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What types of hardware innovations do you want to see in the console space?

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
In the time that I've been on this site, it seems like every time there's some new hardware innovation that would benefit gaming people brush it off like it's a gimmick. Do you guys honestly see ourselves doing the same thing of playing games on a controller in front of a TV 30 years from now when technology in all other sectors is trying to push society and entertainment forward? We'd look like fucking boomers!
Everything that companies have been doing to try and make gaming more futuristic has been brushed off by a large majority of members on Gaf (Specifically, the Xbox dudes. Don't you think the complete lack of hardware innovation and good gimmicks is a contributor to why Xbox is still behind PS and Nintendo in sales? They tried it with the Kinect in 2010 and despite being labeled a failure it went on to sell 30 million units. Maybe we should experiment a bit more?) so i have to ask- What would you like to see in the console/PC space that actually changes the way we play games? Innovations similar to the Game Boy, dual analog, motion controls and more?
Besides VR, i'd like to see Microsoft add gyroscopes to their controllers so we can finally normalize motion aiming in FPS games and rid ourselves of aim assist entirely. Fortnite added it so it's only a matter of time before every other shooter includes gyro on PC, PS, and Switch, and when that day comes Xbox owners are going to be left out. Nerrel is a youtuber who's especially invested in gyro aim, and i think these videos will get rid of all the anger and confusion around gyro aim in this forum-


On a more positive note regarding Xbox, i think Sony can take a hint when it comes to cloud gaming. I'm an avid supporter of NOT having it replace traditional gaming hardware (because that would be a complete and utter fucking nightmare) but MS has been making massive strides in trying to make it at least commonplace among the gaming scene as like a side piece to traditional gaming (for when you want to try out a game before installing, or play games on the go using your phone) and it's more useful than you think.
Another innovation i would LOVE to see in gaming is for 3d audio to make a return. Sony and MS have been making attempts, but so far none of them compare to Environmental Audio Extensions, or EAX from the 90s to mid 2000s, which gave every game a realistic soundscape that no modern game has ever been able to compete with in terms of audio quality. It removes a lot of the immersion when most games sound like PS1 shit and limit themselves to left and right audio. Like put on some headphones and listen to this-


This kind of stuff would be awesome for gaming and you know it.
 
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Something that at least rivals PC's. No need to be stuck in 2020, when it's already 2022 and 2023 is around the corner. No need to be outdated day one with hardware, which will never get updated (unless pro consoles release). Give them hardware upgrade modules. Let them feel unique, until consoles die out. It's only a matter of time, especially as everyone is going services over hardware. Nintendo, your next on the chopping block.
 
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PSVR2 is pretty much what I was hoping for. I think Sony nailed haptics in the DualSense and that should really work well on the PSVR2 controller as well and eye tracking is going to be huge for multiplayer games on VR.

I would like more devs to embrace M&K support on consoles (including M&K only games), the option is there but is mostly ignored. Same goes for gyro aiming.

As for a PS5 Pro, I'm not against it, I might even end up getting one but it isn't really exciting.
 
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Celcius

°Temp. member
I'm happy with the hardware as it is. The dualsense controller in particular is really innovative this gen.
However, I'd love to see what kind of visuals they could achieve with a $999 "Pro" console in 2 or 3 years.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Something that at least rivals PC's. No need to be stuck in 2020, when it's already 2022 and 2023 is around the corner. No need to be outdated day one with hardware, which will never get updated (unless pro consoles release). Give them hardware upgrade modules. Let them feel unique, until consoles die out. It's only a matter of time, especially as everyone is going services over hardware. Nintendo, your next on the chopping block.
while i think this is kind of a good idea on paper, it also brings back the problems of PCs. Many developers (especially Japanese ones) develop exclusively for console because of the comfort of only having to optimize for one set of hardware, so making consoles more upgradeable will probably make them shit bricks. Also, PCs still have the advantage of having parts developed by not just the original manufacturers but also third parties. It's hard to find anyone using an RTX 3060 or 6600 XT made primarily by Nvidia and AMD. They usually get different SKUs made by EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, XFX etc. I find it incredibly unlikely that this will happen on consoles, since they'd have more control over the parts. And finally, i wouldn't want a 3ds/New 3ds situation where games are made specifically to only run on consoles with these specifications. (the N3ds had games that couldn't run on a base 3ds, like minecraft and xenoblade chronicles) With PCs even the worst computer can run any game. It may not be at a desired performance, but it will run. That might not happen on consoles when corporations have more control on what you can buy and what you can sell.
Leave consoles to what they do best- Convenience.
(also thicc_girls_are_teh_best thicc_girls_are_teh_best i know you'd like my first post. You're a sucker for stuff like this and i can't blame you for it really LMAO)
 
