Thoughts on current gaming console generation, and Nintendo's NX?

[yookwh]

There are multiple rumors that Microsoft will release a mini Xbox One, an iteration of the Xbox One that will act as a "streaming box" with the ability of playing Xbox games, and a much more beefy Xbox One to release next year. Then there are rumors that Sony will release the PS4 Neo later this year, which will have capabilities of streaming 4K and upscaling games are supported to 4K. And finally Nintendo is planning to release the Nintendo NX next year on March.

So what are your guys' thoughts on the current console generation (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U)? On Microsoft and Sony releasing beefier iterations of their current consoles? And on Nintendo's NX, even though it has yet to release any definitive statements on the console's function?

[pwade3]

I worry for Nintendo's future, not immediately, but long term.

The fact that I have reason to worry makes me sad, because I love Nintendo.

That's pretty much my current feelings towards consoles.

[yookwh]

I worry for its immediate future as well... Having only Zelda (Whatever it's full title is called) displayed at E3? I'm not one to fully spoil myself, and even watch just one movie trailer before I know too much, so I'll definitely just watch 10-15 minutes of the footage at E3. It's sad when you look back at the earlier consoles and seeing just how engrossing the games were.

I will most definitely go en route of PC instead of either PS4 or Xbox One, but will always have that savings account for the killer console that I hope Nintendo releases 

[iLLucionist]

I've hesitated long before buying my PS4. I finally bough the PS4 compared to Nintendo or X1 because it's a dedicated gaming console and the most powerful compared to the other ones. I'm already looking forward to the PS4.5.

[yookwh]

Same here. Was frustrated when the news of the PS4.5 release came out a week after my purchase. Thankfully I was able to sell it for a 5% loss, but with games like Uncharted 4, I sometimes wished I kept it

[LiquidEvilGaming]

THoughts on current consoles and NX?

PS4: Best of the worst?  Has better exclusives than XBox one does and slightly better visuals/performance but it's still a VERY underpowered potato compared to where 360 and ps3 were spec wise at their launches.  Pay to play online? lol...no

Xbox1: ........Yikes, minimal exclusives the ones they have been released most are also available on PC and are mediocre at best.  Even MORE underpowered than the PS4 to the point most multiplats lag behind a good bit. And again pay to play online? lol no.

Wii-U IMO had the best exclusives of the bunch but once again Nintendo just HAD to focus on a gimmick rather than just a powerful box with third party support and Nintendos own games.  Outside of nintendos titles support for the console has been a joke and the sooner it dies the better.

NX:  Nintendo only needs to do simple stuff to succeed here.

1. Make a powerful Box NO bull**** gimmicks and get Third party SUPPORT, without this they will FAIL and the NX will be Wii-U #2.
2. Heavy hitting launch titles to gather immediate interest
3. Back to make a more powerful box...they can NOT come out mid generation with a POS for hardware again...they simply can not. 

Nintendo may have lots of cash banked but seeing as how they are not as diversified a company as Microsoft if they keep failing eventually they will disappear.  And that would make me sad as a PC gamer as they have more to offer from a pure games perspective than Sony or Microsoft by a long shot IMO.

And yes before anyone asks i have owned all THREE (Look at my channel video history) and several games for each..so when i say i think they suck i say so from lots of personal experience..


This generation has been woefully disappointing and the first time in history i sold ALL my consoles and went 100% PURE PC gaming....and i'm very glad i did as all of the current consoles really plainly..suck.



Other than that i have no strong feelings on the matter

Far as the whole "upgraded model" Nonsense...it's the LAST advantage consoles really have is buy a cheap box...said box lasts 5-7 years without having to worry about upgrades...done.

If you have to start worrying about upgrades just buy a damn PC.

[pwade3]

NX:  Nintendo only needs to do simple stuff to succeed here.

1. Make a powerful Box NO bull**** gimmicks and get Third party SUPPORT, without this they will FAIL and the NX will be Wii-U #2.
2. Heavy hitting launch titles to gather immediate interest
3. Back to make a more powerful box...they can NOT come out mid generation with a POS for hardware again...they simply can not. 

The worst part is, all the indicators are pointing at the fact that this is exactly what nintendo isn't going to do.

[KRKS]

I have zero interest in current gen home consoles, but I like the portables. Sure, I don't have the money for either of them, but I'd like to buy both if I could.

Vita would be an obvious buy because of the game selection. From visual novels and general weeb stuff, through RPG's to rhythm games. Sure, I get that it's not what many people look for, but it's right up my alley. And it's region-free so importing is always an option. The big downside though is the awful state of homebrew - my PSP serves as an emulation box and a reading device roughly as often as it plays actual PSP games. One can only hope that an actual legit homebrew scene will pop up from whatever exploit the fin dongle thingy team is using, because it certainly won't happen with the current group I refuse to call "the scene" and their limitations.

