The Next-Gen War

The next big console war is starting to shape up. The Wii U announcement at E3 and the possibilities of a new Xbox or Playstation have kept video gamers on their feet waiting for more information. Snippets of details have been found lately with concept designs and predicted specifications hitting various websites.

Eurogamer recently stated that they had been told that visuals on par with the Hollywood Blockbuster movie Avatar are a genuine possibility for the next generation of consoles. The claim was first made by graphics company AMD and is slowly being backed up by other video game developers.

Obviously a lot of this speculation is going to depend on when Microsoft and Sony decide to announce and launch their respective hardware but it has been noted that they should be around the level of DirectX 11.

In fact Crytek, the creators of the CryEngine 3, recently added Direct X 11 support to their PC version of first-person shooter Crysis 2. This has prompted several gaming sites to suggest that the new graphics are a glimpse into the next generation.

Crytek have also been rumoured to be making the fourth instalment in the Timesplitter franchise for Microsoft and Sony’s next console outings and reckons even better visuals are possible.

Earlier this year at GDC Epic Games released a tech demo of their hugely impressive Samaritan demo; this was designed to showcase the DirectX 11 capabilities on its Unreal Engine 3. The character displayed had impressive visuals from singular blades of hair to drips of sweat but the studio insisted this was only ever a cinematic experience and there was no game to go along with it.

Epic Game co-founder Mark rein recently told Eurogamer that “tomorrows console is today’s high end PC”.

While gamer tongues are wagging on the potential power of the next generation, developers are looking beyond the visual aspect. Its all well and good having graphics like Avatar but the whole package needs to be ramped up. You’ve got things like AI, multiplayer, integrated gaming communities and complete social experiences that all have an impact on the final development plans of each studio.

It has also been mentioned around the web that Microsoft’s unannounced console will allow developers to make every single NPC in an open world game such as Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto totally individual mentality so that they react to the player’s progress in completely diverse ways.

Many studios are finding the whole process of next-gen development a new set of issues. It’s one point getting the raw power to do these things but you have to be able to take advantage of it in a logical way.

Crytek think they have the solution with their in-house engine CryEngine 3, which they claim is already up to the task. This coupled with the benefit of having experience with the advanced PCs today; means the studio should be able to manage the next-gen transition better then many others.

There are reports circulating the Internet that explain to us that Microsoft is preparing to reveal the next Xbox at E3 2012. This has been backed up by a number of industry sources too. To coincide with is the rumour that the release of this console is planned for 2014 but this may now be brought forward to 2013 with Nintendo’s plan to launch the Wii U in 2012. In addition to this sources have indicated that the larger studios have already had target specs for the new console to help them start their development process.

Microsoft have refused to comment directly on the rumours of their next-gen plans, instead outlining the continued success of the Xbox 360. Last year Microsoft said that their hardware add-on Kinect would add five years onto the current console’s life cycle.

Are you pleased that a new console is likely just over the horizon? Have you heard any other rumours relating to the next console cycle? Please comment below with your feelings on this subject.