What is next-gen to you?

[LeonJ]

Playing through The Legend of Zelda:TPH on the DS it strikes me how a game on a machine with the lowest technical specs can have to the most clever and fresh interface I have played in a long while.

Now I've played a lot of games using the touch screen on the DS, and have come anyway mostly disappointed and it's feels tacked on. Much like the early Wii games. Zelda on the DS has been without doubt one of the most captivation experiences I have played in 5 years. While I have loved Wind Waker and Twilight Princess Zelda games, only this game since OoT has brought that 'Nintendo' feeling to my face. The most striking feature here is the intuitive interface and how it adds a totally new dimension to the way you think. It's almost like playing a genre for the first time, similar to playing Zelda on the NES or even Mario 64. The map and the ability to draw on it for one is an absolute genius is design. Now it might sound like a silly tacked on idea, I for one would have said before plainy; and I won't go into the details due to spoilers, but I was amazing at how the cleverness of the developers to exploit such a simple idea.

While I love my powerhouse 360 and PS3 for their awesome AV aspects ie Media Center/HDMI/Sound/HD graphics and all that jazz, all the games we are playing are not anything special bar heavily polished with great production values. You can say the same for PC gaming in some ways. But in a small way I'm rather disappointed with some aspects of the games getting pumped out. The 360 for one, which is a FPS gore fest and the PS3 for not having a great deal of quality software. While there is nothing wrong with all these games in general, it's rather sad to see such a focus on money then trying to create fun and unique games. I'll give credit to Sony for at least trying new idea with the Eye/Tilt, but I don't think they have the creative genises they need to fully implement these ideas.

I love what Nintendo are doing and they need to be thanked for their boldness to bring out a new interface for their portable gaming system and console; and secondly to be able to develop a new genre from it with their games. I know the next Sony and M$ consoles will include all aspects of the Wii, that we can be sure of.

In any case as I said before in another thread, playing through this game, and quiet honestly being shocked as I expected an ho-hum experience, it has greatly heighten my expectations for the DS and more so the Wii. Nintendo seem doing everything right, given it's happening slowly, and I cannot wait to see what killer software they will bring out on the Wii. While the Wii does suck to a degree atm (in terms of software offerings and the developers trying to cash in on the Wii Sports success), I do believe Nintendo in a year or two (perhaps Mario will be the start) will nail the interface with their AAA+ software. And with the current sales I would have to say Nintendo are a serious challenge for top spot despite their lack-luster hardware and approach to the HD generation.

Now this is not a pro-Nintendo rant (although I'm sure a few will think so), I'm merely pointing out that the next-gen we expect, with flash graphics and smarter AI may not be what we are truly after in this generation and in some ways, major studios have lost touch with gaming development.
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Shin J Leon.

XBL - LeonJ
PSN - LeonJ

[Puddingfork]

atm nothing is Next gen to me anymore it all feels current gen again (a few months ago before I got my elite I would have said PS3, Wii and 360 were next gen though) so maybe it could just be because I own a "next gen" console that makes it feel current gen. But now that I think even more I have had a Wii for over 9 months (well my brothers actually) but its not that I got much fun from that apart from RE4
But none the less great read there Leon +1
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[vlakas]

Yea i agree with both you guys, i too own a 'next gen' console but dont consider it next gen. I think its great what nintendo have done by testing the gaming industry and proving that something 'different' works. This is also proven by the great success of the DS.
What i consider next gen, well i think its pretty obvious that next gens will have improved graphics (maybe not considering nintendo), but im looking for somthing more, different and somthing unexpected.

[Gtpod]

Home console generations (excluding handhelds):
Last gen: Xbox, Gamecube, PS2
Current gen: Xbox 360, Wii, PS3
Next gen: Xbox 720, Wii^2, PS4

These are the facts, and they are indisputable. As far as I can see, people seem to be suffering from one or more of the following three problems:
1) 'I have one current gen console and I'm not happy with it, therefore I expect better next time.'
2) 'This generation's out, now I want the next one.'
3) 'The Wii/PS3/360 sucks now, therefore it always will.'

All three points are void, null and moot respectively.

Seriously though, the current generation is awesome; to want more than this is to not appreciate what's been offered already - the gameplay of Portal, the graphics of Oblivion, the online play of Halo 3. This generation's barely started and you're slating it for not offering technology that's in development? Give it a chance, PS3 and Wii haven't even been out for a year yet, and they're arguably the two that'll carry gaming onward to greatness.

Last gen lasted 5 years, give this one at least one before you start dissing it eh?
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[Sin Ogaris]

Next gen is the generation after the current one, there is nothing else to it. "Next gen" as a description for a style of game simply doesn't exist. Each new generation of gaming will always bring something different, what that is will come in time.

Besides, this conversation has been had before.

