So this year we have lots of huge console releases.

There's mainstream consoles from Microsoft and Sony. Last year's answer to the next generation of gaming from Nintendo can't be ignored either. Then there's handhelds.

So, what peaked your interest and has you reaching for your wallet?





As for me, many of you already know I am going PC as my main gaming center for the new generation. However, I am very interested in 3DS and somewhat with the Wii U. The tech behind the Vita has always impressed me, especially if Sony pushes for stronger integration between this generation's handheld and console.

If I had to choose one console today, I would go with a PS4.
If the same were true for handhelds, I would very much choose a 3DS XL, black if possible.

When the new Mario and Luigi game is released, I'll be spending more time on my 3DS.

I'm gonna get a Wii U at some point and use my PC more. I'm not getting an XBox One, and am iffy on the PS4. We will see when the PS4 comes out.

Wii U is the top of my list. It's getting fun stuff. The 3DS already has fun stuff, but I'm waiting a while before getting it. And I'll be getting the PS4 'cause that'll be the Mag gaming console of choice.

I'm more iffy of the PS4 now after insult brought up the fact that half the 8GB of RAM is used on the OS, leaving only 4 for the games and other media. While it not terrible, but it limits games that hope to get ambitious. It's like a middle-high end computer or just a middle computer in that regard. A gaming PC could outdo the PS4.

http://www.examiner.com/article/ps4-mem ... ed-by-sony



I'd also like to point out that people highly overestimate how much RAM is needed. ~5, according to current estimates (still no official final amount), is plenty for anything you could possibly be doing in any video game. There's diminishing returns on RAM, and having a lot is utterly pointless.

It's like this:

How much is $1 worth to a person who has $10?
How much is $1 worth to a person who has $100?
etc.

My iffiness towards the ram rumor, if it were true, would still outweigh the iffiness of the business model M$ was trying to implement. Not to mention the whole thing was a down right insult to gamers in general.

All mainstream gaming will mostly happen on PC/PS4/XB1. There will of course be the Nintendo only gems, but like last generation, if you have one of the aforementioned three, you have access to the majority of current generation gaming. I, too, will be upgrading my computer to prep for more PC centered gaming, but I'm still getting a PS4. Maybe by next generation, I'll switch to the PC Master Race entirely.

I already have a 3Ds and have put a bunch of time into it already. It's definitely a much better investment than the Vita... which, quite literally, has nothing on it. I've played Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and it was great. But not worth buying the thing for. I also plan on getting a WiiU. There are a bunch of exclusives that I would be loathed to miss. I would have bought one already if they had proper online with their multiplayer games. I think Nintendo will be better off once they realize that couch co-op really isn't as much a thing as they think it is. Back in the day, yeah. But this isn't the 1990 anymore.

PS4 most likely.

Xbone when it gets hella cheaper. 'Cause that's how I roll (cheapskately).

Uncharted didn't count? =P

As far as PC-only gaming goes, I will always contend that at least one console will give me gaming experience that I won't find on PCs.

yeah, Nintendo's console.

As for my plans; I already have a 3DS, and it pretty much serves as my main gaming system, much like the DS was my main system last generation. I'll be picking up a WiiU whenever Zelda and Mario come out, and will likely be getting a PS4 eventually, probably after a price drop.

I'm thinking that I'm going to lean more towards PC gaming now as well though.

Well, I have a 3DS and Wii U.

I will admit that the Wii U hasn't seen super amounts of use. However, I can't really name a console that within a year or so of launch that I was like ERMAGHERD SO MANY GAEMS. It has been slow on every console, 3DS included... within that time period at least. Right now I am super happy to own one. The lineup for fall looks really nice, and then there's a buttload coming out in 2014. I realize I may have missed out on a price drop, but after having camped for a Wii(I thought I didn't want one)... well. I just decided this was easier. I mainly play Earthbound on it right now, but I need to get some time put aside for Monster Hunter. It's just one of those games I feel you really have to dedicate some time to learning and whatnot and I wanna have time for that. The Mario Bros. game for it isn't bad at all either. I beat it, so that's why I hadn't played my Wii U recently.

3DS? More like AMAZINGGGGGGGGG. There are so many huge franchises on this little thing that I am astounded. Literally this fall has a ton for that too... and stuff came out over the summer as well(PxZ, New Leaf, SMT IV, Dream Team soon, etc). It is worthy of being claimed as a main console in my opinion... from sheer game selection alone. And it is certainly pretty comfy with the XL. I do a lot of handheld gaming now.

The only other new console I plan to get is a PS4. It is pre-ordered. I missed the PS3 generation mainly, but my hope with the PS4 is a return to the PS2 days of games. More games getting localized especially. I don't want just western multiplats on there. That would be boring.

I've done the majority of my gaming on the PS3, so PS4 will be my choice. I'll probably fetch an Xbone later in the year. As for my WiiU, the only things notable for it are the VC games.

I'll likely be going PC/PS4/U this time around. Anything that comes out for XB1 is something that doesn't exist for me.

I've done a lot of digging about that RAM BS that was alluded to above, and here is an interesting read that all of you should take some time to look into.

I'll TLDR it for you: Both the Xbone and the PS4 are better than PC performance, even at the top end. Their existence will force PC developers to push the envelope further.

The implication of the above, though, is that users will not understand this but developers will because they know what the hardware differences are and what they really mean.

