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[lordmrw]

What I want to see most:


Absolutely NO blocky character models whatsoever. That shit should never have showed up in this generation, and there is virtually no excuse for it next gen. No blocky edges on characters, no big stumps for hands (individual fingers motherfuckers!), and no big block of something that should look like hair.

If characters are wearing clothes, then it should look like it. Once again, it should have been gone this gen, but to a certain extent I know why we still see this. Its just really jarring to see characters that look like their clothes are painted on.

Hi Res textures out the ass. How many times have we seen clothing, cars or buildings that have decals or decorations, but they're blurry as hell? There are better examples of course, its just thats the first thing that came to mind.

Realistic physics, although Havok is taking care of this. I like walking into a room and knowing that if i bump into something or chuck stuff around, it'll affect other things in the environment. That and I liked chucking dead bodies into basketball hoops in Invisible War.

More creativity in locations in games. With all the power even current gen systems have, you would think devs would go to town and come up with imaginative shit, rather than trying to make an even more slippery ice world, a hotter fire world, etc.

I could go on and on.

 

[Keio]

I think different filters will be one big thing. Far Cry on the pc has a lot of character thanks to it's Paradise Rendering mode thingabob, which gives the graphics a nice unreal quality.

Silent Hill games have already done well with the film grain and I think Brothers in Arms (although I can't be excited by another WW2 shooter) has nicely aped the Spielbergian look of SPR and BOB.

What I'm afraid of is that it will all be overblown for a while. Too much strong filters, attempts to salvage "bad art" with an "artsy" filter etc.

The same thing has happened with physics. Although I appreciate Havok 2 I'm SICK of being an elephant in a porcelan store in games using new physics. Every f**n thing you walk past falls on the floor, gets bumped around... hell, even bookshelves just topple over.

edit: Still, my biggest hopes on next-gen are not graphical. What if some of the processing power could be used for more on-screen AI characters (Doom 3 lacks a lot because there are no "hordes" of enemies coming at you, ever - and yes, I know it's a horror game, but it would work for a scene or two), perhaps less linear gameplay using simulated behaviour and stuff like that. Better graphics are worth NOTHING if games don't progress in other areas.

 

[Kintaro]

Good, inventive gameplay. ^^;

I think, personally, graphics has reached a point where it's not really going to wow me all that much. Only thing that wows me graphically are effects and animations. So, if I wish for anything graphically, it's that.

Me thinks, besides what I mentioned, I'm not expecting to be impressed too much graphically. I don't like to get hopes way to high and be disappointed in what's in front of me. I still will wish for smaller companies to come out with good, inventive titles I would to play. The Nippon Ichi's of the next gen.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

 

[capslock]

 

[u_neek]

Maybe on PS4....

 

[mr2mike]

et cetera...

 

[Keio]

Perhaps ultra-realistic graphics can bring something new to racing games (but mostly I'm looking forward to better suspension/body roll/inertia modelling), but as long as the basic gameplay stays the same, beatemups, fps games etc. can benefit very little from increasingly detailed gfx.

 

[Ranger X]

I think next gen will be the generation of console where we can say "we play in CG quality graphic". Ok well most probably not "Squaresoft quality" but generally, let say that stuff like Doom3 and Half Life 2 will be common if not the low quality games.
Want i want though and there will be no excuses not to do that is "realistic physics" and also "complex physics" for unrealistic games.
I guess the CRASH demo and Half-Life 2 gives us pretty much a good idea of what's to come. Next gen could change ALOT our perception of a game and the way we play it.

Next gen is "the physics gen" and prolly in CG quality graphics. Be prepared.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Just as long as they're better than that car crash demo MS showed not so long ago. Personally that would be such a let down if those are expected next gen graphics.

 

[Keio]

I think next gen will be the generation of console where we can say "we play in CG quality graphic". Ok well most probably not "Squaresoft quality" but generally, let say that stuff like Doom3 and Half Life 2 will be common if not the low quality games.

