October 2, 2012 at 18:44Next-generation gaming consoles: what can we expect from them?
Note: All specifications and other information about next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft are unofficial information, as these companies have not yet announced their devices, and consist of leaks and guesses.
About 7 years have passed since the launch of the first current-gen (then still next-gen) gaming platform Microsoft Xbox 360, and by 2012 this generation still dominates the global gaming market. Indeed, why shouldn’t he dominate if the successors haven’t even come out, or even been announced? 7 years seems like a rather long period for a gaming platform, but this is not a PC, which requires constant replacement of components.
So, after 7 years, the Xbox 360 dominates online, Sony with its Playstation 3 is bombing the gaming community with powerful exclusives, and Nintendo is quietly releasing casual projects and is preparing to launch its next-gen Wii U console, but Wii outperforms Sony devices in sales and Microsoft almost put together. Over the past 7 years, the console community has managed to multiply more than ever, heaps of memes about all these things appeared (Drake, 2300 and others), the PC managed to be buried and resurrected twice as a gaming platform, and everyone was amazed at the power of the devices released in 2005- 2006, enough to handle modern graphics? So it turned out that not enough.
At the beginning of a new console cycle, many games on consoles looked no worse, and often even better, than on “personal computers” (the most striking example in my memory is the Xbox 360 version of NFS Most Wanted). But by 2010-2011, many eminent game developers began to officially declare that the resources of the current-gen consoles were almost exhausted. They had to make tricks and concessions, so that the console audience could evaluate their projects: lowering the permissions, shaking the textures, rejecting various graphic effects. The last straw was the statement from DICE and id Software that their latest offspring - Battlefield 3 and RAGE, respectively - squeezed out all the juices that they had after other high-profile projects of recent years from the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. And if only one feature of the new id Tech 5 engine was mainly to blame for RAGE (if anyone is not in the know: textures there are not superimposed on individual objects, but the whole game world is one huge texture) and huge spaces, while the version of the game itself has not undergone significant changes, but Battlefield 3 has less luck. Long before its release, everyone was talking about the enormous potential of the Frostbite 2 engine. Indeed, the level of graphic performance is still amazing. With one caveat - it strikes on a PC. After all, the Ultra, Full HD resolution settings and other joys of life are available there. And on consoles - cut 720p resolution (not much cut, but still) and settings close to Medium, if you count from the "computer" version of the game. Naturally, this caused dissatisfaction of console players, because in addition to the games cut in graphic terms, they also got ridiculed PC players.
Sony
Indirect rumors about the new console from this company began to go even after the departure of Phil Harrison from the post of head of SCE Worldwide Studios in February 2008. This was due to the beginning of the development of a new console, and Harrison wanted something new. In a February 2010 Executive Director Jack Tretton, in an interview, said that the Playstation 4 would be released only when there was something that could not play the Playstation 3. Kaz Hirai in 2011 generally stated that the estimated life cycle of the PS3 is about 10 years. As a result, from all this we can conclude that Sony was counting on the long and happy life of its console, was completely confident in its technical perfection and did not plan to release any PS3 successor before 2015-2016. Moreover, To foster interest in the console (mainly to drag casuals from the Nintendo camp), an “innovative” Playstation Move controller was released, consisting of the eponymous oblong controller with a luminous sphere at the end, a second controller for controlling movement (optional) and a Playstation Eye camera. Unlike Kinect for the Xbox 360, which is a fundamentally new (at least for home systems) device, Move was just a Wii Remote development, more technically advanced. Indeed, the level of accuracy of tracking movement is striking thanks to the help of the camera in reading the coordinates of the LEDs located in the sphere at the end of the controller. The release of Move entailed not only the release of a bunch of casual projects and the massive transition of Wii fans to Sony, but also the inclusion of support for this feature in serious games (Killzone 3). But no matter how the bosses of the Japanese company did not want to believe in the unwavering and unbridled power of their brainchild, it was impossible to ignore the developers' statements about the end of the "iron" reserves of the current-gen consoles.
And now, at the end of March 2012, information appears that the new Sony console has the code name Orbis , the first technical specifications and an approximate release date are published - winter 2013. It also becomes known that Sony plans to release its device earlier than its counterpart from Microsoft. The announcement is expected at E3 2012.
