Cliffy is getting full of himself, Epic is a relic, Gears and Halo is pretty much to blame for making action games casual, so I'd say gaming as a whole don't need any more help from them. People should stop giving them so much attention, but since the mainstream media and gamers seem to like mediocre things instead of what's actually important I suppose it's asking for too much.

ok, I don't mean to be rude, given that he to some extent knows what he's doing given he does make good games (that nonetheless have some distinctly obnoxious elements and practices built in), but the more he says, the more I want to slap him.

His wanting of more achievements just so he can force people to play his games longer, the 'justification' of placing dlc on disk, the insistence of multiplayer, the demanding of better graphics even when the current graphics level is crippling game budgets... its like he wants to take the worst and most infuriating aspects of the current consoles/games and make them ten times worse.

I enjoy the look of oldschool games & believe that good graphics & faster rendering do not an awesome game make. Focus less on the look & more on the story & gameplay. Also with the industry as it is now, keeping the price down & making it lower should be prioritized.

Right now the game I'm looking forward to the most is being made with RPGMaker, that's an 80s-90s game engine.

Unreal wasn't considered good? Well, that's a bit sad. That was basically my introduction to gaming, even though I was like 9 at the time.

Still, I don't remember it being that bad. I loved every translator popup I got, like every step I took was a piece of a puzzle.

Irridium:
And... how do they plan on keeping game budgets from skyrocketing out of control?

I think we should solve that problem before we tackle making games look even more graphically advanced.

I agree. It's a similar problem to the one we're having with smart-phones.

"No, I don't give a shit about voice-recognition. At least not until you can give me a phone who's battery doesn't die on me every time I have the temerity to so much as try and use it!"

Damn near rendering Avatar in real time sounds mighty fine and all, but I really don't think that that is our main concern at the moment. Graphics are already mighty fine. Not perfect, but more than good enough.

No pushing graphics further at a time when production cost mean a game needs to sell millions just to break is not good. But still the console market is in need of a shake up. What we need is for other areas of game development to catch up to graphics, but that is not going to happen if graphics keeps racing ahead.

canadamus_prime:
Somebody better cool that guy's ego before his head explodes.

I'm on it *grabs cricket bat*

Irridium:

We'll see. For each console generation, as the tech became better the cost to make games rose and rose. Hopefully it won't happen again, but I'm still a bit skeptical.

If costs don't rise, hopefully then developers can put more money into hiring decent writers. Because story and writing is an area games seriously need improvement in.

Part of the issue is that huge portions of gamin costs ends up gettin thrown into advertisement. Best example ever of that? ToR had a massive budget and nearly half of said budget was marketin. That is wasteful spendin no matter how you look at it.

Publishers seem to never be able to find a sweet spot when it comes to advertisin. They overspend on products that, frankly, don't stand a chance in hell (Homefront) or underspend on products that actually could have been great if there was some actual marketin for the game.

Also, new hardware can, if used correctly, cut down on costs due to not havin to deal with all the really retarded workarounds that game devs have to contend with now in order to make a decent lookin game.

Will someone please punch this moron in the face for me? It's frustrating how stupid Cliffy B is. He lowers the IQ of everyone who's in the same time zone with him.

No we don't want it. What we want is better gameplay and better writing. And no more Hollywood bullshit and hand holding. No more $100 million advertisement campaigns. Money that could have gone into developing the actual game. We want video games not animated movies with button mashing between scenes you dumb fuck!

Amnestic:

Freechoice:

Amnestic:
I'd just like to remind people that this is the same person who thought that Fatal Frame - a horror game - needed a multiplayer aspect.

We can handle the next generation just fine without him.

What, like co-op? Wasn't there twin sisters or something like that? It's not like he said it needed team deathmatch or something.

You do understand that merely adding a second person would kill the horror? A major aspect is the feeling of being all alone. It's why teaming you up with an AI partner in horror games is also almost universally stupid.

Actually horror with 2 players is possible

Having said that

Gotta love that video

OT: The thing that I am most worried with is the budget, from those leaked pics of UE4 they show a lot of detailed stuff, not just better textures and effects. While I do like the idea of having better visuals I would rather not pay more for them. I would prefer an engine that can render things like destruction and multiple AI's, stuff that relies on coding instead of having an ultra detailed barrel, an ultra detailed chair, an ultra detailed pencil, etc...

Abandon4093:

Amnestic:
I'd just like to remind people that this is the same person who thought that Fatal Frame - a horror game - needed a multiplayer aspect.

We can handle the next generation just fine without him.

Say what you like about him, but Epic has been ahead of the game on graphics more times than I can count.

It's usually a race between Epic Games and Crytek when it comes to engine tech.

Though, both companies tend to fail miserably when it comes to crafting engines that can render believable characters; let alone animate them in a way that doesn't make them look like burlap sacks stuffed with rice. [ looking at you Unreal Engine 3 >:( ]

Well, fail at that AND at actually making decent games anymore. Frankly, they should both just go to pure tech development.

DVS BSTrD:

Aprilgold:

DVS BSTrD:
It's not MUST it's want to. And why do we need another generation so soon anyway?

Because if you don't change the hardware for something long enough, technology and ambitions go higher but are capped because of the hardware their using.

But HAVE they capped it? It doesn't seem like we're close enough to justify another jump.

They most assuredly HAVE "capped it". At this point, the current generation of consoles are stifling game development. And I don't just mean graphically.

The limitations of the current gen CPUs make it hard for developers to make any real leaps forward in AI, physics, animation, etc, etc.

As little interest as I have in consoles anymore even I can see that they need an upgrade.

Abandon4093:
big 'ole snippy snip

That vid isn't show-casing Unreal Engine 4, by the way. That's an upgrade to Unreal Engine 3. Just pointing that out. But anyway...