[?oe?oe]

Next Gen means the next iteration of consoles. They all win, yay!
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[Frozencry]

I've always considered emotional attachment to be the true next-gen for gaming. If a game can hit that level where it'll almost form a bond with you, then you're really playing something special. Hence my Fumito Ueda love and SotC.
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[Jim Dash]

No-one can deny the quality of Nintendo's 1st party titles. The majority of us PALGNers have grown up on/with them and will never forget them. As most would know I'm put off my 360 and only antiipate two titles in the lifetime of its future.

As a result, I really want a Wii again in anticipation of Galaxy and the rest of Nintendo's future 1st party titles. Yes, Phantom Hourglass has proven that what is considered next-gen is questionable. It also proves that Nintendo can still back out the quality titles. Think I'm not regretting selling my Wii now?

*shakes fist at DIU*

Yes, next-gen is the next iteration of consoles. But I'm not interested in the 'gimmicky' games the Wii offers. Only the 1st party titles. But personally, that's all I've really even been interested in with Nintendo.

As for the PS3, the potential is there. Next year will be massive - or at least I hope. My plan is to get a DS Lite and a Wii in the future to go with my pretty PS3.

[arbok]

For me when I bought the PS2 on launch day - next gen for me was playing arcade titles at home. (I missed the PSX N64 era). Playing Tekken Tag and Ridge Racer was fantastic... (bit disappointed in RRV but oh well)

The best things about the jump from Xbox to 360 and PS2 to PS3 have been

- wireless controllers standard at last
- downloadable games on arcade and PSN (I've bought 20 already)
- HD and Widescreen gaming
- downloadable demos to try before you buy for consoles at last.
- achievement points - im not an achievement whore by any means, but its still great to unlock points
- online gaming is getting better

Sure most of this has not been new for PC gamers but PC's don't have games like God of War, Gran Turismo and such. As for the Wii and DS, ive enjoyed quite a lot of DS time but the Wii is very much underused at the moment.
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With Thanks to Admeister for the Avatar and Sig!!
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[Windburn]

I think people really look into the definition of "next-gen" too much.
Consequently, you can ask 5 different people and get 5 different responses.

Personally, I think it just means the next iteration of consoles for each of the respective console producers, irrespective of what their individual goals and perspectives are. It galls me to no end when either Sony or MS representatives refute that the Wii is "next-gen", or when they promote their own devices as being "truly next-gen". It's all a whole lot of spin and fluff, where they're trying to associate, in our minds, "next-gen" with "processor power" or "disc format" essentially.

Current sales however, are really showing that notion up though. If Nintendo want to call the Wii their "next-gen" console, especially now that they've tripled their market value since the Wii release, I'd say they have the right to.

On the aside topic of what I would like to see in "future generations" of games; innovation, creativity and social/multiplayer interaction is chief amongst them. I feel too few games really grasp the emerging appeal behind these features- but we all know what it's like to pick up a game and be truly amazed.

Unfortunate that it's a rather scarce experience.
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[donovan515]

Quite honestly though out of all of this I still prefer the good old controller to say the Wii-mote.

Given the hard raw choice of Wii-mote or PS3/360 controller which do you prefer overall?

[Puddingfork]

I like the Wiimote option more, but I am still just as happy to play games on my 360
actually more happy because I have nothing to play on Wii
My one grief with the Wiimote is the lag when aiming at the screen, not good for FPS, and also the distance you can get from the TV imo needs to somehow be extended a bit
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[samiboi]

There's no practically no lag for me... Are you going through a TV tuner of some sort or something? Cause that's the only time I've ever had lag with the aiming...
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[ugh the boot]

Next gen for me basically is anything but Nintendo. Changing the way you control last gen games doesn't really do it for me. In other words Pong with Gamecube graphics and motion sensing controllers or pointing to a spot on the screen and having your character move there doesn't quality as next-gen imo.

So far my next gen experiences have been this:

Dead Rising for the amount of content, NPCs, enemies, weapons and items that can all interact with each other seamlessly. Like there are heaps of games where you can have heaps and heaps of enemies onscreen (Dynasty warriors etc) but i'd never seen a game where you could chuck vehicles and hundreds of different weapons into the mix and it still ran flawlessly, looked awesome and still provided a ton of variety all in real time.

Gears of War basically for it's amazing graphics....either online or off. Also the co-op main campaign was really well designed and ran flawlessly....again online or off.

Stranglehold for it's destructible environments. In all my years of gaming i'd never had to dodge a balcony, but Stranglehold changed all that.

Bioshock for it's atmosphere. I'm quite honestly happy with games that look and play like this for the rest of my life. This is the next-gen imo....a complete synery of all things gaming...controls, story, atmosphere, graphics, sound, AI, lighting, effects...you name it!

