Here’s a smattering of info I’ve dug up regarding the soon-to-be in full swing 8th generation of gaming.  Some of it’s good, some of it’s bad, and some of it is, well, just a little odd.

Wii U (Nintendo)

Plenty of us Wii U owners have spent the last year anxiously awaiting Nintendo to blow us away with some great 1st party titles.  Nintendo has all but wasted its year-long head start on Sony and Microsoft with its criminally low output these past 11 months, but announcements for Q4 of 2013 will give us lots to be excited about.  However, I am curious as to why, one by one, several of them seem to be pushing back the launch dates.  What better launch period is there other than the holiday season?  Well, besides the obvious answer which was last year’s holiday season…  Now it seems we’re going to have to wait for Yoshi’s New Island and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze well into the new year.

Apparently plenty of developers have already made up their minds about the Wii U and unfortunately, I as a die-hard Nintendo fan must now reluctantly admit that it seems it will be necessary to own either the Xbox One or the PS4 to get the most out of the 8th generation.  Here’s a quick look at some stuff that is and isn’t coming to the Wii U.

Skipping the Wii U:

• Grand Theft Auto V
• Madden NFL 25
• Need For Speed: Rivals
• Battlefield 4
• NBA 2K14
• XCOM: Enemy Within
• Saints Row IV
• Diablo III
• Destiny
• Mad Max
• Dying Light

Still Coming to the Wii U:

• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Skylanders
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
• Watch Dogs
• Just Dance

We’ll have to keep our eyes open, but it looks like the dark cloud that plagued the original Wii is again forming over its successor.  Nintendo may not regain the self-affiliated “hardcore gamers” out there, but hey, at least for now there’s only one place to get one’s fix for Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and plenty of other franchises that are synonymous with video gaming.

My fear however, is that in the coming years, perhaps the next 5 to 15, these titles will start losing their relevance, and customers everywhere will have to weigh old favorites against the latest and greatest technology.  Moreover, there’s at least one, maybe two, generations of gamers growing up who don’t hold the fondness for Mario and Metroid that I do, a fact that Nintendo needs to seriously address.  After all, Pac-Man was about as iconic as a video game character could be, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find anyone below 40 who actually remembers Pac-Man as anything beyond a relic from a forgotten age of gaming.

Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft

Perhaps the one bright spot us Nintendo fans can focus on at the moment is Sony and Microsoft’s desire to imitate Nintendo’s cutting edge hardware developments.  Sony and Microsoft are already discussing ideas to implement a “second screen” feature to their upcoming consoles, not dissimilar to their belated entry into motion controls with the PS Move and Kinect.  This time around though, these behemoths are intent on supporting these features before the ship has sailed, so to speak, and both companies are experimenting with tablet and smart-phone integration, however neither seems to have stumbled on a solution quite as elegant as the Wii U’s GamePad.

Sony has promised that the PS Vita will be compatible with nearly all PS4 games, an interesting concept we heard back when the PSV was first released regarding the PS3, and I might add a concept that never really came to fruition.  Who wants to drop $400 on a PS4 only to spend another couple of hundred on the Vita?  I’m still not convinced, but it is better than utilizing an app for any number of different mobile devices.  Someday, at some point, I wish someone would put their foot down and simply say “THIS SHIT WORKS AS IS,” a belief that I think Nintendo is trying to stick to.

Personally I’m not too keen on the idea of supporting existing devices; I can already see a whole slew of hardware and software compatibility issues down the line.  Additionally, Sony and Microsoft will alienate their products from a population segment without these other devices and without the money to invest in both a gaming console and touch-screen device.  Although at this point, this segment could be smaller than the one that would prefer such integration.  Either way, I think the idea will be a difficult one to put in place and it will render these new consoles more obsolete more quickly if too much of it is focused on exactly what is on the market currently rather than portraying itself as a self-contained machine.

Xbox One (Microsoft)

Microsoft has announced a couple of interesting concepts that may set itself apart from the PS4 apart from the price.  First comes the expected revelation that the Kinect will no longer be required for the Xbox One.  This has left Microsoft fans without the $120 Kinect breathing a sigh of relief.  While this announcement would logically suggest that an Xbox One without the Kinect could be available, MS still maintains that its new console will not be sold separately from the Kinect.  Huh?  Who knows.  Another dishy detail from the company that gave us all the “RED RING OF DEATH.”

Another feature that Microsoft will be unveiling along with the Xbox One is a service called ID@Xbox.  This is a system that will allow indie developers to create their own unique games for the console.  Once registered, these small teams of developers will receive 2 free developer kits for the Xbox One and will be free to create their own work.  They can then submit the completed game to MS and after due process it will be available in the online store for users to buy.  All Xbox One functionality will be supported, including Gamerscore, Achievements, etc.  What’s better is they won’t be shoved away into some “indie” section of available online titles; rather they will be listed alongside digital offerings from the big guys.

In my opinion, there’s two possible outcomes here.  Either the gaming world at large will have a valuable tool to locate budding developers and evaluate their work, or it will become an inconsistent dumping ground for anyone with too much free time, similar to what lurks in the App Stores of iOS and Android devices.  A lot of this depends on what sort of quality control standards Microsoft sets, but it goes without saying that they won’t be able to scrupulously monitor and inspect every single piece of software that passes through their virtual gates.  Inevitably there will be a noticeable amount of utter garbage, else MS would be so backed up with contributions that hardly anything would make its way through.

Lastly, here’s the complete, confirmed list of Xbox One titles for the launch window between November and March of next year.

• Asassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
• Battlefield 4
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Crimson Dragon
• Dead Rising 3
• FIFA 14
• Fighter Within
• Forza Motorsport 5
• Just Dance 2014
• Killer Instinct
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
• Lococycle
• Madden NFL 25
• NBA 2K14
• NBA Live 14
• Need For Speed: Rivals
• Peggle 2
• Powerstar Golf
• Ryse: Son of Rome
• Skylanders: Swap Force
• Watch Dogs
• Zoo Tycoon
• Zumba Fitness: World Party

PlayStation 4 (Sony)

Well, there isn’t anything new or exciting that I’ve recently been made aware of when it comes to the PS4, though it does seem to be the popular choice when it comes down to Sony vs. MS.  I would bet that this is largely based on price, though it would appear that the PS4 has a longer launch list than the Xbox One.  And without further ado, here is the completed, confirmed list from Sony of all launch window titles (releases through March of 2014).

• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
• Basement Crawl
• Battlefield 4
• Blacklight: Retribution
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Contrast
• CounterSpy
• DC Universe Online
• Doki-Doki
• Driveclub
• FIFA 14
• Flower
• Hohokum
• Just Dance 2014
• Killzone: Shadow Fall
• Knack
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
• Madden NFL 25
• Minecraft
• N++
• NBA 2K14
• NBA Live 14
• Need For Speed: Rivals
• Pinball Arcade
• PlanetSide 2
• Pool Nation FX
• Resogun
• Skylanders: Swap Force
• Super Motherload
• Tiny Brains
• War Thunder
• Warframe
• Watch Dogs

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now.  Stay tuned; the weeks until launch and the first couple of months afterwards are sure to hold all sorts of surprises, both good and bad!

Written by The Cubist