The Nerd Is The Word

The next generation of consoles is slowly starting to creep out of the depths of the industry’s consoles manufacturers. The 3DS despite having a slow start is starting to gain ground quickly now that some good games are finally out for it and the PS Vita looks set to take Europe and the States by storm in February. On the home front and plugged into your TV you have the Wii U which still shows promise despite very little of it actually being shown off and the rumoured problems Nintendo are having with it. Then you have the two hidden competitors; the next Xbox and Playstation. So while things are still on the cusp of happening I thought it was a good time for some speculation. A word of warning though, this won’t be a tech specs rumour round up. This will be more of me detailing my opinion on what the consoles and their creators will be doing with them. There is one crazy, what the hell prediction though. So let’s get started!

1. The next Xbox will not be called the GOD DAMN XBOX 720!

I am sick of hearing the name! I hope that the journalist/forum user/idiot/whoever who coined the name has lost their job! This is not going to happen. Microsoft are not this stupid and neither are gamers. The 360 wasn’t called the Xbox 2 for a reason and the next Xbox will not be called the 720 just because it is 360 x 2! The 360 is called the 360 because Microsoft wanted to give the user the impression that it fully encapsulates their entertainment life, all 360 degrees of it. The next Xbox is more likely to be called Xbox Lassie or Xbox AppleSucks than the Xbox 720. So can we please stop calling it the Xbox 720 and just be sensible and call it The Next Xbox for now? Also do not presume that the next Playstation will be called the PS4, Sony might be looking to distance themselves from the PS3 due to the ropey life of the console. A new name might also refresh the Playstation brand in the publics’ eyes.

2. Uncharted 4 will be a launch game for the next Playstation

What started off as a so, so looking Tomb Raider-like game in the early days of the PS3 has quickly grown into Sony’s most important franchise. All three Uncharted games have sold millions and Nathan Drake has become ubiquitous with the Playstation 3. The next Uncharted game will be a launch title for the Vita because as a franchise Sony knows that it will sell Vitas just because of its name and implied level of quality alone. Timescale wise Uncharted for on the next Playstation lines up too. Currently the next Playstation is on track for a 2013/14 launch which is just enough time for Naughty Dog to redefine Uncharted for the next generation of gaming, with better graphics, better gameplay and a more original plot because I can’t be the only one who had Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade flashbacks for the majority of Uncharted 3. Sony has learned a lot from the early days of the PS3, in particular the lack of big well known franchises that were available on the console to begin with, so going out of the gate with their biggest franchise will be a strong move. One, that like the Uncharted Vita game, will shift a lot of consoles just by its name alone.

3. Social Media will be integral to both the next Xbox and Playstation (and the Wii-U if Nintendo get their act together!) wether you like it or not

The rise of social networks over the past seven or so years has been crazy. They have taken over the web, the media, culture and news. When it becomes worldwide news that someone like Alec Baldwin leaves a social network you know they have become important. The current generation of consoles have slowly added low level social media support in the past couple of years. You can integrate your PS3 and 360 with Facebook to show off your trophies and achievements and can Tweet updates of your progress in Uncharted 2. This is just Sony and Microsoft testing the waters really. This are all things that have been added to the consoles mid cycle though and as a result many people just don’t use them. The Vita looks set to continue this same level of interaction with Facebook and Twitter to begin with with the hope that it expands its coverage later. But the next Xbox and Playstation should, hopefully, have full support and integration right out of the box. Encouraging users to share more than just their latest achievements will also be a big thing. Screenshots, videos and challenges will play a big part. The easiest way to make games more social is to give greater options to the user. Performed an amazing kill spree in Halo 4? Tweet the video! Ready and waiting to take on the world in Street Fighter IV On Ice? Send an open challenge to Facebook (this can already be done in a limited capacity with Xbox Live Beacons). Found a funny bug in Fallout 4? Send the picture to both! These are the little things that will make the big difference for consoles. It will also encourage more users to hook them up to the internet too.

4. Both the next Xbox and Playstation will have day and date digital

The PSPGo for a “failed” console was an interesting experiment. It showed three things:

1. There is a market for digital only consoles despite low sales
2. The prices of digital versions of retail games are currently too high
3. While it is the future the public isn’t quite ready yet

The answer? Provide both and a competitive price point. The digital versions for games on the PS Vita are rumoured to be cheaper than their retail brothers. With the cheaper prices being offset by the cost of the Vita’s pricey memory cards. It wouldn’t be surprising at all for the next Xbox and Playstation to take a similar route. With downloadable games being slightly cheaper than retail then having hard drives and extra memory offsetting the discount. The main reason for a steady switch? It gives the publishers, developers and platform holders more control over the products they release. It will work to lower the cost of games, provide simple anti-piracy measures that do not alienate the consumer and make gaming more accessible. 