Read on:

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PS4

8 GB of GDDR5 memory
256 bit bus
~5.5 Ghz data rate
Peak bandwidth - ~176 GB/s.

Xbox One

8 GB of DDR3 memory
256 bit bus
~2.1 Ghz data rate
Peak bandwidth - ~68.3 GB/s

Additionally, the Xbox One has approximately 32 megabytes of embedded SRAM (eSRAM) on the die. Reports suggest that there's approximately 50 GB/s of bandwidth in both directions for the embedded SRAM. We're still not quite sure how the eSRAM is being used - if it's being used as a cache, for example, the Xbox One could come close to matching the PS4's total memory bandwidth. Here's an article from AnandTech that provides a bit more detail.

Memory demands from the OS

Reportedly, the PS4 OS requires about 1 GB of memory, leaving 7 GB for developers. The Xbox One employs 3 different software elements - the Xbox OS, the Windows 8 kernel (thanks amxn), with both being tied together and managed by a hypervisor. The Windows 8 partition reportedly boots when the system is powered on and runs indefinitely until the system powers down. The Xbox OS partition, on the other hand, is booted only when you're playing a game. The hypervisor manages both of these seamlessly, allowing you to multitask between gaming and other entertainment features. It's being speculated that all three software elements consume 3 GB of memory, leaving 5 GB available for developers.

Differences in the types of memory

GDDR5 and DDR3 transmit data in different ways. GDDR5 has a relatively higher latency, but delivers data in larger chunks - exactly what you would want for a GPU, but not necessarily ideal for a CPU. On the other hand, DDR3, the memory type employed by the Xbox One, transmits smaller amounts of data more quickly - this is ideal for a CPU, but not exactly the best option for a GPU.

The architectures of these systems are quite profound, as they reveal the overarching philosophies of both companies. Sony's approach with the GDDR5 is ideal for gaming, as it augments the GPU and is great for developers. Microsoft's choice for DDR3 (and the eSRAM) favors the CPU a bit more and, as a result, is better for activities like multitasking.

Aside from the memory subsystems, it should be noted that the PS4 simply does have more power under the hood, with 50% more raw shader power - 768 SPs at 800mhz for the Xbox One, versus 1152 SPs at 800 mhz for the PS4. Unlike the Playstation 3, this isn't a complicated architecture to understand, and it may not take anywhere near 3+ years for developers to harness this power.

Both systems, however, are exponentially significantly more powerful than the 360/PS3. One of the key features of both next gen systems is that they have unified memory pools. In your current computer, you have system memory, but your graphics card (if it's dedicated) has its own pool of memory as well. As a result, your system has to copy data from one pool of memory to the other, which takes time and can hinder peformance.

The 8 GB memory pools in the PS4/One are unified - meaning, quite simply, that both the CPU and GPU inside the PS4/One access the same pool of memory. This can provide significant performance increases (ie, the CPU can load textures into the memory, while the GPU is rendering). If you're interested in learning more about this, simply perform a search for "hUMA" (heterogeneous unified memory access).

And, even if you only game on a PC, and not a console, you should still be pretty excited, as the new consoles will only raise the bar for PC games. Porting games among the PC, PS4, and Xbox One is going to be far easier. In fact, the developer of Warframe recently said in an interview that Sony asked only 3 months ago if they wanted to bring the game to the PS4. They agreed, Sony sent devkits, and 3 months later, they showed off Warframe footage running on PS4 devkits at E3.

This is definitely an exciting time to be a gamer.

Addendum

There seems to be much discussion comparing the next gen consoles against gaming PCs, and I think it's a bit unfair to make such direct comparisons. Many look at the Xbox One and PS4 and come to the conclusion that the consoles have about the same computational power as a Radeon 7850 (for those unaware, this is a mid range graphics card). And, in fact, this may be true. However, developing software for consoles is different than developing software for a PCs. When developing games for PCs, there tends to be a lot of abstraction.

A developer who is making a game to run on a PC has to make a game that can run on a seemingly endless amounts of hardware setups. Developers making a game for a console, on the other hand, know exactly what they're working with, and can extract every single iota of power from the console itself. To analogize this (bear with me) in a somewhat odd way, pretend you're a chef. Your friend comes to you and tells you that there's a wedding taking place, and you need to make all the food for the reception. Well, OK, you could certainly do that successfully, but you may not get the best results. This would be similar to writing a game to run on PCs. Now, let's say your friend comes to you, says you need to make food for the reception, but tells you that there will be exactly 37 guests, 20 male, 17 female, half the males prefer chicken, the other half prefers steak, 1/3 of the females don't drink wine, none of the guests like seafood, and so forth (you get the idea). You know exactly what to make and how much to make to get the absolute best results.

It's not a perfect analogy, but hopefully it gives you an idea of why you can't exactly make a direct comparison between the next gen consoles and a PC of commensurate power. Since developers know exactly what they're working with, they can optimize their engines and games to get the most out of the console version.

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Thanks for the explanation! The unification of RAM is pretty cool. I'm definitely looking forward to the PS4, and even more so when more games are out for it. Especially more stuff than just Watch Dogs for me. I want more JP games!

But even so, I think it's going to be funny when FFXIV A Realm Reborn drops on that thing. Right now, PG is planning on playing on the PS3 which everyone is complaining that PCs can do better(and I believe mine can at the moment)... but when the PS4 drops I'll be the one who has the lesser graphics it seems. But that's cool by me, since I'm not upgrading crap until building something new.