What do you want out of next-gen?

Xbox is allegedly already working on their next console and Bethesda outright revealed two next-gen games in their conference. It seems like next-gen is coming closer and closer to being a reality. So what would you like to see out of the next generation of consoles?

Personally I think E3 this year, particularly Sony's, really hammered home my big problem with this generation as a whole. We've moved forward, but only in a graphics capacity in most cases.

If Sony and Microsoft get up on stage and start talking about how "the sky is bluer and Master Chief's helmet has more particles on it," they'll have unsold me on getting a new console right there and then.

I think we need to take a step back and take a hard look at how we play our games. Our games look incredible, but gameplay-wise, we're still on par with, or even behind in many cases, games from a decade ago.

Why, in 2018, is my encounter with the Sinister Six in Spider-Man still relegated to a cutscene? Why is my chase with Electro just mashing the swing button and tapping left or right in a linear sequence? Why, if I'm trapped in a crumbling building in an Uncharted or Call of Duty game, is my only option to go through the one path the developers want me to take? Why does my character automatically keel over and die if I don't follow an exact set of steps to get there or try to go off the beaten path?

Ghosts of Tsushima looks gorgeous, but why am I still stuck with two characters standing there and launching into canned attack animations when I hit a button? Why are stealth sequences still just hitting a single button and watching the character do all the work?

And whatever happened to the worlds we create feeling like actual worlds? Why do I already know that when RDR2 comes out, Person A is just going to be Person A drinking at the saloon forever? Why is the most alive-feeling open world I've played still Majora's Mask from all the way back in 2000, where NPCs don't just walk or sit perpetually but actually have schedules and things to do? Where your actions change those schedules and you know exactly when the mailman is gonna stop by to pick up your letter and that the dancers practice on the night of the second day and etc.? Why has every other game settled for "You can hit/kill random passerby or not. Everyone else is a blank slate unless they're a quest giver"?

I know it's a big ask for every game to be like this, and that some are better off not trying to, but what concerns me is that most big developers don't seem to even want to try. They're content just slapping new graphics onto old gameplay systems. The gameplay envelope hasn't really been pushed, and with all this tech, we should be farther than we are now in my eyes.

But enough about what I want.

What do you want?

EDIT: Since this seems to be an ongoing point of confusion, yes, I know that new consoles and stronger hardware are not going to make what I've asked for suddenly happen. When I say "next-gen," I mean the entirety of a new generation of video gaming. The games, the developers, what new experiences we get, all of it. Not just what's going on under the hood of the console. So yes, I'm more talking about the way games are made in my own personal wish.

Just technical things. Larger draw distances for your open world exploration games like Fallout where I can get more immersed in a game's environments and architecture instead of thinking about a game's limitations. Similar thing for texture pop-in with Unreal Engine and Frostbite. And it would be nice to be at a point where mid-level $300 to $400 GPUs can handle 4K and high levels of MSAA to take care of jaggies.

Good games.

Other than that better AI and more advanced clockwork systems. And if we're going all the way in on wishful thinking the elimination of game breaking bugs. Though with the way things are trending more/better tech translates to more pervasive bugs but I could be wrong, I ain't no game scientist.

Yeah, the more advanced and complex a system is, the more likely it is to have bugs/glitches/etc that slip through the cracks.

Personally, I think the highest priority should be to make sixty frames per second a standard across the board, even if it means sticking with 1080p for another generation. That doesn't seem to be a priority for most game developers/publishers and 4K is what's getting pushed these days, so we're not going to get that. At the very least, no game should ever drop below thirty FPS for any reason, ever, no exceptions, but again, we're not going to get that.

Otherwise? Just good games. I know that's a boring answer, but having a bunch of complex systems behind the scenes doesn't necessarily translate to great design and presentation. My favorite and most replayed games tend to have fewer systems employed efficiently and brilliantly, rather than a gazillion different systems and mechanics. That might just mean I'm a simple man, but those are my thoughts.

