Ubisoft already working on next-gen – Wii 2, PS4, Xbox 720 are close
Think the next-gen consoles or Wii 2, PS4, and Xbox 720 are too far away from release to worry about? Think again. Ubisoft has revealed it’s already working on the next-gen machines, which must mean they’re closer than we previously thought.
The next-gen continues to intrigue me, despite being between two or four years away (depending on who you believe). Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with the current-gen consoles of PS3 and Xbox 360, and even the one remaining last-gen console in the Wii. But I can’t help looking forward to what’s going to be coming next. It’s in my nature.
Thankfully, I’m not alone in this way of thinking. The home console manufacturers of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are likely quite a way down the line in terms of developing their next-gen machines. Nintendo is likely to launch the Wii 2 first, followed closely by the Xbox 720, with the PS4 likely to be last to see the light of day. At least that’s how I see it. But I am, of course, just guessing – even the names are made-up.
But some people and some companies are likely more in the know than I am. And it seems Ubisoft and its CEO Yves Guillemot are in that fortunate position. According to Bloomberg, Guillemot recently claimed:
Ten percent of Ubisoft’s workforce is working on developing games for the next generation of game systems. What has helped us is we always take the new technologies right at the beginning of their availability, and we go after them faster than everyone else.
It isn’t clear by that whether Guillemot actually has inside knowledge of the next-gen consoles or whether he and his company are just taking a punt on developing games and concepts for the Wii 2, Xbox 720, and PS4. It’s very unlikely Ubisoft will have access to dev kits as of yet but the company seems to at least have an idea of what it should be working towards.
We have to assume that because the next-gen consoles could take many forms at this stage. I’d suggest they are all likely to have some form of motion-sensing control on them, although the PS3 and Xbox 360 could be getting that at next week’s E3 anyway. But it would be a hell of a punt for a company to assign 10 percent of its workforce to develop for devices it knows nothing about.
I’d bet on E3 2010 being the site of at least one next-gen console being unveiled. But E3 2009… it’s too early, surely.
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11 Responses to “Ubisoft already working on next-gen – Wii 2, PS4, Xbox 720 are close”
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May 29th, 2009
I don’t know a single thing about game development, but I do know that the current gen games take more than a few years to develop. It’s reasonble to think that next gen, the game could take even longer.
They could be just coming up with concepts, artwork, and that sort of stuff. I’m not sure if any of the big three really have any idea what there next consoles will entail just yet.
Maybe the Wii 2’s graphics will finally be able to stand up to the PSP? I’m doubtful though.
May 29th, 2009
All you can be sure of is that Sony will dream up another crazy name for its CPU.
Maybe the “awesome reactor”!
May 29th, 2009
I feel I should point out that, whilst containing the basic infrastructure of a GameCube, the Wii is not a “Last Gen” Console:
N64 to PS1
GameCube to PS2 and Xbox
Wii to PS3 and X360.
Wii is clearly a “This Gen” or “Current Gen” console, if those are the “Technical” terms.
But seriously, I can see Sony having a PS4 and MSoft with an X720, but Nintendo couldn’t possibly call it Wii 2.
Surely that’s something the Big N just doesn’t do. Maybe they shied away from Ultra 64 because they knew they’d run out of superlatives. Imagine; Super Nes, Ultra Nes, Wonder Nes, Brilliant Nes, Best Nes… no Nintendo don’t make sequels to consoles anymore.
May 29th, 2009
He’s been making a lot of hints about Apple…I bet that this is Apple hardware.
May 29th, 2009
Believe it or not, the next consoles are going to be Photo-Realistic.
No, really! look at these Nvidia screenshots:
suwchina.com/2009/0309/3730.html
gamespot.com.cn/news/2009/0310/95456.shtml
I’m still not sure if they are real, however.
May 29th, 2009
I remember someone from MS stating that before the Xbox 1 was out the door they started working on the 360. Except they didn’t say it was the 360 they said the next gen.
It’s not to hard to imagine them having dev kits for next gen. specially id the PS4 is going to be a supped up PS3.
I will never be an early adopter. Specially after seeing the 360 blow up like it did. But I am excited to see what’s next.
I’m hoping someone comes up with something other then a more powerful version of the last and NOT motion crap.
The Guitar hero was thinking outside of the box and I like playing GH3.
It would be sweet to have a consol with a built in HD projector so you can play anywhere you want and a huge screen. I would pay up to $1000 for that.
May 29th, 2009
I had an idea a long time ago and should have patented it or something.
I wanted to see a handheld PDA or consol with a projector built in.
It would help when you want to show lots of people something without having them crowed around a small PDA.
May 29th, 2009
I’m a huge Superman fan so I prefer DC MMO over Halo but I think a Halo MMO is a great idea and MS would make a killing from it.
But I think it would attract more then 300,000 players.
If it is out on PC I may try it.
May 29th, 2009
I ment to post that on the MMO thread.
June 1st, 2009
i would have thought the next console from nintendo will be called the wii hd and i suspect it will be out for xmas this year. it would simply be an incremental increase on the existing console, much like the step from the ds to the dsi, gameboy to gameboy advanced etc.
June 1st, 2009
Wii HD seems a little too “Wii2″ to me. I’m not sure, it seems, despite its popularity, Nintendo copped a bit of flack for just having GameCube graphics in the Wii. I’d have thought the new system will have to pump up the graphics a bit (and will probably need it!), maybe add a camera (a la DSi) and integrate the Motion Plus (or Plus+).
But Nintendo usually take big steps between systems (N64 to GC notwithstanding), unlike the sequalizers Sony and MS.
Consoles just aren’t imaginative enough anymore.
PlayStation, PlayStation2 and PlayStation3?
Come on! Who got a million dollar bonus for thinking up THAT run of titles?!
Remember the Master System, the Mega Drive, the Saturn (though crap!) and the Dreamcast (though absurd!)?
Now THAT’S a series of console names.