Ah, yes, the camera direction was another brilliant touch. I didn't mention it but I should have. My point is that when everything is combined, Mass Effect brings really amazing storytelling to the table that wasn't possible last generation through the game engine, lighting, textures, cameras, and sound. Could it have run better? Absolutely. But since this was BioWare's first stab at the 360 and even they admit the game was rushed, there's a lot more there to tap into for future releases.

And some of the AI in that game are really bastards... I just hit a pirate cove last night and trying to coax those bastards out into the open without dying was a real pain. 

I hate pc fanboys they think they know everything. "PS3 has hit the wall already".

I think all 3 systems have a long way to go, but all 3 systems are jokes compared to PCs, which also have a long way to go but cost too much. I have a Wii/PC/DS combo and love it.

But I agree with everybody so far who's said it's not so much a technology wall as a budget wall. Very few developers can afford the technology we already have. We need to find ways to make gaming cheaper before we keep raising production values and running indie devs into bankruptcy.

I hope WiiWare and XBLA and PSN can do their parts to keep indie devs afloat like the DS and Wii are doing with their insanely cheap dev costs.

So anybody with a 40 inch HD TV or larger will agree with you, rocketpig? How many people is that exactly? If the biggest contribution was the HD graphics then there is little point to the new generation. Luckily there is more to it than that.

Unfortunately The improvements are incremental, rather than huge (outside of playing it on a 40 inch HDTV). With the initial 3d generation that was a huge jump, but it was an akward and extremely limited jump. What was capable with those systems was something completely different from the previous generation, but highly limited in what it was doing. There simply wasn't enough power or technology to really flesh out ideas, but they made do and made some incredible stuff. It added something that wasn't in the previous generation.

Then the PS2 generation broke down those barriers, made incredible things possible. It refined what the previous generation did. That was great, much like the SNES refined what the NES did. But then rather than try to add something, the HD consoles just chose to refine it a bit further. That's great if you have a 40 inch HDTV and a nice bose theater sound system, but that is an extreme minority. For the rest of us it's just an extension of the previous generation, it takes what had been done and just does it a bit better.


I'm glad the wii is kicking ass an taking names, not because I'm against technology, but I'm for innovation. And if I have to choose between a console that's just pushing power and technology and one that is trying to create innovation I will back the newcomer. If the wii failed then the next generation would just be the exact same as the previous two, just a bit prettier with better physics. But now real progress can be made. It will be a bumpy ride to get there, and there will be alot of cheap knock off shovelware as developers try to figure out what to do with the new innovations in gaming, but it always is a bumpy transition when something different gets everyone's attention.

I have a 56" DLP HDTV. I bought it for the inches and not for the pixels. I have NO HD content. I just have a Wii and a DVD/VCR hooked up to it. My wii looks great on it. I have absolutely no plans to buy a hi-definition game console or movie player. Mwahahahaha!

If you were okay with the old square 480i resolutions at 30fps, it's obvious we view gaming differently. I like the Wii as much as the next guy but I won't discount the advancements made by Mass Effect, Heavenly Sword, Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, and other games just because they use a standard controller. Without HD graphics and improved resolutions and sound, those games wouldn't be possible in their current states. Not all games would benefit from waggle just as not all games would benefit from HD.

There's definitely room for both in this market. I appreciate the HD improvements that lead to Mass Effect just as much as I appreciate the controller changes that lead to Mario Galaxy. Just as developers put out shovelware for the Wii, other developers are struggling to economically harness the power of the PS3/360.

I just don't see how anyone can possibly believe that HD resolutions and increased processing power are pointless. It gives developers more leeway to achieve an epic game (if that's what they're going for), in turn bringing us games that were impossible in the past.

You don't even watch TV in high def? Anyway, the Wii supports widescreen and still looks pretty good on HDTVs. I wouldn't want to play one on a square TV, that's for sure.

We do view gaming differently. I still have an SDTV, and while I plan on getting an HD TV I don't plan on getting a huge one (28-32 inch), and I'm not getting it for strictly for gaming purposes.

I do appreciate your democratic view of the situation though. I don't think Assassins creed needs motion sensing to be good, nor heavenly sword waggle. But I don't think that simply making things prettier and with better physics and sound is the way forward. I think that's simply doing the same thing that's been done for the past decade, just doing it a bit better. I believe innovation is needed to keep the industry growing, and to keep games fresh. Specializing, and targeting increasingly more specific (and smaller) demographics cause the market to stagnate and games to become stale.

I wouldn't be opposed to the wii having a bit more power, but if I had to choose between an underpowered system that is changing the way we play and view games, and super powered systems that require thousands of dollars invested to truly appreciate I would choose...well I already chose a wii.

But again, I do appreciate the democratic spirit with which you approach the question.

Definitely not. I truly appreciate the steps Nintendo has taken the past few years to push the industry forward but IMO, too many people think innovation and graphics are mutually exclusive things. Some games only need waggle while others are better suited to better lighting, graphics, and AI. Some, and I hope to see this next generation, will use both.

Which is why the divergent console system we're seeing this generation is actually kinda cool. There's a console and market for almost every developer out there who wants to try something new, whether it be pushing AI crowd control to new heights or using Nintendo's white pointer-thingie for entirely new and interesting things. 

I agree with this. It won't be a matter of hardware & software makers having to scale back their technology, but of having to adapt to the changing times. Over the last few years, it's become almost rare for a developer to write their own engine for a project, because it's becoming so impractical. That will start to become the case with all kinds of game assets.

10 years ago, people were predicting that things like generic texture and model libraries would become popular when we reached this point. I'm not sure that'll be the case, because most game worlds are too unique to use standard assets and the players will scrutinize carefully to find them. More likely it'll be in the form of middleware for easier design--for instance, a more sophisticated version of the creature creation software used in Spore, targetted to professional artists and animators. Procedural animation will make developers' lives a lot easier, since they won't have to hand animate or motion capture every single animation they need. Better 3D scanning techniques might come into play too--maybe you'll be able to scan someone's body and the software will intelligently generate a detailed, realistically moving model.

Once this stuff becomes widely available, game projects will become more manageable. Or at least budgets and teams won't have to swell much larger than they have already.

One last thing: anyone saying that graphics haven't been a major leap this generation over last is out of their mind.