News - Ubisoft: next gen consoles will sell twice as fast as previous gen

[HEXUS]

Ubisoft exec also explains why launch games are often underwhelming.

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[Noli]

"next gen consoles will sell twice as fast as previous gen"

Is that a surprise? The world's population will have pretty much doubled since last time no?

[cptwhite_uk]

Just how fast do you think the population is expanding?

[Saracen]

Time will tell, I guess, but personally, I suspect that that "double" claim is optimistic as hell.

Firstly, owners of existing generation consoles have to be cobvinced that new-gen offer enough extra to justify the outlay. Some current gen owners will just stick with what they have, and that will probably include me. After all, each generation tends to offer less of a marginal improvement on the last.

Second, PS4 might do well, but XBOne has suffered, erm, "issues" with, and pre, launch.

Third, PC gaming seems to be somewhat resurgent, especially with Steam, and PC hardware is certainly good enough. And upgradeable.

All told, while he may be right with "double", I'm sure not holding my breath waiting for it, and I'm not seeing terribly much consumer excitement about either new console.

[LeetyMcLeet]

...and still I won't be wasting money on a Console

If this is true then hopefully many of the kiddies and trolls will go back to consoles. The amount of times I've left a server because of sqeaky kids swearing and abusing other players, it just ruins the experience. That's what consoles are for -_-. Here's to hoping lol

[GoodZE]

...and still I won't be wasting money on a Console

I agree, there is absolutely no need for console gaming when you already own a PC, the wide variety of games, higher graphics setting and frame rates make me never wanna buy a console again.

Consoles for kids - PCs for serious gamers.

[rabbid]

doubtful twice as fast, as i would have thought xb360 and ps3 sold pretty fast and in the heart of the gaming era, when generally money was more disposable too.

but, double the total sales numbers of the preceding model before the new model line is replaced, that might be possible?

[shaithis]

I would be surprised myself.....firstly, the world still hasn't recovered from the recession and 400ukp per console and 55ukp per game is still a bit of a stretch for many.

Secondly, tablets, steam boxes and devices like Ouya will be cutting into their sales this time around....

One thing that could effect it that UBI don't seem to mention is media streaming, especially things like Lovefilm and Netflix, those might play in favour of the consoles but the proliferation of smart TVs should curtail that quite quickly also.

[Saracen]

....
but, double the total sales numbers of the preceding model before the new model line is replaced, that might be possible?

Possibly, but the quote was in "like for like time periods".

Also, if it's before a new model line, the quote presupposes he knows when that will be.

[crossy]

I agree, there is absolutely no need for console gaming when you already own a PC, the wide variety of games, higher graphics setting and frame rates make me never wanna buy a console again. Consoles for kids - PCs for serious gamers.

Sorry, but I'm going to print that off and use it to feed the roses.

You may own an AIO - that's still a PC, but it's probably not powerful enough (especially on the graphics side) to be usable as a games machine for the "latest and greatest".

Or the PC might be in a shared space, such as a living room - where a three hour CoD session isn't going to make you popular if the missus is wanting to watch Corrie or East Enders (sorry about the stereotyping there).

And there's the small matter of Windows - the least game friendly OS going. Plus you've got umpteen different drivers and other nonsense that YOU have to keep a track of. "Ooh, am I on the latest version of Catalyst, maybe that's the problem; maybe it's my northbridge drivers; etc". Farcical! (And yes, I AM making reference to Linux's apt/yum arrangements that update the OS AND vast majority of apps in a single, easy-to-manage manner.)

Compare that with a console - you just march into Sainsburys/Tesco/etc, plonk your money on the counter and walk out with a box under your arm. Then you know you can hook that up to a plain old TV (and network of course), and get going. The box updates itself when it needs to - and if there's a software problem - then it's up to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo to sort it. And yes, it sometimes crashes, but not nearly with the same frequency that a Windows PC does, where if you say "blue screen" to most people they know what you mean.

Console boot times are better than PC, unless we're talking about the fancy ones that the PC ninjas have with either SSD or RAID arrays. Or in some cases - the elite folks - RAID arrays of SSDs.

Where I will agree with you is "PC's for serious gamers" - unarguably true, but mainly because it's the "serious" folks that will be willing to spend the time, and money, getting that A+ experience. However, to say there's "no need for console gaming" when that only applies to a few isn't right. Console gaming is, and will remain for the forseeable, the way to get more people online. It's a "white box" experience - you buy it, plug it in and off you go.