Umm. How much does it cost to create hi-poly models or detailed low polygon models? How much staff will be needed to complete a next gen project?

We already play games with better graphics than a lot of the low quality CG seen in ads/cheap tv shows etc.

The main point is: There are other constraints in next-gen development than CPU/GPU processing power.

And it should be noted that even this gen, the most impressive games have not been the ones that have pushed the graphics/physics envelope.

 

[Redbeard]

I hope it goes beyond being the "physics gen" and becomes the "simulation gen". We're seeing some games do it in certain areas; Fable simulates it's NPCs and an economic system, BC simulates a food chain and the animals/dinosaurs in the world, etc... but I hope to see this applied in more instances and in more games next gen.

 

[Ranger X]

Of course the cost will increase. But the tools compagnies will use and the middleware industry will also increase. This will lead to the graphics i talked about earlier.
Still, i think the most impressive thing about next gen will be the rise of "physics".

Mama, the crash demo says alot and even Burnout 3 doesn't even come close as for car crashing details and physics. And stuff like that will be alot more easy to do next gen with better tools, middleware and hardware.

 

[u_neek]

XNA baby!

I'd love to see that Film Noir XNA demo made into a game..

 

[Auron]

I think what you are going to see is more games that look like Doom 3, Halo 2, Resident Evil 4, the new Legend of Zelda and Gran Turismo 4. Just look at those games as well as PC titles like Sims 2 and you are looking at the average graphics for next gen. Hopefully we'll see more realistic weather physics than we have today like wind that blows through tree's/grass and puddles that form when it rains. Earlier on though it will be hard to see the real differance between the new system titles and the best XBox/GCN games.

 

[Speevy]

100 Pikmin on screen, all of which look like this.

 

[Ranger X]

I think what you are going to see is more games that look like Doom 3, Halo 2, Resident Evil 4, the new Legend of Zelda and Gran Turismo 4. Just look at those games as well as PC titles like Sims 2 and you are looking at the average graphics for next gen.

nah, this quality will maybe be the first gen of PS3/Xenon/Rev games or the quality of some launch games or something.
Each gen before now, it doesn't took a long while before the graphics being alot more impressive than the precedent gen. The next gen will be no different.

 

[jett]

Besides the obvious(better lighting/textures/polys/etc), I want better clothes modeling, and better clothes animation.

 

[Ranger X]

If God likes us there will be some incredible cloth animation next gen because it will be fucking Ragdoll clothes. (and believe me, this rocks God's ass)

 

[Lathentar]

Better Physics and better AI.

Hopefully Adaptive Artificial Intelligence, I'm actually starting a university funded research project to investigate this. Wahoo!

 

[djtiesto]

Permanent 60FPS, no slowdown whatsoever, no loading times, no loading times when you're accessing your memory card, and some games with hi-res 2D graphics...

 

[Ranger X]

Permanent 60FPS, no slowdown whatsoever, no loading times, no loading times when you're accessing your memory card, and some games with hi-res 2D graphics...

Oh yeah baby! High res 2D games? ME WANT.

As for the loading... don't forget something: Better reading speed, better ram BUT always more and more graphics/sounds and stuff to load. That basically mean you'll prolly see loading again next gen. And i really doubt that games will all be streaming anytime soon... (even if we will see more of those next gen i suppose)

 

[Redbeard]

 

[DemonCleaner]

et cetera...

i can hardly believe these are CG. holy moly farking impressiv O_O

 

[Kuramu]

i stop noticing graphics 5 minutes after i start playing, so i don't care if next gen looks just like this one. What i'm looking forward to are bigger worlds filled with more stuff that i can interact with. Oh, and wildlife that has it's own thing going on... maybe if you're really quiet that rabbit will come out of his hole and search for food. Or perhaps you'll come across some bones and wonder how those got there... had you shown up 3 hours earlier, you would have seen a pack of wolves take down a deer... provided you didn't interfere somehow. Yeah, these are the sort of things that make a world worth exploring to me.

edit: i also want to move shit around... i want to make a pile of rocks at the top of a mountain and have it stay there, or maybe i'll come back and see that they're gone because someone built a rock wall out of them

 

[Lathentar]

edit: i also want to move shit around... i want to make a pile of rocks at the top of a mountain and have it stay there, or maybe i'll come back and see that they're gone because someone built a rock wall out of them

A big problem with that is... what does it really add to the game?