The information on the technical characteristics of the PlayStation 4 that appeared at the end of March 2012 added to the list of already known facts:
1) the console will not be backward compatible with games for the PlayStation 3;
2) the graphics solution will be built on the basis of the AMD Southern Islands family of GPUs (it is later specified that it will be a Radeon HD 7670 GPU: DirectX 11 graphics card with a clock frequency of 1 GHz, supporting up to 1 GB of dedicated VRAM with Native OpenGL support);
3) the processor is based on the AMD X64 family (later it is specified that it will be AMD A8-3850 APU: a quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.9 GHz and integrated graphics);
4) in the console there will be protection against reuse of games bought from hand (analysts are not sure that launching games bought on the secondary market will be completely prohibited, since such a restriction would greatly reduce the attractiveness of acquiring a new console). Later, information appeared that such games would be launched with some restrictions, possibly in a demo mode. For a small additional fee, carried out through the PSN, the game can be transferred to a fully functional mode. The industry reacted to such news with restraint, as there are pluses and minuses in such a solution. The personal opinion of Sony CEO Jack Tretton, voiced in May 2012, is that blocking games purchased on the secondary market would push users away. Tretton emphasized separately
As you can see, Sony has changed not only the supplier of processors, but also graphics. Now, AMD, and not NVIDIA, will be responsible for image processing, just like the CPU. According to statements, in technical terms, the PS4 will be 10 times more powerful than its predecessor. Well, as they say - wait and see.
Microsoft
The company from Redmond, apparently, employs people with more realistic outlooks on the world, so I personally do not recall any loud statements about the 10-year life cycle of the Xbox 360 and other marketing moves. If Sony started the “orbital exclusive bombardment” of its users from about 2008, filling up their powerful exclusive projects with elaborate gameplay and amazing graphics (at that time), Microsoft relied on online. No wonder Xbox Live is still considered the best console online service, even despite the fact that without a paid Gold status, there is basically nothing to do there. Starting with Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the company reported some unrealistic online metrics. Then the service ceased to be just a game and began to develop in a social direction, there even appeared some television channels (mainly in the USA). Along with the already mentioned Playstation Move, Kinect was released for the Xbox 360. This device is an elongated box with two cameras that can read the movements of one or more people who are in direct line of sight of the device. Unlike Move, Kinect did not require any additional controllers, but it also had significantly worse tracking accuracy, which did not allow implementing the technology, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. This device is an elongated box with two cameras that can read the movements of one or more people who are in direct line of sight of the device. Unlike Move, Kinect did not require any additional controllers, but it also had significantly worse tracking accuracy, which did not allow implementing the technology, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. This device is an elongated box with two cameras that can read the movements of one or more people who are in direct line of sight of the device. Unlike Move, Kinect did not require any additional controllers, but it also had significantly worse tracking accuracy, which did not allow implementing the technology, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. which did not allow the technology to be introduced, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, for sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. which did not allow the technology to be introduced, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, for sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience.
About the "iron filling" of the new Xbox (codenamed Durango ) is known about as much as in the case of the Sony console, but the problem is that all sources have different information and there are only a few matches. Among them:
1) 6-core processor from a yet unknown manufacturer. It is also known that 1 core will be allocated for Kinect, and another 1 - for the needs of the operating system.
2) There are rumors that NVIDIA could become the manufacturer of graphics accelerators for the new set-top box, but most sources agree that 2 independent AMD GPUs will be installed in the console right away, in terms of power they are approximately equivalent to the Radeon HD 7700-7800 series cards.
3) Kinect 2.0 will be installed directly into the console housing and will undergo a number of improvements. More accurate recognition of movements and voice, its own information processing unit and recognition of up to 4 people - among them.
4) Blu-ray drive. Yes, Microsoft lost the battle of formats, and rumors of a complete transition to digital game delivery have not been confirmed. So installing such a drive is a less expensive and more reliable option than developing your own media.
5) And finally, the final and not the most pleasant news - most likely, the new Xbox will require a permanent network connection. This is done to limit piracy. There will also be a certain system of partial prohibition of reselling games - an analogue of the one that I mentioned in the story about the new Sony console.
Among the varying characteristics are the ability to replace hardware modules (as for me, one of the most delusional applications), the touch screen on the controller, the amount of RAM (according to different sources, varies from 2GB to 8GB), the presence of some augmented reality glasses Kinect Glasses (Fortaleza) . The release of the console itself was scheduled for approximately September 2013, but according to rumors, there were some problems with the processor, so the release is expected in the winter of 2013 - in the spring of 2014.
PS I did not mention Playstation 3 Slim / Super Slim and Xbox 360 Slim in this article due to the absence of any major changes in the hardware of the devices, as well as the absence of reasons affecting the gameplay.
