14 DAY TRIAL // The next generation of video game consoles will most definitely appear in 2014, at least according to Avalanche Studios, the developer behind the Just Cause franchise.
As the current console generation is nearing its fifth year of existence, games publishers are commenting on the next batch of devices, especially since Nintendo is shorting the life of the current Wii by releasing the new and improved Wii U next year.
We've seen plenty of publishers and developers talk about next generation consoles, while rumors that some companies are working on devices like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 are flying around the web.
Now, Avalanche Studios, the company behind the Just Cause franchise, has just opened a new branch in New York, which is going to focus on developing a triple-A project for next generation consoles.
The company confirmed that it is expecting new devices to appear in the next few years, and pinpointed that 2014 will see the release of at least one next generation console.
"We obviously talk to everybody, and everybody talks to us," Avalanche New York studio manager David Grijins told Edge magazine. "We have some intelligence to go on that, by early 2014, we're pretty sure there'll be at least one next-generation console on the market. Anyone who says they know what the market is going to look like three years from now is just blowing smoke. Whatever happens, we feel very confident that we'll be ready for it."
Sony is saying that its current PlayStation 3 still has another 5 years ahead of it, so a new device is quite far away.
Microsoft is rumored to have commenced shipping new Xbox prototypes to developers like EA or Crytek, ahead of an official announcement in 2012, but both companies denied such a thing
Avalanche co-founder Christofer Sundberg also chimed in on the next generation subject, saying that new devices won't allow games to become even more beautiful, but they will allow for new things to be introduced in terms of gameplay.
"If there is a way to push the bar in a few years then that's fine, but the looks of games these days are so good that they don't need to look better," he said. "What is more interesting is the ways that developers and publishers can find new ways of designing games - and more interesting gameplay and distribution models - rather than better-looking games."