1. I want better A.I. By that I don't mean, "Yo, stop NPCs bumping into stuff like moths already," because that's something vastly more challenging than throwing more CPU power at games can solve. What I mean is games where the A.I. is so cleverly designed that it appears complex and alive, like Shadow of Mordor, or F.E.A.R (both Monolith games, woah). So few games have tried to emulate those kinds of dynamic enemy possibilities. The graphics will be great, we all know that, so devs should focus more on the actual gears and cogs of game mechanics next-gen, in my opinion.
2. I want more PC-like games on consoles; system-heavy games that are part of those console properties we already love, but bring the complexity of your Starcrafts and DotAs and RTSs. C&C was on PS1 and 360, Elite Dangerous on PS4/X1, Diablo 3 on everything, Halo Wars. It can work perfectly, we know that, I just want even more. I'd love a version of WoW on consoles, even. FFXIV is great with a controller. I ignore people who say it's shit or impossible. I got weak hands, man! I can't move characters with four keys and move a mouse constantly.
3. Standardized cross-platform multiplayer.
4. Subscription services for everything.

I just hope the tools that developers use become more standardized and powerful. The idea that a game needs to take +5 years and millions of dollars to develop, really kills innovation and risk taking.

My money is on the next console generation being two offerings from the major players:
One reasonably high specced machine for local gaming and a second machine that just streams from the (Insert company name here) subscription service library.

I hate that I'm going to say it, but I kinda want the second option to work.

I have a fantastic PC for the good looking stuff, but I've had multiple occasions this year where I want to play some multiplayer games with friends or family and don't want to disrupt my setup or move consoles around, and having a small streaming box to just plug in and go that is better than an nVidia shield or the like would be nice.

I understand the limitations internet connections and all that, but this E3 showed us that it's loud and clear that the big boys are going all in on their software as a service models, it's going to happen sooner or later so it's only a matter of time. Microsoft jumped the gun at the beginning of the xbones life but I think the next gen might be a better time to start it now that people are used to the idea of streaming content.

No gimmicks (including but not limited to): motion controls, VR, voice-activation, wonky second-screens, and controllers that look like they were made by the Six-Fingered Man. None of that shit. If you need that stuff to sell your system, then it should be a warning sign that your system and/or games are not good enough to stand on their own.

Give me a nice, powerful system that can play good, entertaining games with a consistent frame-rate, reasonable graphics and a controller that was actually designed for human hands and I'm good.

A third analog stick.

More graphix and performance, bigger worlds, more detailed worlds, more involved storytelling (variable, procedural, or just really well presented) and AI, new gameplay opportunities that comes with all that. Same as every console jump I suppose.

Backwards compatibility with current-gen would be nice, but I feel like by the time 2020/2021 rolls around that'll be less of a concern.

A lot of that stuff sounds like design choices, rather than technical mandates. Some games are linear, cutscenes are effective storytelling tools, and the simple execution of actions puts the emphasis (and main thrust of gameplay) on thoughtful maneuvering and planning instead of convoluted button combinations.

Not saying they're questions that shouldn't be asked, but we're still gonna get linear games with cutscenes as a type of gameplay experience come next-gen. They're design choices around what kind of game you want to make, but not really choices funneled by what a PS4/Xbox One can do.

Unlike the worlds thing, which definitely sounds like something you couldn't explore to the degree you're describing if you didn't have the hardware to carry it.

A wider selection of video games on console. Give me those MMOs. Give me those CRPGs.

For it to wait until good, big (at least 40") 4K TVs are like $400 so I can afford the dual upgrade. I'm still living in a 720p world and still blown away by the graphics of video games, and from what we saw at Sony's conference at the very least these consoles still have a lot of room to grow in every aspect, from AI to scope to visuals, so I'm really in no hurry to have to buy a new console at all.

Foresight and affordability. Games look so amazing now that I'd rather companies prioritise good engine implementation, backwards compatibility, good UI, and a platform that's built to be open and versatile as games change.

I know the jump is gonna be big, it always is, in every department. I just want one thing, at least PS4 backwards compatibility on PS5. It's not gonna be a deal breaker, but please Sony, there's no reason not to this time, not even a tech one. I can understand Cell on PS3 makes BC super hard but PS4 games on PS5 should not be an issue. That's all I need. I guess a quieter console, PS4s are often super loud. Still probably gonna wait for a slim revision of a PS5 because there is a ton of games I want to play still on PS4 left. That's all, I'm sure games are going to be even more complex, beautiful and awesome!