Nintendo
In my opinion, the products of this company are called nothing more than pre-next-gen, because no matter how they try to compare them with the main "hardcore" consoles, this does not work out very well. GameCub was deprived of a full-fledged DVD drive, which did not have a very beneficial effect on its sales compared to the Playstation 2 and Xbox. Wii, although it had a revolutionary controller at that time, was far behind the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in technical terms, which limited its lifespan - the shift comes in the fall - in winter 2012. And this change is called Wii U. This does not mean at all that it’s time to throw out the existing set-top box, just Nintendo wants to attract not only casual people into its camp, but also to snatch a hardcore audience that has settled on Sony and Microsoft consoles. One side, The release of the new Nintendo console much earlier than the two main competitors will most likely benefit the sales, and on the other hand, Sony and Microsoft will have a better chance to prepare for the release of their consoles, so Wii U will catch up with the technical characteristics, and this will badly affect the amount of hardcore audience. On Wii U, a rumor warning does not apply, since the console has been shown more than once.
Specifications:
1) Three-core IBM PowerPC, made by 45nm-technology.
2) Video adapter AMD Radeon HD 6770.
3) 2GB of RAM
4) Blu-ray drive without the ability to play your own (non-gaming) discs. Again, it is unclear why they did this, only the audience is scared away.
5) The amount of flash memory varies depending on the console delivery set - 8GB and 32GB for Basic and Premium, respectively.
6) Support for external USB-drives up to 1 TB.
Nintendo also introduced the new controller again. Not as revolutionary as Wii Remote turned out to be, but also quite unusual (I said “not so revolutionary” because Sony has already implemented a similar approach, using PSP and PS Vita as a controller for PS3). It is equipped with a 6.2 touch ”Display with an aspect ratio of 16: 9. Fortunately, the mechanical buttons and sticks known to all of us did not suffer from this. In addition to everything, the gamepad is equipped with an accelerometer, a gyroscope, speakers, a camera and a stylus. Thanks to such a controller, it became possible to play even with the TV turned off.
Conclusion
So our short course of acquaintance with the impending next-gen has been completed. Before the approach of the main forces in the person of the new Playstation and Xbox is even more than a year, but if you don’t have the strength and desire to wait, then you can start acquaintance with the new generation with Wii U, whose sales in Europe will start on November 30, as well as indulge in a portable next-gen ' Ohm from Sony - PS Vita. In any case, we are waiting for new facts (or at least rumors) and interesting details about the devices we are interested in. Until we meet again, Habrovsk.
About 7 years have passed since the launch of the first current-gen (then still next-gen) gaming platform Microsoft Xbox 360, and by 2012 this generation still dominates the global gaming market. Indeed, why shouldn’t he dominate if the successors haven’t even come out, or even been announced? 7 years seems like a rather long period for a gaming platform, but this is not a PC, which requires constant replacement of components.
So, after 7 years, the Xbox 360 dominates online, Sony with its Playstation 3 is bombing the gaming community with powerful exclusives, and Nintendo is quietly releasing casual projects and is preparing to launch its next-gen Wii U console, but Wii outperforms Sony devices in sales and Microsoft almost put together. Over the past 7 years, the console community has managed to multiply more than ever, heaps of memes about all these things appeared (Drake, 2300 and others), the PC managed to be buried and resurrected twice as a gaming platform, and everyone was amazed at the power of the devices released in 2005- 2006, enough to handle modern graphics? So it turned out that not enough.
At the beginning of a new console cycle, many games on consoles looked no worse, and often even better, than on “personal computers” (the most striking example in my memory is the Xbox 360 version of NFS Most Wanted). But by 2010-2011, many eminent game developers began to officially declare that the resources of the current-gen consoles were almost exhausted. They had to make tricks and concessions, so that the console audience could evaluate their projects: lowering the permissions, shaking the textures, rejecting various graphic effects. The last straw was the statement from DICE and id Software that their latest offspring - Battlefield 3 and RAGE, respectively - squeezed out all the juices that they had after other high-profile projects of recent years from the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. And if only one feature of the new id Tech 5 engine was mainly to blame for RAGE (if anyone is not in the know: textures there are not superimposed on individual objects, but the whole game world is one huge texture) and huge spaces, while the version of the game itself has not undergone significant changes, but Battlefield 3 has less luck. Long before its release, everyone was talking about the enormous potential of the Frostbite 2 engine. Indeed, the level of graphic performance is still amazing. With one caveat - it strikes on a PC. After all, the Ultra, Full HD resolution settings and other joys of life are available there. And on consoles - cut 720p resolution (not much cut, but still) and settings close to Medium, if you count from the "computer" version of the game. Naturally, this caused dissatisfaction of console players, because in addition to the games cut in graphic terms, they also got ridiculed PC players.
