People once said this about PS2 and every past console as well.
I dunno when "diminishing returns" truly kicks in but I feel confident there's a next gen leap possible. There will come a point where X360 games look like crap to us, just like PS2 games do now.
I personally dont rember anyone saying that graphics couldnt get any better than ps2, nor especially prior generations.
There is always room for improvent, and I dont fathom how people say we are curretly hitting a graphics platue now, especially when you can look at any big budget cgi or animated movie and see how much better they look than real time games.
Anyways, as for the general discussion, I am not sure people grasp the term diminishing returns in this context. It is not all about how much more we can improve graphics in general until we can no longer discern improvements.
it is more about, throwing more money and resources you put towards graphics does not always equate to increased returns in profit.
A game like the Splinter Cell, say they put 10 million more dollars towards improving the graphics even further, if they could. Will that boost give them 10 million+ in profits. Hard to say, but probably not.
Especially, when graphics are only 1 component of what makes a video game. You can always have blockbuster game that has simple graphics, somthing like minecraft.
The gen we saw a lot of big budget game studios go under from poor profits, will the industry be able to continue the trend of increasing graphics, with massive budgets?