Locked framerates are never gonna happen unless the creators want it specifically for their game. A.I. is as much as tech and software as it is the hardware, and smart AI isnt really what most people want its just...AI that can do more.

We know all the tech is gonna get better. That's what it does. Now, I don't see new consoles hitting soon because tech hasn't gotten better since the last upgrades came out. Unless you're gonna splurge on an Xbox One XXX that has a 800 dollar gpu in it, you can not make a new console today that's actually much better for a similar price point.

I just want a better front end.

I’m happy where we are for a while, frankly.

I like the iterative x86 stuff we’re flirting with where frame rate and resolution could be left unlocked OR features are toggled off for older hardware and on for newer/upcoming hardware.

The graphical baseline these days is pretty great, so as aside from BC quality of life stuff, I’d like to see greater focus on AI. I don’t recall really being blown away by cool, convincing AI decision routines since fighting Elites on Legendary in Halo: CE.

Other stuff? Just quality of life services, inproved chat, sharing, social tools for groups, etc.

@mattgiersoni: One would hope that a PS5 could reasonably emulate cell processor games.

I'd like to see more big companies taking risks with mid-tier games. It feels like they produce very little beyond extremely safe visual marvels for $60 or equally safe "retro throwbacks" at $15. I'm not saying either of these are bad, but so often it seems like the vast majority of big risks are being taken by Nintendo with stuff like Sushi Striker and by smaller indie teams, which immediately get copied to death (survival games, MOBA's, battle royales, etc).

It would be wonderful to have a barrage of truly weird and creative games around the $30 mark (and not just bargain bin trash), ones which have higher production values and slightly larger teams than the average $15 game, but which aren't 50+ hour behemoths and don't have the same infatuation with raw visual spectacle as a $60 product. Smaller teams and shorter production times would help to keep costs down in the event of a flop while a big hit could always be turned into a franchise with $60 sequels.

I realize that companies can't survive if they do nothing but pump out cult classics which only become popular years after release, but the ongoing trend of constantly playing it safe while production costs continue to rise can also only last for so many years before audiences become completely fatigued.

None of these are due to limitation with current tech, the chase sequence is a button mashing quick time event because its trying to convey the speed and excitement in the moment if it was gameplay it would need to be much slower allowing the player more time to follow thus losing any impetus in the scene.

In Breath of the Wild you can go anywhere and climb any obstacle the fact you can't in Uncharted is because the climbing serves a different purpose which is break up the gameplay so it isn't just combat, combat, and more combat whereas in BotW the climbing not only functions as a means of discovery in itself but used to scout the surrounding area both would be pointless in an Uncharted.

Ghost of Tsushima combat is inspired from Japanese samurai films which are choreographed and stylised, enemies dying in few hits is to emphasis speed and deadliness from the era its not trying to be Dynasty Warriors.

Every NPC having a schedule with a place to eat, sleep and work means somebody has to work to make it happen which is far easier to do in Majora's Mask with fewer than a hundred people compared to Assassins Creed with closer to a thousand, and without a gameplay purpose its kinda pointless anyway.

If the next generation of console's come with a much improved CPU it would allow for more complex A.I. and more 60fps games that alone would be pretty great, but a better CPU could have more subtle benefit like bringing more traditional PC games like Total War to a bigger audience.

Cross platform stuff.

Playing games online cross platform would be cool, but I'm more thinking if I have a save game on Playstation, I can download it and load it up on another console and/or PC. Especially when there's games with lots of progression or tons of unlockable stuff.

I really want to see strides made in AI and systems. It's time for games to move forward again in respect to something other than graphic fidelity.

On the graphics front, let's just get some framerate stability. I really think we have enough P's, K's and particle effects to ride out a re-focus on the underlying systems and gameplay for a while.

I'll say what I don't want, everything going digital. Though most of my gaming is done on PC regardless, but its always nice to be able to grab a game for any of my consoles, and be able to play it relatively quickly, even if waiting for a patch. If suddenly I'm downloading full sized games on every gaming platform I use, idk that'd just be a major bummer. My net can get through about 3gb of data per night of downloading (about 8 to 10 hours). If its a weekday the download also gets to run all day long while my wife and I are working. I'm still left waiting days if not weeks for any significantly sized game to be ready to play.

