What if there's no next generation?

[Team Andromeda]

Why do you keep saying the 360 is over focused on Racers though? There are not too many racers there compared to previous gens.

I really don't know, this gen been the worst for racers imo.

Every Gen will have it moment , back in the 90's it seem Point and Click , Flight sim were coming out every week for the PC and as for sports games, compared to when everyone and their mum was making a Football, NBA, Ice Hockey, Golf, NFL I think this generation been quite limited

[EvilBoris]

Well browsing through the genre listings for gamefaqs for

last gen had 577 "racing" games

this gen has had 365 which includes some dubiously categorised XBL indie games.

Gotta love some facts

[Charlie]

But the developers choose to make said FPS games because they are profitable and all that matters to the future of a studio is whether or not they are profitable. They might love to make something crazy obscure, but you know what happens when they do?

People compare said unusual title to that of a AAA title and don't think that it has the production values or longevity to warrant the same amount of cash, so they don't buy it and developer goes under. We've seen numerous developers go under this generation because of this.

As for the 360, there is only 1 FPS title that Microsoft produce themselves and there are 2 that Sony produce themselves, so I think I think the situation for could technically be worse for FPS's! The selection of games available on both formats is very diverse, especially when you venture into the Download only side of things. Perhaps the choice of titles within each genre is smaller than it was, but what can you expect when many developers can't afford to lose several million quid developing a game that not enough people will buy.

If you were given ?10,000,000 to make a game that was going to make a profit, what kind of game would you make?

Bear in mind you'll have to sell over 3 million copies to break even.

I understand the reasoning behind the popularity of certain genres with developers: they sell. So, yes, if you're a developer then you naturally want to make a profit and that means making a game in one of the popular genres. I'm not questioning the logic behind the situation, I'm questioning it's worth, questioning whether gaming is too predictable and more boring than it used to be.

Don't get me wrong, games are better than they've ever been, they're refined, technically superb, and polished until they gleam, but it seems to have come at the cost of artistic creativity and imagination. There's an incredible emphasis on realism, on simulating reality, and that's cool, but it would be nice if those of us who also enjoy imaginary and abstract worlds were catered to in the same way. Ultimately, when gaming I'd rather explore the fantasy world of some artistic director than explore the realistic world of a gifted team of artists and programmers.

[EvilBoris]

I understand the reasoning behind the popularity of certain genres with developers: they sell. So, yes, if you're a developer then you naturally want to make a profit and that means making a game in one of the popular genres. I'm not questioning the logic behind the situation, I'm questioning it's worth, questioning whether gaming is too predictable and more boring than it used to be.

Don't get me wrong, games are better than they've ever been, they're refined, technically superb, and polished until they gleam, but it seems to have come at the cost of artistic creativity and imagination. There's an incredible emphasis on realism, on simulating reality, and that's cool, but it would be nice if those of us who also enjoy imaginary and abstract worlds were catered to in the same way. Ultimately, when gaming I'd rather explore the fantasy world of some artistic director than explore the realistic world of a gifted team of artists and programmers.

Those games still are around, you just have to look a little harder since hte japanese developers have basically given up.
The place to be for beautiful unique worlds and those unique experiences is definately on the download side of things.
The quality of titles that are to be found on XBLA/PSN is staggering, these are things that would never of been availble this generation without these services. Have a look at what's availble on Apple's appstore too, there are genres of games that are forming and evolving every day.

The way that social media and new technologies are moving far faster than most devs can manage on a 2-3 year development cycle. I'd imagine that games that are being released now are based off trends games from several years ago.
I think gaming is still very exciting and I'm always looking forward to what is just around the corner.

I might not want to play another cover shooter or FPS , but there are only so many hours in the day and there are plenty of other kinds of games I can enjoy during my spare time.

[Charlie]

I agree, XBLA is the best place to consistently find imagination in games. Even the Indie game service too to a lesser extent.

[EvilBoris]

It's pretty crazy that things like the Auto-Runner and Hidden Object games have sprouted up as entire genres.

[Team Andromeda]

but it seems to have come at the cost of artistic creativity and imagination. There's an incredible emphasis on realism, on simulating reality, and that's cool, but it would be nice if those of us who also enjoy imaginary and abstract worlds were catered to in the same way

That is a fair point to be fair, but there are such games out there on the 360 and even in these semi realistic worlds like Bad Company II some of the backgrounds(on like the snow stage) are simply breathtaking, same goes for the backgrounds art in Drakes II. My issue with this gen (and partly the last) is games are far too serious now; In the Mega Drive/Sat/PS days you could load up the likes of Madden , spend 5 mins explaining the controls to your mates and they'll be able to give you a good game . These days sports games, driving (and the like) are so deep, even I have trouble trying to remember all the button functions and I really do miss the pick and play fun of the traditional shooter or the classic Arcade racer

Nothing can give you a buzz like a top class traditional shooter or a classic Arcade racer

[Brad]

In terms of FPSs I'd love to see one of the top FPS makers do what Time Crisis 4 (and later Razing Storm) did but properly. That online FPS with a light guncon system had so much potential.

