Next generation predictions.

[20happyballs]

I think that it would be good for the industry overall to not begin the next generation of consoles until at at least 2013. A new generation probably scares most developers because development costs are already high as it is. The average costs to a produce a game this gen is much higher than the previous gen, and developing a game in the previous gen was much more costly than the generation before that. Developement costs go way up with every new generation because every little detail in a game costs money to create and every new generation greatly multiplies the amount of detail required to make a game look current. Developers need to find easier and more effecient ways to develop games if the current trend continues. From a cusumers perspective, I feel that switching to a new generation won't even be worth it if it occurs within the next 2 years. There is nothing on the PC, Crysis included, that makes me feel like the current generation of consoles is inadequate. In the past, new consoles brought better graphics which allowed for new gameplay innovations. But I feel that we are already at the point where our current tech in graphics allows for any type of game to be enjoyable. Red Dead Redemption, for example, would not have been nearly as great as it is on last gen consoles as it is on current consoles. The current generation opened up an opportunity to create a great game like that, but I don't feel that there is a game that cannot be made on our current generation of consoles because of graphic limitations. Until Microsoft and Sony can provide a truly substantial reason to make me want a new console, I don't think that a new generation is needed. I'm sure that many others feel the same way and that would greatly affect sales.