Be a real bummer for that to be the future, especially for those in worse situations than myself and with little outlook of any sort of significant net upgrade in their future.

To not think about it for another 5 years.

- User accessible expandable storage (like PS3/4 and Switch)
- USB-C connectivity
- The expectation that after a few years of use the machine is still quiet!
- Google Docs (i have my reasons)
- Discord integration with the idea that PC, Sony, MS, and Nintendo have cross platform play
- "Touch-ID" esque log-in system for parental controls

Its a complex question. Of course people can just ask for everything but that isn't how it works. By living through like 5 generations of consoles at this point, you see it's all cyclical. People want 60 fps on everything but that might not ever happen because not everyone cares about that. 30 fps is more than fine for most games.

One of the problems I think we keep having is because every console is an improvement, yet different every generation, by the time the developers finally start figuring out the hardware 6-8 years in, a company or persons first instinct is to just make more powerful hardware. I believe limitation can breed creativity. If devs couldn't do anything more with just sheer polygon count and shaders, they'd be forced to look at other aspects of gameplay design, sound, writing, artistic style, etc etc to try and differentiate themselves from and one-up their competition. More of the budget could be used elsewhere as dev tools and pipelines are streamlined over time. I think we'd also see dormant genres and franchises rise to the surface again as publishers and players are looking for a broader scope of game types.

But the new systems will come out, they will be more powerful, and the cycle begins anew with devs trying to find the limit of what the hardware can handle, trying to reach that 60 fps and capturing those 4,000 Ks. We're remastering all those old games again to put them on this new platform.

So all that considered, what do I want to see? Hmm..

#1 - My first choice and I think the most realistic and reasonable is an HDMI input so the system can be used as a capture card/computer essentially. While I don't often stream stuff (no one cares to watch), I believe the ease at which you can stream from the PS4 is the best actual new feature. Sometimes I'll be talking to a friend, I'll mention what I'm playing and then with a touch of a button I'm streaming it to Twitch and the quality is good enough. Streaming anything on a PC can be a pain in the dick and it's also taking a hefty CPU toll which forces you to run the game at lower settings etc.

I want to plug my PC into my PS5, hit that button and then it just streams whatever it is being fed. I want to run the HDMI out of my Framemeister and into the PS5 and bam.. now I'm streaming old games being played via legit hardware with the push of a button. In this day and age when everyone is trying to stream, I think your video game console doubling as a capture/streaming device is a value add feature equivalent to DVD or Blu-Ray playback. Why would I go spend $300 on a BlackMagic capture card (which I did) that is annoying to use and still requires a whole PC etc.. when I could just go buy a console (which I was going to anyway) that does all of it and better?

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EDIT: #2 - Forgot this one, might even be the most important one to me: Physical backwards compatibility. Yes, I am one of those people. I have a launch 60GB PS3 (it still works) and use it for PS1 and PS2 games. I do also own a PS1, a PS2 (two actually), and many other consoles. I have a library of hundreds of physical games since my first Super Nintendo up to Xbox One and PS4. I love it and I like that I can go back and play a game if I want to. I want a PS5 that plays those older games. Even a system like Microsoft has made where you insert the disc, it verifies the title, and then downloads a digital copy is great. I do not want to have to buy a digital copy of a game I already own. It seems like common sense for some sort of physical backwards compatibility to exist.

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#3 - This one is a little bit of a stretch but shouldn't be: More mainstream mouse support on consoles. If anything, pack a basic mouse in with the system so all these genres that have existed primarily on PC exclusively because of this input device can now more easily transition or just natively play on a console. Do I want Command & Conquer back? Abso-fucking-lutely. Would I ever buy an RTS on a console? Hell-god-damn-no (well I do have Red Alert on PS1) Why? Because that shit needs a mouse. Does the PS4 support generic USB mice? Kinda? If I plug one in while trying to play some First Person Shooter, will it work? I highly doubt it. The systems practically support it already, but they don't actually support it if you know what I mean.