Oh, and I think the Ubisoft guy is indulging in wishful thinking - given the frankly ridiculous prices being asked for next-gen console games, and the current high costs of the consoles themselves, I really don't see the queues-around-the-block that previous console launches generated. Everyone I've spoken to is waiting for the prices of consoles and games to come to more sensible levels, £50+ for a game is not acceptable. Plus money's tight for everyone.

Interestingly, I'm now hearing comments from folks I would have assumed were "PC for serious stuff, console for gaming" that they might "try" this PC upgrading lark. After all, if a quick video card swap can let them game at levels better than consoles, then the money saved is worth having! So perhaps this is good news for PC gaming - although like some - I'd prefer if the yobboes stayed on their XBox and PS's.

[GoodZE]

@crossy

I disagree with soooo much of the stuff you just said.
1.MY PC has NEVER crashed, and that isn't over-exaggerating, and im currently on the same PC for about 4 years.
2.I owned xbox for years, and went through about 4 of them which all magically decided to give up as soon as the warranty was void, hmmmm
3.barely even check my drivers, never have the need to. (except CCC) which is absoloutely fine.
4.console boot times are terrible.

However, all of this opinion is based on the xb360 and previous playstations, we can't be the judge until the new consoles are out, reviewed and tested by a large amount of people.

IMO consoles are completely overpriced, they have absolutely terrible online connection (ping) back when i used to play, unless you had host it was IMPOSSIBLE to play under 100 ping which is lame

[LeetyMcLeet]

Yeah, no offense mate, but I know how to use a computer, so my gaming experience IS better than anything on offer from a kids console.

[crossy]

@crossy

I disagree with soooo much of the stuff you just said.
1.MY PC has NEVER crashed, and that isn't over-exaggerating, and im currently on the same PC for about 4 years.

Either you've been incredibly lucky; or don't push it; or work for Microsoft!

2.I owned xbox for years, and went through about 4 of them which all magically decided to give up as soon as the warranty was void, hmmmm

I had ONE original (white) XBox360 that RROD'd and the replacement one was pretty solid. So far no issues with either of the two XBox360 Slims in the house - one of which was bought at launch. But I appreciate ymmv.

3.barely even check my drivers, never have the need to. (except CCC) which is absoloutely fine.

If your PC's 4yrs+ old then it's likely that most of the drivers are in that "legacy" stage so there's unlikely to be new versions - hence the lack of need to check them. However, the number of times I've been on a support forum and the answer to someone's problem has been "check drivers and update" have been too numerous to mention. I'd kind of exclude graphics drivers from my complaint because technology does move on quite fast there.

4.console boot times are terrible.

Last time, I powered on the 360 - which has Kinect attached - it was ready to go in under 15 seconds. Which granted is around the amount of time that it takes for Windows 7 to come up with the login screen. After which it's downhill... Actually I've had someone else tell me that their PC "easily" beat a console for boot up - until it turned out that they were actually using suspend/resume not cold boot.

However, all of this opinion is based on the xb360 and previous playstations, we can't be the judge until the new consoles are out, reviewed and tested by a large amount of people.

Agree about the new consoles - especially the rate of DOA's for the XBone. As others have said, MS don't exactly have a good reputation.

IMO consoles are completely overpriced, they have absolutely terrible online connection (ping) back when i used to play, unless you had host it was IMPOSSIBLE to play under 100 ping which is lame

Consoles overpriced? Yes. But unless I've misunderstood, what does the hardware have to do with ping times? That's surely down to YOUR internet connection. And yes, I know you can play QoS tricks with modern PC hardware that the consoles can't. However, I'll repeat myself - if you've got slow pings then that's your setup*, not an intrinsic problem with consoles. (* granted - could also be a problem with the remote servers being overloaded, but again that's not caused by the console you've got in front of you)

And I forgot one thing - console "exclusives" - love 'em or loathe 'em (I'm in the latter camp) you've got to admit that they exist. Would dearly love to be able to get Forza on my PC which - I'm very confident - could make a better job of it than any damned console!

[GoodZE]

what does the hardware have to do with ping times? That's surely down to YOUR internet connection. And yes, I know you can play QoS tricks with modern PC hardware that the consoles can't. However, I'll repeat myself - if you've got slow pings then that's your setup*, not an intrinsic problem with consoles. (* granted - could also be a problem with the remote servers being overloaded, but again that's not caused by the console you've got in front of you)

And I forgot one thing - console "exclusives" - love 'em or loathe 'em (I'm in the latter camp) you've got to admit that they exist. Would dearly love to be able to get Forza on my PC which - I'm very confident - could make a better job of it than any damned console!

