What can Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo do to improve?

Here we are at the dawn of the next generation of video game consoles.  Nintendo was the first to release their new entry in the form of the Wii U, giving us yet another revolutionary controller and moving Nintendo to the realm of HD graphics for the first time. Sony revealed their hand, well sort of, early last week at their press conference. Not much can be said about the console itself but they did reveal the new dual shock controller now featuring a touch pad and a share button which seems to be the primary focus of their new online experience. If rumors are to be believed, we should be hearing something about a new console from Microsoft later next month.

Personally I could care less about these mystery consoles at this point (without games, why should anyone care?) So rather than make some speculations on the hardware or offer some meaningless flame to the inevitable console war to come, I thought I would list some of the things I didn't like about the current generation of consoles and what I feel the big three could possibly do to improve on their future business models.

Sony - While the Playstation brand is still very strong amongst hardcore players, they did a lot this generation to alienate their casual audience and new adopters. At this time a lot of their mistakes have been corrected (outrageous price) there are still several things they could do better next generation.

The things I feel they got right:

The controller - I like their "if it aint broke, don't fix it" approach to their controller. They've added things over the years but for the most part their controller design has largely stayed the same. A special nod goes out to their d-pad as being the only one out of the three console giants that I can play fighting games with without having to get an arcade stick out. Most fighting game players will attest to this, especially Tekken fans.

 Multimedia - You can't complain about the devices ability to play Blu-Ray discs, but on top of that the ability to stream your own media through your home network is pretty cool too if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Playstation Plus - This is what could best be described as Sony's version of Xbox Live Gold, only it's not mandatory for you to purchase the Plus program to use the Playstation 3's full online capabilities. The Plus program is awesome and well worth the price, which is 50 bucks a year or 15 for 3 months. Benefits include completely free games, deeply discounted games, access to some PSN games before non Plus users as well as paid content like premium avatars and desktop themes for free.  This stuff isn't just demos, it's the full games that you download and keep for all time, well as long as you keep your Plus subscription going anyway. If you fail to pay and your Plus runs out the games "lock you out" in a sense, but you don't lose your trophies or progress or anything. You just can't access the game again until you restart your Plus.  Playstation Plus is a tremendous value and was a system seller for me. It's hard to make any complaints about new completely free games every week.

The things I feel they need to improve on:

Hardware aesthetics - Again all of this is just my personal opinion, and I do feel this has improved with their latest slim PS3 model, but man Sony can make an ugly looking console.  The original PS3 was hideous in my opinion and the "Spider Man 3" font on the logo made it look like a prototype or mockup that somehow got pushed through to release. The first slim model was a great improvement but I still feel like it and the original look more like printers than game consoles. The latest slim model is nice, one because it's the most compact of the three and it reminds me of the sleek designs they captured with the Playstation 2 models. The sliding top hatch is really cool too, it actually makes it sort of fun to swap games out. For their new console they need to stick with a design that continues to pay homage to the PS2, which was a console that not only played good but looked good as a part of your home entertainment setup. Since it looks like they nailed it with the current slim PS3, let's hope the PS4 will be handsome on day one.

Price point - I think we can agree that the launch price of the PS3 was the hurdle that took them the longest time to overcome in gaining an install base. I think we would all like something that really pushes the envelope in terms of horse power but to be realistic in the current economy they can't release something that will break the bank for your average consumer. If you ask me, having unbelievable horsepower isn't really necessary for having great games. I think they need to focus on the large hard drive space for downloading games and just slightly improve their specs rather than doubling the numbers. Whatever they decide to do, they need to remember the hard lesson taught by the dauntingly high price of the original PS3.

PSN layout and navigation - I'm not a fan of how the Playstation Store is currently laid out. There is some organization to an extent but I feel like most of the time I spend on there is just digging for what I'm looking for. The search results don't seem to offer everything I'm looking for either. I'm not exactly sure on what advice to give here without saying "just look at Microsoft and Nintendo" but there it is. I wish there were more options for just browsing titles, rather than the splash of what's new or hot right now.

Installs - It seems like with any new title you get you spend a considerable amount of time installing things to get started. I think this is largely to do with the PS3 using first generation Blu-Ray drives, so to minimize tremendous load times the game installs key amounts of data. I'm sure this will be improved with their next console as Blu-Ray drives themselves have only increased in quality since their introduction.