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#4 - And finally, the generic one of the bunch, is better AI and Systems. This goes hand in hand with processor power I guess but also it's up to the developers if they want to actually pursuit this sort of stuff. Things like physics and NPC behavior. Racing sims on PC have so many more detailed things going on with a car and there is still plenty more they should do. Worlds and environments that feel more alive, not just because of fidelity, but from creature and animal interaction. Flora and fauna dynamically changing with a system tied into the weather, seasons, and an ecosystem. Certain unique, usually small budget games have tried to focus on specific individual ideas but we haven't quite seen that then translate into the large more mainstream, AAA budget titles. Forza Horizon 4 is having a go at seasons but I don't expect it to go beyond a graphical change and less traction in the snow or rain. It's not as significant a feature as if, say, it were in Elder Scrolls 6 and it fundamentally affected the way you play the game.

FF14 is great with a controller. I play on PC and use an X360 controller. I have no idea how people use a keyboard/mouse and play effectively. Except for healing. Healing seems like it'd be easier with a keyboard, and my friend (who mains healer) agrees, but he doesn't like playing DPS (what I mostly play) because he finds it difficult with a keyboard/mouse. DPS feels so flowing and fun on controller. Like playing a rhythm game or something.

@thepanzini: @theht: Sorry, let me clarify what I meant.

I know that this stuff isn't going to suddenly become a thing with new console tech, because as I said I don't particularly care about the tech side of things. Developers droning on and on about how much better Halo 60 is gonna look is just noise to me at this point. Games have gotten as good as they're gonna look for a long while, and I'm not sure a graphical update is even a worthwhile investment if the games are going to remain the same.

I want developers to stop thinking in terms of "Our world is 50 times bigger than Fallout 65!" and "Now you can see Kratos' beard in 50K!" I want next-gen to flip the switch from graphical enhancement to gameplay enhancement. Similar to what @theht said, I want them to rethink the kinds of games they want to make, or to be more specific, how they can push the limits of the player's interaction with the game. I'm not advocating for the death of linear games, because I like a good linear game the same as any other good game, but even within that genre, would it be so awful if I could think of my own way out of that collapsing building? Would it really compromise Naughty Dog's vision if I didn't instantly die because I grabbed the much closer pillar on the right instead of the one they wanted me to grab?

My main problem with this generation, and I guess by extension the last one as well, is that the gameplay didn't improve with the graphics. We love to make things look better, but we're much more hesitant to make them play better. Spider-Man on PS4 in 2018 really isn't more in-depth mechanically than Ultimate Spider-Man on PS2 in 2005. It just looks a lot cooler. In fact, we've actually gone in the opposite direction with that series, to the point where 2018 Spider-Man has less actual gameplay (how does that even happen?).

To go back to my Ghosts of Tsushima example, that game is gorgeous. The plant life sways in the breeze as I ride on my horse through the fields. I've got traditional garb on and an awesome looking sword. I face down my friend who just betrayed me, sword at the ready. I'm a samurai...

...except no, I'm not. I'm a video game character, standing there like a dope staring at another video game character who's standing there staring back at me because she's not programmed to do anything until I hit a button. The game's telling me we're supposed to be in a life or death battle between friends, but in reality all I can really do is hit a button and literally watch the animations begin and end as my character suddenly decides it's time to attack and does the same three swings while she does the same blocking animations to counter me.

Based on that description, am I playing on the PS2, PS3, or PS4? Mechanically, they're all not really that far apart when it comes down to it.

And once again, I'm not saying that games that just want to do that are awful, because they're definitely not, but isn't it sad to look back and see how little progress we've made when it comes to actually playing our games?

THAT'S what I want out of next-gen. I want developers to stop focusing on our eyes and focus on what we're actually doing.

And not just in linear games, but in open ones as well. Does anyone even keep track of how big Assassin's Creed games are anymore? Even Ubisoft themselves didn't pull the "Oh, our game is 90 times bigger than Origins" card during their Odyssey presentation because they know it's all bled together at this point. How big the world is doesn't matter if NPC 5 is the same mechanically as NPC 247. Once again, what's the difference in how I interact with the world in GTA Vice City vs GTA V? They're both just large video game worlds. Sure, they add in a few more activities and vehicles and such, but what does that matter if mechanically, I'm doing the same exact things? I'd love to have a world as alive as Majora's Mask felt, or even more alive than that, even if it meant a reduction in scope, because the size of the world hasn't made it feel alive in ages. All these random NPCs might as well be cardboard boxes if they mean nothing to me as a player!

