If this generation ends in 2020, no matter what you bought, would you be annoyed?

No

No. I got a PS4 in 2014. That would be 6 years. How much longer should we be expecting these consoles to last? If I were to get a 1X in lets say 2018 some time and then they rolled out a successor in 2020, that might peeve me. Can't really see that happening though.

I would be annoyed it took so long. This has been a good gen for games but had underpowered hardware. I would prefer PS5 hit next year or 2019 at the latest, with true 4k performance and more power to drive next gen VR.

And before people tell me to get a PC I am seriously considering it and already bought a gaming laptop but I vastly prefer the console experience for various reasons.

Seeing as I owned my PS4 since pretty much launch, I'd be ok with a 2020 generational change. That said, I honestly don't think we'll see a traditional new console generation for a very long time, if ever. The PS4 and Xbox One are Intel based computers at this point, and I don't see that changing as the main way the world computes. In that case, what's the point in changing architecture? As the PS4 Pro and X1 X have both shown, you can simply use the same architecture and just give it more power. That way you don't lose the selling point of the previous generation's library while still capturing the gains in processing power.

Now, that doesn't mean that the vanilla PS4 and X1 will be supported forever. There will come a point where modern games are simply too much for these systems, and Microsoft and Sony will quietly stop officially supporting the launch versions of their consoles. Like the first generation iPad, you can use it, but the experience will be so hobbled you won't bother. If that happens in 2020 (admittedly a bit on the earlier side), I can't say I'd be too bummed. The next console I'd get will ostensibly play my current game collection, so it's just a hardware upgrade like my phone or tablet.

I wouldn't mind. I got a PS4 at the end of 2015 and feel like I've already more than enough use out of it to justify my purchase. It doesn't mean I would be buying one day one or even year one but I wouldn't feel cheated.

2020 sounds perfectly reasonable. If anything I would prefer it to come sooner so that I don't feel semi-left behind by not buying into a half-step PS4 Pro or XBONE X.

As much as people last year liked to talk about console generations becoming a meaningless idea, at some point there is going to be a hard break in forward compatibility like you say. And half a dozen years later there will be another hard break.

I just buy whatever I want, whenever I want. Its all good.

Nah, I was in day one and I'll get my money's worth.

I will say that I'm bummed about resolution being the most important thing that upgraded hardware is being designed to do these days. Seems like the new gameplay innovations brought on from the jumps of PS1 to PS2 to PS3 are kind of done. Have we seen it all in terms of gameplay? Is all that's left a mix and match of existing genres?

I could see the PS4/One S getting the boot in 2020 with a new flagship model above the Pro and the X - The ProPlus and X2: The Threat.

As someone who only bought a PS4 last summer, I'm fine with a complete change in 2020. I bought my first OG Xbox about 6 months after the 360 got launched.

After 30 years its kind of what ive been used to. I think we got a bit spoiled last generation.

I do think the next generation will be a bit different.

Na, 2020 would ok though I think it'll go on a bit longer. I do expect a clean cut off with the next boxes that's not just a facelift with full backwards compatibility. I got my PS4 around when MGSV came out and though I don't feel like I've quite got my money's worth yet, it's not like I'll ever be able to play everything I want to play by the time the gen ends. I still play my PS3 I got in 2009 and I won't be done with the PS4 even after the industries way past it.

Having transitioned to PC only after the Wii/PS3, generations have lost all meaning for me. As long as developers are targeting the PC as the lead platform, I'm not really concerned with how the consoles are handling a game; a new generation only interests me if that means console-first games will wind up with better base assets due to a shrunken performance gap. The timeframe doesn't concern me too much; I've got plenty of games to get to and mostly everything from this gen looks great.

PS4 and xbone will have been out 7 years in 2020. That's a plenty long run.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last gen and they just go the annual upgrade route, which i am all for actually. If they do switch i dont mind i am primarily pc these days anyway.