On the Nintendo side, from my brief experience with the 2DS it may be the first DS I won't get hand cramps from using, so that's a big plus. I don't care about 3D. However the game library doesn't seem as nice as the DS and GBA ones, and the later is taken care of by aforementioned PSP. Also there's no first-party support in Poland because Nintendo is still butthurt about Pegasus(famiclone which was the most popular console here until PS2). That means higher prices, less avilability, less support and so on. However, despite the lacking first-hand market, the second-hand one is way bigger than the Vita's(but you have to be careful since people import from various places, and 3DS is region-locked unless you mod it). Also, because the homebrew scene isn't run by blistering idiots, I could actually use it for emulation and reading on the go, just like I do with my PSP right now. And that's why if I can only afford one I'll probably get the 2DS, even though I like the Vita a bit more.

As for the NX, I have a feeling they'll go full streaming-device with it, kinda like Geforce Now. Don't know why, but I just do.

[yookwh]

I forgot to mention the handhelds. The games are pretty good, but what I absolutely despise of Nintendo right now is how it handles virtual console games... Having games on either the Wii U or the 3ds and never both... No discounts when you purchase a game more than once... It frustrates me because if Nintendo could have released a Netflix-like service where you pay x amount of dollars per month and have access to all of its virtual games on either 3ds or Wii U, that would've been great (Or at least put in a discount to where if you already purchased the game on the 3ds or Wii U, you can get it again on the other machine for half or more off)

[tp4tissue]

I think, when Console reach 980ti graphics,   that is the point where people will quit computer gaming..

You really don't need much more power than that for 1080p..

4k Gaming is far away even for modern PCs..

[LiquidEvilGaming]

I think, when Console reach 980ti graphics,   that is the point where people will quit computer gaming..

You really don't need much more power than that for 1080p..

4k Gaming is far away even for modern PCs..

Let me play devils advocate for a moment and let us enter a universe where consoles were on equal hardware footing with high end PC's upon release.  People still would not quit PC gaming because...

1. Far more Games and exclusive games on PC.
2. EVen if/when consoles even match high end PC's, PC's evolve and can be upgraded so one new GPU release later and the PC is already leaps ahead again
3. 1080P won't be mainstream forever,4k may be awhile away 1440P is not.
4. PC has numerous other advantages over potato boxes besides just power...just a small handful of which being..
A. EMulators
B. Backwards compatibility
C. Not having to pay to play online
D. Entire genres consoles don't have at all or barely have with only a few games of RTS,MOBA's,MMORPG's,Flight sims etc
E. Not having to use a controller which is very imprecise in games like FPS,but having the freedom to use everything on PC.
F. When 1440P pushes over 1080P as the#1 resolution chances are consoles will be where they are now Framerate wise IE many games running at 30 FPS some dipping below that.
G. Multi monitor setups
H. Cheaper costs of ownership over time due to cheaper games,free online play
I. Mods
J. Much longer warranties on a self built PC than a measly one year on a console.  My shortest warrantied part inside my PC is 3 years
K. Higher FOV
L. I won't void my warranties by opening up and cleaning my PC like i will with a console
M. Much stronger Indie game scene on PC leading to many more game experiences consoles will never see


These are just a small handful of reasons even IF consoles released with the power of a GTX 980 PC's still have many many other advantages over consoles as a whole i could very likely and easily list a reason for every letter of the alphabet but it's 4 AM here

PC gaming isn't thriving due to being more powerful as most of the mainstream PC gamers aren't running super high end hardware the most popular selling cards are usually Middle tier and most people are running hardware 2-3-4 years or older.  It's thriving because of it's inherent numerous other advantages over consoles.

[yookwh]

I think, when Console reach 980ti graphics,   that is the point where people will quit computer gaming..

You really don't need much more power than that for 1080p..

4k Gaming is far away even for modern PCs..

I can definitely see that being true for most people. Even now people are fine with 720p ( )

However, I don't think we'll see that in a few years, if at all if console gaming still will exist. The costs would be too high to incorporate a GPU like the 980ti, and by the time the price has gone down, who knows, 1440p or 4k for gaming may be the norm.

[yookwh]

I think, when Console reach 980ti graphics,   that is the point where people will quit computer gaming..

You really don't need much more power than that for 1080p..

4k Gaming is far away even for modern PCs..

Let me play devils advocate for a moment and let us enter a universe where consoles were on equal hardware footing with high end PC's upon release.  People still would not quit PC gaming because...

