Next Generation Consoles: What PlayStation 5, Next Xbox Will Need To Be Truly ‘Next-Gen’

Next generation consoles are always a big seller for the gaming fanatic who doesn’t want the maintenance and cost associated with building a PC up to the latest specifications. While the PS4 and Xbox One are considered top-of-the-line for now, but the newly-released Steam machines might bring high-tech customization to the console gaming world.

Now that we’re starting to see what current generation consoles are capable of, what’s next? How can the PlayStation 5 and the next Xbox improve on what’s already been done?

Short of allowing consumers to upgrade video and audio cards, swap out processors for faster ones, swap hard drives for higher capacity, or even plug in a new multi-terabyte RAM chip, console manufacturers are currently stuck planning ahead.

You can’t swap anything more than the hard drive with the PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One won’t even allow that much unless you really know what you’re doing. Allowing gamers more customization in the hardware to power up the system long after its release date could be a positive step forward for next generation consoles.

The question is, would Microsoft, Sony, or even Nintendo ever allow that to happen? One glance back at previous consoles leaves us with the most likely answer: they will not. This means the new generation will need to support technology which may be mainstream by then.

With the recent rise of 4K TVs, the current 1080p benchmark just won’t be trying any more. The most graphically impressive titles on the market right now won’t be good enough for next generation consoles. By then, HDMI will probably have a standard that current consoles will barely use, rivaling even today’s PCs.

Attack of the Fanboy has reported that Sony is already working on the PlayStation 5, based on a job description Sony recently released for “senior game programmer.”

“We have an exciting opportunity at Sony Computer Entertainment of America (PlayStation). We seek a senior game programmer to assist us in developing a game used for R&D purposes related to our next generation gaming system. For someone passionate about gaming this is a very rare opportunity. After reviewing the below job profile, if this is you, please apply!”

Crossmap has also stated that there are rumors the PS5 may not have a physical disc drive, as downloadable games seem to be turning more and more popular. However, the used game market thrives on physical discs, and some gamers still prefer to have a solid copy of the game instead of a pile of data sitting on a (limited in space) hard drive. Consider how you need to sign in to Xbox Live and PSN before you can play games you don’t have discs for, and you might see why next generation consoles will probably keep the physical drives around.

If a manufacturer goes against public demand, they tend to start losing sales. Nintendo’s Wii U suffered from that problem due to a refusal to take the popular route with gaming media. Next generation consoles will most likely need to support a 4K Blu-ray drive as well as regular PC hard drive swapping if they are expected to compete with what’s on the market today.

Something else that Sony and Microsoft may need to consider is supplying a stock hard drive which will hold at least 20 major titles. The next Grand Theft Auto could easily clock in at 150 GB or more, which is more than a quarter of the actual space allotted on stock console hard drives launched with the PS4 and Xbox One. The demand for higher quality visuals and greater hard drive space will be paramount when the next generation consoles hit.

What do you think the next Xbox and PlayStation 5 will need to make them truly “next-gen”?

[Images via Sony, Microsoft]