What a line up we had with the seventh generation consoles. Everyone had something to offer (unlike last generation…bah). Nintendo showed us that gaming isn’t just about a seedy old man sitting on his lounge. Sony demonstrated that home consoles didn’t have to be second grade machines compared to computers, and Microsoft showed us that a killer line-up could do almost anything.

Sure all the consoles had their flaws, but nobody’s perfect. The new age of gaming had come, and it’s only a matter of time before they will mature. Predictions based on interviews and claims by analysts and company executives is what this article is about. Shedding a bit of light of what could be to come for the three major super powers of gaming – Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

Sony – The Playstation 4

Before we get started, let’s point out what the PS3 did wrong as a means of what Sony might be encouraged on improving upon next time. Unfortunately for many eager gamers, Sony’s PS3 was way over priced, sure, the PS3 blew everyone away with it’s incredible technology which was well ahead of time, but it certainly didn’t come cheap and that heavily impacted on sales.

If you asked me last year what the Playstation 4 would have contained, I would have claimed that Sony would turn their next console into the ultimate media centre. Let’s face it: when it came out the PS3 was by far the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market, and I would have guessed that they would try to make the PS4 something to compliment your HD TV. However, Sony have since released Blu-Ray players for as low as $300 Australian Dollars which blows that theory.

However, during the end of September, Japanese tech site and analysists PC Watch announced that the next Playstation would contain the same if not similar processor as the PS3 and would only add minimal technical advancements. Suggesting that Sony would focus more on innovation as Nintendo did with their Wii console while trying to price their console at something more understandable to people who aren’t wanting to sell their house in order to buy one. If you ask me, a cheaper and more innovative Playstation with the same manly power doesn’t sound bad.

Nintendo – The Wii HD / <Insert Suggestive Console Name Here>

In my opinion, Nintendo mastered their seventh generation console the Wii – well, almost. The motion controls were exciting and innovative, and the pricing was just sweet. But Nintendo by all means didn’t get everything right – certainly not. Sure the Wii was considerably more powerful than two Xbox’s, but that wasn’t enough this time around. Compared to it’s competitors the Wii felt like something from last generation.

Legendary Nintendo employee Miyamoto has spoken out about what he sees Nintendo’s next generation console will look like. Obviously, Nintendo’s next console has already been announced to be in Full HD. In addition to this, a report on What They Play claimed Nintendo are researching whether 128GB flash ‘hard disks’ are feasible, suggesting a bigger focus on digital distribution and mass downloading. Rumour has it Nintendo are planing on jumping into the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD battle backing their digital distribution system as a way to obtain games and possible even the ability to purchase other items such as movies. However this has yet to be confirmed and until then, will remain a rumour.

After the release of the Wii, a large scale survey was done asking people what they thought of Nintendo’s WiFi. The result was that people did not appreciate the friend code and didn’t think it was beneficial in child safety. Ashida, an artist who helped designing the Wii stated they are planning on giving the Wii HD a slick appearance in addition to future Nintendo consoles to come. Citing high quality surfaces.

What is known though, according to Nintendo is that the Wii HD development cycle will work on majorly beefing up the visuals and power of the console so it’s up to scratch with its next generation competitors, while keeping the Wii’s unique controls that made the Wii successful in the first place. An interesting move for a ‘casual’ gaming platform. However, if Nintendo can woo us with their amazing pricing as they did with the Wii, power mixed with casual gaming certainly wont be a problem.

Microsoft – The Xbox 720

Sure the Xbox 360 didn’t have any problems like being overpriced or underpowered but the console had its fair share of mistakes. In 2008 it was revealed the console was released early so it could have a head start over the PS3. It proved to work with sales scoring well for the first year. They were right, and sales slipped by 60% after the release of the PS3 with many hardcore games realising the PS3 was considerably more powerful, damaging the 360′s hardcore gamer badge. I will avoid talking about the mass hardware failures and 3-month warranty as it’s unrelated to the features of Microsoft’s next console.

Unlike Sony and Nintendo, the staff at Microsoft haven’t hinted to any specific features with different employees giving different stories. If you ask Shane Kim, President of Strategy and Business Development at Microsoft, he’ll tell you that Microsoft are exploring the idea of launching a digital system over the normal expensive piece of hardware. (Someone say Cloud Computing?). Microsoft have stated they intend to develop their own chipset for their next console in an attempt to lower the price of their next generation console.

Another Microsoft employee has stated that they’re aiming to make the next Xbox improve backwards compatibility, making Xbox 360 games run smoother, faster and look nicer. Sounds weird? Apparently they’re aiming to improve anti-aliasing and draw distances while making graphics sharper. I thought this was a given for new consoles. In addition to this, it is also speculated that the new Xbox will use interactive voice technology however this is currently a mere rumour.

One thing that is up in the air is what disc medium the new Xbox will use. The Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD competition has shown that Blu-Ray is the winning format. Newer Xbox’s have removed HD-DVD support and Microsoft has started backing off from the medium. If Microsoft decides to take a step back from the hardcore gamer approach, DVD’s may still be the adequate format in addition to a digital download service. However, if the new Xbox chooses to become a multimedia powerhouse, Microsoft will have to make the choice whether DVD support is enough or not. A decision which wont be taken lightly.

One thing’s for sure though, if the next Xbox is titled the Xbox 720 someone will need to go to jail for a very long time.

Conclusion

Nintendo have been relatively lucky with the Wii this generation, leaving Microsoft and Sony to battle out with hardcore gaming. The next generation could be considerably different though, with Nintendo wanting to beef up their console, while the other two still contemplating what direction they’re trying to aim for. If Sony keeps their current processor like PC Watch predicted, and they focus on innovation and Microsoft decides to focus on an improved processor as well as focusing more on a digital system, there’s no doubt we’ll have a straight out death match. But until these educated predictions can be confirmed, for now it will just have to remain as the Cold War of Gaming.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 1:44 am and is filed under Off-topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.