Next Gen Video Game Console War Roundtable Discussion

[Krokus]

Ok.

Sony Playstation 3

Microsoft Xbox 2

Nintendo's next console, that has been dubbed "N5" (since it is nintendo's 5th home console)


Who do you think will come out on top?


....my money is on Sony. What do you think?

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

PS3. While XBOX has had some exclusive titles that were good and I wished I could have played, so does the PS2. Overall however, I feel the PS2 and Sony in general has had a better selection and a wider variety of games then XBOX or Nintendo has.

But I get the feeling Nintendo will do something stealthy and unexpected. Just when you think its dead it comes back somehow either by a merger with another company or using some of the latest concepts in video game console engineering.

 

[Limeoutsider]

PS3 definitly

 

[Flatfoot]

Something I heard is that in the near future, Square-Enix is going to be exclusive to Nintendo, again. Don't know too much about the validity, except that it's coming from a friend of mine who is the biggest video game afficianado I know.

 

[Limeoutsider]

Of course, I havent played my game cube at all yet, so Im sticking with sony. Any games anyone looking foreward to?

 

[Krokus]

Metal Gear Solid 3 is high on my list, as is Final Fantasy 12 and Resident Evil Outbreak.

 

[kurchatovium]

Well I only have an Xbox, but Xbox rocks. So if I had to choose I would have to say Xbox2 is gonna be even better. 😀 😀

 

[qjakal]

Next gen games...

All 3 systems will enable the console players to interact with PC gamers and their worlds, although at lower option and resolution levels. Should be interesting seeing the evolution of MMO's when this integration begins in 2005. Sony is the most active company as far as pursuing that option, and of course XBox is the least, due to their propietary coding setup...

The game my company(Sojourn Development) is currently developing (Glympse) will have this console option built in, but we don't have the resources to code it right now. We'll be shopping that license to either Sony or NCSoft unless another player pops up with a great offer. Should be a lot of fun for all gamers eventually. The world we're creating can hold literally millions of players simultaneously with no sharding or tiles setup, so it will be "comfy" for all types of gamers.....

Q

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Maybe we're trying to do too much too quickly. What happens the day someone creates a console that does everything? After that, game systems will be all about graphics and sound, since the original limits of the frontier have been reached. Everything after a certain point will just be redundant and we'll probably end up just seeing slight improvements since other elements of making a superior gaming machine have been exhausted. It will be about just making the graphics a little or alot better. There are different levels at which things can be created, such as virtual, but isn't there a limit at some point? This is bound to get ridculous eventually.

Maybe we'll have some system that takes care of all your electronic needs. Its a game system, a printer, a scanner, a camera, an internet provider, a clock, a temperature reader, a phone, a fax machine, a cd player, a dvd player, a computer, etc. etc. etc.

Or what if this whole thing evolves from being a game or entertainment to being actual life and part of your life or your life revolves around it?

 

[Krokus]

Yea, future technology is definetly gonna be exciting, I can't wait to see PS3....

 

[qjakal]

Maybe we're trying to do too much too quickly. What happens the day someone creates a console that does everything? After that, game systems will be all about graphics and sound, since the original limits of the frontier have been reached.

Not really. The mechanics in the MMO's are incredibly complex and will continue to evolve. For instance, the current method of becoming more skillful or increasing your abilities in a game consist of "leveling up" in a treadmill fashion, which usually involves repetitive tasks or killings of monsters until you suddenly achieve a new level that endows you with more [fill in the blank]....

Is this realistic? Nah...I can go out and go to the mailbox a hundred times a day and not achieve any special abilities. Step on thousands of ants and not become more skillful as a result of it. Eventually you should have to gather resources/information and practice something to increase your skill level in a realistic world. You can apply this to nearly all situations currently existing in games, both PC and console. The evolution of skills system and AI alone will be fascinating to watch over the next few decades.

We've achieved a planet roughly the size of Mars that exists in virtual space...not a tiled shard that repeats and rewrites itself. The entire file for the world is a bit under 300Kb...which means it can be patched faster than you can notice. We can hang a moon and you wouldn't even need to reboot to see it among hundreds of other effects that can now be explored. We did this by utilizing technology that had never been applied to gaming previously from the "scientific" sector. I'm sure there's tons of future improvements coming up...never fear, the gaming industry and it's players have LOTS to look forward to for a long time yet! I agree we've been in a bit of a slump the past 5 years or so, other than a title here or there, but as always, teams are working hard to be innovative. Breakthroughs take quite a long time and a big budget these days. We're coming up on 3 years and won't be released until Xmas 2004, so it will be nearly 4 before we've completed the project....

Console games are becoming intertwined with the PC sector, and I think it will be a helluva ride as each generation gets more powerful and interactive!

Q