I know ping has absolutely nothing to do with hardware haha, but console servers are limited to ping, the cod servers on xbox are limited to 100ping MINIMUM.
I completely agree with some of the console exclusives aswell, forza horizon is by far one of the best games ive ever played and would love to play it on pc, i would of loved to play halo 3 on my PC aswell :'( R.I.P

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Sorry, but I'm going to print that off and use it to feed the roses.

You may own an AIO - that's still a PC, but it's probably not powerful enough (especially on the graphics side) to be usable as a games machine for the "latest and greatest".

Or the PC might be in a shared space, such as a living room - where a three hour CoD session isn't going to make you popular if the missus is wanting to watch Corrie or East Enders (sorry about the stereotyping there).

And there's the small matter of Windows - the least game friendly OS going. Plus you've got umpteen different drivers and other nonsense that YOU have to keep a track of. "Ooh, am I on the latest version of Catalyst, maybe that's the problem; maybe it's my northbridge drivers; etc". Farcical! (And yes, I AM making reference to Linux's apt/yum arrangements that update the OS AND vast majority of apps in a single, easy-to-manage manner.)

Compare that with a console - you just march into Sainsburys/Tesco/etc, plonk your money on the counter and walk out with a box under your arm. Then you know you can hook that up to a plain old TV (and network of course), and get going. The box updates itself when it needs to - and if there's a software problem - then it's up to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo to sort it. And yes, it sometimes crashes, but not nearly with the same frequency that a Windows PC does, where if you say "blue screen" to most people they know what you mean.

Console boot times are better than PC, unless we're talking about the fancy ones that the PC ninjas have with either SSD or RAID arrays. Or in some cases - the elite folks - RAID arrays of SSDs.

Where I will agree with you is "PC's for serious gamers" - unarguably true, but mainly because it's the "serious" folks that will be willing to spend the time, and money, getting that A+ experience. However, to say there's "no need for console gaming" when that only applies to a few isn't right. Console gaming is, and will remain for the forseeable, the way to get more people online. It's a "white box" experience - you buy it, plug it in and off you go.

Oh, and I think the Ubisoft guy is indulging in wishful thinking - given the frankly ridiculous prices being asked for next-gen console games, and the current high costs of the consoles themselves, I really don't see the queues-around-the-block that previous console launches generated. Everyone I've spoken to is waiting for the prices of consoles and games to come to more sensible levels, £50+ for a game is not acceptable. Plus money's tight for everyone.

Interestingly, I'm now hearing comments from folks I would have assumed were "PC for serious stuff, console for gaming" that they might "try" this PC upgrading lark. After all, if a quick video card swap can let them game at levels better than consoles, then the money saved is worth having! So perhaps this is good news for PC gaming - although like some - I'd prefer if the yobboes stayed on their XBox and PS's.

Great post crossy,agree entirely.

I agree as most people are not techy or even if they could are not interested. Consoles are easy to use,and the hardware costs are fixed over time. No upgrades needed and they are plug and play. Consoles games cost more up front of course,but still have a resale value. PC games might be cheap,but all the PC gamers I know(myself included) have loads of games which they have not played. Console gamers tend to buy less games,but are more likely to finish them.

Plus the SteamBox is targetted against prebuilt desktop gaming PCs not these consoles. The fact it needs upgrades over time and is more expensive up front are the reasons why it is.

People on tech forums forget that most people will buy prebuilt gaming PCs and these are not cheap either. Just because tech forums are inhabited by DIY PC enthusiasts does not mean most gamers care to be one. In fact quite a number of console users I know work in technical areas,so they could easily build a gaming PC(and afford one),but they don't care as a computer is a means to an end for them,and they would rather prefer a laptop,and have a console connected to their TV for the gaming they do.

[crossy]

Yeah, no offense mate, but I know how to use a computer, so my gaming experience IS better than anything on offer from a kids console.

Yep, that was my point too - GoodZE, you (and I) get better "experience" from a PC - so that's the right choice for us at the moment. (that last bit because six months ago I was definitely console-only gaming).

On the other hand, to then take that and effectively say that "consoles are worthless" is just (knee-)jerk PC fanboyism. There's places for both devices - especially if, as you said, the consoles are where the big mouthed idiots decide to do their gaming.

On a personal note, the last three purchases I've made gaming-wise (about £100 worth) have all been on the PC, last console game I bought was sometime in Easter. And if SteamOS lives up to the fan's expectations then it's likely that at least one of the XBoxes is going to get ditched (PC gaming without the drag of Windows - heaven!)