It's hard to put into words exactly what I mean because the video game industry as a whole doesn't progress in this direction much, but dang it, what's the point of playing Uncharted 20 on PS9 if I'm playing the exact same way as I did for Drake's Fortune on PS3? Why am I expected to pay how many hundreds of dollars for a new console to play essentially the same thing I did before? Can we really not do any better, and even if not, can we not at least try?

@nicksmi56: "Would it really compromise Naughty Dog's vision if I didn't instantly die because I grabbed the much closer pillar on the right instead of the one they wanted me to grab?"

"My main problem with this generation, and I guess by extension the last one as well, is that the gameplay didn't improve with the graphics. We love to make things look better, but we're much more hesitant to make them play better."

"And not just in linear games, but in open ones as well. Does anyone even keep track of how big Assassin's Creed games are anymore? Even Ubisoft themselves didn't pull the "Oh, our game is 90 times bigger than Origins" card during their Odyssey presentation because they know it's all bled together at this point."

So if you grab that other ledge and don't instantly die, is that better gameplay?

Doesn't AC Origins not have better gameplay it has a more interactive combat and the Witcher like structure has been a big shake up for the series. Better gameplay isn't what your asking but more innovation and less uniform design.

Fortnite, Warframe, Elite Dangerous, Destiny, Overwatch, For Honor, Rainbow 6 Siege, Shadow of Mordor, GTA 5 and Halo 5 all of these present new or better gameplay compared to last gen.

That's actually a great question @nicksmi56. I thought that I would have easily had an answer for what I want out of next-gen, but I don’t think I do. My first thought was better AI, but like @nutter said, the first Xbox already had games with great AI. Sure, more horsepower and cloud computing might make it even better, but it’s mostly a question of where developers want to put their resources. I don’t want to say that game graphics have peaked, but if you look at Red Dead Redemption running on an Xbox One X and the trailers released for RDR2, the difference is noticeable but not the same leap we saw between the previous generations of consoles. With display technology hopefully stagnating at the 4K level for a while, we might be able to get some smoother framerates though, which is always a happy thing. More power will also make optimization less important, which should help smaller studios put out games with less time and cost.

I guess my main hope is to see a wide field of available devices and services. I know that internet speeds and access are still in issue in many places around the world, but as someone who can easily get >200mbps speeds with unlimited data at home, on my commute, in a park or on remote islands on the Baltic Sea, streaming a game to my laptop or phone doesn’t sound like a terrible idea at all. If I can play the same games on my powerful PC, easy-to-use console on my TV, or on a smaller less powerful system I can carry around with me, I’ll be very happy.

Lol same, not even played half the stuff I want to in this gen yet

VR lovers.

Purdy pictures

Give every game a 60 FPS option. These are games not movies, 60 feels better and ages better.

Down with "performance modes" (unlocked framerates) that feel worse than just having a locked 30 FPS because they usually can't reach 60.

Honestly, the same thing I've wanted and received every generation. More powerful hardware to make games look better, run better, play better, or make possible games that were not possible before. I'm not looking for a revolution.

Like others have said, more focus on allowing for mechanical improvements (AI, complex interactions, etc.) and such. Games are stupendously pretty right now (seriously, it's easy to get used to it, but take a step back and marvel at your average AAA game, even on consoles. It's kind of insane) and it's time to look at other ways to loosen design constraints.

Oh, and a next-gen PSVR that isn't Frankensteined together from old PS3 and PS4 peripherals. And a headset from Microsoft to keep Sony from getting too complacent, as they are wont to do. Let's get some competition going again.

Need more innovative game developers not necessarily bags of more raw processing power.

I fail to see how just more power can create these new experiences you have asked for OP. Even though it was a joke, the guy who said three analog sticks is the closest in terms of a seismic shift that needs to happen for gaming to really move forward.

This next generation will be harder to swallow than this one. In many ways the Xbox 360 and PS3 were proto-modern videogame machines that I think will age worse than any console before or since. So many games were compromised in so many ways. Battlefield 3 and 4 had reduced player counts and struggled to hit 30 fps. Far Cry 3 was practically locked to 20 fps.