Even though I been PC gaming for years just observing this console generation it seems like it has been the worst not enough focus on new third party AAA IP's and more of a focus on hardware and HD remakes. If Sony and Microsoft released more powerful consoles back in 2013 I think this generation would of been alot better for not only console gamers but PC gamers. Bottom line the PS5 and the next Xbox could of and should of been released next year if this generation of consoles where at the specs they should of been at launch in 2013.

I feel like I just got on the bandwagon but I'm just selfish.

No. I'll be fine with it. 7 years is a long time and I feel that we are going to need better hardware once 4K really hits.

2020 is 3 years from now...so yeah I'd be okay with that. It's not like the PS4 and xbox1 just came out this year. They had hardware upgrades, sure, but they've been around for a while now.

I'm all for new hardware moving the industry forward, not a fan of how we all kinda stagnated for a couple years towards the end of the last generation.

That being said, 2020 is too soon I think, without amount of money invested to develop the Pro and especially the One X.No way they write that off in 3 years. I'm thinking 2023, an even 10 years. That's assuming this isn't the last console generation and the industry doesn't just do hardware iterations every 3-4 years.

People have to remember that last generation was very long. From what I understand, Sony and MS were actually expecting to squeeze a little bit more out of their consoles than they wound up getting, but frankly things were pretty dire there towards the end, on both the performance and creativity sides of things.

If they come out with new consoles in 2020, that would basically be an old fashioned console cycle. Actually, even more than old fashioned - the PS1 and 2 both had 6 year lifespans (1994-2000, 2000-2006) and if new consoles come out in 2020, the Xbox One and PS4 will have had seven year lifespans (2013-2020).

But I don't think we'll see brand new consoles in 2020. I think the extra power boost of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X (Christ, MS needs to fire whoever keeps coming up with Xbox names) was in part meant to keep the current console cycle chugging for a little longer. If people become unsatisfied with the performance they're getting out of their old PS4's and Xbox One's, they can just buy an Xbox One X/PS4 Pro sometime in the next three years for that extra power boost instead of building a PC like so many people seem to have done in the late 360/PS3 era.

EDIT: Also, worth noting - if new consoles come out in 2020 and both of them are fully backwards compatible with this current generation, I'll probably leap on that train a lot sooner than I did with this generation. Also, don't cut out features. The Xbox 360 was pretty good about letting me play my own music or audio files in the background of whatever game I was playing. Give me that feature back, it was so easy and awesome to use.

This gen has been fantastic. I've gotten way more than my money's worth with my ps4. I would feel fully satisfied if they ended support for it tomorrow.

I've been gaming for around 20 years now and I can say with some confidence that games are better than they have ever been, and get better every day. I know Vinny says "it's the best time to be playing games" semi jokingly, but it's the damn truth. The thought that people still look down on games, but take in the same old crappy movies/TV shows is laughable.

Even if I bought in today, there's enough good stuff out there that I would be satisfied with the next three years. I just wouldn't jump into the next hardware early. It'd give me time to wait even more for 4k content considering I'm pretty content with 1080p TVs and 1440p monitors. I'd rather a 4k monitor than TV, tbh, with how close I sit to my 27" monitor.

I got a PS4 early on, but got a PS4 Pro just a few months ago. I guess if I got 3 years out of my current thing I'd be satisfied.

No? Will probably take longer though.

It's a hard question to answer. My tax returns are no longer in deferrment and automatically get put towards student loan debt every year. I was able to afford my PS3 because I was in school and didn't have to pay rent or buy my own food, and I was able to afford my PS4 because I got a tax return. I voted no because I got a PS4 the February after it came out and I've been almost as into gaming as I was during the SNES-PS2/my childhood run after being fairly lukewarm on it in the PS3 era.

But I also have less and less interest in a more powerful console because I own a 10 year old 720p television handed down to me by my dad, and there's no reality in which I could budget for both a system and a new TV, and I just feel like any next leap forward is going to necessitate a new TV. I played my PS3 on an SDTV for half its lifespan and thought it looked great so maybe I'm just being dramatic but I just don't think I could justify spending money on a new console when I'm not getting the most out of it and have a huge backlog of things to play on this great system I'm also not getting the most out of.

