Eight Generation Video Game Consoles: The Next Line of High-Tech Games

By the time the next decade rolls around in about a year, discussion about the eighth generation of video game consoles will begin to heat up. However, these days, nobody really cares, mesmerized by their current systems and their advancements. Wii's motion control, Xbox's online experience and Playstation's hi-definition gaming are all pretty cool. Still, there are definitely improvements that can be made to each of these in their successors (the Wii 2, Xbox Next and Playstation 4 respectively).

Wii

Make the motion control more accurate

I rarely play my Wii but I vaguely recall playing Wii Golf on the Wii Sports disc. And let me summarize in two words: It sucked! The character would simply refuse to react to any motions while putting was almost impossible as the power was almost always distorted.

Improve games

The variety is fine but the ones that are out there are not quality games. They're basically a bunch of mini-game packs. In other words, make a few non-kiddish games that hardcore gamers would like. The gameplay is good on Wii but the other smaller features are horrendous.

Improve graphics

The Wii's unacceptable graphics pale in comparison to that of the Xbox and PS3. In fact, this is one of the main reasons people are straying away from this system.

Improve online experience

Some people might ask me, "How can you improve the online experience if there's none to talk about?" Ok, this is stretching it just a little bit. Wii does support online capability but just barely. There's no chat feature, community lobby/homepage, any downloadable content other than "channels" and it's agonizingly slow.

Xbox

Reduce number of errors

The notorious red rings of fire phase was enough to make any gamer impatient so the NextBox better be virtually error-free or the gaming world is bound to turn on them.

Increase PC connectability

The PC connectability was definitely not lacking in the 360 but it can be improved. I can see somewhere along the road, from the Xbox, you would be able to access and edit Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Publisher files or perhaps even PDFs. Being able to change some of the computer settings would be nice too although this may raise some security issues.

Do not implement motion control

Motion control will surely crapitize the amazing game line-up that the Xbox features. Developing for motion controls is much harder to do than developing for buttons and thus the neat features of the current Xbox games would be excluded. This would kill the Xbox.

Playstation

Lower the price

I'll say one thing. The starting price of the PS4 can't be $800 or even $500; $400 is pretty much a maximum, especially if this economic downturn continues. I'd say the price was the one biggest turn-off of the PS3 at launch and Sony can't afford for it to happen again.

Increase game line-up, introducing new games and expanding current franchises

The PS3's games aren't spectacular although they definitely trump Wii's. They absolutely need improvement though as hyped games did not exactly turn out while non-hyped ones didn't either. Do see the dilemma here?

Remove the motion control

The "Six-Axis" motion control in the PS3 was simply a load of crap; if you're not going to do it right, why do it at all? This screwed up the games quite a bit and was totally pointless.

Improve the Playstation Network

Sony will have to think outside the box a little bit for their next PSN update. The Playstation Network is currently mediocre. It's better than the Wii's but not as good as the Xbox's. However, PSN actually has a lot of features that Xbox Live has but just does not have that special touch.

More Than Just Games: Playstation Portable

I'd been wanting a Playstation Portable, better known as the PSP, for months and finally, a month ago I got it. And now, I only have raves about its spectacular features.
Well, for starters, this is a gaming device and boy can it game. The graphics are absolutely amazing for a handheld device and the screen is remarkably large allowing for the most advanced gameplay that you'll never see on Gameboys. And of course, the games on the PSP are not stupid collections of mini-games that you get bored of after a few weeks but real, hardcore games that include Grand Theft Auto, MLB 08: The Show, Shaun White Snowboarding, God of War, Rainbow Six Vegas and many more excellent titles.
Of course, the PSP isn't just about games and in fact, Sony totally re-defines the rules of the handheld with their device, which can also act as an MP3 player, a photo viewer and a movie player. Plus, as long as you establish a connection point, the PSP can be a web browser as well. And with this, you don't just get a handful of sites that actually work; in fact, it's tough to find one that isn't supported by the PSP's Javascript-friendly browser. And with internet, there's Skype, internet radios and customizable RSS feeds that are pre-installed onto your system and online gameplay too.
But that's not all; there's tons of little extras that you won't find anywhere else. For example, the PSP comes in several different actually stylish colors (not just black, white and pink) that can make gamer nerds look cool. Moreover, you can download PSP themes that range from Windows Vista backgrounds to Christmas looks. Further, this little device has a USB slot, a headphone jack, a memory stick slot and slots for other things that I don't even know about. To back it all up though, you can customize almost anything on your PSP.
So think about it. What's a barely functional touch screen compared to the PSP's multimedia capabilities and top-quality games. Well, not much.

My Advice For Apple and Steve Jobs: Go Into Video Games

Apple's best days have yet to come; It's still rising and investors and customers alike know it. The long line of iPods have been massively popular worldwide and the Mac is slowly beginning to creep up on the PC. However, this giant really hasn't taken enough of a plunge into tech yet, only really producing, MP3s, phones and computers. I believe though, that Apple can easily gain market share in any industry it wants to, and can perhaps overtake Microsoft in many of these industries. One of these may be video gaming.
Microsoft has long been in this wild and wacky world with its Xbox and Xbox 360. In addition to that, Nintendo and Sony pose huge competition. On the other hand, the iPod is probably one of the most popular items out there today: Virtually, every teenager in North America has one of these devices. A hot little handheld game console would be able to sell for sure.
To begin with, Apple has made a name for itself with its i-things and I'll bet you many young people will be dying to get their hands on another one of these. Also, the iPod has really become a trend even with youngster and walking down the street, you might see several adolescents bobbing their heads to their favorite tunes. This will undoubtedly help Apple with video game sales. Plus, Apple has some of the top marketers in the world: Steve Jobs and his crew are described by many as geniuses so really, there's nothing they can't sell. To supplement, their designers will make a sleek, new device; their innovators are sure to think of a few never-before-seen features; their financial talent is sure to set a healthy price; and Steve Jobs is sure to string everything together. What more can you ask for?
And what about an iCam (camera), an iRead (ebook reader) or an iTravel (GPS system)? If a few of these are made, soon Apple will be a real technology force.