Now I can play Battlefield 1 at >1080p and locked to 60 fps with 64 players on a Pro.

I like graphics, though, so what I want is really really good graphics that can create a truly immersive world. And full backwards compatibility so I can sell my old hardware to get the new stuff. And that 3rd joystick somebody mentioned sounds cool.

All I need is...

• a system that can output 1440p on its low end @ 90fps, and can fake 4K @60fps.
• a system that remains open to users adding their own HDDs or SSDs, but can accommodate M.2 sticks with a dongle.
• a system that enforces two-factor authentication for buying anything from the main wallet, but allows for kids/sub-accounts to access under $99 with a single authentication (opt-in). Let's just stop this nonsense about, "I didn't know what my kids was buying, or that an account could be hacked so easy"
• the end, the eradication, and the total destruction of shitty themes. All these stupid mother%$@ers who are selling themes for 99 cents up to $4.99 should be put out of business, and then hunted for sport.
• a machine that when it turns on, turns off, or does anything, tell you what it is doing with a pitch-perfect copy of Justin Roiland's only two character voices...but only on Jeff Gerstmann's machine. For example ist might say, "Oh man. Oh jeez. I guess I'm turning off. Oh, jeeze I hope you saved your game...oh, jeeze" Moreover, it is should turning on randomly between 12am and 4am with a drunk Rick Sanchez voice spewing a commercial for Old Spice or the International House of Burgers.

Better and more VR.

Even more exclusives. With the PS4 the exclusives do what they should do, focusing your resources leads to a better product. Consoles in particular need to have more exclusives, the PC already has the most exclusives of any other system so it's doing fine. The others need to catch up.

What does "Next Gen" even mean anymore? Incrementally better hardware? I'd be happy with better and better software on existing generation instead.

After the super polished 3rd person quicktime(did we stop being angry at quicktime events at some point? Cause now we're just walking around pressing a button when we're close to people and then the protagonist does a kill animation while wa watch..) snoozefest that has been the past decade(and still continues, seeing as Sony only showed off 3rd person action/horror games), all I care about is VR, so I want the next gen Playstation to have wireless VR with good controllers. I also want microsoft to get off its ass and do something VR. If Microsoft focuses on AR for the next Xbox I will seriously roll my eyes hard enough to slow down the earths rotation. I can get that they skipped the first gen, but if they don't join in on next gen.. seriously.... That would be just sad as hell.

Other than that, I want the next playstation portable to be similar to what Santa Cruz will be, a standalone inside out 6dof VR HMD with 6dof controllers. If I could use this as a VR HMD for my PS5 that would be even more awesome.

I just want Skyrim 2 and Fallout 5 to not completely lock up my system 25% of the time. Oh and more games with mod support.

At this point, I'm most concerned about cross-platform play. I'm kinda over having to choose what platform I actually want to play it on vs what platform will actually have the most players etc. To be honest, I don't know why more developers aren't raising hell about this because in a fully crossplatform future, everybody wins. And by everyone I mean consumers and developers. Platform holders (specifically Sony...) may lose out, but tough shit. Figure out another reason for people to buy your machine. All I care about is that every game gets a larger pool of players which in turn theoretically means a longer lifespan for those games.

This includes PC and FPS games. Yes, I know, mouse and keyboard blahblahblah. But if people on console want to get bodied then just fucking let them. Who gives a flying fuck. Just disable that option by default and when people choose to enable it just pop a message saying "hey, you might be a disadvantage here...just sayin." Boom, problem solved. Not like Sony gives a shit about a level playing field anyway. They already let you use mouse and keyboard for some games including a little indie darling known as Fortnite. So the multiplayer on that system is arguably broken already. Why not just go all the way?

Cross-platform play, and the industry to figure out a revenue model that doesn't take the consumer for a ride the way loot boxes due.

I want this generation to last as long as possible, really. I'm pretty happy with my PS4/Switch combination. I imagine a redesigned Switch DX or Switch Mini could be pretty nice, or Switch 2 eventually. But for PS4 - games like God of War are already so incredibly detailed and realistic I don't really see the need for them to up the ante again.

