Epic Games pushing for 'quantum leap' in next-gen hardware power

 @TheSnowmanSaint I gave up on CoD, a loooooooooong time ago. I kind of excluded it out of ''gaming'', because there's just nothing, it's a gray mass, bland gameplay, boring outdated graphics, just everything is just like a sandwich that has been laying under the sofa for 20 years.

 @joujou264 Annnd all the mindless CoD drones didn't already make you lose faith? No? All right then, just checking up on that.

 @Morphine_OD I'm not gonna buy a 600$ machine either, that's way too much just to play games.

 @joujou264 Sony has awful pricing politics. They had a different thing in mind when they have begun selling PS3. They were positioning it as if it were PC. You could even install Linux on it. I think Sony will not make the same mistake twice and will focus PS4 on games only. It will cheapen the production costs and give them a competitive edge. That is if they will decide to cut the price for it. I won't be buying another console for 600

 @Morphine_OD Why would they do that again, didn't they learn anything from the PS3? Well, then again they would be pretty screwed if they don't make it as good as the nextbox. Though, if they are going to sell their console for 600$+ then they will experience the same thing that happened with the PS3, or even worse. Sony is in a pretty bad state, I think they're on the brink of doing the same as SEGA did, if the sales are as low as they we're at the PS3's first half of it's lifespan. Also, didn't the PSVita have crappy sales, I don't think that it was really necessary  for Sony to make it that expensive, considering the fact that they we're competing with the 3DS. I hope they learn something from the PS3, and Vita launch sales. Let's hope that they do the right decision, and make it as good and cheap as it can be.

 @joujou264 exactly. However I've seen preliminary specs of Sony's next project and it looks like a beast too. See here http://ps3.dashhacks.com/2012/05/26/ps4-will-be-massive-gen-jump-least-thats-what-this-leak-says . If Sony won't make a beast, they are busted, so I'd say the balance of power between them and MS will be untipped by the next gen console outings

 @Morphine_OD Ok, so basically, if I like Nintendo exclusives, which I do, and if I'm a little short money-wise, go to Nintend? But if I want a beast, then go to MS? I excluded Sony, because they most likely won't make a beast machine because of their economic problems, it's a long story. And I excluded PC, because I'm looking for a console, and I already have a fairly good gaming PC.

 @joujou264 It's just the expected stuff from the newly released platform. A lack of games on the start and the most of them from the first party. Nintendo has a history of being rusty towards third-parties, so I don't expect a lot of exclusives from them. All the games that you've named are multiplats and there's IMO no sense in buying a brand new console that will run titles just as good as the cheaper competitors. The true power lies in exclusive stuff and I don't see a worthy exclusive third-party game anytime soon.

 @Morphine_OD Ok, Thanks. But why would it be limited to the Nintendo franchises, there's already games coming out like Assassins Creed 3, Darksiders 2, Metro: Last Light. Do you think that the development for those games is going to stop after the launch? I had this kind of feeling too, since there we're a lot of games announced, and I believe none of them would be on the Wii U. Although, I did read a article in which it said that Nintendo ordered all the Wii U games developers to shut up until E3. Let's hope E3 is going to be full of surprises.

 @joujou264 

1) I'd wait a year in your case. Buying it at launch will probably limit your games to the traditional Nintendo franchises.

2) Granted, if the hardware is cheaper, but the input methods are the same as now, Nintendo WiiU will have an advantage.

3) It depends on the hardware of the competitors. If they will make powerhouses, WiiU will be bound to the same fate as Wii, since porting multiplat titles for the core audience to it will probably be cancelled at some point.

 @Morphine_OD Thanks for the answers, but I'd like to forward my last question.

1) And what if I'm not a die hard fan of Nintendo, is it still worth?

2) What if MS/Sony doesn't listen to Epic, and sticks to cheaper hardware, would the Wii U be at a advantage to the 720/PS4?

3) And lastly, will the Wii U be worth picking up for a longer time period than 1-2 years?

 @joujou264 

1) I worked primarily on actions and Turn-Based strategies.  At the moment I work on a multiplat simulation game.

2) NES age games were about as expensive as indie games now. You could make a game with a small team of 5-10 people in a few months time. And it would be a great game for the time indeed. The thing is - it was a lot more complicated process, that demanded quite a lot from the devs. So ultimately - it was a lot cheaper, but also a lot more challenging.

3) Actually it's certainly got some potential, because it gives you a lot of different interaction options. I expect it to have a lot of creative titles. However I expect it's hardware  to be on the same level as XBOX360 because it'd be quite a risk to have better hardware and still sell it for cheap. In the most optimistic case - it's gonna be 1.5 times as powerful. I think it will have a lot of ps3/pc/xbox360 multiplat titles during the first few years of it's lifespan, so it's basically a no-brainer to buy one if you're into Nintendo gaming paradigm.

 @Morphine_OD Ugh, looking at my comments after writing them, they look a lil' bit retarded, nonetheless, I'd like to read your answers, if that's possible.