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The logical next step after VR is direct neuronal stimulation to simulate reality across all subjective senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. I'd really like to see this version of gaming in my lifetime: fully-immersive and indistinguishable from reality. But only if it's not being delivered to us by corrupt entities who don't have our best interests at heart. So Facebook's out, obviously lol
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
The logical next step after VR is direct neuronal stimulation to simulate reality across all subjective senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. I'd really like to see this version of gaming in my lifetime: fully-immersive and indistinguishable from reality. But only if it's not being delivered to us by corrupt entities who don't have our best interests at heart. So Facebook's out, obviously lol
So basically Full Dive VR like in Sword Art Online? I can see that happening, but it's gonna be a loooooooooooooong ass time before it becomes a thing, and this video explains why
 

Fbh

Member
Can't really think of anything.

The tech inside games has evolved a lot and of course online multiplayer ha basically taken over gaming. But at its the core the base experience of playing games on a TV with a controller in your hand has pretty much remained unchanged for decades, and there's a reason for that. VR and motion controls are cool .....for the weekend. But after a long day at work I often don't feel like going home, putting on a helmet and start hopping around my living room.
I guess a sci fi scenario with the sort of virtual reality where it basically taps into your brain and you actually feel like you are in another world would be awesome.

The one thing I'd like to see all console makers invest into is up scaling tech. Have some sort of hardware based scaling (like Nvidia with their tensor cores) built into their system. As long as the console business model continues focusing on affordable prices, consoles will always struggle with hardware limitations and quickly outdated tech. Investing in solutions that will allow devs to get a lot more performance from weak hardware seems great.
 
VR: I'd like at least one system (likely PS6) to have an entry-level VR headset included by default next gen. That way devs can really push for game design taking full advantage of VR capabilities and the OS can also leverage VR and traditional viewing methods equally. It'd also help with getting VR into the mainstream, and likely usher things forward for AR as well.

Controllers: Face buttons with haptic feedback support, analog sticks with haptic feedback, highly granular rumble and directional-based feedback systems.

Tech: Finally ditch the relic of GDDR and move to HBM, either HBM3 or HBM4, and go a step further with architectures built around HBM-PIM (Processing In Memory) technologies, and systems built with that and PNM (Processing Near Memory) technology features (which in a way the SSD I/O in PS5 is somewhat a more crude example of but there's lots of room for iteration there).

100+ TF GPUs so compute constraints will be a thing of the past. Multi-user VR support via a single console unit. Smarter integration of CPU and GPU logic into the HBM-PIM and PNM memory architectures to help cut down on power consumption and improve performance efficiency significantly. Even faster SSDs, and some serious development of AI-powered programming data model systems like GPT-3 (not just for text writing but also bulk graphics asset creation, logic programming bulk creation etc.) to allow for much faster AAA game development and build up a new class of curator designers/programmers/writers who can personalize and mold AI-powered programming models into something with a more artistic and human element/taste.

Games: Hopefully a return of some of my favorite dormant IP from companies like Sony (Parappa, Tomba!, Omega Boost etc.), Nintendo (F-Zero, etc.), Sega (Virtua Fighter, Ristar, traditional Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Dragon Force, Outrun etc.), Namco (Ridge Racer, Dancing Eyes, etc.), Capcom (Cyberbots, Rival Schools, Maximo etc.), either as AAA or AA style games. Tho I guess a few of those could be coming this gen as well.

Industry: Death of massive acquisitions & consolidation. Maybe Apple stepping in with a console to see what they'd bring.
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
Something that at least rivals PC's. No need to be stuck in 2020, when it's already 2022 and 2023 is around the corner. No need to be outdated day one with hardware, which will never get updated (unless pro consoles release). Give them hardware upgrade modules. Let them feel unique, until consoles die out. It's only a matter of time, especially as everyone is going services over hardware. Nintendo, your next on the chopping block.
The consoles are using current hardware though. RDNA2 is still AMDs current GPU architecture. These consoles would outperform anything on the market when they were being built besides the 2080 and 2080ti.

