In math class some students say “infinitely small” where what they really want to say is “relatively small”. Infinitely small just doesn’t make any sense. Either does “Next Gen”.
Next Gen games, Next Gen graphics, Next Gen cell phone, Next Gen Computer.
So I decided to secretly laugh every time someone says “Next Gen”, and replace it with a humorous two word saying that makes just as much sense. So everyone out there calling there pretty average graphics or games Next Gen; be warned, I am laughing at you just a little bit.
Next gen is fine if they aren’t talking about current games and technology but whats been announced and coming along in the not too distant future. When people I know making games with unity start talking about their next gen game it’s usually a bit silly, unless they have a time machine and Unity 4.x or something. But there you go
Hahaha!!! I think he’s right, he’s probably talking about people like me; I’ve been using the term ‘next gen’ to talk about 3d models with normal maps and +8k polies, but that makes no sense at all!
I used to wonder what next gen meant until I finally found the answer to be:
“Last gen = characters with 2000 or less polygons
Next gen = characters with more and a normal map
Current gen doesn’t exist. Nobody uses current gen models. They either use last gen and call it ‘mobile’ or use next gen”
Based on that ‘fact’ I formed the opinion that next gen models are all models made be people without the skill to create a decent character using last gen specs.
…ps. This was the last gen version of my answer. Since I don’t yet have a next gen answer available I am stuck with a “current gen” answer: “…”
Surely, if something’s improved, it’s not new. It’s either an improvement on the old one, or something new.
And back on topic, “Next gen” technically means beta because current gen is what’s currently out, therefore next gen isn’t out yet and is a pre-release.
The problem with advertising with “Next Gen”; besides sounding silly and un-descriptive, is what happens in 1 year? I just did a Google search of Next Gen graphics and the only image made within the last few months was Rift. It had graphics for games like Shadow of the Colossus (Which rocked); but is definitely not next gen.
So I think you are right, Next Gen Graphics; translates to “You better have a sweet computer to be able to run a game made with these graphics because the poly count is humongous”. And “Next Gen” computer translates to “This computer cost more than it should have; but boy it sure can run games with Next Gen graphics.” But this gets confusing because you then have the word “Next Gen” in the definition which makes for a lot of crazy.
Anyway, to all that like the term “Next Gen” it is fine; it just makes me roll my eyes and chuckle a little.
Just like games companies now work on AAA games, because work on a single A title would just be stupid, we will soon be competing againist AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA games
Next gen should of course be a moving standard to make sense. Next gen 5 years ago isn’t the same as Next-gen is today. Its referring the next generation of quality in games, hence graphic assets that wouldn’t perform or work with todays technology but with technology that is waiting around the corner.
Not really because AAA just refers to high quaility of something on the market. Its a term used outside gaming aswell. AAA games=high quality game
Next Gen is way overused but makes sense in most cases.
Considering it takes on average 5 years to develop a new AAA title.
Xbox 360 is going to have a lifecycle of 10 years (2005-2015) so the games for release were probably started ~2000. There wasn’t even normal mapping back then (only a couple of Siggraph papers) In those 10 years developers will have pushed the hardware and squeezed every last cpu cycle out of it, with new techniques, shaders and pipelines. It’s still basically the same hardware, with revisions.
EA and other AAA developers will probably have their Xbox3 and PS4 devkits (even if it is a cardboard box just filled with wires + $50k prototype gpu) What they do with those also filters into their current games, so new released AAA games on current consoles could be considered Next Gen.
I say we start a Post-nextgen movement. It will be to games what post modern was to literature. We’ll create a bunch of games with non cohesive non-linear storylines, long walks/runs to nowhere, tons of imperceptible and hidden functionality, as well as scores of references to obscure culture from every generation between 1940 and the end of the cold war that almost no one will recognize. The games will be worshipped by a large group of sycophantic game critics and be the subject of academic debate in college game design courses for years to come, but be comparatively unsuccessful in sales figures.
(Just Trolling along hope you don’t mind)