Microsoft - Let's switch gears now and pick on Microsoft for a bit. I feel like they had a lot of success this generation and ultimately ended up being my favorite out of the big three this time around, but they did have a lot of missteps along the way and still have some things they definitely need to look at before their next console makes it's debut.

The things I feel they got right:

The controller - I have to give it to them on their controller design too. It's one of the most ergonomic game controllers I've ever held and I love the placement of the analogue sticks. They're definitely on the right track in reaching that perfect controller spot with me but there are some things to work on too. I really hope they stick with this design for their next console.

Social and communication options - The best thing about Xbox Live is the cross game chatting, parties, messaging and beacons you can set up to make finding and teaming up with your friends nearly seamless. I think they set the standard in how online gaming should take place with the 360's version of Xbox Live.

Achievements - Whether you collect these or not, it still feels good to see that achievement notification pop while you're playing. It's also a great tool for gauging your progress in certain games against your friends. I hope that with the next console they will decide to carry everyone's gamer scores over. This seems like a given though.

Xbox Live navigation and searching - I feel like the content on the 360 is much more organized than that of the Playstation Store. Everything is laid out in a much more user friendly manner and there are numerous ways to sort for content.

The things I feel they need to improve on:

Hardware reliability - These days it thankfully appears that the days of the rampant red rings of death have passed, but for a time it was a fear in the back of everyone's mind when they decided to go with an Xbox 360. To be successful in the next generation it is imperative that they test their hardware under the most extreme conditions. Players can put some serious hours into these machines and they need to be able to withstand extremely long play sessions without over heating. Here's hoping that the millions they lost in repairing RRODed consoles taught them this much valuable lesson for their next console.

 Xbox Live Gold pricing - At this stage in the game, with the Wii U offering completely free online play and Sony giving FREE GAMES if you decide to pay, Microsoft seriously needs to offer some justifiable reasons for renewing your Gold subscription. Sure they offer lots in the ways of television and other media options, but again, similar offerings are completely free on their competitor's consoles. I feel like a lot of the media apps on the 360 are just content fodder anyway to create the illusion that there's more to offer. I'll cite the Sci Fi channel app for example. There's no actual programming to watch on this app. You can't watch any episodes of your favorite shows or movies. The only things available are things I would consider DVD content, such as trailers and behind the scenes snipits. This is all stuff you can find on Youtube for free. If they feel they still need people to pay for what they consider premium content, they need to offer different subscription options so that you're only paying for what you really want to get out of the service. If it were up to me, I would rather drop all the added media apps and just have the great Xbox Live gaming service to continue to play with my friends for a cheaper price. I bought the console to play games primarily, I have other devices to watch tv. If you want to continue collecting that 60 dollars a year from me, how about some free games like with Sony's service?

Nintendo - I need to be up front and say that I don't own a Wii U console yet. I've played on one, but I've yet to spend some quality hours with the machine. That being said, I do own a 3DS and I'm very familiar with how Nintendo runs their business from the online front.

The things I feel they got right:

Controller functionality - The selling point of the Wii U is the touch screen controller and the many wonderful things it can do. I think the ability to play your games your games (most of) independently on the controller itself is a very enticing feature. I also love the potential for having an extra screen brings to the game for extra menus, extra commands and buttons, and even alternate view points.

Social network - I haven't gotten the chance to spend a lot of time with this function, but Nintendo's message board like social network seems like a great way to meet new people and discuss the games you're currently playing. It's also really cool that you can share your artwork with each other too.

The things I feel they need to improve on:

Software sharing between devices - It does seem like Nintendo is finally conscious of the importance of online functionality in a console but they still have some things to improve on too.  For one thing I would like to see your download and purchase history tied to your Nintendo ID and not the hardware itself. I've heard that they're working on this, so who knows, maybe one day we'll see this improvement.

Communication options - I'd love to see more options for cross game messaging and chat like on the Xbox 360. It just makes setting up games and just plain communicating that much more convenient.

Achievements/Trophies - See what I said about achievements in the Xbox section above. Whether you're addicted to this sort of thing or not you have to admit it's fun to see an achievement or trophy pop up letting you know you've made some unique progress.  It'd be one more thing to show off in the Mii-Verse too!


Those are just some of the things I'd like to see each console developer improve on. One could write all day about what it would take to make the perfect console but in the end it's just a matter of your own personal tastes. Like I said earlier, the games are the most important thing and I hope this upcoming generation yields some real gems to play for years to come.

P.S. I'm not awarding anyone the perfect console until the Dreamcast 2 gets announced, haha.

Cheers!