Console development is slowing gaming down. This counts the Wii U too, guys.
I guess I'm known as the "Nintendo Hater" in the forums I frequent (even though I don’t) so I'll express my worries with the Wii U.
I just worry that they're going to go the same route they did with the Wii ... "charge a shitload of money for old hardware because people will spend it" ... the original Wii's capabilities are running off moderately upgraded Gamecube hardware from years before. That's why they were making a killing off of each console that was sold instead of the traditional method of losing money on the console and making it back through the games.
I don't think the Wii U is going to be a slightly upgraded Wii by any means ... but from the looks of the specs so far it's only marginally more powerful than what's already been out for 5 years or more. Good money making strategy yeah, bad for gaming though as it doesn't let it evolve by leaps and bounds as far as technical presentation like it used to.
A multi-core IBM processor (probably a triple core) and a custom ATI Radeon HD that's more than likely going to be running off of the R700 chipset. The same chipset that's been in use by low end PCs and notebooks for quite a while now (though as I've always said, when you code a game for ONE specific piece of hardware you can get a hell of a lot out of it instead of having to code worry about different specs and hardware like on the PC).
And the thing isn't due out for another YEAR ... it's going to be even MORE out of date by then. Things COULD change by that time, and I hope the full official specs hit sometime soon. But I have a feeling it's just going to slow gaming down even more since developers mostly aren't concerned with developing for the immensely more powerful PC platform anymore where they can GET that "leaps and bounds" jump gaming REALLY needs right now.
Developers are mostly console-centric nowadays, and they’re going to be developing on hardware that isn’t much different than what’s already out there. They’ll of course be able to squeeze a bit more out of a more powerful console. But for the most part, gaming has slowed from a headlong run to more of a fast walk that stumbles every now and then.
Call of Duty has been running off of an identical engine for YEARS now, and doesn’t show any sign of evolving since they have no reason to make a DRASTIC change since people will buy it every year. They could easily STILL release that game in a slightly lowered down form for the Playstation 2. Those sports games you buy every year? Basically the same thing. Little upgrades here and there. Killzone 2 to Killzone 3 (my favorite game of this generation for multiplayer so far) … definitely a jump, but not that much. And those are just a few examples.
1981 to 1991 saw HUGE advancements thanks to the arcades and their immense capabilities compared to computers of the time and home consoles. 1991 to 2001 also saw MONSTROUS advancements both the arcade and home arena ... but mostly in the PC realm. 2001 to 2010 ... it started slowing down. At the start, if you REALLY wanted to seriously game you had a PC. Console development got more and more popular and the games just haven't shown all that much of an advancement (for the most part). Games nowadays just haven't made that huge jump like they used to. Oh, they look absolutely gorgeous, and there are quite a few standout titles. But nothing much different than what we’ve been playing for years. The only attempt at hardware innovation anymore are different types of control methods instead of focusing on the capabilities of the console itself.
I’m definitely not saying don’t go out and buy the Wii U if you’re interested in it, by all means go for it. Good games are good games. Nintendo has a long running history though, and this console doesn’t look like it’s going to be the jump gaming desperately needs. It’s shaping up to be more of a small leap. Keep buying your Call of Duty games, and let them make you buy needless upgrades for your PC because they refuse to optimize their games. So the PC guys who spent an armload of money on their new PCs to run this and that game that comes out for it nowadays, it’s because most of the developers out there are only optimizing their games to run on 5 and 6 year old (or more. How long was the gap between the showing off and release of the 360 and PS3?) hardware.
A typical gaming PC now has at LEAST 10x the power of any home console out. Yes, the games look and perform better … but do they look and perform THAT MUCH better? Think about that one.
Do you ever wonder what you may have missed in the previous generation of consoles?
I always wonder that … so I’ve been on a Playstation 2 kick lately. It WOULD be the Xbox … except mine isn’t so much an Xbox anymore so much as it is an emulation/homebrew machine. And add on to the fact that damn DVD tray won’t open anymore for some reason. Yeah yeah, I know that’s easily fixed but I’m just too lazy to do it. The damn thing is basically an underpowered PC in a big, ugly, heavy black box anyway. And the Gamecube … honestly those games are a bit harder to get than PS2 games in my area, so I’m also going to leave that out. I’m just speaking me personally here, but you can say the same thing about any of the previous generation systems really. Just with the Gamecube being a somewhat smaller one because not everything came out for that for some reason.
My time with the Playstation 3 thus far.
I bought a Playstation 3 about a week ago, and I’ve been playing the thing on and off since then. So I thought I’d throw in my two cents about it with a disclaimer right here. I don’t care about the third party stuff for it to be perfectly honest unless they’re exclusive to the console unless (in the few cases) they’re actually done better on it. Final Fantasy XIII would be one of those cases, but I don’t care that much about RPGs so I highly doubt I’ll ever bother with it, and nothing any of you can throw at me can change my mind on that. I just don’t really like RPGs. I also don’t like stealth games, so Metal Gear Solid 4 is out. And other than casual styled golf games, I don’t really care that much about sports games. Other than that, I’m pretty open.