7th Generation Consoles - Best and Worst

[Earth]

In 3-6 months the 8th generation of consoles will be upon us, one already is (Wii U) so what do you think were the best and worst things from the 7th generation? Feel free to add

For me, starters:

Best: Little Big Planet franchise is born. The 2nd title was vastly improved over the 1st. And Im excited about what #3 may offer. I spent by far more time on LBP2 then any other game this generation. The create mode still feels somewhat restrictive, but if they can free that up with #3 I see it taking up most of my time on the next gen again.

Worst: Final Fantasy XIII. It wouldnt be so bad if it didnt take forever to come out. Square basically forgot, or ignored what made fans of the franchise enjoy the series. The faults with this one are so numeral it would take an essay to cover it. Ill just say this: the game was bad.

Best: MAG (Massive Action Game). What a shame Zipper shut down and we may not get a sequel to one of the best FPS games out there. Massive 256 player battles that really do feel, well, massive. Fun, team based gameplay on well designed maps that allow for all out warfare or solo commando strikes. Few flaws could have easily been addressed in a sequel. What a shame.

Worst: Gran Turismo 5. Like Final Fantasy XIII, it probably wouldnt have been so bad if it didnt take so long to come out. And when it did come out many parts of it felt very unfinished. The single player campaign took two steps back, something you would think is impossible considering how lack luster GT mode was in GT4.

The awful leveling system, horrendous damage engine, horrendous shadows, horrendous credit payouts, etc etc and like FFXIII it would probably take an essay to cover all that was wrong with this game. It still had much more upside then FF XIII, but theres just no excuse for the stale product PD put on the shelves with all the money and time they had to build it.

It would have been better off as a PC sim, with no races or progression, just have all the cars and tracks unlocked form the get go and let us enjoy single races, customized championships and online. The GT mode, which the game forces you to complete to use the majority of its cars or tracks, is atrocious, to say the least.

Best: Playstation Home. I dont spend much time on this, but it is fun to go play checkers or poker or bowling or whatever online with 3D avatars for free.

Worst The Wii is not HD. Games like Super Mario galaxy would have looked great in HD. 480p 👎

Best: Playstation Network is Free and doesnt use a "points" system as a currency

Worst: Only one big title from major franchises like Gran Turismo, metal gear solid and Final Fantasy instead of the 2-3 we normally get per console gen

Best: Blu-ray Playback built into the PS3. So it was a bit high priced in the beginning. It paid off in the long run. Playstation consoles have been the soul video player of disc movies for me since 2001.


Thats all for now.

 

[Samus]

So you just pretend Xbox 360 doesn't exist in your continued hatred for it and MS I guess?

 

[sumbrownkid]

Man you'd give GT5 the worst title? Dude that's harsh. How about games like Haze, Socom 4, and let's not forget Need for Speed Undercover?

I'd argue that GT5 is far from stale, and in fact alive and kicking. Why else would GM select PD to do the release trailer and prototype dlc?

But I understand the performance side of your argument.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Seems to be directed more at the PS3 so I will keep it PS3 related.

I realize its an opinion but GT5 isnt the worst game on the PS3. It is by far the most disappointing PS3 game especially at launch considering the 5-6 years of production. The 80% standard (unfinished) cars is what really killed it the most IMO. Fast forward 3 years, a lot of updates, and it has improved. But thats still 7-8 years of work and the standards are still not premiums. But as I said it has improved a lot and is far from the worst PS3 game of this gen.

LBP, Uncharted, and KZ3 were some of the best titles this gen for sure on the PS3.

 

[sesselpupser]

Best: possibly Just Cause 2 or Borderlands 2

Worst: that Untouchables game, oh man. Worst game ever, not just this generation.

Oh wait, there's always Big Rigs Over The Road Racing... For worst game ever, I mean, not of this gen.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Don't have an Xbox but highlights on this generation are

Fifa :Yep Used to be a Pro fan during PS2 days now it's all EA's baby
GT5: Dissapointing yes ,fun also yes ,GT5P persuaded me into a wheel and wow been having a blast
Uncharted :Un missable games
Batman Arkham city and Asylum
Assasins Creed games
the Infamous series
GOW
Red dead and GTA IV (V to be added)
Fallout and both COD series and BF3

Just a quick list and I should mention Driver S.F one of the most under rated games i've played recently.