Also to all the people just posting 'next-gen in the next iteration of consoles' yea doh....we know this but what is it about a game that elevates it to a next gen experience to you? What in the game do you think couldnt've been done on the previous gen and how did this affect you? That's the question I think LeonJ is asking here. Also just because something is popular or selling well doesn't mean it's superior, it could be something as simple as poor people being now being able to afford it or accessibility for the less able, or even from a company's perspective it could be something as simple as economics/business....how can we spend less and make more.
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[Windburn]

[ugh the boot]

*groan* No it's definately you missing the point:

[Tristan]

To me next gen is really nothing but a great marketing term.

[Sin Ogaris]

Well, if it's going to be this topic again... I'd have to go with Portal. It has nothing to do with graphics at all, it's just the most amazing piece of gaming that unfortunately isn't long enough. I could continue playing that game throughout 100 levels and never get tired of it. See, "next gen" (God I hate using those words as a noun) needs to progress a genre for it to matter, Portal did this for puzzle games and did it without losing the puzzle aspects, or losing the emotional story driven aspect of newer games.

While I'd like to say emotional attachment. The thing is, I've had an emotional attachment to games 10 years ago, or five years ago. The first time I wandered through System Shock and heard Shodan taunting me from her mechanical exterior was astounding, probably why I'd never put Bioshock as "next gen" because it's all been done before only without the normal mapping. Playing through Planespace: Torment and having to choose between telling a fried the truth about why we know one another at the risk of him departing. Or worse yet, having to kill myself in order to progress.

While the Wii's pointer is exciting in its potential it has yet to prove itself (at least to me) especially after playing a game like Die By The Sword which gave us 1 to 1 sword fighting years ago, using a mouse. It's clearly possible, so why the Hell hasn't it been done on the Wii yet? Laziness I'd say, and in my opinion laziness does not constitute a jump in gaming.

As for graphics, in my opinion they can't mean "next gen" because they're a given (at least used to be) graphics are expected to progress so you can't really get amazed when they do. It's meant to happen. It's everything else that makes up the game that can constitute a truly stellar gaming experience, one which you've never experienced before.

But after all is said and done, I'm a PC gamer, so really to me next gen is a lame word console gamers throw around when they get all excited for their next console to offer the "next big thing" and then continue to throw it around when they realise they got duped.

[LeonJ]

[ugh the boot]

It's different for everyone and there's nothing wrong with that, infact it's good....that way devs can actually try and perfect all genres/styles.

I think Portal is a great example and Mario Galaxy will be Nintendo's foray into the next gen imo.
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[Windburn]

[the doag]

I find myself continually using the term "next-gen" with the current generation of gaming systems. As has previously been mentioned, it is a very clever marketing term and one which has been associated with the 360, PS3 and Wii in all forms of the press.

Personally, i consider next-gen to be technical improvements from the last-generation of gaming systems. So far i see Heavenly Sword as the new God of war, NBA Street Homecourt as the technically superior NBA Street V3, Virtua tennis 3 as the new Virtua tennis, so on and so forth. Coming up there are some massive titles that will be improvements, graphically and hopefully technically over their predecessors. ( RE5, ratchet, GT5, GTA4 e.t.c.). Improvements however, are not to be mistaken for a better overall product For me storytelling, character development and immersive atmospheres are far more important aspects of gaming.
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[phenomenon9999]

I don't know where most of you stand but "next gen" just refers to the next iteration of a console that will replace the older ones. Most "next gen" is mostly hardware. Not the experience really. I mean, it is all hardware and not software this reference is making it to.

Look, this gen has brought us to HD graphics, opened an opportunity to play in a "different" form (as a standard than a niche) rather than always using the standard controller, 7.1 audio which has yet to take off, different storage mediums like Blu-ray and hard drives, cordless as standard, move towards a new genre domination (FPS days are soon over to be replaced by casual micro games crap)

And to LeonJ, this "next gen" experience you talk about, I truly think you have been corrupted by all the talks of the hardware and technical aspects of the machine and also the hype and brainwashing with the term "innovation". Because really, what you just really stated in saying you got a really good experience is only because you probably haven't played a quality game in ages. Not to bag out the rest of the games you play but it is likely from all the generic shooters or crap that has come out in recent times.

What in the game do you think couldnt've been done on the previous gen and how did this affect you? That's the question I think LeonJ is asking here.
Everything has been done already. Like I said, software hasn't changed but only the hardware has... hence why it is called next gen and the replacement and succeeder of the previous version or so.

Argh.. i lost my point. What i really wanted to say is that games are the same and it really just comes down to actually playing a really good game.
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[döppelgangbang]

The Next Gen experience is when we play something that could not have been done on the last generation of consoles. When a consoles assets come together and its interface (the way we relate to the game through our [motion sensitive]controller or camera or touchscreen and the way the game relates to us through the [HD]screen, speakers and peripherals) creates a homogonous product that exceeds the sum of its parts. I think phenomenon9999 that its more than just a good game: Zelda's interface is a joy to experience as it unfurls.

[Aftershock]