What is the Next Generation?

With E3 2013 over and the next generation of games finally beginning to come into focus I can't help but feel that the term "next generation" means more than just the next consumer product that will be made available to gamers. Since gaming's infancy, the "next generation" has given gamers more and more immersive and realistic experiences and this coming generation needs to figure out what it will give gamers besides just pretty graphics.

When we talk about the next generation we immediately think of the fantastic graphical power of a game like Battlefield 4 or The Witcher 3 but do better graphics completely define the next generation? I don't think so, and I think that gaming history is full of generations that not only added graphical power but an X factor that pushed gaming farther and farther.

Look at the difference between the second generation of game consoles and the third generation of game consoles. The second generation was dominated by the Atari 2600 and it focused on "high score" experiences that were simple and fun. A gamer's imagination needed to be pretty solid to immerse themselves in the world of those early games.

The third generation saw the emergence of the Nintendo Entertainment System and 8-bit gaming. 8 bit gaming was much more visually appealing (actually doing a pretty good job of representing what each object was supposed to be) but the graphical boost was not what made the third generation so much better. It was the kind of experiences that were possible with this new technology.

Not only had the control scheme been refined with the gamepad, but the ability to save allowed large RPG experiences like The Legend of Zelda to be imagined. Now instead of striving for high scores, gamers were taking characters through grand stories.  That innovation is ultimately what pushed gaming forward and made experiences more immersive and fun for future generations.

3D gaming, first-person perspectives, co-operative play, competitive multiplayer, and online components have all been the true reasons that games have gotten more immersive, not the fact that they look better than they used to. Graphics are an important part of immersion in a game but I think they are often overrated in the conversation of what makes a game tick.

So as we look into the next generation of gaming, I am waiting to see how gameplay innovations are spurred on by technological advances and how that will help evolve gaming in the future. The Xbox One, Wii U, and the PlayStation 4 (and of course, PCs) are all connected to the internet in some way (whether you like it or not in the case of the Xbox One) and that seems to be what will catch on as we head 5-10 years into the future.

Many games that are picking up hype in the gaming community are connected and living worlds that will be inhabited by thousands (if not millions) of gamers and molded by their participation. That move towards an always-connected world seems to be what is going to push gaming forward in the future and it will be interesting to see if that pans out.