 

[snapty00]

I'm guessing games won't look infinitely better, even though I'm sure they'll be technically much better.

I think shadows will improve a lot. Shadows actually aren't terrible this generation, but I think developers won't have to use as many tricks and cheats to get them working as they did this generation. It'll be more of an automatic thing, and there'll be fewer glitches because of that.

I'm guessing water will improve, too, but not so much with the way it looks but the fact that actual water drops can be rendered, and the drops can come together to form a pool of water. I'm sure splashes will both look and act much more realistically.

 

[Redbeard]

A big problem with that is... what does it really add to the game?

What do weather effects add? Or physics applied to every insignificant object in a room? Immersion, unpredictability, a bigger sandbox, etc...

 

[Phoenix]

What do weather effects add? Or physics applied to every insignificant object in a room? Immersion, unpredictability, a bigger sandbox, etc...

They add nothing IMO and take time and talent away from giving me a game. I have a short list of games that have provided level of detail at that level and none of them have been fun games. As much as I hate to say it (because I know the devs) Morrowind is by far the worst offender in this category. Room after room of completely useless modelled shit for no reason. Great, the table actually has plates and silverware on it. Too bad it makes absolutely no difference in the way the game is played. It would be different if it were a fighting game and I could throw my opponent into a glass case of dishes so he could take more damage or reveal weapons in the case or something - but 9 times out of 10 much of this added immersion really just creates an additional layer of boredom.

An incredible amount of time goes into all those detail pieces and I have yet to see anything useful come out of it yet - other than long development cycles and artists having a chance to pad the libraries.

People go through all this effort - yet I can't get a fire arrow that actually sets people on fire? Whatever....

 

[Gunstar77]

1> Steady Framerates (60 FPS would be preferred)

2> More 720P and 1080i support

3> Optimized game engines for online play (I know this is stretching it as graphical)

 

[Redbeard]

They add nothing IMO and take time and talent away from giving me a game. I have a short list of games that have provided level of detail at that level and none of them have been fun games. As much as I hate to say it (because I know the devs) Morrowind is by far the worst offender in this category. Room after room of completely useless modelled shit for no reason. Great, the table actually has plates and silverware on it. Too bad it makes absolutely no difference in the way the game is played. It would be different if it were a fighting game and I could throw my opponent into a glass case of dishes so he could take more damage or reveal weapons in the case or something - but 9 times out of 10 much of this added immersion really just creates an additional layer of boredom.

An incredible amount of time goes into all those detail pieces and I have yet to see anything useful come out of it yet - other than long development cycles and artists having a chance to pad the libraries.

People go through all this effort - yet I can't get a fire arrow that actually sets people on fire? Whatever....

So you don't like the idea that the stuff is modelled? Even if you couldn't pick it all up, it would have to be modelled anyway; unless you want room after room of completely empty shelves and bare tables, that is.

 

[Gorgie]

-more deformable terrain

-even bigger levels with huge draw distances (no more box canyons)

-fast loading (seen majority of Gamecube games)

-giant storage memory cards

-LAN capabilites out of the box

-2 tv out jacks so you could do co-op with one system and two tv's

 

[Error Macro]

Developers should aim for 60 fps @ 1080i, and be able to output at 480p, 720p, etc., not the other way around.

 

[Phoenix]

So you don't like the idea that the stuff is modelled? Even if you couldn't pick it all up, it would have to be modelled anyway; unless you want room after room of completely empty shelves and bare tables, that is.