As far as the games themselves go - I would like to see more games with stylized, less realistic graphics. In general, when I see AAAA games I often think - wow, how many brilliant, small, experimental games could have been made with this budget? I absolutely loved God of War, but I wonder if they could have spent a little less time adjusting the individual hairs on Kratos's beard and more time coming up with more interesting things to do besides thwacking monsters. I'd like to see more games that are shorter and take more chances - either coming up with new gameplay hooks, or finding more innovative ways to blend story and gameplay. After 20 years, we still haven't made too much advance on the PSX-era storytelling formulas of "play game, watch cut-scene, play game, watch cut-scene." To be sure, this can be very effective - but I'd like to see more experimentation.

• Cross-platform play. Seeing Xbox and Sony players in the same game would be like seeing world peace finally solved.
• More frame rate > photo realism. It seems with previous generations there were a lot of games that chugged on consoles because they valued more graphic fidelity than performance. I'm glad we're starting to go away from this and there are now options in hardware to get that experience, but I wish the industry as a whole would go away from that "showcase" mentality with graphics. My friends or family don't care about how real a piece of wood looks or individual strands of hair on a character when I show them. Games with unique style I feel get more praise anyway. Without going into frame-rate snob territory, I think most people would enjoy games that feel like a smoother experience. It really is a big difference having a game that runs on 60 fps consistently versus one that drops hard in certain areas.
• AI that "learns" from the player. I really enjoy the nemesis system, but it seems we don't really see AI or enemies like that in games. I want to see the next evolution in that. AI that recognizes that you use a certain move or ability over and over, so it punishes you for it later on. This way, players get to experience more of the game since you have to switch up things more. I would have lost my absolute shit in God of War if I had used that one Rune to slow down time and a boss or Valkyrie "sped" up to keep pace with me with the Rune effect going on.
• Axe loot boxes once and for all. Get rid of the randomness of vanity items and allow us to support devs directly by being able to buy what we want through a cash shop. After all this time, I've given in and understand that devs need to have season passes, DLC, and vanity items to support themselves. It's just a fact of life now. Just give us good content and allow a direct buy method instead of a gambling system for those outfits.

Something significantly more powerful than the PS4 Pro. Something that can play my old PS4 games. Something that can play with all of the other consoles and PC.

It would also be cool if we could have something powerful enough to brute force PS1/PS2/PS3 emulation.

I'd like to see more openness in regards to streaming/shareplay stuff. The fact that so many devs can lock what they show, yet you can still bring a game over to a friends house and show them everything no problem when shareplay is just sharing a game with a single person in a party, is rather silly.

I'm not as big on needing more graphically. Like yeah 4K everything will be great, and more framerate too. But I think more importantly than anything the next gen war will be one by quality of services and games not by hardware or capabilities. GamePass from MS is probably on the right step, but I'm stunned we haven't seen more subscription based stuff from Sony or MS that gives you access to a catalog of games that isn't just streaming. Likes yes Streaming stuff is obviously going to be a priority, but it's become clear that the industry isn't going to be able to sustain $60 releases for every single title. Tons of games just don't fit that mold, so playing with the pricing and bringing back the "rent tier" game pricing is imo a plus and badly needed. Especially now that we have so much game content overload. Some games make more sense for people to just play once over a weekend, so we don't want to pay full price for that.

I'm hoping with that comes more mid-tier B games too. Take some of those talented indys and give them a bit more budget, you don't need to throw the whole kitchen sink at em.

Otherwise I would like to see more cloud storage/game storage options. All this talk about leveraging the cloud for fast-start and streaming services isn't nearly as interesting to me as hey why not just let me download games and install them, and keep some of the install file/dl in the cloud so as to not take up my storage space. Can we figure that out? Either that or just give us 10TB hard drives.

I wouldn't mind an evolution of the Trophy/Achievement system either, maybe something that either can't be hacked or it wouldn't matter if it was. Be nice to get in game rewards what with everything having some form of currency/microtransaction stuff or otherwise things you have to spend long grinding out for completing trophies. I feel like that entire system still feels like it did when 360 releases, and with the exception of Sony adding in rarity (which was nice) the feature could easily be due an impressive overhaul.