Sony
Indirect rumors about the new console from this company began to go even after the departure of Phil Harrison from the post of head of SCE Worldwide Studios in February 2008. This was due to the beginning of the development of a new console, and Harrison wanted something new. In a February 2010 Executive Director Jack Tretton, in an interview, said that the Playstation 4 would be released only when there was something that could not play the Playstation 3. Kaz Hirai in 2011 generally stated that the estimated life cycle of the PS3 is about 10 years. As a result, from all this we can conclude that Sony was counting on the long and happy life of its console, was completely confident in its technical perfection and did not plan to release any PS3 successor before 2015-2016. Moreover, To foster interest in the console (mainly to drag casuals from the Nintendo camp), an “innovative” Playstation Move controller was released, consisting of the eponymous oblong controller with a luminous sphere at the end, a second controller for controlling movement (optional) and a Playstation Eye camera. Unlike Kinect for the Xbox 360, which is a fundamentally new (at least for home systems) device, Move was just a Wii Remote development, more technically advanced. Indeed, the level of accuracy of tracking movement is striking thanks to the help of the camera in reading the coordinates of the LEDs located in the sphere at the end of the controller. The release of Move entailed not only the release of a bunch of casual projects and the massive transition of Wii fans to Sony, but also the inclusion of support for this feature in serious games (Killzone 3). But no matter how the bosses of the Japanese company did not want to believe in the unwavering and unbridled power of their brainchild, it was impossible to ignore the developers' statements about the end of the "iron" reserves of the current-gen consoles.
And now, at the end of March 2012, information appears that the new Sony console has the code name Orbis , the first technical specifications and an approximate release date are published - winter 2013. It also becomes known that Sony plans to release its device earlier than its counterpart from Microsoft. The announcement is expected at E3 2012.
The information on the technical characteristics of the PlayStation 4 that appeared at the end of March 2012 added to the list of already known facts:
1) the console will not be backward compatible with games for the PlayStation 3;
2) the graphics solution will be built on the basis of the AMD Southern Islands family of GPUs (it is later specified that it will be a Radeon HD 7670 GPU: DirectX 11 graphics card with a clock frequency of 1 GHz, supporting up to 1 GB of dedicated VRAM with Native OpenGL support);
3) the processor is based on the AMD X64 family (later it is specified that it will be AMD A8-3850 APU: a quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.9 GHz and integrated graphics);
4) in the console there will be protection against reuse of games bought from hand (analysts are not sure that launching games bought on the secondary market will be completely prohibited, since such a restriction would greatly reduce the attractiveness of acquiring a new console). Later, information appeared that such games would be launched with some restrictions, possibly in a demo mode. For a small additional fee, carried out through the PSN, the game can be transferred to a fully functional mode. The industry reacted to such news with restraint, as there are pluses and minuses in such a solution. The personal opinion of Sony CEO Jack Tretton, voiced in May 2012, is that blocking games purchased on the secondary market would push users away. Tretton emphasized separately
As you can see, Sony has changed not only the supplier of processors, but also graphics. Now, AMD, and not NVIDIA, will be responsible for image processing, just like the CPU. According to statements, in technical terms, the PS4 will be 10 times more powerful than its predecessor. Well, as they say - wait and see.
Microsoft
The company from Redmond, apparently, employs people with more realistic outlooks on the world, so I personally do not recall any loud statements about the 10-year life cycle of the Xbox 360 and other marketing moves. If Sony started the “orbital exclusive bombardment” of its users from about 2008, filling up their powerful exclusive projects with elaborate gameplay and amazing graphics (at that time), Microsoft relied on online. No wonder Xbox Live is still considered the best console online service, even despite the fact that without a paid Gold status, there is basically nothing to do there. Starting with Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the company reported some unrealistic online metrics. Then the service ceased to be just a game and began to develop in a social direction, there even appeared some television channels (mainly in the USA). Along with the already mentioned Playstation Move, Kinect was released for the Xbox 360. This device is an elongated box with two cameras that can read the movements of one or more people who are in direct line of sight of the device. Unlike Move, Kinect did not require any additional controllers, but it also had significantly worse tracking accuracy, which did not allow implementing the technology, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. This device is an elongated box with two cameras that can read the movements of one or more people who are in direct line of sight of the device. Unlike Move, Kinect did not require any additional controllers, but it also had significantly worse tracking accuracy, which did not allow implementing the technology, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. This device is an elongated box with two cameras that can read the movements of one or more people who are in direct line of sight of the device. Unlike Move, Kinect did not require any additional controllers, but it also had significantly worse tracking accuracy, which did not allow implementing the technology, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. which did not allow the technology to be introduced, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, for sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience. which did not allow the technology to be introduced, for example, in serious shooters, but it was quite enough for casual projects, as well as, for example, for sports simulators. So Microsoft also managed to snatch its piece from the Nintendo audience.