 

[Esses]

A few of the things I thoroughly enjoy on the Playstation 3, are some of the HD Remakes that were released. Playing through Shadow of the Colossus again, having not played it in years was a great experience. God of War, too. Also, Red Dead Redemption was a huge success. I don't think any game, for this generation comes close to how much I loved it, and still do.

I wouldn't be so quick to say the PS3 is at it's end though. We still have many more titles on their way, some of which look really good.

 

[Waheed]

Best of this generation:
1. Playing any driving game with a FFB wheel in your home
2. Online gaming

Worst:
1. Console wars, every console has it's advantages.
2. Hating on a specific game like COD being the worst of all, I disagree. Any game will always have a fanbase, don't like it don't play it.

 

[Pagey279]

Personal highlights on the PS3:
Just Cause 2
The COD series, particularly WAW.
FIFA 13
GRID
Driver: San Francisco
Far Cry 3
Skyrim
Uncharted series.
Mafia 2 (Graphics were, and are, incredible, great story, gameplay etc)


Disappointments:
GTA IV (No way near as good as San Andreas, still a good game but felt like a step back in terms of enjoyment.)
GT5 (Similarly a step back from the previous title in terms of enjoyment)
Resident Evil 5

Things yet to come that I'm looking forward to:
GTA V- Looks like they have returned to a San Andreas style format.
God Of War Ascension
The last of us.

 

[Samus]

Well my highlights would be:

The two Batman Arkham games
Forza series
Red Dead Redemption
Race Pro
Lost Odyssey
PGR series
Uncharted series


Disappointments:

GT5
Final Fantasy games were, frankly, awful, in comparison to previous generations games.
Selection of RPG games in general. It seems traditional JRPGs are pretty much gone, replaced with action-RPG.
General selection of racing games in the simulation area, particularly PS3. You've got GT5, the Ferrari/Supercar challenge games that were pretty average and that's it.
Metal Gear Solid 4

Overall purely on games it's not been the most amazing generation. Too much focus on flashy graphics and not enough substance in a lot of games.

 

[Articuno]

Best:
-The evolution that the CoD series has undergone, particularly the transition from CoD III to CoD4. This especially affects me, being an ex-competitive sniper.
-Voice chat and online play; see above comment
-LBP, KZ3, the whole Uncharted series, BF3 etc.

Worst:
-Paid/subscription-based online services :/
-General availability of online services to annoying 10 year olds.
-Console and game wars.

 

[JSilvaGT]

Best:
Yakuza 4,
Yakuza 5,
Halo 3
Red Dead Redemption,
Bioshock

Disappointments:
Metal Gear Solid 4
COD Black Ops II
Sonic games

 

[Crispy]

Best: Consoles turning into multimedia devices, not just something for games.

Worst: The casualization of the gaming market. Things have to now be dumbed down to fit the more modern gaming base that started with CoD:4.

 

[chromatic9]

Worst as a whole is the demise of many game brands.

Resident Evil 5/6
Final Fantasy XIII
Metal Gear 4
GTA IV
Pro Evo Soccer
GT5
ICO team games, PS2 had ICO and Shadow of the Colossus

There's probably more big games from last gen that failed that I can't think of right now. A common theme is the troubling transition for Japanese devs, and no talent to replace the people who created such games. Sad things like MGS4 bringing in ryan payton or whatever he's called.

GTA looks to be back on track. I suspect the transition was tough so they went for the streamlined games story angle.

Lots of great new games so its not all bad.

 

[avens]

Why are you highlighting the brand and console that lost on this generation?

Did you really, really put GT5 on a "worst" list? It is one of the very best racing games in years, and for anyone that has a bit of experience it is completely clear most of its flaws came from the ps3 and not PD itself. Lack of content is inexcusable in 6 years though, and tbh the whole gt life stuff I think it's because the game was and feels rushed (yep 6 years and all).

 

[bevo]

These are almost all opinions based on onine multiplayer except for a few games.