1. Far more Games and exclusive games on PC.
2. EVen if/when consoles even match high end PC's, PC's evolve and can be upgraded so one new GPU release later and the PC is already leaps ahead again
3. 1080P won't be mainstream forever,4k may be awhile away 1440P is not.
4. PC has numerous other advantages over potato boxes besides just power...just a small handful of which being..
A. EMulators
B. Backwards compatibility
C. Not having to pay to play online
D. Entire genres consoles don't have at all or barely have with only a few games of RTS,MOBA's,MMORPG's,Flight sims etc
E. Not having to use a controller which is very imprecise in games like FPS,but having the freedom to use everything on PC.
F. When 1440P pushes over 1080P as the#1 resolution chances are consoles will be where they are now Framerate wise IE many games running at 30 FPS some dipping below that.
G. Multi monitor setups
H. Cheaper costs of ownership over time due to cheaper games,free online play
I. Mods
J. Much longer warranties on a self built PC than a measly one year on a console.  My shortest warrantied part inside my PC is 3 years
K. Higher FOV
L. I won't void my warranties by opening up and cleaning my PC like i will with a console
M. Much stronger Indie game scene on PC leading to many more game experiences consoles will never see


These are just a small handful of reasons even IF consoles released with the power of a GTX 980 PC's still have many many other advantages over consoles as a whole i could very likely and easily list a reason for every letter of the alphabet but it's 4 AM here

PC gaming isn't thriving due to being more powerful as most of the mainstream PC gamers aren't running super high end hardware the most popular selling cards are usually Middle tier and most people are running hardware 2-3-4 years or older.  It's thriving because of it's inherent numerous other advantages over consoles.

Totally agree. After seeing the many positives associated with PC gaming, my mindset has changed from "Getting a console first and maybe a PC" to "PC first and deciding which console." Seeing that Nintendo will probably never release any of its games for PC, I can see why the PC + Nintendo console has been a popular choice.

[GenKaan]

I think that with the Microsoft's move to "Play Anywhere" (buy Xbone game, get PC version free) opens up the market, making PC even more dominate. The interest in console to me was always the exclusive titles (Tekken/Zelda), but now that more and more exclusive titles comes to PC the only console I have any interest in is the one Nintendo puts out

It is worrying however that PC gamers have to lower their standards to console hardware. Because lets face it, every formerly exclusive game will still be optimized and design with the console in mind. What ever port that comes out will most likely be, like most ports, lackluster and have forced limitations on it. Something that could be a blessing in disguise since I REALLY love the HD versions for retro games (Mega Man collection, Ducktales, Castle Of Illusion), but making the future look more and more grim

Unless its super easy to get your indie game on Xbox/Playstation store, something I highly doubt, console gamers will miss a lot of quality stuff. At least initially until MS/Sony see enough profit for them to release the games. Think indie games right now are the most interesting because all the AAA dev's care about is their current stock of IP and releasing half assed sequels, banking on the fact they have fans they did not burn (bad enough) last version. Just look at any title and its easy to see a pattern. Unplayable on release day, delayed patches that fix game breaking bugs / flaws, final version more like a beta than a full game, lackluster game play with DLC's on day1, removal of numbers in titles (Doom Im looking at you) to avoid looking like bad when two versions of the same game is out (COD Im looking you), market their games as a competitive multiplayer game and add arbitrary / unnecessary level system to hide depth (Division Im looking at you) or only focus on the competitive market and ignoring all the things that made previous games good (Street Fighter Im looking at you)

Guess in the end either indie game will take over since they actually listen to their fans and fix their games. Something I welcome as a PC gamer

[noisyturtle]

The NX is not what you think it is.

[SBJ]

I think, when Console reach 980ti graphics,   that is the point where people will quit computer gaming..

You really don't need much more power than that for 1080p..

4k Gaming is far away even for modern PCs..

Let me play devils advocate for a moment and let us enter a universe where consoles were on equal hardware footing with high end PC's upon release.  People still would not quit PC gaming because...