What you purpose is PCing a console, in which case why wouldn't you just get a PC so you aren't locked in an ecosystem? Consoles are only as affordable as they are due to mass production and eating costs to make more money by locking you in their ecosystem. Apple can both charge a lot of money and lock their customers in, but neither console could pull that off.

Since consoles are already PCs, I can see them just releasing a new model every 2 years and just stating what consoles a game works with. I think this is where Xbox is headed since they have moved to just "XBOX" branding on their games with compatible console logos to the side.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
I just want photorealism for realistic games and more realistic animations and physics with more human like AI and bigger set pieces

Then life will be perfect

r and r vacation GIF by Corona


As far as hardware I guess VR that resembles real life like that movie that I can't remember the name of
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
VR and motion controls are cool .....for the weekend. But after a long day at work I often don't feel like going home, putting on a helmet and start hopping around my living room.
while i can understand the thing about VR, Gyro aim really doesn't take much muscle to do. Set the sensitivity super high and basically just slightly motion your controller towards where you want it to. it's an objective improvement over stick aiming and it doesn't take much more input.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
some serious development of AI-powered programming data model systems like GPT-3 (not just for text writing but also bulk graphics asset creation, logic programming bulk creation etc.) to allow for much faster AAA game development and build up a new class of curator designers/programmers/writers who can personalize and mold AI-powered programming models into something with a more artistic and human element/taste.
I like your magic words funny man!
Genuinely that sounds fucking awesome, although wouldn't that put a lot of game developers out of a job?
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Sega (Virtua Fighter, Ristar, traditional Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Dragon Force, Outrun etc.)
Today is your lucky day
 

ksdixon

Member
Handheld and/or controller with a screen. screen for remote play around house. Preferably a handheld as playing a controller on the bus would probably look weird. Maybe controller is a handheld that just slots into controller handles shell.

Sick of gimped phone games on the go, and hacked together controller phoneholders, which arent even first party shaped etc.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Open hardware, do that and its almost guaranteed that i'll drop PC and go full console depending on the kind of support the console's OS gets.
 

ksdixon

Member
I wish something like "wii mode" on wii u was available as an option toggle, simillar to previous themes? I absolute hate the ps5 dashboard layout and wish it was possible to just flash the PS4 OS onto PS5's specs.
 

ChiefDada

Gold Member
The logical next step after VR is direct neuronal stimulation to simulate reality across all subjective senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. I'd really like to see this version of gaming in my lifetime: fully-immersive and indistinguishable from reality. But only if it's not being delivered to us by corrupt entities who don't have our best interests at heart. So Facebook's out, obviously lol

It sounds like you're asking for the end of a productive civilization. What would be the purpose of us having dreams and ambitions and working towards them if they're so easily attainable by slapping visors on your face or inserting neural intelligent in your head? The addiction would surely be magnitudes greater than any drug known to man.

With that being said...

Sign Up Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
It sounds like you're asking for the end of a productive civilization. What would be the purpose of us having dreams and ambitions and working towards them if they're so easily attainable by slapping visors on your face or inserting neural intelligent in your head? The addiction would surely be magnitudes greater than any drug known to man.

With that being said...

Sign Up Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
hey we're talking about video games here stop trying to give us an existential crisis
 
Something that at least rivals PC's. No need to be stuck in 2020, when it's already 2022 and 2023 is around the corner. No need to be outdated day one with hardware, which will never get updated (unless pro consoles release). Give them hardware upgrade modules. Let them feel unique, until consoles die out. It's only a matter of time, especially as everyone is going services over hardware. Nintendo, your next on the chopping block.
I think as the consoles become more service oriented and platforms well see more upgrade oriented consoles. Let us switch out cpu and gpu etc, even if its all propriety.
 

TrackZ

Member
I just wants gobs of computational and graphical power for high fidelity, resolution, and frame rate. That’s all I need.
 
People willing to drop thousands of dollars on a gaming device will never be the majority. Anybody thinking they can get away with a $1000 console will be rightfully laughed out of the market.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Mod support like on PC. Aside from a handful of games like Bethesda RPGs, console makers seem to hate mods.

Mods are the best part of Skyrim and Fallout. Great community creations.
 

sachos

Member
I think i just want the cliche right now: looking forward to what AI enhancements we will get in the future, not only image reconstruction, i wonder if they can get FPS AI interpolation going and how would it feel/look if even possible. That and more advanced RT. PSV3 being wireless on top of the obvious enhancements in a next next gen VR headset would be big too.
 