Its not that I don't like the idea - it just a horrible waste of resources better spent on things more relevant to the reason I just spent $60 bucks.... the game. Bump maps, textures and a light source would work just fine for most untouched tables and shelves in game worlds. How many times did you sit down at a table in Morrowind and actually utilize any of those object. Your machine was spending a lot of time rendering it and handling the collision physics so that it didn't fall through the world.

Now, how many times would it have been nice to have usable animals in the game - what about real party members? What about a more usable map system? Perchance events in the world that actually unfolded based on the story? Oh how it would have been nice if you heard about a fight in the story and ran to the top of a hill to look down on a battle in progress in which you could participate - or had to participate in based on the story.

Forks, spoons, store shelves with stuff on them and all that other useless to gameplay crap? Nah you can keep it. Use that time to give me more game relevant interactivity.

 

[Redbeard]

Its not that I don't like the idea - it just a horrible waste of resources better spent on things more relevant to the reason I just spent $60 bucks.... the game. Bump maps, textures and a light source would work just fine for most untouched tables and shelves in game worlds. How many times did you sit down at a table in Morrowind and actually utilize any of those object. Your machine was spending a lot of time rendering it and handling the collision physics so that it didn't fall through the world.

Now, how many times would it have been nice to have usable animals in the game - what about real party members? What about a more usable map system? Perchance events in the world that actually unfolded based on the story? Oh how it would have been nice if you heard about a fight in the story and ran to the top of a hill to look down on a battle in progress in which you could participate - or had to participate in based on the story.

Forks, spoons, store shelves with stuff on them and all that other useless to gameplay crap? Nah you can keep it. Use that time to give me more game relevant interactivity.

This strikes me as more of a design issue than a resources issue. I seriously doubt that there was a point where something else like you described got the axe simply because they had too many resources (processor power or manpower) devoted to objects.

 

[Ranger X]

They add nothing IMO and take time and talent away from giving me a game. I have a short list of games that have provided level of detail at that level and none of them have been fun games. As much as I hate to say it (because I know the devs) Morrowind is by far the worst offender in this category. Room after room of completely useless modelled shit for no reason. Great, the table actually has plates and silverware on it. Too bad it makes absolutely no difference in the way the game is played. It would be different if it were a fighting game and I could throw my opponent into a glass case of dishes so he could take more damage or reveal weapons in the case or something - but 9 times out of 10 much of this added immersion really just creates an additional layer of boredom.

An incredible amount of time goes into all those detail pieces and I have yet to see anything useful come out of it yet - other than long development cycles and artists having a chance to pad the libraries.

People go through all this effort - yet I can't get a fire arrow that actually sets people on fire? Whatever....

This does not makes sense to me. More effective physics engines encourages interaction with stuff. The more games are going to be like this, the more your chances to see you flamming arrow dream come true dude...

 

[Gattsu25]

the lack of the almost always shitty implementation of potentially good effects (ie. DX9 effects)
smooth framerates
smooth animation
good physics

 

[mrklaw]

This generation was about a 10x boost from last, but that's not realistic this time. I just want more of everything we have seen, bigger & better. Faster framerates, higher res textures, more polygons etc. Mostly I want more of the little details, like grass, and skin textures, to look better

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised

Things like Doom 3 and unreal 3 are a sea change in how game graphics are generated and displayed. Not just more polys, but doing more with what you've got.

So I think even if you just have 10x more polys, you'll have way more improved image quality, in terms of lighting and texturing.


I'm not too worried about that, what I want is more life in the game worlds. I'm disappointed when the best a driving game can come up with is a bird that flys across the screen, while the rest of the gameworld is sterile. I want all the little things that add up to me suspending my disbelief even though the graphics aren't perfect.