About the "iron filling" of the new Xbox (codenamed Durango ) is known about as much as in the case of the Sony console, but the problem is that all sources have different information and there are only a few matches. Among them:
1) 6-core processor from a yet unknown manufacturer. It is also known that 1 core will be allocated for Kinect, and another 1 - for the needs of the operating system.
2) There are rumors that NVIDIA could become the manufacturer of graphics accelerators for the new set-top box, but most sources agree that 2 independent AMD GPUs will be installed in the console right away, in terms of power they are approximately equivalent to the Radeon HD 7700-7800 series cards.
3) Kinect 2.0 will be installed directly into the console housing and will undergo a number of improvements. More accurate recognition of movements and voice, its own information processing unit and recognition of up to 4 people - among them.
4) Blu-ray drive. Yes, Microsoft lost the battle of formats, and rumors of a complete transition to digital game delivery have not been confirmed. So installing such a drive is a less expensive and more reliable option than developing your own media.
5) And finally, the final and not the most pleasant news - most likely, the new Xbox will require a permanent network connection. This is done to limit piracy. There will also be a certain system of partial prohibition of reselling games - an analogue of the one that I mentioned in the story about the new Sony console.
Among the varying characteristics are the ability to replace hardware modules (as for me, one of the most delusional applications), the touch screen on the controller, the amount of RAM (according to different sources, varies from 2GB to 8GB), the presence of some augmented reality glasses Kinect Glasses (Fortaleza) . The release of the console itself was scheduled for approximately September 2013, but according to rumors, there were some problems with the processor, so the release is expected in the winter of 2013 - in the spring of 2014.
PS I did not mention Playstation 3 Slim / Super Slim and Xbox 360 Slim in this article due to the absence of any major changes in the hardware of the devices, as well as the absence of reasons affecting the gameplay.
Nintendo
In my opinion, the products of this company are called nothing more than pre-next-gen, because no matter how they try to compare them with the main "hardcore" consoles, this does not work out very well. GameCub was deprived of a full-fledged DVD drive, which did not have a very beneficial effect on its sales compared to the Playstation 2 and Xbox. Wii, although it had a revolutionary controller at that time, was far behind the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in technical terms, which limited its lifespan - the shift comes in the fall - in winter 2012. And this change is called Wii U. This does not mean at all that it’s time to throw out the existing set-top box, just Nintendo wants to attract not only casual people into its camp, but also to snatch a hardcore audience that has settled on Sony and Microsoft consoles. One side, The release of the new Nintendo console much earlier than the two main competitors will most likely benefit the sales, and on the other hand, Sony and Microsoft will have a better chance to prepare for the release of their consoles, so Wii U will catch up with the technical characteristics, and this will badly affect the amount of hardcore audience. On Wii U, a rumor warning does not apply, since the console has been shown more than once.
Specifications:
1) Three-core IBM PowerPC, made by 45nm-technology.
2) Video adapter AMD Radeon HD 6770.
3) 2GB of RAM
4) Blu-ray drive without the ability to play your own (non-gaming) discs. Again, it is unclear why they did this, only the audience is scared away.
5) The amount of flash memory varies depending on the console delivery set - 8GB and 32GB for Basic and Premium, respectively.
6) Support for external USB-drives up to 1 TB.
Nintendo also introduced the new controller again. Not as revolutionary as Wii Remote turned out to be, but also quite unusual (I said “not so revolutionary” because Sony has already implemented a similar approach, using PSP and PS Vita as a controller for PS3). It is equipped with a 6.2 touch ”Display with an aspect ratio of 16: 9. Fortunately, the mechanical buttons and sticks known to all of us did not suffer from this. In addition to everything, the gamepad is equipped with an accelerometer, a gyroscope, speakers, a camera and a stylus. Thanks to such a controller, it became possible to play even with the TV turned off.
Conclusion
So our short course of acquaintance with the impending next-gen has been completed. Before the approach of the main forces in the person of the new Playstation and Xbox is even more than a year, but if you don’t have the strength and desire to wait, then you can start acquaintance with the new generation with Wii U, whose sales in Europe will start on November 30, as well as indulge in a portable next-gen ' Ohm from Sony - PS Vita. In any case, we are waiting for new facts (or at least rumors) and interesting details about the devices we are interested in. Until we meet again, Habrovsk.