Features Of The Next Gen
While we are just over half way through this current console generation, curiosity, rumors, and speculation on the next generation of consoles has been far from dormant. The Wii HD has all but been announced, the PlayStation 4 has been mentioned several times by various Sony employees, even if only speculatively, and the Xbox 720 is probably going to be announced the next year or two.
While these future consoles are still in development, there several features and functions that we should be able to expect from all of them.
#1 Real Custom Soundtracks
While all of the current generation consoles have custom soundtrack abilities to some extent, the implementation is extremely lazy. Using the same amount of effort as to play “custom music”, players could simply turn the music volume off in a game’s options, and listen to their iPods while playing.
The problem is that the music isn’t dynamic at all. A consequence of this is that players have to go out of their way to adjust certain settings, for example it’s difficult to balance music and dialogue in any given game, and players often have to go out of stop the game so that they can pause music during cut scenes and other important game instances.
All of the next generation consoles should remedy this with advanced custom soundtracks. What this means is that each game should have it’s own settings category where players can select tracks for specific situations. For example, the players can select “track 15″ for ambient music, and “track 9″ as their chase music. Then the game will know that there is a chase, and when the chase is over to return to “track 15″. Or, better yet, the advanced custom tracks could be built into the consoles themselves, which then automatically changes the song or it’s volume and have the game communicate the appropriate circumstances to activate them. Microsoft, and to some extent Sony, are in excellent positions to do this because they could easily modify the achievement/trophy technology to work as a soundtrack handling system. If a system can tell when you roll a car four times without landing, and then pop up an achievement notification on the screen, it can easily know that you’re in a fight and to switch songs.
#2 Free Online Play…. That works
Actually, this is something that should have been expected this generation. There’s no reason that people should have to pay to play online, right now the Xbox 360 is the only device that charges for online play. Circumstance allowed Microsoft to get away with it, but if there’s one thing that needs to be changed for the Xbox 720, aside from the pandemic of the red (rings of) death, it is free, completely free, online play. On the other side of things, players should also expect that online play will work. It’s no use having free online play if you’re getting what you pay for, friend codes should be treated as numeric gamertags, not confirmation codes, and online multiplayer should be encouraged more for third parties. Then it should work properly, unlike, for example, in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Online games shouldn’t be near unplayable.
#3 Competent Media Players
It isn’t too much to ask that the new consoles should be able to play virtually any and all media that console owners place into their consoles. Not in a DRM sense, that’s an unavoidable issue. Rather the list of formats supported for videos and songs should be extremely large. If someone edits a home video, then exports it under an incompatible video format, it’s a bit ridiculous that the system won’t play it. Right now Sony has the best support for video since essentially any movie you put into your PlayStation 3 will work. Only supporting the most popular formats on the console’s media player is unnecessary.
#4 Free, Effective Web Browsers
There’s also no reason that the next generation consoles shouldn’t have more or less fully functional web browsers. They don’t have to be advanced, but it’s completely possible for a working web browser to be built into the console. There’s also no reason to charge for this functionality. Now, this is a novelty and not a necessity, but if the consoles, today can do it, there’s little reason not to include browsers into the consoles of tomorrow.
#5 Complete Backwards Compatibility
If I pay $60 or so dollars on a game, it’s not fair that the game only works for five years. Sure, it isn’t too much work to plug in both my new and old console, but it’s an unnecessary waste of A/V jacks. Even if you had unlimited jacks available, what if the old console dies? New 360’s are hardly reliable as it is, and it isn’t a big setback to implement backwards compatibility into the software of the consoles. If the consoles do have backwards compatibility, it should also be done properly. It is unreasonable that Microsoft only supports popular original Xbox games. If nothing else, proper backwards compatibility should be included as a sign of good faith to customers.
#6 Motion Controls
At this point motion controls have gone from being Nintendo’s innovation, to Sony’s gimmick, and soon it will probably be Microsoft’s latest “discovery” and “advancement”, like Avatars. But more than this, I think it’s become expected. Much like rumble, motion control should be included in every next generation controller, preferably competent motion controls of Wii Motion Plus caliber. And if game developers exploit it and turn motion detecting into a cheap, gimmicky button replacement, at least, like rumble, there could be an option available to turn it off.
