14 DAY TRIAL // Despite the fact that neither Microsoft nor Sony has revealed any official plans for the next generation of home consoles, the leader of the developer working on Borderlands 2 already has a few projects ready to go.
Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Studios, confesses to Gamasutra, saying, “I’m always excited by movement forward. Some of that comes from iteration with our software, and some of it comes from iteration with hardware, and some of it comes from invention… each new step kind of gives us new tools and new capabilities that always makes the entertainment better, if we use it right.”
The developer believes that more computing power is always good for developers because it allows them to include more features and more complexity in their titles.
At the same time, Pitchford is relatively unimpressed about the motion tracking systems that Sony and Microsoft have created, although he believes that in the near future companies will be able to create full body-control solutions.
He added, “There are so many steps between now and the holodeck, or between now and The Matrix and any number of those steps could be tested or introduced either as gimmicks or as potentials to new standards in any given hardware attempts. Those are always exciting.”
A number of developers have claimed that the next console generation needs to be less about raw computing power and more about finding new ways for gamers to interact with the experiences they buy.
Rumors about the Xbox 720 and the PlayStation 4 have suggested that they will integrate motion tracking solutions and that they will have extensive digital distribution models.
Borderlands 2 will be launched on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and is set to arrive on September 18 in North America and September 21 in Europe.