So, I would be satisfied with this generation ending in three years, certainly. I've loved the PS4. But I think I'm also going to be a little sad when it ends, because it'll likely be the first generation of consoles I'm not an early-adopter for unless prices are insane for some reason or I shift careers.

I want this gen to end within the next two years ideally.

I'm selfish and don't want to spend more money on a console.

I'd be annoyed because I thought the last generation was way to long. I'd be happy with a 2019 turnover.

I have enough video games in my possession such that if video games ended today, if be set for life.

It will have been 7 years , IMO that's two years too long already.

I stuck with PC since I realized my number of years old PC was more powerful than the current consoles if I purchased a moderate graphics card the month they came out for the same cost...

So I am happy but I would like to be able to be drawn back into a console. Honestly I want a reason to get back into that over PC.

I am thinking about maybe with that new Xbox I may just go with that though. We will see.

I went with the top vote but I also clicked on "I'd be annoyed if they couldn't justify the break."

I don't want a completely new system just because it's been a few years and things are slightly prettier. But if there's legitimate reasons why we're moving on, I'm okay with it.

@rccola I want this gen to end within the next two years ideally.

@ninnanuam It will have been 7 years , IMO that's two years too long already.

I agree, I'd be happy with just 18 more months. But I feel that is probably unrealistic with Pro coming out in 2016 and X coming soon. But, yeah I agree.


I think the other view is that I'm sure 3rd parties want to milk this generation a bit more. In November 2013 I'm sure 3rd parties where thinking, "Oh, well. Let's see if people still buy these consoles or not." and to everyone surprise record sales of consoles. The console market has been very strong for sales of units and software attachment. So now the industry has two consoles with decent install bases and a fairly healthy games sales market, and nobody wants to be screwing that ups. It is not in anyone's interest to have disruptions, in fact I bet the CEOS of the big publishers looked Sony execs sns MS executives in they eyes and said, "Don't you dare use Pro or X as disruptors to this PS4 and One."

I cannot say this with 100% surety, since I'm not privy to the executive suites of the game instrustry; but I bet the game industry as a whole just wants the next three years to be times when everything sells. Oh, course any sales slumps will coax new systems for sure.

I have all the systems and I won't feel bad because my main gaming system is a PC.

I think I got my money's worth this Generation. I have about 90 PS4 games. They already said going forward this generation would be backward compatible with the next ones so you aren't losing out as badly with the next generation.

I would be kinda upset because in my mind I don't see what the "Next Gen" even has to offer really. I do really hope we are done with full on proper "console generations" and keep doing halfsteps like the pro or whatnot, so that our previous library can still work. I think having a system that plays most, if not all, of it's companies games is the only real step forward. I'm not a graphics person so having to buy a whole new console just to have a bit more pretty things doesn't seem appealing to me.

2020 is late enough I suppose, I really hope it's gonna be backwards compatible though.
I'm kinda hoping this gen lasts a bit longer than that though, 2021 or 2022 would be great for me. I get why some people want it to end sooner but I dunno, it's not unusual for games to have like 5year dev cycles now so a 7 year gen actually seems a bit too short

I got my PS4 just over 2 years ago now and probably wouldn't jump into next gen until it was a year or two old so I think that's a decent amount of time for a system. But really, outside of (maybe) Nintendo I doubt next gen will feel like a big leap forwards whenever it comes out though

I keep all my consoles anyway so I'll still get to play older stuff

I'd be fine with it if there's Backwards Compatibility.

If not, then I'd just wait for the first two or three years to pass and keep using my current consoles. Also I have a PC as well so that helps.

Option 1 - heck, I hope for new consoles in 2019.

The whole industry steps forward (at least graphically and for physics) every time the console platforms get reset. I feel like people lose sight of that for some reason.

Also as an I-own-almost-eveything person (ie I make bad pruchasing decisions), the current gen systems already feel like they're holding us back. The new gen can't come soon enough (well, so long as the games announced for this gen come out first).