[Neon Ignition]

What's more worrying about next gen is where some peeps want it to go:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-09-08-thq-future-consoles-will-dump-discs

When you're planning 40 weeks of DLC BEFORE online only consoles something is going wrong. Strong post launch DLC is always welcome but this will plainly be a sea of vehicle skins and character accessories that should have been in the game. Publishers can't be trusted to handle online services this gen let alone with online only business models. Always trust the disc

[Sketcz]

No discs, but I'm sure they'll continue to charge ?40 for the games. I never spend more than ?7.99 on a download game. That's why I still haven't played Hard Corps from Konami.

Ahh well chaps, looks like I'm out for the next round.

[Brad]

I've switched to PC gaming for now. Not been happy with the price of console games for a while, particularly digital versions only bein available from one supplier. I know Steam is the main player on PC but it does have competition from GOG and Games On Demand (there are others I'm sure) and that keeps the prices at a point I'm happy to pay for. I still get discs whenever possible and there are some real bargains to be had (I paid ?3 for Arma II recently). Also my PC is able to play my PS2, GC and Wii games - straight from original disc in the case of PS2! - and I can back up the game saves easily in case of disaster. I'm not ruling out a return next generation and there are still some killer titles that are only available on consoles that I'll get but in general I do not like the direction things have taken.

[Golgo]

What's more worrying about next gen is where some peeps want it to go:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-09-08-thq-future-consoles-will-dump-discs

When you're planning 40 weeks of DLC BEFORE online only consoles something is going wrong. Strong post launch DLC is always welcome but this will plainly be a sea of vehicle skins and character accessories that should have been in the game. Publishers can't be trusted to handle online services this gen let alone with online only business models. Always trust the disc

Yeah, that was an astonishingly ****ty and worrying announcement. Several of the AAA games this 'holiday' are getting punted into the long grass as far I'm concerned, until they come back as proper finished games - i.e., GOTYs. Anyway, I've got a backlog that comfortably would last out any meltdown the games industry seems intent in bringing upon itself, so screw them.

[Shoju]

Saw this quote on Gametrailers under the Crysis PS3/360 vid
graphics technology and developement has hit a brick wall thanks to the consoles ancient technology(be it 360 or ps3), and it's also affecting gameplay and score in games, i'm currently playing Deus Ex HR and it's sad to see how this wonderful game is restrained by the consoles limited hardware, levels are cramped, loading times are fricking unbelieveable, can't help but imagine how things could've been if it was developed as a PC exclusive...

Too early to tell how Crysis 1 on console will turn out but I have wondered the same thing. The limited RAM on consoles seems to get brought up a lot. I'm fine with leaving it till late 2013/14 though.

[egparadigm]

I think the main reason people are happy with the current generation is that the general quality of games this generation has been so high.

[EvilBoris]

Saw this quote on Gametrailers under the Crysis PS3/360 vid
graphics technology and developement has hit a brick wall thanks to the consoles ancient technology(be it 360 or ps3), and it's also affecting gameplay and score in games, i'm currently playing Deus Ex HR and it's sad to see how this wonderful game is restrained by the consoles limited hardware, levels are cramped, loading times are fricking unbelieveable, can't help but imagine how things could've been if it was developed as a PC exclusive...

Too early to tell how Crysis 1 on console will turn out but I have wondered the same thing. The limited RAM on consoles seems to get brought up a lot. I'm fine with leaving it till late 2013/14 though.

I'm all for shiny new graphics and new gameplay opportunities that can stem from having extra power at our disposal and developers are always going to make use of extra power, but there is a lot to be said about learning from working within a boundary and having limited resources. It forces developers to be clever, if those limits weren't in place we probably wouldn't have much of the technology that we do.

Crysis is a fine example of what happens when a developer has 'endless' power, they go nuts with every effect under the sun and see the answer to performaces issues as simple as the user having to up their processing power or increase the amount of ram they have.
Just look at what they achived with clever developmental decisions and lots of optimisation and refinement for Crysis 2, it's a better looking game and it actually runs better than the original for many people.
Frostbite 3 /Killzone's engine and ID Tech 5 are also fine examples of what developers can acheive with really clever software based solutions and well designed art.

It's similar with things like car engine's the actual technology that makes an engine work hasn't changed changed in like almost 100 years. We could keep making cars fast and faster if we just doubled the size of the engine every 18 months, but companies have had to work hard to optimise within the limits of the physical engine size and fuel consumption, as well as the various laws regarding emmisions. As a result modern cars car go faster, accelerate quicker and move far more efficiently than cars of 30 years ago.