Best of the PS3

Metal gear solid and Uncharted=it and uncharted were by far my favorite 2 single player games on either console

Socom confrontation= best online multiplayer shooter on either console

Blue ray player

Being allowed to use multiple brands of quality steering wheels

Ferarri Challenge= I didn't play this game as much as I would have liked, but it was a pleasent surprise and easily had the best force feedback and maybe even physics of any PS3 racing game.

worst of PS3
PSN= Just a total failure when compared to xbox live. This really killed the PS3 for me. I defended it for the first few years, but gave up and finally gave into xbox live being better. Since switching to the xbox for games that I play with friends it has been a much better experience.

HOME= Has to be the biggest waste of resources I have ever seen. I really was looking forward to it, but though it would combine with games better and add to the experience. The loading times and just general direction of it was a completer waste.

GT5= I was really, really excited about GT5. I bought a playseat, G25, surround sound in anticipation of it. I probably had around 25 hours or so into it and finally gave up. It was just a major dissapointment for me. The lack of "premium" cars was one of the major killers for me. I am strictly a cockpit racer and just couldn't stand that. If you can't make a car right, then don't make it at all.

Socom 4= This was another really exciting aspect of the PS4 and it went to waste. The game was terrible and just like alot of online experiences on the PS3 it didn't work right.

Voice chat= I ahd a few friends talked into going witht he NCAA football game one year on the PS3, and it was a disaster. The voice chat rarely worked and there was no party chat to help coordinate the offseason. I never heard then end of how bad the PS3 version was. We all sold it and got it for the 360 and had a great time.

The security breach= Really no need to explain that


XBOX 360

The porsche 911 turbo s wheel= This was a great wheel and it was time that microsoft let a 3rd party make a proper wheel for the 360

Forza= This is what I went to when I got sick of GT5 so fast. I sold the G25 for the turbo 911 wheel and never really looked back. It had a much better online system and was in general a better experience then GT5.

XBOX live= This is what online console gaming should be. Price is not a factor when the service is leaps and bounds better then the competitions. For 25$ a year between 4 friends on the family plan it's really a bargain for what you get.

NCAA football= They added the online dynasty mode and the first year of that was some of the most fun I have ever had playing games with friends.


Worst of the 360

RED RING OF DEATH= This had to be the worst mistake in tech history. I have now had over 10 360s since their release. 3 or 4 were repaired by MS but the others came from money out of my pocket. I did keep buying them though because that's what everyone was playing.

Kinect= I just bought my son one of these this year for christmas, and hate it. I am old school and still see no use at all for these types of controllers. I can do anything easier a quicker with my fingers then by waving and flapping my arms around.

The outage over christmas= The 2 or 3 week outage over christmas of ? was horrible. it was the worst time it could have happened and really put a damper on the new games we had gotten ourselves.

Race pro= This is another game I was really excited about not as much as GT5 but still pretty excited, and at release it was pretty much unplayable with a steering wheel. I tried it several times over the first 3 or 4 months after release and it was still really bad with the turbo s wheel.


Wii
best of Wii

Bowling

Worst of Wii

One thing I really have hated with all this gen consoles is the release it and patch it later mentality. I like that they fix problems, but alot of games are pushed out the door before they are done and if the sales numbers are not big enough they never fix the game. Race pro is i believe a prime example of this.
everything else

 

[LaBounti]

Why are you highlighting the brand and console that lost on this generation?

Erm.. What did The PS3/Sony Lose?

It's sure selling well and has for its life span. It has a fantastic list of first party games Dating back to 2007. Its one of the most used consoles for online and its built in blu-ray drive surely boosted the format that ultimately helped kill HD-DVD. It is still a strong system with many great first party and third party games to come as well as a massive catalog of good games. It did not bankrupt the company, the competition didn't kill it and its more than likely to stay in production 3-4 years after the its next gen replacement depending on sales.

Sony didn't lose anything, PS3 didn't lose anything , Nintendo and Microsoft didn't win anything. Surely the Wii isn't a better system than both the 360 and Ps3? but it sold more. With that what did Sony lose by not selling as many as the competition?