Here's a revolutionary innovation for the gaming space, never seen before people you heard it here first:
  • Games release finished and in no need of further patches/fixes on a physical format, because platform holders actually hold game publishers accountable for the quality they send in for verification/approval
  • Games are read directly from said physical medium, so they don't need to install onto a hard disk first
  • Consoles don't cost more than 400$ and are cheap and easy to produce, yet built like tanks
  • Graphics aren't important, instead fun and replayability are emphasized
  • VR and gun support for good measure
Man, that'd be a future I'd like to live in.
 
Mod support like on PC. Aside from a handful of games like Bethesda RPGs, console makers seem to hate mods.

Mods are the best part of Skyrim and Fallout. Great community creations.
I'd even be happy with a universal 'Creation Club' system so modders can get paid. Such a program could even be used as a recruiting program for devs to hire unknown talent out of.
 
I like your magic words funny man!
Genuinely that sounds fucking awesome, although wouldn't that put a lot of game developers out of a job?

Good question. I've actually listed that as a potential concern previously, and it would be the biggest issue with pushing such a model forward. Some job loss would be inevitable, and people in a lot of other positions would have to learn new sets of skills or face either being out of a job or having a job with reduced input & responsibilities.

I think some kind of codification and industry-wide establishment to govern practices with such tech, would have to be established before it got adapted far and wide. Something like an ESRB, conceptually. But if/when it does become a reality, say goodbye to these long-ass six/seven-year development cycles for AAA games. Those days will be done and gone!
 

01011001

Banned
the right analog stick has to go bye bye.

Sony introduced it, not knowing how to really use it, they experimented with stuff like mimicking weapon movement with it in Ape Escape, and then after a while developers adopted it as a way to control the camera and aim in shooters

but for that stuff there are better alternatives that give more precision and are mote intuitive for new players as well.

alternative 1: The Steam controller like gigantic, high precision touch pad, with haptic feedback and circles for orientation.

alternative 2: A Trackball with a high DPS laser optic

imo both of these would not only increase precision but also make crossplay in shooters more even between mouse and controller players and it is way more intuitive to aim with a mouse-like input than it is with an analog stick.

the closest we ever came to something similar was the DS and shooters on the DS.
the early models always included a thumb-strap you could use to use the pressure sensitive touchscreen with pretty high precision using a single thumb.
so games like Metroid Prime Hunters, GoldenEye Rogue Agent and other shooters on the DS had REALLY good aiming controls using the touch screen.
(I think the strap in this video is not the official one but many accessory bundles came with third party ones)


ALSO a high quality touch pad would basically be immune to stick drift, and right sticks are way more prone to drift than left sticks due to the aiming in shooters putting way more strain on them


the right analog stick is a suboptimal controller element for the job it is doing in modern games.


for traditionalists or people afraid of change they could offer a classic controller with a right stick of course... also for easier backwards compatibility (although you can easily emulate stick inputs on a touch pad, maybe suboptimal for some games but not terrible)
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Graphics aren't important, instead fun and replayability are emphasized
I mean, the best games of all time have had VERY appealing graphics and artstyles to look at. like even the games people cite for not having "good graphics" but amazing gameplay are usually appealing. Super Mario World, Sonic 2, OOT (and by that game i mean just the temples) the list goes on
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
the right analog stick has to go bye bye.

Sony introduced it, not knowing how to really use it, they experimented with stuff like mimicking weapon movement with it in Ape Escape, and then after a while developers adopted it as a way to control the camera and aim in shooters

but for that stuff there are better alternatives that give more precision and are mote intuitive for new players as well.

alternative 1: The Steam controller like gigantic, high precision touch pad, with haptic feedback and circles for orientation.

alternative 2: A Trackball with a high DPS laser optic

imo both of these would not only increase precision but also make crossplay in shooters more even between mouse and controller players and it is way more intuitive to aim with a mouse-like input than it is with an analog stick.

the closest we ever came to something similar was the DS and shooters on the DS.
the early models always included a thumb-strap you could use to use the pressure sensitive touchscreen with pretty high precision using a single thumb.
so games like Metroid Prime Hunters, GoldenEye Rogue Agent and other shooters on the DS had REALLY good aiming controls using the touch screen.
(the strap in this video is not the official one but many accessory bundles came with third party ones)


