Next Gen I'm Going Next Gen

[JammyD]

Next gen I'm abandoning home consoles for Oculus Rift. For me it is the next-generation. (I'll be getting the developer version, of course).
Very optimistic about KickStarter as well, feels like the 90s PC scene is back.

Hopes?
That touchscreen devices finally get a killer app beyond 'distract 'em ups'. Something on the level of Tetris. Preferably without virtual buttons.
Destiny to solve the old 1000 heroes problem of narrative-driven massively multiplayer games and become the first game to truly compete with WOW by not trying to ape WOW.

Expectations?
Nintendo to clear house after their regression to GameCube business strategy reaches its natural conclusion.
The gradual death of preowned in the form of publisher driven online passes for single-player.
Japanese publishers to retreat to 3DS & PSN/XBL.
PS4/XBox 3 to have the same slow start as Wii U due to the likes of GTA 5/Watch Dogs/Destiny representing much better value in a poor global economy. I'm guessing that that a major publisher, probably EA, will suffer losses due to unexpectedly slow take up of next-gen platforms.

[Ghost]

I'll no doubt go next-gen at some point, but I doubt at launch (unless Ridge Racer 8 makes an apperance!)

This current gen has been a good indication of how the next-gen will be. No longer are we talking about who much BETTER everything will be, but at what cost.

I am not a fan of going digital distribution only as this is just another word for price-fixing. However I think the overall cost per-game, should you want to get the best out of it will cost you about ?100 per game in the next-gen. They will be selling you a shell of a game on a disc, with massive bolt-ons via digital dist.

Consider the current trend. For example, you have to PAY TO PLAY online on the 360, you then have the main game followed by some sort of season pass or Premium pack, costing around 4000 points (which is real money is another ?34).

I'd be very disappointed in Microsoft if the GOLD account thing carries over to the next-gen. I've hated the way they have intergrated that into just about everything on the box, apart from the iPlayer. Its positioning as a home entertainment hub has been a complete turkey if you don't also pay ?35 subs on-top. Jesus, even the YouTube player doesn't work without it! Do you need a sub on Windows 8 to run the YouTube app? No! Why should you need one on the Xbox? Absurd.

I think a lot of us will be locked out of the next-gen by the mere cost of each game and the mechanism it which to play them. However as the industry has learned, making SE/LE of games by slapping a poster, **** figure or CD inside a massive box and then charging ?15-20 on top to which many will buy, means I am pissing in the wind.

I remember UK SNES games reaching ?69.99 in their time, which was where I switched off and didn't return to gaming for a long time. I was younger then, I am in my forties now, so there may not be a next time in the next-gen!

Agree pretty much with everything youve just said, its the reason Im not bothering with xbox or ps4 next gen. At the moment most of my gaming time is taken up by my 3DS, theres a huge backlog of awesome DS games Ive not played yet and Ive just bought Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate which is like digital crack. Once Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing come out that will be me sorted for a good few months.

[Family Fry]

Next gen I won't be abandoning anything, bring it ALL on I say.
Will grab an Oculus Rift if the price is right, will do without if it's expensive and under supported.
Although Routine announced Oculus support and to be honest that alone is enough to get me to pick it up and try it out.

[JammyD]

I can understand people being disillusioned with modern games but by the definition of being a "GAMER" we're in this for the games and if the next-gen games are engaging, innovative, showcase experiences then that's enough reason to go next-gen regardless of any prejudice you have against the consoles.

I like the way you proposition this. Now that videogames are increasingly disposable to me I find myself making a distinction between being a "GAMER" and a consumer. As in, I identify with the second way more than the first. Wouldn't have said the same 5 years ago.

[englishbob]

Im not bothering with xbox or ps4 next gen.

It would be foolish at this stage to say you won't, because something "shiny" is bound to draw you in at some point! However I feel its now sometimes like walking into a trap. Review embargos, vague "feature" lists of whats included, you don't really know what you are getting until you come to a forum like this one.

To me the games industry is modeling itself on practices the sex industry employed before the invention of the digital age. It was viewed, whatever the cost, that people would pay for porn. As it moved into digital, porn was the major reason why DVD took off as a format, due to the early adoption of it. However once the tech to "rip" and copy a DVD was delivered the whole thing died, and now its all streaming websites with free stuff. Ahem, allegedly!

