By next year many of us will be ready for a next gen console. However, personally I don't want to pay for a brand new console only to have many of its games look worse than Uncharted 3 etc. al.

A new generation of consoles are meant to make the previous gen look bad, so it will leave me feeling rather empty if my 5 year old console pumps out better looking games than my brand new Wii U.

Granted, specs haven't been released for Wii U yet, and we haven't seen enough to judge its power by. But the rumours point to it being a little more powerful than PS3.

Do any of you find this as ridiculous and deal-breaking as me? I know graphics aren't everything and the Wii U might end up 5xPS3 (hopefully), but with a new generation I want new levels of visuals.

I've never cared about graphics really, as long as they are above DC level I'm fine.

Anyway the jump from Wii to WiiU seems pretty substantial to me, just take the difference from SS to the Zelda tech demo. While I'm aware that the tech demo had no AI to deal with, I'm assuming that is graphically representative of the WiiU as developers get to grips with the console.

Just try to make a PC with worse graphical capabilities than the PS3 or 360, I dare you... Especially by next year, even ridiculously cheap components will be significantly more powerful than the PS3 or 360 which have really underpowered GPUs compared to modern ones.

Plus, the next generation of Sony/MS consoles will likely be cheaper to make than PS3 or 360 were when they launched, so don't expect a big leap in graphics from any console. The PS3->PS4 leap will likely be smaller than the PS2->PS3 leap.

''even ridiculously cheap components will be significantly more powerful than the PS3 or 360''

Exactly! That's exactly why I'm disapointed with the rumours of Wii U's specs...

''Plus, the next generation of Sony/MS consoles will likely be cheaper to make than PS3 or 360 were when they launched, so don't expect a big leap in graphics from any console. The PS3->PS4 leap will likely be smaller than the PS2->PS3 leap.''

I don't get the 'Plus'. Your two paragraphs do not seem to be complimentary. I get your point in the second paragraph though, and its true that many, many agree with you. I however do not. I see no reason why the next gen of consoles won't offer a significant leap in graphics. Otherwise, what will be the point of the next gen?

Let's not forget that we will be stuck with 1080P for a long time. Leaping too far ahead will just add to the production cost.

ummmmm...no. MS and Sony aren't going to even think about releasing their systems for at least another three years. By the time the successors to the XBox and PS line come out more than likely Nintendo is probably going to have THEIR next console up. I also don't expect a gigantic upgrade when the new tech comes out

What specs rumors are you talking about exactly? Every rumor I've seen is very vague regarding the GPU (they typically refer to a generation of GPUs which includes low-end to high-end components and everything in between).

The main reason why I don't believe MS/Sony will offer a huge graphical leap is that they've had huge problems with this gen's graphical leap. They will not want to put expensive or very hot (as in temperature) components in the new consoles due to "$599 U.S. dollars" and the "RROD". Expensive hardware is simply not working out well for them in terms of profits.

PS: Regarding the "plus" I may have been confusing this thread with another so just ignore that.

For me God of War III was epic because of the visual spectacle. It keeps me enthralled to look at a beautiful game. Another game I play a lot is Fifa, and I am amazed at how the animations get better every year. It really does add a lot to the experience imo. Lastly, Wipeout. What a stunning game to play. How much fun would it have been without the beautiful scenery filling my HD screen?

I accept what your saying, but I'm saying that I'm not fine with graphics that are simply above DC level. Not at all.

The main problems with today's graphics are unrealistic lighting, low-res textures and animations. All of those can be vastly improved without increasing the resolution beyond 1080p.

Agreed.

At the distance I sit from my 42'' screen it would make no discernable difference at all to increase the resolution beyond 1080. However, don't forget that Gran Turismo 4 on PS2 could output at 1080, so using resolution as a measure for graphics isn't very accurate. There is HUGE scope for improving textures - Higher detail and more variety will come with increased ram. We've all seen the next Unreal engine tech demo and that shits all over anything on current consoles.

I am surprised that people somehow think the improvement of graphics will slow down. Imo the only factor is dev cost, but with time and better dev tools it'll become easier to make games look like that stunning Unreal tech demo.