Oh, and the guy that mentioned inverse kinematics? If this next gen brings us nothing apart from 3D objects that can interact without looking stupid, I'll be happy. No more arms through walls, running on the spot, 'picking up' and object which clearly isn't actually in your hand - gone.

 

[Phoenix]

This strikes me as more of a design issue than a resources issue. I seriously doubt that there was a point where something else like you described got the axe simply because they had too many resources (processor power or manpower) devoted to objects.

You might want to visit elder scrolls and ask about some of the features that were cut and why they were cut. I know why, but you should find out for yourself. There comes a point when you start cutting features and you leave in certain things for certain reasons and remove things for other reasons. Time, Money, Feature-Set.

 

[FightyF]

High res textures, high poly characters, realistic physics...these are all a given.

I expect next gen games to look photorealistic (especially by the 2nd and 3rd year, the first year will contain sports games that are created for the last and next gen consoles, holding them back from their full potential perhaps).

I think we should be demanding other things that aren't guarenteed, such as a standard resolution for games. Or asking that ALL games are widescreen capable.

There are other issues such as increased accuracy for collision detection. When playing a wrestling game, a wrestler's arm shouldn't go through another wrestler or through ropes. Animations and collision detection must be united to prevent things like this.

 

[Phoenix]

This does not makes sense to me. More effective physics engines encourages interaction with stuff. The more games are going to be like this, the more your chances to see you flamming arrow dream come true dude...

A flaming arrow has nothing - to do with the physics engine. Environmental dynamics, kinematics, collision, etc. are the domain of the physics engine. Rendering flames, shaders mechanics, particle systems are the domain of the graphics engine.

 

[Baron Aloha]

I want a Mario game where Mario actually looks like this:

 

[doncale]

I want a Metroid game were Samus looks like this

with all that per pixel lighting, anti-aliasing and high polygon modeling.

 

[nitewulf]

good graphics.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Ugh @ that horrible plastic Mario model.

 

[Gattsu25]

I want a Mario game where Mario actually looks like this:

I'd rather have a cel-shaded (3D) mario that looks like your avatar

 

[Kon Tiki]

Ugh @ that horrible plastic Mario model.

??

That is Mario? I thought that was Ryu Hayabusa on a go cart.

 

[Ranger X]

You might want to visit elder scrolls and ask about some of the features that were cut and why they were cut. I know why, but you should find out for yourself. There comes a point when you start cutting features and you leave in certain things for certain reasons and remove things for other reasons. Time, Money, Feature-Set.

Well, i know. I meant that if per example a rpg game is full realistic and using advanced ragdoll physics and tons of other stuff helping to push the realism easily, it gives you chances they care for the flamming arrow. If you make things real, your flamming arrow not being done well with stand out alot more than in a game where there is less details.

good physics and effect -----> more realistic ----> more options to make stuff happen ----> more chances to see details like your flamming arrows.

 

[chaostrophy]

I'm basically fully satisfied with the graphics of the big-budget AAA titles of this generation...I'll be happy if the lower-budget, "hidden gem" games of the next generation look as good and run as smoothly as the current-gen high profile games. Like, I want a Sky Odyssey with the graphics of Ace Combat 5. Or a King's Field with the framerate, draw distance, and detail that Halo 2 is expected to have.

 

[Phoenix]

Well, i know. I meant that if per example a rpg game is full realistic and using advanced ragdoll physics and tons of other stuff helping to push the realism easily, it gives you chances they care for the flamming arrow. If you make things real, your flamming arrow not being done well with stand out alot more than in a game where there is less details.

good physics and effect -----> more realistic ----> more options to make stuff happen ----> more chances to see details like your flamming arrows.

My point is that there is nothing stopping them from doing that now. You can ditch the flaming arrow for a moment. If I cast a flame spell on a flammable object (person) - animate that object on fire. Doesn't take 'realistic' physics to realize that something effected by a flame spell should be on fire. Its like putting on boots of blinding speed and being able to see... and still moving at a regular speed.