Games makers seem to think that we'll pay through the nose for this stuff now, and who knows they are potentially right. But at some point they will break their own industry with people tuning out.

I like my games traditional. I like precision control only a controller or joypad give you. I don't like waggle, camera tracking or touch based control. It would put me off gaming if this next-gen turns around to completely screw the consumer to point that the whole thing collapses and everything goes "casual". You know, play a touch game for 10 minutes then it locks you out until tomorrow, unless you pay ?3 to top-up your goes.

The gaming industry landscape is pretty harsh right now. Will Sony and Microsoft (and Ninendo) finally kick it in the balls for good?

I can't wait for Microsofts unveil of their new system. I reckon it is going to change the face of gaming forever, and not in a positve way.

[stevie vip 99]

I'll pick up a new machine, not bothered with day one though.
I'm Xbox 360 now but will wait and see what's the best machine when they're released then make a decision.

[speedlolita]

Oculus Rift is the new Virtual Boy. Calling it now.

[Kit]

Is Oculus Rift the VR thing Carmack was playing around with at last years QC? think he was using Doom 3.

If it's cheap enough I'd love to give it ago! I envision lots of falling backwards off my chair!

[Rider_on_the_Storm]

Due to time & life, i've narrowed my gaming down to 2 platforms i.e. PC & Nintendo.

My collection of games consists of:

- 209 PC (184 on Steam/25 on GOG)
- 2 3DS
- 2 Wii U

I tend to play more as well.

[Baseley09]

PC is always next gen now.

If a proper Ridge Racer game is a ps4 launch though I will be there.

[dataDave]

I like my games traditional. I like precision control only a controller or joypad give you. I don't like waggle, camera tracking or touch based control.

Any pointing device is more precise than a joypad. This is why you'll never see professional players win huge sums of money at tournaments on a pad.

Sin & Punishment 2 flat-out smashes any preconceptions of "waggle" based control being inferior, and performs the exact opposite.

As much as I dislike touch-screen gaming it'd be totally ignorant to deny that playing Cave shmups with the interface is just vastly superior. Stuff literally becomes 50x easier. I like that because it means the devs need to push the systems in these games to the absolute limits keeping them sharp, making way for more godlike stuff on the screen.

[tokyochojin]

Gave up on modern gaming this gen (minus the odd game of Civ 5 PC) and cant see it changing. Not a huge fan of shooters and seeing as most games other than sports and driving sims seem to focus around this gameplay mechanic these days, I don't think I will miss much.

Since the collapse of the Japanese gaming industry and rise in the Western developers, gaming just doesn't seem so colorful and fun. Saying that, if Sony announce that an FF7 remake or Shenmue III then I would be there on day one!

[Rider_on_the_Storm]

I'll be buying and playing less $$$ games (triple dollar, i refuse to use AAA because most of the games under this term are certainly not AAA in my book).

$$$ games are 90% ****e, currently they are 95% ****e, that’s my problem with them. A lot of indie titles and self-funded games put a lot of the $$$ games to shame.

[BigDeadFreak]

As much as I dislike touch-screen gaming it'd be totally ignorant to deny that playing Cave shmups with the interface is just vastly superior. Stuff literally becomes 50x easier. I like that because it means the devs need to push the systems in these games to the absolute limits keeping them sharp, making way for more godlike stuff on the screen.

I'd never heard this before. I'm not disagreeing at all but I wonder how/why this is the case? Is this true when comparing touch screens to arcade controls?

[Rider_on_the_Storm]

Since the collapse of the Japanese gaming industry and rise in the Western developers, gaming just doesn't seem so colorful and fun.

Personally, i'm glad western developers have risen and dominated this gen (and probably next gen too). I could never go back to importing most of my games, shoddy 50Hz ports, games being delayed for months, if not years or never reaching the west at all. Plus hardware took an age to reach these shores.

The west has never had it better than we do now and may it continue for decades to come. I certainly don't miss the Japanese domination it once had over the industry one bit.