5. The Wii U will need to reinvent Nintendo otherwise it will be the next Gamecube

I liked the Gamecube. It was a good little console that had a fair few strong titles on it, the main one for me being Phantasy Star Online Episode I&II (PSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but it was a huge failure in many people’s eyes. This is simply because Nintendo remained stuck in the past in their approach to it. At the end of the day it was just a more powerful N64. The Wii for all the hate it gets reinvented gaming in the wider public’s eye. It became cool. It finally became acceptable all because Nintendo looked at the traditional controller and thought, “It has to be simpler” and it worked for a little while at least. The Wii quickly turned from a new and exciting way to play games into a bloated shovel-ware gimmick machine that pretty much everyone has given up on including Nintendo themselves at this point. The Wii U while focused around the gimmick of having two screens needs to have more going for it than that because the two screen thing has already been done……by Nintendo…..with a little device called the DS…… What the Wii U really needs is to grow up and Nintendo along with it. There are signs that this might be the case with the importance Nintendo are putting on third party support. But the big pink elephant in the room is online. Online multiplayer and online in general is something Nintendo do very badly. From the Gamecube to the DS to the Wii all these console’s approaches to online are draconian and limiting for the user. Nintendo needs to stop treating online gamers as perverts and pedophiles and ditch the friend code system. The 3DS is a step in the right direction but it is still not good enough. If they don’t get it together no reasonable core gamer will touch the console no matter how many third party titles they release for it. Nintendo’s game development arm also needs to realise that adults buy and play their games too. I’m not talking about making an 18+ Mario game here I’m talking about Nintendo making some new IPs that are tailored to the older audience that will inevitably buy their console. The Wii U also needs Pikmin 3 because I have been waiting for that game for to damn long at this point!

6. Home consoles will do everything they can.

Like the social media prediction this is something that is already here in a limited capacity. The Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 have dabbled in providing users with more robust content outside of gaming. The Wii was the first to include services like BBC iPlayer before everyone gave up on Nintendo’s little waggle box. The PS3 has made a big effort to emphasise that it can do more than just play games with the push for things like Blu-Ray films, TV catch up services and media streaming. My PS3 is my most used console but I hardly play games on it which is not a bad thing at all. I use it for iPlayer, 4oD, movie streaming and as a freeview box to watch TV. Microsoft have very recently made a big push with streaming TV services with the new dashboard update and the slew of TV services it is launching around the world in the coming months. Even agreeing with the BBC and making iPlayer available to all Xbox users wether they are behind the Gold wall or not. Again like the social media prediction all of these services will be available out of the box for the next wave of consoles in a more robust and expanded way. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the next generation consoles comes with an aerial port and a deal with a satellite/cable provider to be used as a next gen set top box *cough, cough* Sky *cough, cough* Next Xbox *cough* 

7. The next Playstation will have a redesigned controller

The Dualshock while a perfectly serviceable controller suffers from three things; poor design choices, being a controller from the 90s and Playstation Fanboys. The Playstation Hardcore and Sony need to get over the Dualshock and let it rest in piece for the sake of the next generation and the Playstation brand. Sony need to have a more ergonomic controller with real triggers and a build quality that makes it feel more like a piece of gaming equipment than a Happy Meal toy. 360 controllers, OnLive controllers, Wiimotes, iPhones and gaming mice all feel like great pieces of gaming equipment because they are designed around the ergonomics of using them. They have weight and shape that makes them sit comfortably in the users hands. The Dualshock 3 suffers because it uses the same shape as the first Playstation controllers before the leaps and strides in controller design were made. It is a design stuck in the past and if it persists in the next Playstation many, me included, will be put off by it.

8. The Next Xbox will have more exclusives

I believe that the criticism that the Xbox has less exclusives that the Playstation is one of the biggest fallacies in modern gaming. If you look at the numbers now you will see that yes, the PS3 has the most exclusives but many franchises that have become very popular this generation started life off as Xbox exclusives before spreading their wings. As for the smaller number of “true” exclusives, I personally believe that the ones available on the 360, while limited in number, are much stronger than the majority of those available on Sony consoles. Fable, Halo and Gears of War are all highly polished franchises and the secondary franchises like the Kinect titles and games like Crackdown are all really good alternatives to well known game types. Microsoft will be wanting to add to their roster of AAA franchises heading into the next generation with at least two to three big brands coming out from Microsoft owned developers. They know they cannot rely on Halo to shift consoles anymore and they also need to keep new ideas coming out to remain relevant. Don’t get me wrong though Sony’s approach to exclusives works too. The just try it and if it works run with it approach seems to work well for them and it shows. All the games I own for the PS3, bar one or two, are exclusives and I have a fair amount of PS3 games! It is just exclusives on the Playstation are an everyday thing while on the Xbox they are a big deal, particularly when Microsoft are behind them.

9. We will start to move away from Shooters

It saddens me greatly that this is the view most gamers are comfortable and well versed in. Looking down the barrel of a gun with a very, very, VERY limited viewing range (viewing ranges could be a whole post in itself!). Identikit FPS games have become commonplace over the past few years as many try to replicate the success of Call of Duty. While there will always be a place for the FPS there are signs that people are starting to want something more, something else. We are starting to reach the point of over saturation and that can only mean one thing, it is time for another genre to take centre stage. While I hope, due to my gaming preferences, that it will be RPGs it could be anything. It will most likely be one that blends the most popular aspects of shooters with another genre which is not a bad thing at all. 

10. My stab in the dark crazy prediction: Microsoft will bring out a handheld mid-generation

This is something that has been talked about for a long time and it is something I can really see Microsoft doing for a few reasons:

• To take on the iPod Touch and to try and bring “core” gaming to mobile devices
• To expand the Xbox brand beyond the traditional core gamer 
• To piss off Sony

This all hinges on one thing though, the Playstation Vita. If it takes off as Sony hope and ushers in a new age of portable core gaming, Microsoft will want a piece of the pie. While it won’t be a direct competitor for the Vita it will be more of a mix between a Vita and an iPod Touch/iPhone. With Microsoft declaring that you won’t see masses shovel-ware like you see on the App Store. It will also interact a lot with the next Xbox and Windows 8 (or I guess 9) like the Vita with the PS3 allowing you to take some games from your home console with you on the go. Because at the end of the day it is one of the cooler features for the Vita and it sort of defuncts the purpose of the Wii U. This is more of a pipe dream prediction but I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually happened.