ALSO a high quality touch pad would basically be immune to stick drift, and right sticks are way more prone to drift than left sticks due to the aiming in shooters putting way more strain on them


the right analog stick is a suboptimal controller element for the job it is doing in modern games.


for traditionalists or people afraid of change they could offer a classic controller with a right stick of course... also for easier backwards compatibility (although you can easily emulate stick inputs on a touch pad, maybe suboptimal for some games but not terrible)

Uh.... wow. Holy shit. This might be the best message I've read on this thread yet. You've actually made a really really good case for the removal of the Right analog stick. And thinking about it, every application ive seen it used for in games would be performed better by a touchpad or a trackball. That's an amazing idea
 

01011001

Banned
Uh.... wow. Holy shit. This might be the best message I've read on this thread yet. You've actually made a really really good case for the removal of the Right analog stick. And thinking about it, every application ive seen it used for in games would be performed better by a touchpad or a trackball. That's an amazing idea

Valve was onto something with that Controller... and they didn't give up on the idea either since the Deck also has these pads

1200px-Steam_Controller_B.jpg


I think the big mistake they made was to not have a dpad on the left and instead have a second touchoad there that honestly has no good usecase
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
for directional movement the right touchpad can have 4/8 clickable surfaces similar to the steam controller, and the touchpad can handle everything else!!! That's genius, holy shit!
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I dont see how a mini trackball for RS can be good .

A trackball will roll, be harder to click down if needed, and you got to keep rolling it to get it to do things.

If I'm playing a shooter, I can literally flick the RS to gently do something, or slightly nudge it a bit holding it down and my aimer will slowly creep that direction. When I'm done, it flicks back to centre.

If it's a ball mechanic, if I roll the ball a bit like slowly creeping a reticule (let's say aiming right slowing), how does it stop unless I roll it back to a centre position? If letting go of the ball resets it to centre, then in order to keep moving in that direction, I'd have to keep rolling it with my thumb.
 
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01011001

Banned
for directional movement the right touchpad can have 4/8 clickable surfaces similar to the steam controller, and the touchpad can handle everything else!!! That's genius, holy shit!

you can indeed map multiple buttons onto the pad on a steam comtroller, so you could bind reload on the left side and have a fast way to reload without having to reach down to the X button.

the amount of freedom such a touchpad offers not only for the player with button mapping but also the developer with new ideas they can implement with such a pad is pretty large
 
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01011001

Banned
I dont see how a mini trackball for RS can be good .

A trackball will roll, be harder to click down if needed, and you got to keep rolling it to get it to do things.

If I'm playing a shooter, I can literally flick the RS to gently do something, or slightly nudge it a bit holding it down and my aimer will slowly creep that direction. When I'm done, it flicks back to centre.

If it's a ball mechanic, if I roll the ball a bit like slowly creeping a reticule (let's say aiming right slowing), how does it stop unless I roll it back to a centre position? If letting go of the ball resets it to centre, then in order to keep moving in that direction, I'd have to keep rolling it with my thumb.

a track ball is indeed not as good as a touch pad, but in many ways could be better than a stick. Valve actually experimented with trackballs for the steam controller. they didn't like it because of the maintenance it would need from the user

stick buttons are awful anyway, I'd rather have a third shoulder button or a grip button to replace those.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I dont see how a mini trackball for RS can be good .

A trackball will roll, be harder to click down if needed, and you got to keep rolling it to get it to do things.

If I'm playing a shooter, I can literally flick the RS to gently do something, or slightly nudge it a bit holding it down and my aimer will slowly creep that direction. When I'm done, it flicks back to centre.

If it's a ball mechanic, if I roll the ball a bit like slowly creeping a reticule (let's say aiming right slowing), how does it stop unless I roll it back to a centre position? If letting go of the ball resets it to centre, then in order to keep moving in that direction, I'd have to keep rolling it with my thumb.
In a shooter yeah it's impractical, but it's better for changing directions in a shooter than a stick can, and in general has far superior camera control. Performing a 180 on an analog stick vs a trackball is a night and day difference The problem with a trackball is that it's a bit harder to control than an analog stick and you're putting all of your camera control in charge of a thing that basically has 0 friction and goes out of control wildly. But then you compare it to a stick which lets you move at a slow, limited speed in a small space which makes precision far harder
 
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