What Can We Expect from the Next Generation of Consoles?

24 September 2019

The next generation of consoles are just around the corner, and while the level of excitement for them is lower than the previous generations, a lot of people will probably buy these new consoles. So, what can we expect from them? Are they going to advance the gaming scene in any way? This article will attempt to answer these questions.

The Hardware

We already have some info about what the next generation consoles will have inside. It seems both PlayStation and Xbox will remain with AMD hardware, using mainline products that are slightly customized. This means their architecture and hardware will closely resemble current PCs. This is good news for two reasons:

Developers need to spend much less time coding their games ensuring it is compatible with all the different hardware and software paradigms. Porting games from Xbox to PS to PC will be extremely easy. We already saw a lot of games coming to PC this generation because the games were so easy to port over, and this trend is going to continue.

Using similar hardware to PC means they are also using similar hardware to the previous generation of consoles. This means they’re very likely to be backwardly compatible. Sony has already announced this with the PS5, but we’re still unsure about the next Xbox, but everything points to the fact that it will indeed be compatible. Most people opt-in for PC gaming because they can keep their library even if they change hardware and this allows console gamers to do the same.

The Operating System

We all know that the Xbox console will be based on Windows – this has been the case for two decades now, and it is very unlikely they are going to change it. How compatible it’ll be with Windows is another matter entirely. They’ll need basic features like an internet explorer and music/video player in there, but if they ported the whole system to the console, it’ll make it really vulnerable to attacks, and thus, piracy will become an issue from day one.

The next generation PS’s operating system is much more interesting to speculate about. Sony has used various operating systems from UNIX to FreeBSD, and each operating system has been unique with its own characteristics. It is entirely possible they could create a whole new operating system. Although, since the hardware is so similar to the PS4, there’s no reason not to think it’ll be an extension of its OS. We’ll have to wait to find out.

The Games

Finally, the most important aspect: games. Although signs point to the fact that we won’t see a lot of changes in the gaming scene, we can still expect the continuation of some trends:

VR: Sony already announced they’ll even focus to a greater extent on VR, and the PlayStation VR headset will also be compatible with the new console. While it is likely that Microsoft will do the same. This is pretty expected – people want VR games, this is undeniable. The previous generation wasn’t up to the players’ expectations, but this might change this generation.

Multi-platform games: we mentioned this trend before, the cost of developing AAA games is increasing, but the cost of porting them is decreasing substantially. This means that it is highly profitable to port games. This is why even traditional Japanese companies are porting their games to PC. This’ll make it harder for consoles to get exclusive deals and compete, so it’ll be exciting keeping up with the news.

Graphical fidelity: there are no excuses for the consoles not to be able to hit a constant 4K/30FPS on all games – so, if you love consoles and have a 4K TV, this is something you should look forward to. Otherwise, the GPUs are rumoured to be as strong as a GTX 1060, so they won’t be anything groundbreaking.