1. Far more Games and exclusive games on PC.
2. EVen if/when consoles even match high end PC's, PC's evolve and can be upgraded so one new GPU release later and the PC is already leaps ahead again
3. 1080P won't be mainstream forever,4k may be awhile away 1440P is not.
4. PC has numerous other advantages over potato boxes besides just power...just a small handful of which being..
A. EMulators
B. Backwards compatibility
C. Not having to pay to play online
D. Entire genres consoles don't have at all or barely have with only a few games of RTS,MOBA's,MMORPG's,Flight sims etc
E. Not having to use a controller which is very imprecise in games like FPS,but having the freedom to use everything on PC.
F. When 1440P pushes over 1080P as the#1 resolution chances are consoles will be where they are now Framerate wise IE many games running at 30 FPS some dipping below that.
G. Multi monitor setups
H. Cheaper costs of ownership over time due to cheaper games,free online play
I. Mods
J. Much longer warranties on a self built PC than a measly one year on a console.  My shortest warrantied part inside my PC is 3 years
K. Higher FOV
L. I won't void my warranties by opening up and cleaning my PC like i will with a console
M. Much stronger Indie game scene on PC leading to many more game experiences consoles will never see


These are just a small handful of reasons even IF consoles released with the power of a GTX 980 PC's still have many many other advantages over consoles as a whole i could very likely and easily list a reason for every letter of the alphabet but it's 4 AM here

PC gaming isn't thriving due to being more powerful as most of the mainstream PC gamers aren't running super high end hardware the most popular selling cards are usually Middle tier and most people are running hardware 2-3-4 years or older.  It's thriving because of it's inherent numerous other advantages over consoles.

I went away from the pc to console for a while because I couldn't pay for a satisfying gaming pc. I enjoy both.
But I always come back to the PC, it's just better in my opinion. It can do what consoles can and so, so much more it's not even really comparable to me.

[noisyturtle]

To be fair, Dark Souls 3 is far better optimized to run on PS4 architecture than PC. Runs much smoother on the Playstation, even next to high-end systems.

Most games it's the other way around though, but it's mattering less and less. And now with the Neo and Scorpio every major platform (Sony, Microsoft, PC) is supposed to be integrating cross-platform functionality in future titles which is pretty exciting... ya know, for the last generation of consoles you need to find things to get excited about.

[LiquidEvilGaming]

To be fair, Dark Souls 3 is far better optimized to run on PS4 architecture than PC. Runs much smoother on the Playstation, even next to high-end systems.

Most games it's the other way around though, but it's mattering less and less. And now with the Neo and Scorpio every major platform (Sony, Microsoft, PC) is supposed to be integrating cross-platform functionality in future titles which is pretty exciting... ya know, for the last generation of consoles you need to find things to get excited about.

Honestly Dark Souls 3 isn't really difficult to max at 1080P

  (older i7+ 970 60 FPS max)

  i5/960 (Yes a 960) 45-60 Max settings

PS4 is capped at 30 and doesn't look as nice. (Though it does a damn fine job for the limited specs it has)

SO what's smoother about it?  The 30FPS?  The slightly lower tier visuals?...no...and optimized for PS4 architecture?  The consoles are more or less running PC hardware this generation, it's just optimized for those specific specs.  But even then "optimized" results in 30 FPS with stuttering which makes it seems like the game is running in mud.  Where as with a fairly Mid range PC (older i5+ 960) the game can be played as much better frame rates.


In their direct PC to PS4 comparison Digital Foundry even commented how hard it was to go back to the PS4 version because of how stuttery it felt after playing it smoothly on PC.

[noisyturtle]

All I know is I have multiple systems I play DS3 on PC and I always get occasional framerate drops and texture popping. Not a setting or network issue. The PS4 version may run at a lower framerate, but it has done so flawlessly.
I've seen people throw numbers around, but I can only go based off my own and others I work with's experience. Unless it's something that was patched in the last two weeks.

[LiquidEvilGaming]

All I know is I have multiple systems I play DS3 on PC and I always get occasional framerate drops and texture popping. Not a setting or network issue. The PS4 version may run at a lower framerate, but it has done so flawlessly.
I've seen people throw numbers around, but I can only go based off my own and others I work with's experience. Unless it's something that was patched in the last two weeks.

Sounds like an issue isolated to your system,driver,version,throttling obviously unsure without specifics but i have never heard anyone use DS3 and PS4 in the same sentence while comparing to PC even with Mid range specs.  Hopefully you can get it sorted as the difference between the PS4 and PC version is really massive with the Frame Rate difference.


P.S What are your PC specs btw?

[noisyturtle]

All I know is I have multiple systems I play DS3 on PC and I always get occasional framerate drops and texture popping. Not a setting or network issue. The PS4 version may run at a lower framerate, but it has done so flawlessly.
I've seen people throw numbers around, but I can only go based off my own and others I work with's experience. Unless it's something that was patched in the last two weeks.

Sounds like an issue isolated to your system,driver,version,throttling obviously unsure without specifics but i have never heard anyone use DS3 and PS4 in the same sentence while comparing to PC even with Mid range specs.  Hopefully you can get it sorted as the difference between the PS4 and PC version is really massive with the Frame Rate difference.


