Welcome to the Massive Poll Results Show. Last Friday we asked for your opinions on the ‘next gen’ consoles and we received over 3,000 votes making this the most clicked Massive Poll to date.
First we asked when you wanted the next gen and many of you were thinking of the huge costs when purchasing a new piece of hardware. TSA poster ‘tatoemonkey’ voted for a new console in 2014, suggesting ‘I think anything sooner is a bit rubbish for those people who can only now afford a PS3 due to price drop.’
Our resident codemaster Alex is obviously feeling a little more flushed with cash and commented ‘2012. Sooner the better, lo-res 30fps can go die in a fire.’
The majority of voters chose Christmas 2013, two years away, a date which seems likely if you take any credence to the rumours scampering across the Internet. The voting was fairly evenly split with 14% quite happy to wait until until the end of 2015 by which time we will all have hoverboards and auto-lacing sneakers.
Next we asked you what features you would like in your next gen console, ‘cam the man’ was looking forward to digital downloads but the thought of not having piles of Blu-ray cases was off putting to ‘Forrest_01’ .
Elsewhere the eloquent ‘doug’ wanted just one thing, ‘A web browser that doesn’t sh*t itself when you load up a web page. If it has that I’ll pre-order it now no matter when it’s out.’
Before we look at the five components that gained the most votes, let’s take a look at the least wanted features as there are some suprising inclusions.
| Feature | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Percent |
| A keyboard | 0.34% |
| PS Move style motion control | 0.95% |
| Integrated Kinect style motion control | 0.99% |
| Premium online services with subscription | 0.99% |
| ‘OnLive’ style cloud based gaming | 1.18% |
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, it appears you are not fans of motion control in any form. Also taking a kicking are premium services, perhaps many of you are fed up of paying for Xbox Live Gold.
The most suprising inclusion in our table of do-not-wants is cloud based gaming, a service that the games industry seems to be moving towards.
Now on to the top five features, the elements that will create the ultimate next gen console and the voting indicates what you really want, what you really really want, what I really really want is to ziggah-zig-ah.
No. Wait. That’s the results from my Spice Girls poll. What you want from a new console is exactly what you have now – just more of it.
| Feature | Â Â Â Â Â Â Percent |
| Lots of Memory | 14.89% |
| Free online gaming | 13.94% |
| Large capacity optical drive (Blu-Ray) | 13.37% |
| Backwards compatibility | 12.61% |
| ‘Avatar’ level graphics & sound | 9.42% |
We are expecting a graphical upgrade in the next gen consoles, likewise the memory capacity should be significantly greater than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Backwards compatibility was important (take note Sony) and to counter the lack of votes for premium online gaming, nearly 14% of the vote asked for a free service.
One other notable trend in the voting was the seventh placed feature, ‘Music, Video and TV services’, which shows how many of you now use your console for non gaming entertainment.
The message to Sony and Microsoft is clear – more of the same, less of the gimmicks.
Crocadillian
I think current generation consoles have had their time, I would really like to see motion controls and other unique ways of interacting with games. I know technology is important, but control methods do determine the kinds of games we can see on a console, and motion controls create more flexibility and natural interaction in a game, so I’d consider it more important for this reason.
Bilbo_bobbins
Perfectly put at the end. More of the same please Sony, cloud based gaming for me is an end to gaming I think. I want a product in my hand too. No gimmicks/free online. I would happily pay for hardware thats very impressive, even if it was a ridiculous price. Because I know some great games will come from it.
D-Nichol
‘When do I want next gen?’
My head says tomorrow…
My wallet says… Are you f*%cking crazy?
cam the man
Cannot remember exactly what I wrote in the ‘massive poll’ post but what I meant was that I would prefer a disc/card system as you cannot trade-in digital copies.
Awayze
I’ve spent more on PS3 than PS, PS2 and PSP combined. Bring on PS4 in October 2014 ;)
mrfodder
I’m very happy with what I get from PS+, but it would never be a reason to buy a certain console. Free online gaming would be.
Kitch
The industry loves cloud gaming as it cuts out the pirates. If you never truly own the game you can’t copy it. As for price, Steam have the right idea with it’s specials and stuff.
Deathbrin
Well the keyboard was a must.
Kevatron400
It would be interesting to poll how much people are prepared to pay for a next gen console on day one. A lot of the features (such as backwards compatibility) have a tendency to ramp the price up.