What?

As the title suggests - If you're currently an owner of a high end gaming PC and are used to most games running at 1080p or higher over 60fps, you're really not going to be blown away by the next PlayStation and Microsoft consoles (I'm now refusing to refer to them as 'next-gen', for reasons i will explain later).

Why?

Essentially, games are going to run at a higher res, smoother (more often 60fps) and finally, in actual hd resolutions, rather than the sub-hd seen on the ps3 and 360, hopefully most of which will run in full 1080p without trickery, But this is something high end PC owners have been doing for years, on hardware much higher spec than the 360 and PS3

Take the following 720P image for example : http://i.imgur.com/ILlQ6AQ.jpg

It's split three ways across the entire image multiple times, showing the graphical differences between the PC, PS3 and 360 versions of Split Second, quite an old game now but still dramatically better on the PC.

So why don't you want to call the PS4 and 720 "next gen"?

Well, throughout history consoles have provided a decent amount of power compared to PC's of the time at release, the unified configurations and game specific hardware with no driver or os overhead allows hardware which wouldn't be very good in a PC to run much more efficiently - the problem we have at the moment is that the GPU and CPU designs that form the basis of the next consoles is by high end PC standards, already extremely slow when compared side by side against high spec gear - so even if we assume the hardware difference makes the next consoles on par with high end pc's which is in itself a little far fetched - the overall difference between the 360 and PS3 and current PC titles is a fair jump but mainly just resolution, framerate and differences such as anti aliasing and texture filtering, so while things will look better - if the next consoles can only manage the current graphical quality of high end pc's or near to it, people who own and use high end PC's aren't really in for any major shocks as far as graphics go, and will just come away thinking 'okay so the game runs at 1080p 60fps on the console, but 1600x1200 at 90fps on mine..'

So the real kicker is this, if people argue wether or not the WiiU should be labeled "next gen" or not, because it's "only just catching up with the PS3 and 360", when the other "next gen consoles" are being released soon with more power - then why should we also call the PS4 and 720 next-gen if they're "only just catching up with pc", knowing full well the PC hardware market increases in power almost monthly - with major hardware family releases almost every year, and the new GTX7xxx series and AMD GPU on the horizon too, would it be fair then to say that for truly 'next gen' games, we should look towards the PC?

I'm fully expecting a lot of butthurt Sony and /Microsoft fans venting at the thought of their next platform that hasn't even been revealed, be reffered to as 'not next-gen' or 'outdated', but that's basically the long and short of it.

If you don't want to call the WiiU next gen, don't have the audacity to call the PS4 or 720 next gen either.

I'll give you the common responses to what people will say to you before they even post here

 

1) PC gaming isnt the same as console gaming

2)The next Playstation/Xbox will have a different level of third party support that will differentiate it from the Wii-U just like the PS3/Xbox360 were closely tied to PC more than the Wii.

3) Exclusives will speak for the consoles - not the multiplatform titles that are/will be available for PC.

In the eyes of a modern PC owner like myself, PS4 and X720 are not going to be next gen, they will be this gen at best. And the PS3, X360, and Wii U are all ancient hardware.

There's just no competition from consoles for an i7 GeForce 600 SLI rig, and it runs at 1920x1200 which is better than 1080p. I only buy consoles to play console exclusive games. If I can buy it on PC, 100% of the time I will buy it on PC. I don't own a game on any console that came out on PC (at the same time, there's still a lot of later ports).

That said consoles do get plenty of games that never come to PC, and that's why I have and will continue to purchase consoles as well.

because people talk about a “next gen jump“ for consoles. just because ps4 won't be better as a few years old pc doesn't mean it won't be a next gen for consoles. but i also call wii u next gen so, yeah

and games will improve even if consoles don't have the power of pc. most games on pc which are also on console only run with higher res and stuff but the environment is the same. with next console gen, developers will put stuff in the levels they didn't do before, they won't just make the same game with higher res and higher framerate.

we get whole new engines with the new gen, we don't get them just to increase the resolution.

who knows, maybe we will still get games with 720p and 30fps but with much better looking levels and physics and stuff and pc will play them in 1080p and 60fps then. that would be a possibility to increase the look of the games a lot just not for resolution and frames.

pcs have always been ahead of consoles. nothing is different this gen.