P.S What are your PC specs btw?

The systems I've played it on is a i5  w/ gtx 970 - an Asus laptop with an i7 w/ 980m - and an Alienware  i7 5820 w/ quad Titan Zs

on three very different networks and also with online turned off. I assure you the issues waeren't on my end.

[LiquidEvilGaming]

All I know is I have multiple systems I play DS3 on PC and I always get occasional framerate drops and texture popping. Not a setting or network issue. The PS4 version may run at a lower framerate, but it has done so flawlessly.
I've seen people throw numbers around, but I can only go based off my own and others I work with's experience. Unless it's something that was patched in the last two weeks.

Sounds like an issue isolated to your system,driver,version,throttling obviously unsure without specifics but i have never heard anyone use DS3 and PS4 in the same sentence while comparing to PC even with Mid range specs.  Hopefully you can get it sorted as the difference between the PS4 and PC version is really massive with the Frame Rate difference.


P.S What are your PC specs btw?

The systems I've played it on is a i5  w/ gtx 970 - an Asus laptop with an i7 w/ 980m - and an Alienware  i7 5820 w/ quad Titan Zs

on three very different networks and also with online turned off. I assure you the issues waeren't on my end.

I'm really at a loss then since you are the first person i have heard this from....and in addition Digital foundry's own independent research video has shown the PS4 version to run stuttery at 30 FPS and the PC version much smoother on even semi capable hardware

In addition the ps4 versions performance was so poor in later areas it required a patch to make it at least playable 

So i'm not even sure what to say really never really seen any source independent/professional or otherwise conclude anything like this.


Bad luck?  Not sure what else to equate it to.


And that's not to say there are not games with bad PC versions (Batman i'm looking at you) but this is one known to run particularly poor on the consoles and better on PC.

[yookwh]

Thought I'd bump this thread since there's been a lot of updates... A slimmer Xbox and a more powerful one this holiday, Zelda's BotW this E3, and talks from Nintendo of researching into virtual reality.

For my opinion on each:

I think it's now clear that both Sony and Microsoft are investing themselves into the console market's trend of releasing more powerful iterations of the same consoles more often. I suppose the Xbox slim is the answer to a common complaint of the current one being too bulky and heavy? In my opinion, current deals on this console that you can buy from sites either new or refurbished don't justify to me paying full price for the slim.

As for Zelda, it looked fantastic. My complaint is how it was handled at the Treehouse event. I never watched these events before, but since Nintendo decided to entirely dedicate its E3 space to it, I saw just how awful and awkward the commenters were. I'm hoping Nintendo can drastically improve in this area, since its prerecorded videos are always great.

As for VR and Nintendo, I pray to God that the company does not invest too much into VR as either an add-on for the NX, or a console itself entirely. In my opinion, the way to go is to push games for Oculus and/or Vive, or put a Google Cardboard-like system, where it takes little to make.

[noisyturtle]

The Slim is a superfluous business misstep imo. A niche appeal for a specific audience that is incredibly small.

I know 1 person with a 4k television, and he's my bosses boss. Even the people working on 4k tech don't seem to care about 4k )

The Slim only does 4k playback anyway via 4k UHDVDs, doesn't even steam 4k or play games in 4k. It's smaller and plays different DVDs and has a ****tier controller. That's it.

A completely unnecessary stopgap between the base X1 and the Scorpio.

[yookwh]

I think it's catching on more and more. Just a year or two ago, price for 4K monitors and TV's was ridiculous. At least now I can get a very capable 4K monitor for around $500-600, and TV for under $1000. But yeah, the slim model just seems so strange... Who is it aimed for exactly?

Will people who have the Xbox one already get it? No.
Will people who don't have the Xbox one get one? Well, it depends - do they want more power? Then no, they'll wait for Scorpio. Do they want one now? Well, that breaks down even further of whether they want a cheaper model, a model that has 4k output for media, or a smaller model.

My point is is that the designated target audience for this is very limited, and it would've made much more sense to release it earlier, rather than now, when the much more powerful console will release within a few months.

[Vadisi]

I don't care about modern consoles because:
1.They are holding the industry back
2.Controllers suck, they have no precision
3.I can play pretty much any Nintendo game using an emulator
4.All the xbone exclusives are coming to the PC now anyway

[nugglets]

It's finally worth it to have a PS4... Final Fantasy XV, Horizon: Zero Dawn, FF7 remake and Gran Turismo Sport coming within the year.

But the only other exclusives worth playing to this point were Bloodborne and Uncharted 4 =/ I mean, Infamous was fun for a short time... The Order: 1886 was OK. That's pretty sad for the first 2.5 years.