The next generation of consoles

Faster storage, ray tracing, higher resolutions.

Unreal 5: "nearly a polygon per pixel"

But what about

Simulation? Single shard MMOs? Multiplayer physics?

To me, Dwarf Fortress still feels like the most next-gen game on the planet

Minecraft with RTX is the perfect example of what's going well and what's not improving in games.

Portable assets and avatars

As photogrammetry matures and we approach photorealism, assets might be more shareable. And easier to create.

See: Quixel Megascans

There's probably a rough DIY photogrammetry aesthetic that will differentiate non-pro games from "pro", but it will still look great IMO.

If there's unification of the art pipeline, "remixing" game assets and game modes seems more possible. That would be truly groundbreaking.

What I want is a skateboard game that's also a multiplayer shooter.

Cheating

What would a game be like where everyone was running the maximum amount of cheats they can get their hands on?

If you think about it, cheating is a form of "AR" for a virtual space. Maybe it doesn't have to be a bad thing for all games, it could be a feature!

What about the holy grail of anti-cheat: peer to peer multiplayer games. It works with chess!

I think it could come down to multiplayer physics simulation. If your character is only capable of producing forces within a certain range... those could be the rules you abide by. just thinking out loud.

Single shard

Eve Online and Dual Universe are "next-gen" in this sense.

Beyond single shard: the "metaverse."

Whatever happend to VRML?

Digital scarcity

Reamde. Hats. Real money poker.

"The dream is, I want a 12 year old camper from thailand to help pay for his family's food by killing me in an online video game and my slow reflexes" - Matt on TFTC

How do you have digital scarcity without centralized control? Bitcoin actually only solved Bitcoin's problem in this regard.

In Minecraft you choose to have scarcity to maximize fun.

What's the point of games?

Factorio

StarCraft

Overwatch

Path of Exile

Minecraft