The point is well taken. Wii and now Wii U have been lampooned for their "inferior" technology, but console offerings from Microsoft and Sony are also underpowered when compared to the big fish.

Ultimately, bragging about horsepower on any platform is a little silly and childish. Graphics engines, physics, AI, lighting, and textures allow new possibilities for video game designers, but in the end a video game must be judged on something that transcends its technical specifications.

Yes I do expect to be blown away by the PS4. I have a beast rig:
-GTX670
-i5 3570K
-16GB ram
-watercooled

I run everything at 2560x1440 like BF3 on Ultra, I get around 45fps average.

Eventough I have such a great pc, I'm still amazed when I play ps3 exclusives like Uncharted 3 and God of War.


Nextgen won't just bring more polygons and higher resolutions, the increase in image quality will be tremendous.

I really ROLF everytime pc gamers say "dont expect much of nextgen because we already have high resolutions and whatnots", yeah as if your 2004 pc game looked any better than Uncharted 3.

Turkish said: Yes I do expect to be blown away by the PS4. I have a beast rig: -GTX670 -i5 3570K -16GB ram -watercooled I run everything at 2560x1440 like BF3 on Ultra, I get around 45fps average. Eventough I have such a great pc, I'm still amazed when I play ps3 exclusives like Uncharted 3 and God of War. Nextgen won't just bring more polygons and higher resolutions, the increase in image quality will be tremendous. I really ROLF everytime pc gamers say "dont expect much of nextgen because we already have high resolutions and whatnots", yeah as if your 2004 pc game looked any better than Uncharted 3.

Why do you have 16GB ram and watercooling, they won't do anything for games, the 670 is limit. I have a 670, 8GB RAM, also the i5 3570k, but no sort of extra cooling beyond the default cooler and can get BF2 Ultra 1080p at 60FPS

As for next gen, there are a few things I want

1) I am convinced that the games will look great, optimisation can boost quite a lot

2) I like playing Sony games, which is why I will be pre-ordering my PS4 as soon as I can

3) It should lead to better looking PC games

I still play most games on PS3 because unless it is a great port, it looks just fine given that I sit about 4x as far away to play PS3

Munkeh111 said: Turkish said: Yes I do expect to be blown away by the PS4. I have a beast rig: -GTX670 -i5 3570K -16GB ram -watercooled I run everything at 2560x1440 like BF3 on Ultra, I get around 45fps average. Eventough I have such a great pc, I'm still amazed when I play ps3 exclusives like Uncharted 3 and God of War. Nextgen won't just bring more polygons and higher resolutions, the increase in image quality will be tremendous. I really ROLF everytime pc gamers say "dont expect much of nextgen because we already have high resolutions and whatnots", yeah as if your 2004 pc game looked any better than Uncharted 3. Why do you have 16GB ram and watercooling, they won't do anything for games, the 670 is limit. I have a 670, 8GB RAM, also the i5 3570k, but no sort of extra cooling beyond the default cooler and can get BF2 Ultra 1080p at 60FPS As for next gen, there are a few things I want 1) I am convinced that the games will look great, optimisation can boost quite a lot 2) I like playing Sony games, which is why I will be pre-ordering my PS4 as soon as I can 3) It should lead to better looking PC games I still play most games on PS3 because unless it is a great port, it looks just fine given that I sit about 4x as far away to play PS3

Why? I overclocked it ofcourse. 16GB ram is also awesome, I don't just game on my pc.

1. Definetly

2. Me too

3. Definetly, multiplat devs make games with consoles in mind

PCs are for the internet and photoshop. Why pump money into a computer for gaming? With all the hacks and mods the games always feel like bastardised versions anyway. Not to mention that i would rather play my games on the couch with my 47" 1080p Flat screen then in a office chair on a 17" moniter.. But thats just my opinion :3