used by independent developers for the Xbox) and no news of a new platform to replace it makes people wonder how Microsoft will support independent developers on the Xbox.  The easier it is to develop for the consoles, the more variety of games everyone gets and that is always a good thing.Streaming video games have taken a huge rise in popularity because it gives people a look at full gameplay from another players perspective (mostly professional gamers) and not just highlights of their best moments.  More and more people are streaming their gameplay these days to either show off the game itself or to show maybe a map they created in the game.  The only problem is that it's complicated to setup and most gamers won't bother with streaming unless it's simple to use.  You already see this working now with "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" as they have worked with Twitch.tv and allowed COD players to stream their gameplay right from the game with no additional hardware or software required.  This needs to become a standard on all titles for the future consoles because it makes streaming of content more convenient and provides a whole added level of engagement to whatever game they are playing.As digital downloads are becoming more common than physical discs, the hard drive space on the next gen consoles will have to support that in the long term.  From games to videos, these all take up space and your average video games takes at least 30GB of space on the PC not to mention that Blu-ray discs can store up to 50GB of data.  If a game were to be about 50GB you could store 10 console games on a 500GB hard drive, and over a six year console span a gamer will more than likely buy more than 10 games in that time.  Not to mention game saves and possibly video captures from gameplay and screenshots will take up space on the drive and the maximum amount of drive space you can use on the current systems are about 320 GB.  Allowing the minimum drive space to be around 500GB will give gamers the opportunity to participate in digital content without having to manage free space on the console.  Currently a 500GB hard drive from Amazon is listed around $60 so there is no excuse to make the next consoles have at least a 500gb minimum from a cost perspective.View the list »
Next-Gen Console

Consoles newsletter

Now that Sony has announced their newest console, Playstation 4, everyone is thinking about the next generation of consoles and what we as gamers want from them. These consoles are going to be more than just a game console to be successful which is proven by the additional services the current consoles provide, except the next-gen will have to go beyond that and provide the next step in digital entertainment. It may just be something we're not aware that we want yet.

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From games to price players wonder what will be in store for them and is it worth buying into the next generation right out of the gate? Here are some features that we would want to see that would give us more reasons to buy the next generation consoles.

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  • As digital downloads are becoming more common than physical discs, the hard drive space on the next gen consoles will have to support that in the long term.  From games to videos, these all take up space and your average video games takes at least 30GB of space on the PC not to mention that Blu-ray discs can store up to 50GB of data.  If a game were to be about 50GB you could store 10 console games on a 500GB hard drive, and over a six year console span a gamer will more than likely buy more than 10 games in that time.  Not to mention game saves and possibly video captures from gameplay and screenshots will take up space on the drive and the maximum amount of drive space you can use on the current systems are about 320 GB.  Allowing the minimum drive space to be around 500GB will give gamers the opportunity to participate in digital content without having to manage free space on the console.  Currently a 500GB hard drive from Amazon is listed around $60 so there is no excuse to make the next consoles have at least a 500gb minimum from a cost perspective.
  • Streaming video games have taken a huge rise in popularity because it gives people a look at full gameplay from another players perspective (mostly professional gamers) and not just highlights of their best moments.  More and more people are streaming their gameplay these days to either show off the game itself or to show maybe a map they created in the game.  The only problem is that it's complicated to setup and most gamers won't bother with streaming unless it's simple to use.  You already see this working now with "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" as they have worked with Twitch.tv and allowed COD players to stream their gameplay right from the game with no additional hardware or software required.  This needs to become a standard on all titles for the future consoles because it makes streaming of content more convenient and provides a whole added level of engagement to whatever game they are playing.
  • While this may seem like a little thing to some people, independent developers are a crucial part of the next generation of game development and over the last few years have created some of the best games such as "Journey" (thatgamecompany), "Super Meat Boy" (Team Meat), "Hotline Miami" (Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin), and "DayZ" mod (Dean Hall).  While these games might not be your blockbuster titles like "Halo" or "Assassin's Creed", they offer a wide range of gameplay that you may not have been able to experience before.  There needs to be an easy barrier to entry allowing current and future independent developers to get their games onto each console marketplace.  Currently Wii U and Playstation 4 have openly said they are giving independent developers the space to create what they want, but with the recent news of Microsoft ending support for XNA (Microsoft's coding platform used by independent developers for the Xbox) and no news of a new platform to replace it makes people wonder how Microsoft will support independent developers on the Xbox.  The easier it is to develop for the consoles, the more variety of games everyone gets and that is always a good thing.
  • The on-screen keyboard for the current consoles haven't see much change at all and it's a pain to send a message or enter a code if you are using just a controller.  The Wii U has made an improvement on this by simply adding a tablet to their system instead of changing the keyboard layout, but this doesn't help much if you're still using a controller.  When Valve released Big Picture mode for their Steam client, they also introduced a new on-screen keyboard that is better designed for controller "typing".  While it was daunting at first, it was very easy to adopt once you used it a few times.  Putting in long game codes, sending messages to friends, and searching the online stores makes it more of a pain than it should be with the current layout and it's time for a change.
  • Games are requiring an internet connection to play more and more these days and players are still limited to finding other players on their platform only.  If you bought "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" for the Wii U you don't have nearly as many players as there are for the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.  If the game is going back to the same servers for multiplayer, then why can't you play with people on other consoles?  While this would be something that I imagine console manufacturers would be against because it gives the mentality that you don't have to buy an Xbox if you already have a Playstation, want the biggest platform of players they can possibly get which provides the best experience for that game.  This type of feature is possible to do this as "Portal 2" featured the ability for Playstation 3 and PC gamers to play the co-op missions together, and the only downside is that it does require a Steam account to use it.  The bigger the platform, the better the game experience is over all.
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, Hartford Video Games Examiner

Brandon Cline is an IT administrator who spends his free time playing games as well as reading about games and technology. Having a strong passion for electronics and the gaming industry, Brandon created a website, LuxLegis.com, showcasing those interests. Now he spends his free time playing...

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