Here are some actual console Losers:

Atari Jaguar
Panasonic 3D0
Sega Dreamcast
SNK NEO-GEO CD
NEC TurboDuo

 

[bevo]

Erm.. What did The PS3/Sony Lose?

It's sure selling well and has for its life span. It has a fantastic list of first party games Dating back to 2007. Its one of the most used consoles for online and its built in blu-ray drive surely boosted the format that ultimately helped kill HD-DVD. It is still a strong system with many great first party and third party games to come as well as a massive catalog of good games. It did not bankrupt the company, the competition didn't kill it and its more than likely to stay in production 3-4 years after the its next gen replacement depending on sales.

Sony didn't lose anything, PS3 didn't lose anything , Nintendo and Microsoft didn't win anything. Surely the Wii isn't a better system than both the 360 and Ps3? but it sold more. With that what did Sony lose by not selling as many as the competition?

Here are some actual console Losers:

Atari Jaguar
Panasonic 3D0
Sega Dreamcast
SNK NEO-GEO CD
NEC TurboDuo

You forgot turbo Graifx 16
If you add turbo Grafix 16 and take NEC off the list( at least I don't think he had it) I had a friend who I think owned all of those consoles. He had a knack for picking the best console but it alway going under. All of those consoles were also much better then the competition, but back then people didn't want to pay a premium price for their games. I remember how great madden was on the 3DO at his house compared to the playstation. The 3DO was way ahead of it's time.

 

[Caz]

Didnt sony just overtake ms in units sold?

 

[LaBounti]

You forgot turbo Graifx 16
If you add turbo Grafix 16 and take NEC off the list( at least I don't think he had it) I had a friend who I think owned all of those consoles. He had a knack for picking the best console but it alway going under. All of those consoles were also much better then the competition, but back then people didn't want to pay a premium price for their games. I remember how great madden was on the 3DO at his house compared to the playstation. The 3DO was way ahead of it's time.

You get it!

Didnt sony just overtake ms in units sold?

I read it was units shipped. Microsoft could also be under producing in preparation for the next system. They killed Xbox shortly after 360 came out.

 

[Prosthetic]

First time I haven't bought any of the consoles and kind of glad I didn't... I can't help to but that consoles have lagged forward progression in games... There really hasn't been any big steps forwards since the 7th generation started.

 

[LaBounti]

Is that even necessary if the games are still good, fun, rewarding, entertaining and enjoyable? Or maybe you haven't played any since you skipped the generation....

 

[Pagey279]

First time I haven't bought any of the consoles and kind of glad I didn't... I can't help to but that consoles have lagged forward progression in games... There really hasn't been any big steps forwards since the 7th generation started.

Whaaaaaa......
How about online gaming? One of if not the biggest leap forward since the creation of video games itself. Connecting up to 256 people from anywhere in the world to play the same game, in the same lobby at the same time. Allowing one person sat in his/her living room to directly interact, using their virtual incarnations, with someone situated 10,000 miles away.
Something that Sony and Microsoft have developed on the 7th gen consoles so that it has revolutionised the way developers design their games and how the consumers play them.

Yeah, no big steps really is there.

Oh I forgot to mention the whole Kinect/move/Wii thing too.

 

[Prosthetic]

Whaaaaaa......
How about online gaming? One of if not the biggest leap forward since the creation of video games itself. Connecting up to 256 people from anywhere in the world to play the same game, in the same lobby at the same time. Allowing one person sat in his/her living room to directly interact, using their virtual incarnations, with someone situated 10,000 miles away.
Something that Sony and Microsoft have developed on the 7th gen consoles so that it has revolutionised the way developers design their games and how the consumers play them.

Yeah, no big steps really is there.

Oh I forgot to mention the whole Kinect/move/Wii thing too.

Online gaming hasn't changed at all... Outside of the Wii and Kinect stuff their hasn't been many step forwards. Indy gaming is great and have a very close friend that is even apart of the 4 guys at BeamNG so I'm super excited for that. I have played plenty of console games and there isn't any new. Games still look and play the same way then did in the mid 2000's for the most part at least for PC Gaming. Because of console gaming everything is developed on consoles so games really aren't taking full use of how amazingly powerful computers are now compared to then... An average computer now can play any game on max settings with no problems. Physics in games are lagged because of consoles unable to handle real physics.

