14 DAY TRIAL // Rumors about new consoles from both Microsoft and Sony have been swirling around for some time, but neither of the two companies have shown any intention to make an official announcement about the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox 720.
Still, one leading executive for one of the biggest publishers believes that new consoles are inevitable and that they will bring in a big increase in graphics power, allowing developers to create game experiences that are closer to real life than ever.
Speaking at the Develop conference Julien Merceron, who is the worldwide technology director working at Square Enix, has said, “I think that we’re still going to see a big leap in graphics. In terms of technology I think we’ll see developers taking advantage of physically-based rendering, physically-based lighting.”
He added, “I think people will take advantage of global illumination, or at least some form approximation of global illumination, so that could have a significant impact on graphics quality.”
Merceron believes that, with new consoles and more processing power, developers will be tempted to create graphics engines that aim for coming as close to the real world as possible, ditching the cartoon elements seen in a lot of games.
He compared the change with going from watching Pixar movies, great as they are, to seeing Avatar for the first time in 3D.
The Square Enix executive has not said whether Square Enix is actually working with either Microsoft or Sony on the initial design of new home consoles.
At the moment, the entire gaming market is expecting an announcement about the launch date and the price of the new Nintendo Wii U, which has been revealed at E3 and should be on shelves during 2012.
Some analysts are predicting that Microsoft and Sony will make an official announcement about their new projects during the coming year.