End of the road for this generation of consoles?

With the end of a console generation fast approaching (or already here, if you’re a Wii U fan), many developers claim to have pushed this generation to its limits – but have they?

Jesse Divnich, vice president of Insights and Analysis for Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) says it is accurate to say this generation has been pushed to its limits.

“It’s fair to assume that developers have squeezed every bit of juice from the Playstation 3 and other 7th generation consoles,” he says.

In relation to the lifespan of this generation, he says the original ‘ten-year’ lifespan of the PS3 and other consoles this generation was only ever really a guideline.

“I think their ten-year rule is more of a stretch goal and a metaphor for their approach to building technologies that can stay relevant years after its release…if Sony can continue to build platforms that remain relevant five years after release, I’d consider it a job well done.”

Another industry professional, Crysis 3 producer Mike Read, says developers have found innovative ways to make consoles stand the test of time but they are still behind compared to PCs.

“I mean, consoles are sitting at the eight year mark where it’s so behind the curve at this point. And we are able to squeeze some more out of them.

"I mean, there is a game that came out recently, that I’m not going to mention, that looks really good. I mean, I’m surprised at how good it looks on consoles,” he says. Ten-to-one it’s Far Cry 3, but you didn’t hear it from me.

The Crysis series, developed by Crytek, is known for pushing the limits of systems. As such, the phrase often uttered by those building their own computers was “Can it run Crysis?”

I mentioned Far Cry 3 up there as one game that has really pushed the boundaries of consoles – it’s absolutely gorgeous.

What other games do you think have really made the most of the technology available?