AAA titles used to actually be fun. I remember playing HL2 for the first time and my mind was beyond blown. When I played BF1942 it was an amazing experience. Now its just AAA title after AAA title that bring absolutely nothing new to the game. These games are still getting little things so very wrong. I remember buying BF3 and was all excited about it and was super disappointed. Same with Far Cry 3 which was the same thing as FC2 in every conceivable facet.

 

[avens]

Erm.. What did The PS3/Sony Lose?

See ps2 sales in comparison to the ps3, overall how the company did in the last years and in the end how the company's reputation paled as a console, tv, etc. manufacturer.

Then how microsoft reached sony and how nintendo recovered from the gamecube mistake and once again is the biggest name on home consoles.

That's not "winning". That's straight up losing, and all the financial data is objective and is out there and available in 5 seconds in google.

 

[sems4arsenal]

First time I haven't bought any of the consoles and kind of glad I didn't... I can't help to but that consoles have lagged forward progression in games... There really hasn't been any big steps forwards since the 7th generation started.

Online ,Wireless controllers,Leap in graphical capabilities,Motion controls,Consoles connecting to internet ,Tv ,etc .The fact that a car gets released and it is on your console a day later just speaks of how far we have come

 

[NLxAROSA]

Something that Sony and Microsoft have developed on the 7th gen consoles so that it has revolutionised the way developers design their games and how the consumers play them.

Except that developers were already doing online gaming for PC at least for a decade before the current generation of consoles came into play. If anything, the consoles were late to the party. And console online play is still miles behind anything on PC. As a matter of fact, it's way way worse, because you get all the problems that PC has, but none of the flexibility. Unless they fix that somehow (or drop price a lot), I see a dark future for Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo, especially with other manufacturers looking for a piece of the pie (e.g. Valve, Ouya, and possibly Apple).

Sure, consoles made a huge leap from the previous generation, but you can hardly call it innovative or revolutionary if it's only a shallow copy from PC with many drawbacks the PC doesn't have. IMO, the only real innovation was motion control from Nintendo.

Is that even necessary if the games are still good, fun, rewarding, entertaining and enjoyable?

Definitely not, but progress in general is being slowed because developers are developing for the worst common denominator. So we could be enjoying better (and you can be right now if you get a cheap PC).

 

[TexasTyme214]

Best:
Online Gaming - It fills all the gaps where AI falls apart. It's the main reason why I purchased GT5.

Worse:
Online Gaming - I think the convenience of being able to throw patches into a game led to more unfinished games. We also have the problem with DLC being already inside the game. We end up paying up to $60 for 80% of a game that probably isn't finished to begin with. Then, we have this craze that online is required to run the game offline, which doesn't make sense. The more I think about it, I think the online aspect ruined EA and it's credibility, but that's another topic.

Graphics - it's certainly not that graphics are bad. The problem is that it is too big of a factor when it comes to selling games.

Worst: The casualization of the gaming market. Things have to now be dumbed down to fit the more modern gaming base that started with CoD:4.

This is the worst of the worst when it comes to this generation.

 

[LaBounti]

See ps2 sales in comparison to the ps3, overall how the company did in the last years and in the end how the company's reputation paled as a console, tv, etc. manufacturer.

Then how microsoft reached sony and how nintendo recovered from the gamecube mistake and once again is the biggest name on home consoles.

That's not "winning". That's straight up losing, and all the financial data is objective and is out there and available in 5 seconds in google.

Again, what did Sony lose.. Sales are nothing but fanboy fuel. #Fact: PS3 has been a successful console. As you can see if you read any of this thread no one cares about console sales...... just the experiences they've gotten from them.

Definitely not, but progress in general is being slowed because developers are developing for the worst common denominator. So we could be enjoying better (and you can be right now if you get a cheap PC).

True but is it worth ignoring the generation all together, that was my response to him. Not a general statement.

 

[LaBounti]

opps..