To be clear, the motion control support should be native to the standard controllers. No perhipherals, attachments, or any other extra equipment should be neccessary to use it. What would be the icing on the cake was if all the consoles supported IR sensors. Sure, fans can complain all they want about ripping off the Wii, but it would make playing shooters on the PS4 and Xbox 720 a lot easier.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Anyone notice PS3 has #2, #4, #5, and #6? Maybe not the best it could have but it has it. And by the way im not a fanboy. I have both PS3 and 360.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
So with the exception of maybe #1 and #3 you just described the PS3 my friend.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
@DDCGaming
Excuse me, but most PS3’s aren’t fully backwards compatible. Remember, Sony removed the emulation chip from the PS3 to make it cheaper, so it can no longer play PS2 games. And I’m not sure about you, but the last time I used the PS3 motion controls, that didn’t feel all that great. I know the Wii controller isn’t that precise either, but at least it’s more solid than the PS3’s gimic. As for #2, 360’s online is still much better than the PS3. Plus the PS3 is very annoying to use when you want to download and play demos (I don’t know if the new PS3 Home update helped it or not); the 360 is much better in this area. So I don’t think the PS3 could qualify fully for #2, #5, or #6.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
#1 would be cool. #2 Get over it. if you can’t afford 50 bucks your broke ass shouldn’t be gaming anyway. I prefer a network that works. #3 I agree. #4 I don’t need to browse on my game machine, go to your damn computer. #5 I agree with that. #6 Microsoft actually did motion sensing ten years ago(see link) but other than Nintendo’s implementation, it’s all just gimmicky. I pretty much like my controller the way it is.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1998/may98/devicepr.mspx
January 9th, 2009 at 2:29 am
[...] about is what exactly is the next generation going to look like. Digital Battle has put together a Features of the Next Gen list, running through what they think belongs on all the new [...]
January 9th, 2009 at 2:56 am
@Ernst
PS3s backwards compatibility could be fixed with a software update, it’s not entirely gone.
and how can you tell if motion controls are precise or not (wouldn’t that depend on the game you’re playing) I mean, I don’t own a PS3 or anything but I do know hardware and the PS3s accelerometer is actually better than the one’s in Wii Remotes.
Regarding downloading content, I’ve actually found the 360 to be more annoying, but really that’s all in your own experience (especially with the question of internet connection).
and regarding online being better, tacked on voice chat doesn’t make an online experience better, and don’t tell me that the 360s servers are better because you’re paying for them, because I haven’t noticed lag or even dropping playing online on a PS3.
@nco
Saying motion sensors are a gimmick is like saying joysticks are gimmicks (think of it this way, a motion sensor is another form of input, it’s like having a 3rd analog stick) and Microsoft having a motion controller ages ago doesn’t account for now (and having a motion sensor in your controller doesn’t mean every game will use it, it’s still an option for developers).
January 9th, 2009 at 8:47 am
@Hugh Isaacs II
“and regarding online being better, tacked on voice chat doesn’t make an online experience better…”
You are kidding me right? Do you actually believe the only differences with online is the group voice chat feature? If so, you might want to get familiar with what the competition offers before making that bold statement.
“…and don’t tell me that the 360s servers are better because you’re paying for them, because I haven’t noticed lag or even dropping playing online on a PS3.”
I don’t know about you, but I have terrible lag when playing Little Big Planet online with others. That seems to be a problem that others are having as well.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am
@Hugh Isaacs II
January 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Sorry about that, I accidentally hit enter after I typed in my uri…stupid stupid.
@Hugh Isaacs II
I hate the PS3, because the downloads don’t automatically start downloading in the background like on the 360, and when you want them to, you have to wait a while for it to load them into the background. And even after you’ve downloaded a game, you still have to wait a while for it to install. On the 360, there is no installation time, it just works!! So in my mind, from that, I think the PS3 sucks compared to the 360, just from the pov of downloading and playing demos. So this isn’t concerning the interface, it’s concerning the amount of time being wasted on the players part. I hate loading times, I HATE them!!! So that’s why I love the 360, because it doesn’t make me wait like the PS3 does. Of course maybe the new update fixed this, idk.
I don’t even have an XBox Live Gold Membership, so I’m not talking about the consoles advantages of being online from a gamers perspective. I haven’t bought a gold membership because I didn’t want to pay the $50, and I have lots of schoolwork todo; so the online would just get me distracted too much.
Do you really think voice chat is just a tacked on gimick? Microsoft has had chat features long before Sony. If anything, Sony’s is tacked on, just like their motion control.
January 9th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
@Hugh. Motion on anything but a Wii is a gimmick. Unless the others plan to go to a two piece controller, it will always be a gimmick. As far as when Microsoft used motion sensing, the fact that the author used quotes around discovery and advancement for something that Microsoft was ten years ago on is unfair. I don’t know about their claims for avatars, but they were clearly ahead of the other two on motion sensing controllers.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I think that the author meant that good online is about the features. I read it as connection stability (which is pretty bad for brawl). And I think that he is referingto how microsoft will pitch motion controls, and it will be the same way they pitched avatars. And he compared motions sesning to rumble, so the joystick analogy is pointless.
The one thing that sounds dumb is complaining about media playback. I think it’s fine.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
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