I'd actually love to see an engine designed by the animators and particle effects designers of Valve, the light-sourcing and texture design teams from Epic and id, the sound engineers from DICE, and the shader and modelling teams from Crytek.

Now THAT would be an incredible engine.

No.

Go away Cliffy B.

All you are good for is writing homo-erotic ship-fic of your own characters on an old CRT computer monitor in an un-air conditioned 1970s mobile home in the middle of the Nevada Desert, where you rage at people with baseless aggression on the internet after people call you gay for posting your ship-fics.

Cliffy can start by pricing games lower. Like Jim said. Because Jim said so.

Dexter111:

Every time someone says something stupid like "do we need a new generation SO SOON" in threads like these AFTER 8-9 YEARS I want to faceplant my head against a wall..

If you think 7 years is actually 8 or 9, I suppose you might be banging your head against a wall. You might want to stop, I don't think that's good for you.

The Xbox 360 launched in Fall 2005. That's six and a half years ago, 30% less than you claim. It was also only four years after the launch of the original Xbox, which came late that generation.

The PS2 came out in 2000. The PS3 came out in 2006, although the PS2 continued to sell strongly for quite awhile after that (unlike the original Xbox).

The last cycle was shorter than usual for Microsoft because they came last. They launched earlier than Sony this generation, and are more inclined to milk the generation as long as they can, as profits come in the end, not in the beginning.

We're barely overdue, if we are. And if we are "overdue" it is more likely an indication that at the console price point, we're approaching the limit of diminishing returns in terms of what can usefully be produced and sold for a $60 price point. Go ahead and push the next generation to start now and we'll likely see a move to a standard price point of $70 or higher.

So...is this iteration of the engine going to do away with the signature texture pop-ins that the Unreal Engine is known for, or are those a "feature?"

Narcogen:

Dexter111:

Every time someone says something stupid like "do we need a new generation SO SOON" in threads like these AFTER 8-9 YEARS I want to faceplant my head against a wall..

If you think 7 years is actually 8 or 9, I suppose you might be banging your head against a wall. You might want to stop, I don't think that's good for you.

The Xbox 360 launched in Fall 2005. That's six and a half years ago, 30% less than you claim. It was also only four years after the launch of the original Xbox, which came late that generation.

The PS2 came out in 2000. The PS3 came out in 2006, although the PS2 continued to sell strongly for quite awhile after that (unlike the original Xbox).

The last cycle was shorter than usual for Microsoft because they came last. They launched earlier than Sony this generation, and are more inclined to milk the generation as long as they can, as profits come in the end, not in the beginning.

We're barely overdue, if we are. And if we are "overdue" it is more likely an indication that at the console price point, we're approaching the limit of diminishing returns in terms of what can usefully be produced and sold for a $60 price point. Go ahead and push the next generation to start now and we'll likely see a move to a standard price point of $70 or higher.

Pretty much. You nailed it on the head.

The one good thing to look forward to is that, at leas on PC, Mac, or Linux, indie gaming is indeed taking off and thus we, the consumers, can focus on actually looking for decent games instead of over priced, overproduced messes that sell over sixty U.S Dollars. And since their graphic capabilities are rather low-end in comparison we can get a product whose focus is on gameplay b/c it is actually cheaper to do it that way.

I'm sure Halo 6 is gonna look very pretty and all, but if it is expensive as fuck I'm not buying it. The same goes for anything Sony publishes like The Last of Us 2X Reloaded Sigma, etc.

Narcogen:
Go ahead and push the next generation to start now and we'll likely see a move to a standard price point of $70 or higher.

Hopefully PC games will still 50 dollars and people will migrate elsewhere ^^.

I saw the title and thought, "Probably an out-of-context quote in the title, blowing things out of proportion."

Then I clicked and read, and I facepalmed.

Every time I think this guy can't get more cartoonishly egomaniacal, he surprises me.

Saulkar:

Irridium:
And... how do they plan on keeping game budgets from skyrocketing out of control?

I think we should solve that problem before we tackle making games look even more graphically advanced.

This is how. The vast majority of a time a high poly, cinematic quality model is made first (some vehicles and buildings usually the exceptions) which is then baked onto a low poly mesh (which takes time to build in its own right) to create the normal map. With more advanced game engines and hardware you completely cut out the low poly mesh and constraints and in turn save time there. Additionally higher resolution textures are much more easier to make due to a lack of any constraints (speaking from experience here)

Um, no. You're not going to get rid of poly-count in real-time rendering (at least not within the next 10 years), so you'll still need a low-poly mesh, regardless of how many actual polys you're able to put in it.

You may have a point about the textures, but with each generation dev costs have increased exponentially.

Dexter111:
Every time someone says something stupid like "do we need a new generation SO SOON" in threads like these AFTER 8-9 YEARS I want to faceplant my head against a wall.

As opposed to "Do we need a new generation in the middle of an economic crisis when the spending power of the average consumer has been shot to hell?"

I agree, it's way past time for consoles to stop holding back PC's. It's a pain in the ass watching games fail on multiple levels because the PS3 or 360 can't handle all of it.

All that said, Cliffy B should be banned from speaking in public, and also from making games since he doesn't really know how to make more than Gears of War. When he opens his mouth, the human race looks much more stupid. As evidence, in this one article he said, "...our studio to drag this industry into the next generation", and "because I want it and gamers want it-even if they don't know they want it." He needs to get his head of his ass because the last time I checked, while awesome graphics are always a plus, they don't make games. And check the ego on this guy, Cliffy B, Sweeney and Epic are the most important thing in gaming. Only, they aren't. They built and awesome engine, no one can doubt that. But gaming can certainly do well without folks like him telling gamers and developers what they want.