Thoughts on Next Gen

[BrinODea]

So I know we don't know much about the upcoming xbox, but from what many sources have said and from what the last gen was like, does any else feel like the 3rd xbox and ps4 will pretty much be the same? I mean even the 360 and ps3 had practically the same games with just a few stand out differences in first parties and exclusives. I really want to get a ps4 when they come out, but I feel that if there is no difference in consoles other than brand name and OS system then its not even worth.
To make this easier to understand, back the Sega vs Nintendo days, you could buy both systems, and have too completely separate game libraries for both without having a huge amount of games being available on both, if any at all.
Does anyone else here feel that way?

[TheSorrow]

Actually, i believe the consoles will be WAY DIFFERENT, much more than the PS3 and 360 were, and heck, probably even more than the original PSX and Xbox. The PS3 and 360 were actually nearly the same console, the only differences were the hardware, the online system, and the exclusive games...but even so, they were all equivalent; some 360 games displayed graphics and performance just as good as a PS3 game (and since some PS3 games like Red Dead Redemption and Dead Rising were actually ports from the 360, the 360's versions were better), they both use an achievement system, a "Home" system and pretty much the same method for multiplayer games, and the exclusive games are barely exclusive anymore, as Metal Gear Solid, the ONE gaming reason that made me buy a PS3 in the first place, is also avaliable for XBox now.

Console-wise, the PS4 will focus more on full internet access and having connectivity with EVERYTHING, so that you can download demos, patches, updates, etc. all the time and without interrupting your gaming experience, you'll be able to share gameplay video, pictures, and just everything you could share with every social network by pushing a single button, you'll too be able to watch others playing their games, perhaps spectate some online tournaments in real time, and even use a remote play system to help a friend who isn't as skilled as you are, and if you need to move away from the PS4 you'll be able to continue with your gaming through the PSVita, still using the PS4's system and basicly extending the screen and controller to your little device so that you're no longer forced to remain on your living room or the main TV (similar to the Wii-U). And graphics-wise it once again attempts to surpass everything that's been known and use the best CPU and GPU to display a billion of colorful things on your TV all at once and blow your mind out...which isn't actually as amazing as it might seem, since any powerful computer right now (easily avaliable to the public) will be able to reproduce such graphics, and the PS3 hasn't even been exploited to its full potential yet, which could lead to think that the PS4's immense graphics capability won't be fully used either D:

On the other side, the new Xbox (possibly named Xbox Infinity) will be Microsoft's gaming result of their plan of merging all Microsoft's systems into a single one...meaning that no matter what you're using, be it a smartphone, a PC, a tablet or a Xbox, you'll be using the same system and they'll all be constantly connected to each other and able to interact with each other. The full extent of that is still unknown, but you can already see some results of that, with Windows 8 and Windows Phone having pretty much the very same OS (which SUCKS for both PCs and smartphones...but the potential is there and it's huge, and Windows has a habit of releasing a horrible OS before a brilliant one), and with full compatibility with Xbox LIVE, and i believe it'll at least have their own features for sharing gaming experience all around the world. And instead of trying to make graphics much more complex than the human eye could ever perceive, the Xbox will instead upgrade the gaming immersion to levels unknown so far and start their way into augmented reality gaming with this:


And gaming-wise...yeah, the days where you would buy a console to enjoy games that you wouldn't enjoy in any other console are over. Any game that becomes popular in a console will soon be ported into the other console, and it's MUCH MORE profitable for any videogame company to just release a new game for both consoles, doubling their earnings as they have full guarantee that players from both consoles will buy them. Basicly the only reason why a game would remain fully exclusive to a console is because of loyalty, and as proven by Metal Gear Solid V's release for the 360 and Destiny for the PS4, there's not much loyalty to a console anymore...and to be fair, there barely was to begin with, since several games for the PSX actually originated from the older Nintendo consoles, and some Xbox games were from the PS1/PS2; it was just harder to directly convert a game from one console to another console before. So, for the PS4 and the new XBox, their gaming libraries will be like 95% equal to each other, if not a full 100%.

And being a Sony fan since the very first days of the PSX, owning every console released so far except for the PSPGo (which doesn't even exist anymore) and the PSVita, and NEVER having a Xbox (despite playing several games at random times), i believe that the Playstation is doomed to fall, and if it doesn't get creative and release something that would TOP over ALL consoles (at least something better than the IllumiRoom...srsly that thing is freaking brilliant D8), it'll stop existing as a console in a few decades. And though i want to get a PS4 (as well as a PSVita) and it'll be my top priority to get as a next gen console, i'll also be getting the new Xbox, and if i don't see any huge reason to remain loyal to the Playstation or doesn't release anything to make me stick to it, other than exclusive games that won't even be exclusive anymore, that'll be the last Sony console i'll buy and i'll continue my gaming life with Microsoft D:

And i didn't even mention Nintendo around here, not as part of the next generation of consoles at least...but that's because it's barely a console anymore D: If it wasn't because of their exclusive games like Pokemon and their handheld systems, it wouldn't exist anymore, and sure the Wii-U has sold well and with plenty of nice reviews, but it's basicly a handheld extension of the Wii and there's no one putting it in the same level as the PS4 or the new Xbox, not like it was back during the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era. The "war" right now is just between Sony and Microsoft, and Microsoft is winning by FAR and with no possible way to lose in sight. And just wait until Microsoft manages to make Pokemon part of their gaming collection, and turn their smartphones into some handheld gaming device (imagine trading Pokemons just as easy as sending a file over Bluetooth), and there'll be no console war anymore, as there just won't exist any other console but Microsoft's D: (and then Google's console appears...)

[nobodyknows]

Therefore Nintendo is the only company that's really staying faithful to itself and building on what it's good at instead of getting swept up in the waves of social media. Thank the gods!
 It's also the only tech company that's managed to stay afloat for as long as it has.

[Erranty]

I don't even have a current gen system, I don't feel like getting one from the next generation.

There are very few games that I enjoy anymore and the ones that I DO enjoy can be found on Steam to run on my computer.

[BrinODea]

My biggest issue with current gen that I have feeling will transition over to next gen is that developers typically don't fully develop with what is giving to them. For example, the Move, Kinect and so on had so much more potential than what shown or given because developers stopped as soon as they started. One of the things that Nintendo did do correctly is that it forced developers into doing something different instead of giving the option. There is a lot of cool things that I want to see with the next gen stuff, but I feel that it will only be another gimmick of what it should actually be.
(I did have WAY more typed, but my internet froze and it got deleted, plus I don't feel like or have the time to completely retype it.)