 @Morphine_OD You're a developer? Great, I have some questions I would like to ask you:

1) What kind of developer are you? For example: Retro developer, MMO developer, Modern Multiplat developer, etc. Just as what kind of dev you currently work.)

2) If you were a developer at the time, were NES age games more expensive to make, than current age?

3) I see you as a quite reasonable person, so I would like to hear your thoughts on the Wii U as a dev, since I was planning to get one this year.

 @joujou264 thanks, I appreciate your attitude. Actually I had you at a disadvantage, because I'm a game developer myself. 

Also just FYI the character models, textures and other assets are made very very detailed from the git-go. Then they are being gradually downscaled in quality until they hit the intended performance mark. Thus the development will actually go faster and become cheaper if the target platform has exquisite hardware that allows the artists to import their assets almost as is.

 @Morphine_OD Well, you might have a point there. But nonetheless, those tools should be groundbreaking, because the costs on making a UE4 game would be pretty darn high. You got me at the A.I. part, I absolutely forgot about that. Thanks, for reminding me 2 comments later, than you should of done.

Nonetheless, I give up, I wasn't really in the mood for arguing today anyway, and I'm quite tired too. Maybe that's why I just blindly argued.

BTW, this is how you give up, without losing your dignity.

 @joujou264 

1) You can't read, right? "Sweeney said the new framework includes tools that allow for shortened production cycles and lower development costs"

2) BECAUSE AI IS NOT A PART OF THE ENGINE for fucks sake. Every AI system is written from scratch for the game. Or do you think that Bioshock has the same AI system as Mortal Kombat? Both however use UE3.

 @Morphine_OD I know it, because:

1) The hardware that UE4 was shown working on was very expensive, you should know about the rest of the story like, developing time, resources, etc.

2) UE4 has been talked on about the graphics, but not as much about A.I. or other graphics unrelated things. Which shows that what Epic is mainly aiming at, is better graphics.

 @joujou264 how can you know "this engine is bad for. The price for example, or the fact that it is mainly focused on visuals, rather than A.I., or such."? Aren't you assuming things?

Making statements based on assumptions is just a dumb thing to do.

 @Morphine_OD Those were examples. And what you proved them with to be wrong, were assumptions. And how can you know that it isn't focused on graphics, have you tested the UE4?

Please don't answer questions with assumptions, because that is just a dumb thing to do.

 @vault-boy  @PodXCOM I didn't say that we don't need the engine. I just implied that not everyone wants to see, for instance, a gray depressing building in a realistic city. I'd much rather see buildings in a art style of Braid, or Skyward Sword, or any other significant art style. I like to play something realistic from time to time, but not always.

And BTW, if a game should go down the route of realistic graphics, and realistic gameplay, it should be somewhat like ArmA 2, because that's one of the most realistic FPS I've ever seen.

 @joujou264  @PodXCOM Also to your ' I'd like to see interesting art styles, rather than realistic stuff.' comment if you are implying that you don't need good graphical power to make 'art styles' as you call them which I can assume is something along the lines of TF2, Skyward Sword, etc. which are all very nice looking games then you are pretty stupid. Skyward Sword looks pretty damn awesome but the graphical power from the Wii makes it look significantly worse than it could have on a superior system.

 @danusty  -->"go back to PS1, Id go back to it, FF9, tales of destiny, breath of fire 4, SF alpha 3, MK trilogy (photo realistic), the list goes on and on are all great games even by today's standards. go back to the snes, we have chrono trigger, FF6, FF4, breath of fire 1 and 2, secret of mana, to name a few, I love me those fake sprite graphics. go back to the nes, SMB 3, FF, dragon warrior 4, crystalis, river city ransom, double dragon 2, life force, to name a few, I freaking love those games."<--

.... Wow. Didn't thought I was talking to an experienced player, who knew his stuff. Nice to know there is still people who likes JRPGs. So what do you think of Pandora's Tower and Resonance of Fate? I don't know what they are like.

-->"if you want to challenge michaek bay's photo realistic giant robot movie with aweful story, challenge him by making another photo realistic giant robot movie but this time use a good story. "<--

Long story, but the only way that is going to happen is if, A, The studio sees how populer the giabt robot name is. Or B, a big name director makes along and makes a movie out of it.

Because Michael Bay ran with it all the way to the ground, to the point where no one was excited for another giabt robot movie, the chances for a Giant robot movie (like  Gundam, Macross, Eva, Zone of the Enders, MGS, FLCL  etc.) goes down drastically.

Ridley Scott and James Cameron were working on an idea for "alien 5", but when they heard of AVP: Alien vs. Predator, they were turned-off in making another alien:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/686/686746p1.html

But if Prometheus does well, then it may get them excited to make "alien 5".

Right now, most people see giant robots as just being silly. So the way I see it, it's just better to wait for a Photorealistic giant robots game, instead.