Next Generation Social Advantage

So it's that time of the cycle again, folks.  The time for the new console announcements.  I think everyone expects Sony and Microsoft to announce their new consoles sometime this year.  For those who've read my old blogs back on 1up, you may be familiar with my stance that the new consoles can in no way compete on what they used to compete on before.  That is, the usual better graphics and faster hardware just going to cut it this time around.

 

Why?  Because of development costs.  With studios folding left right an center these days, big budget triple A titles are getting harder and harder to make, not to mention more and more expensive.  So just throwing better graphics and more horse power will not work for this new generation because less and less developers can even take advantage of the added muscle.

 

Nevertheless, however, processing power has grown by leaps since the last major console launches (not counting the Wii U).  Memory has also taken similar bounds.  It would be a shame not to take advantage of progress.  But if better looks and bigger worlds are too expensive and risky to make, then what to do with all that extra power?

 

I believe I have the solution, and it was Nintendo who inspired this.  You know the Wiiverse on the Wii U?  Basically Twitter for Nintendo?  Well what if this is the next new leap in gaming?  I'm going to use Sony as my example here because they rock.  So picture this.  Wiiverse is Twitter for Nintendo, right?  So what if, when Sony introduces their new machine, we have Twitter for Sony…  and Photobucket for Sony… and Youtube for Sony…. and… dare I even say it?  Facebook for Sony!  You see what I'm getting at here?  That's right.  Complete social integration within the platform.  Social Media for Sony.  For the PS4.  That gets my blood pumping.  It's also a great way to use that extra horse power and memory available with progress today.

 

A number of you reading might be thinking: so what?  We already have Twitter, Photobucket, Youtube and Facebook.  Why would we need a Sony version?  My answer to that is another question.  Why have a console in the first place?  I mean, you can play games on your PC right?  A lot of folks like the dedicated machine experience.  A Playstation should only really be used to play games (and do game related stuff).  It's a lot less complicated to use hardware when it's dedicated.  So a similar thought could also appy to software.  Social Media for Sony isn't going to have the reach of Facebook, but it doesn't have to.  Think about what Facebook tells us for a second.  Who's got together?  Who broke up?  Who got married?  Divorced?  Having a kid?  Going on vacation?  That's all well and good but as a gamer, sometimes, I want to get away from the world and just talk about the one thing on my mind.  Games.  And with social media built in to the consoles, this could be a reality.  Besides, when you excitedly post on Facebook about your Platinum on Dragon's Dogma, who except your gamer friends are gonna care?  You might as well save those important pieces of gaming worthiness for the folks you know will understand:  your buddies on your Playstation list.

 

Of course, the option always exists to have Sony's software linked up to the real Facebook.  So if you really want to show off your newest Platinum, you can.

 

Okay, so this all sounds pretty good so far, but what is the actual application?  How would it work?  Imagine this scenario.  You're playing multiplayer deathmatch on Black Ops 3 and you wanted to go hide in your favorite ambush point.  You get to where you want to go, and without looking, start backing into your favorite spot.  All of a sudden, you die.  The kill cam shows that someone was already in your hiding spot, and since you were trying to back into it without looking, you literally walked into a backstab.  Pretty funny, right?  Suppose this happened on the the PS4 with Social Media for Sony.  Suppose also that you are able to set the machine to record a video of whatever was on screen for the past two minutes.  Then it would be a simple matter of pausing the game, retrieve the video, and whenever you have time, run the handy video editing program built into the machine to show specifically only what you wanted:  your untimely death and the hilarious cause.  After that, it's another simple matter of saving the video and posting it online.  The best part is, you can do all this on the console, built in, without leaving the machine and having to go onto a PC.  You can expand the concept to screen shots too.  See a particularily nice vista while in your favorite RPG?  Snap a pic and post it on Twitter for Sony.  Stuck in a game and need some help?  Pause and do a post on Facebook for Sony and see if any of your friends can offer some advise.  Done well, the possibilities are limitless.

 

And so that's how the next generation of machines can compete.  Not on raw processing power or graphical shine, but on what you can now do with and on a game that's much more than what you can do now.  Without hooking it up to a PC, that is.  By all means, this isn't turning a console into a PC.  Far from it.  We don't need to do spreadsheets on a Playstation.  But anything that can make the gaming experience more social, more exciting, more hands on and more rewarding is the very thing the gaming industry needs to cultivate for the next round of consoles.  And I think bringing in social media factors on board is one way of making this a reality.

Gaming Promise Check:

Atelier Meruru - 10 hours done

DMC - great game and now playing, but...

Ni no Kuni - broke my new year's promise already.  Bought this game.  Will juggle this with DMC.  With any luck, these are the only two games you will see here in a long time.