Next Gen

So, Next Gen is rumoured to be announced at E3, as somebody who has always had all the consoles in a current generation I think i'm looking at going solo with one platform in the next gen, at least for games.

This gen has been a bit of a nightmare for me, buying some games on 360 & PS3 in order to play with friends on XBL & PSN.

With XBL & PSN being pretty much feature for feature equals now (cross game chat is on PSN now with the vita) I cant see an advantage in particular over choosing one over the other so I think for me my Next Gen purchase will be dictated by the platform that has the most system & video memory.

Launch games wont dictate where my money goes as they are invariably poor.

What will drive your choice?

I think for me my Next Gen purchase will be dictated by the platform that has the most system & video memory.

Not that as I suspect it shall be irrelevant with the next generation of consoles. Parity in specifications will almost certainly be achieved between Microsoft and Sony consoles. There is very little in it now. I will look at what 1st party exclusives are currently held from both. I will almost certainly end up with whatever MS and Sony produce though.

Perhaps the wider media integration shall also be a factor, such as will MS get a BD drive for the next console.

Games.

At the moment i really dont know, all this talk of having to have an internet connection puts me off (and if it turns out to be true i wont be buying anything) Also the whole second hand games rumour is off putting.

I will just have to wait and see. But to be honest its all about the games for me and the service, iv never had any problems with my 360 and love the services and especially the indie and XBLA games.

Something that would make me think about sonys next console would be a redisgned control pad. I just cant stand the current one.

But its far too early to make assumptions.

Games.

At the moment i really dont know, all this talk of having to have an internet connection puts me off (and if it turns out to be true i wont be buying anything) Also the whole second hand games rumour is off putting.

I will just have to wait and see. But to be honest its all about the games for me and the service, iv never had any problems with my 360 and love the services and especially the indie and XBLA games.

Something that would make me think about sonys next console would be a redisgned control pad. I just cant stand the current one.

But its far too early to make assumptions.

The controller. It's the thing you hold all the time.

For me, the Xbox wins hands down (excuse the pun). The Xbox pad is near perfect.

The PlayStation pad is a relic of 90s design ergonomics from a time when pads were really stick bricks of plastic. I might be swayed if they move the position of the anologue stick to the d-pad as it is with the Xbox, but if they don't, then I won't be buying it as my primary platform.

[Phlashman]

As Hallben said, spec wise the next Playstation and Xbox will be pretty much identical. Seeing which one has more memory or more processing cores is pretty silly, as it they'll both being running very similar software, PS3 and 360 games can be hard to tell apart, next generation it'll be almost impossible.

Software is where the big difference will be, not just games but in OS and apps, and on this front the Xbox should be far beyond whatever Sony does given Microsoft's push into the phone and tablet space porting apps using their software will be extremely easy, where as the PS4 will likely require a much steeper learn curve. Sure all the big apps will be there, iPlayer, Netflix etc. but new interesting stuff will likely pop up on the new Xbox first.

I'm not saying Sony's OS and internet offering for the next generation won't be good, but it's Microsoft turf, it always has been, much as Hardware has been Sony's.

So yeah, on the hardware front I suspect the PS4 will be slightly better made, but the next Xbox should be better made, after the RRoD with the 360. I've never liked the Playstation controller, so my preference is for the Xbox on that front too.

Games, again little difference, most of the biggest selling games are multi-platform. I still think MS hold the best exclusive in Halo, but I think Sony have more exclusives but of lesser pull.

The thing what really makes people pick a side is what they've had before and what their mates have. If you're invested in your achievement and gamerscore on either profile, that could sway you. If the next gen offer backward compatibility and you have a large collection, that could sway you.

For me, it'll be Xbox, unless MS really drop the ball.

Phlash, have you ever played any of the Uncharted games?

[Phlashman]

No I have not. I only use my PS3 as a Blu-ray/Netflix player.

I'm sure they're good, the point I was making was to the general public, Halo has a bigger draw.

Hmmm, I don't think so, not these days. Oh and, you should definitely play them

[ApocalypseCow]

With Sony making losses and laying off workers I'm not sure what the PS4 will be or when - Sony seem to be putting their future efforts into the mobile market

Wow, a bit shocked but I've liked reading people's opinions in this thread a lot, some excellent points raised so far.

On cow's point, I think Sony may hedge their bets on a hugely successful console thrusting them towards profitability again.

Given the huge R&D costs involved it really makes me wonder why Sony and MS don't build on their existing infrastructure though.

Update the GPU and quadtruple the VRAM and system ram and you have some seriously beefy games machines.

Even without touching the CPU's - why throw away existing architecture?

Hmmm, I don't think so, not these days. Oh and, you should definitely play them

You dont think Halo has a bigger draw than Uncharted? I love both franchises, but that sounds crazy.

Sales total across Uncharted franchise = 14.5 Million units Approx

Sales total across Halo franchise = 45 Million units Approx

Source VGChartz

Granted the Uncharted Franchise is 4 games and Halo is 7 but thats more than three times the amount.

[MoBiUGeArSkIn]

I'll be betting a Wii U for sure, but with regard to the TRUE "Next Gen"... Don't know. I'd say Xbox. But, to be honest, I don't think visuals are going to be enough. Wii U will have the games, doesn't need the graphical grunt. Microsoft and Sony will probably go for grunt. Nothing wrong with the whizz-bang but the current gen is doing that so...

[Phlashman]

Even without touching the CPU's - why throw away existing architecture?

It's interesting that given the Xboxes origins as a console made from off the shelf PC component MS hasn't done that. Switching to PowerPC for the 360 was quite a shocking move.

But games consoles have quite unique needs, and the pace of innovation by games makers is extremely high. IMO dropping any thought of backwards compatibility is the best way forward, but some people get bitchy about it. You buy a new console to play new games, if you want to play old games, don't sell your old console.

Unless MS and Sony are really stupid (which they're not), they would asked the opinion of the top devs (Epic, Crytek etc.) for input, and that's why both machines will be similar.

A massive RAM increase is a certainty, hopefully the next generation will be light on Loading screens.

Simple, go where the games are. For me right now, PlayStation has tons of exclusives and so many types of games I'm into like RPG and single player epics and Gran Turismo

However, I think Kinect will be amazing on the next xbox so that could swing it. I still say, don't worry about the platform just go where the games that you're into are. Only you can answer that, E3 is gonna be amazing this year

No I have not. I only use my PS3 as a Blu-ray/Netflix player.

I'm sure they're good, the point I was making was to the general public, Halo has a bigger draw.

You really need to play Uncharted man! It will blow you away

Also, judging from the Vita, I think SONYs next system will have a kickass front end. I wouldn't worry about PS4 having a bad front end, and as much as I can't wait to see Kinect on the next xbox, that will determine to some extend the direction of new xboxes front end...so this could be either amazing, or a big mess like the current xbox dash.