The pendulum swings a bit on this in the industry as a whole. But, I think with MS pushing it so hard as a feature ,we will be back to the PS2 era where even Sony say, "Yeah, sure if that makes y'all happy" Then of course no BC for PS6...because reasons. ;-)

Yes, but only because MS are putting out new, expensive hardware this year. Two years to say "OK wrap it up, it's done" isn't really long enough IMO.

If there's a softer break in 2020 (drop original Xbox One[1] and only supporting Xbox One X and Xbox Next going forward) I'd be fine with it.

[1] Which, side-note, is starting to sound ridiculous. Really not a fan of the naming conventions MS have gone with

Honestly, I just want Kingdom Hearts III to be a playable thing before the next line of consoles since I've been waiting over ten fucking years to see how this clusterfuck of anime schlock ends. So if that happens before 2020, I'm good. $360 well spent as far as I'm concerned, 'cause I'm in too fucking deep in shit to bail on it now!

...My little psychological breakdown aside, I'm on PC and don't have any strong attachment towards this console generation so I'm more or less neutral.

Consoles should just die already, then you can just keep within one platform that plays games over 30 years old. No extra boxes to keep around if you want to play an older game, and no need to buy backward compat digital versions.

Wait a minute, that's my PC! No but really it's time consoles just stick to an architecture and then everything is backwards compat without too many complications. Most old PC stuff works fine with no workarounds needed (except for widescreen / higher resolutions of course).

I feel like this gen has only started to get good in the last year. I want backwards compatibility at the very least.

I just bought a ps4pro like a couple months ago and have had a normal one since launch (Too bad it sounds like a goddamn blowdrier whenever it does anything, I use it solely as a crunchyroll streaming machine/Internet browser in the livingroom now) but I'd be fine with it, no hard feelings at all. That said it seems like AAA developers are only now the past year really getting the hang of the hardware of this gen so I dunno. 2020 sounds about right tbh though. And a console without cpu bottlenecks would be great for everyone.

Everyone buying a ps4pro with the idea they bought more than the deluxe version of a 6 year old console, let alone one that'll get new games for more than 3/4 years, kinda baffles me. Its pretty obviously nothing more than that unless it would've been explicitly stated by Sony.. I'd guess the same for the xbox one x but I have paid less attention to Microsofts messaging so I'm not sure about that.

Im definitely out if we keep doing these half steps though.

No poll option for me I guess. Edit: eh, went with the first one :)

I've had my PS4 since the launch and 2020 is still literally years away, so nah, I wouldn't be.

I wouldn't be annoyed as I'm past the point of getting systems the day they come out. I've also got a nice PC which will do for a while yet.

Well, GoG.com and other similar services are WHAT allows you to do that - it is not magic and it not free in a realistic economic sense. Outside of GoG it is often just very nice people who know what they are doing giving the other 99% of PC gamers patches for free - ist is a hidden labor and cost structure most gamers care not to notice. Without those patches most PC gamers would be playing only the games since 2003, and a small handful of people would be playing old games for free. The PC isn't magic. If someone hands the average PC gamer a stack of floppies and manuals, most of them would be able to make them works or know how to even approach making a patch.

The so called "PC Master Race" is a lot of soft Eloi supported by a tiny handful of Morlocks doing the real work.

I doubt either company, especially MS, would dump backwards compatibility. I would be annoyed simply because I don't think this generation has been all that great. There are really no games this gen that I consider to be on the level of Red Dead, certain God of War games, certain Mass Effect games, The Last of Us, and other top-tier games from last gen or the previous one. Even when it comes to "flawed, but damn they really tried" there's no game like that to me this gen such as Bioshock 1 and 3.

The gen feels like mediocre rehashes (Halo, Gears, Infamous, and others) as well as games fitting a certain mold then adding one unique thing like Shadow of Mordor being Batman or the last Batman game itself being the same but just adding the batmobile.

Considering the only current console I own is a Switch, I'd be a little peeved unless they put out a boatload of games in that time.