Do you feel like the "new" consoles on the market are really next gen?

[Vitor Gustavo Cristfolini]

I feel that its more like a upgrade rather than a next gen. Many companies i see dont use the full potential of the Microsoft Kinect or Playstation Move, i feel that Nintendo dont use the Gamepad that much too but at least have a lot of great games and exclusives. Most of the games that you get on the Xbox or Playstation you can get on the PC and they dont have many exclusives to really show the console power and extras. But i guess every console its more a graphic upgrade and something to keep the market going. What do you guys think?

 

[Dio]

We havent seen many true next gen games for Xbox One because they are still learning about it and how to best utilise its power.
Even the graphics of the new games are not miles better than the games on the previous generation. But all that will change soon. Just wait till FF15 comes out.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

man this is ESPECIALLY true on nintendo's end
its really the name of their current and last gen devices that get on me,plus them being backwards compatible,which i'm not knocking by the way,but it really seems like their making their 7th gen devices obsolete

 

[A Link In Time]

man this is ESPECIALLY true on nintendo's end
its really the name of their current and last gen devices that get on me,plus them being backwards compatible,which i'm not knocking by the way,but it really seems like their making their 7th gen devices obsolete

I'm a bit confused. Are you saying backwards compatibility is a bad thing? Personally, I love that you can play Wii games on the Wii U. I definitely agree on the naming complaint, however. Nintendo needs to choose less confusing names, so people don't think their new console is a peripheral for their old one. It's also a lesson in knowing that brand name isn't enough. The 3DS may have sold over 50 million units thus far, but that's nowhere near the 155 million of its predecessor. The system's lifetime sales look to be trending more towards GBA numbers, which was only on the market for four years.

--

Regarding the OP's question, consoles will never be as powerful as PC's, or they would be very expensive and risk decreasing sales. Sony learned this the hard way with the PS3. I've never been as interested in the Xbox or Playstation, save for a few number of franchises. When there is enough Halo on the Xbox or Naughty Dog games on Playstation, I usually make the jump.

 

[Iridescence]

Yes, they are.

A) Graphics/performance generally gets better throughout the gen (compare 2005 era X360 games to 2013 era)
We're at a point of diminishing gains. The jump from PS3 to PS4 won't be as big from SNES to N64 or PS2 to PS3)

 

[Justac00lguy]

Wii U definitely... not.

Kept a similar name, brand, design, control scheme. Graphics are good, but are more so near the level of the 7th gen than 8th gen. Games, while they have the best library, feel same same and none are really pushing the boat in terms of testing what the present technology is capable of. And that's just thing, it's all to familiar to previous years. I don't see nothing that scream must have piece of technology.

The Xbox One and PS4, while still lacking in quality games, feel like next gen and I'm sure as the years progress, games will become better and more ambitious.

 

[T. Strudel]

How can they be next gen when they're the current gen?


Busted!

 

[the8thark]

I feel next gen consoles will differentiate from their predecessors less and less by graphics and more by innovation and play style. The Wiistick and gamepad were certainly revolutionary ideas that the main competitors didn't try till later. A major departure from the standard controller. Totally new gen consoles even if the gpu grunt was less than the competition.

 

[Dio]

I feel next gen consoles will differentiate from their predecessors less and less by graphics and more by innovation and play style. The Wiistick and gamepad were certainly revolutionary ideas that the main competitors didn't try till later. A major departure from the standard controller. Totally new gen consoles even if the gpu grunt was less than the competition.

The game pad is hardly revolutionary, nor do I believe it is a selling point for the Wii U. Wii U's only major selling points are backwards compatibility and getting the latest in the Nintendo franchise games like Smash, Mario and Zelda.
The console is slightly more powerful than the ps3 but nowhere near the power of the XBOX ONE and PS4. It may have released this gen but in terms of what the console itself offers it is an inferior device.

 

[the8thark]

The game pad is hardly revolutionary, nor do I believe it is a selling point for the Wii U. Wii U's only major selling points are backwards compatibility and getting the latest in the Nintendo franchise games like Smash, Mario and Zelda.
The console is slightly more powerful than the ps3 but nowhere near the power of the XBOX ONE and PS4. It may have released this gen but in terms of what the console itself offers it is an inferior device.

The gamepad is a new direction for TV consoles. It's success is debatable, but it's not the same old controller with buttons we've seen on consoles from the 1980's till now. Sure the cpu and gpu of the WiiU is less than that of the Xbone and PS4. But you don't get to be metacritic developer of the year with bad games. Nintendo was that metacritic developer of the year for 2014, because you don't need the most powerful console ever to develop great games.

But I see what you are getting at, and I agree. As a console alone even the WiiU's gamepad does not beat the Xbone and PS4. But without games a console is near worthless inless you use it as a HTPC. And the games from Nintendo won out. I see more people buying Xboxes and PS's because the console is highly specced and maybe for 1-2 games they like. on the other hand people really want Nintendo games and the Nintendo hardware is just the price of admission to play those games. This is why Nintendo can never port it's main franchises to other non Nintendo hardware. As soon as they do this, no one ever buys Nintendo hardware anymore.

Saying a console's only selling points are it's amazing games, well that's a winning console there. Nintendo just didn't get it's game release schedule right for the WiiU early on. Not enough good games on the WiiU till 2014.