Building a dream gaming console

Just recently, Sony announced the specs of the next generation console coming from the company. The “PlayStation 5” (as there is no official name for it yet) boasts an octa-core Ryzen CPU, ray-tracing capable GPU, up to 8K resolution support, backwards compatibility with previous generation consoles, and PlayStation VR support.

The information that was released may have put some odd rumors to rest, but it also raised a lot of questions like release date and, most importantly, price. There’s also the question of how controllers will look, what the interface on the new console is going to be like, and if Sony will be launching innovations to it.

With all the news swirling regarding next-gen consoles, we thought we’d take a stab at it and come up with a dream console of our own. Based on tech trends and where we think it’s headed, plus a sprinkling of wish fulfillment, here’s our take on what a console of the future could contain.

1TB of storage
As technology moves forward, so do advancements in storage space to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of games. Given that a console should have a shelf-life of longer than five years at the very least, that amounts to a lot of games most people would want to be saved on their console for easy access. One terabyte of storage is quickly becoming a norm, so our dream console should have it as a base, with the possibility for an upgrade down the line.

Dedicated SSD
It might just be presented differently, but consoles do have operating systems, and we feel like having a whip-quick solid state drive dedicated just for it is truly the way to go when it comes to consoles. Boot up time will be faster for the console itself and the games you want to play, so gone are the days when you would actually have to say a quick prayer for the box to actually get to the main interface.

Next-generation graphics
Graphics will always move forward, and there’s never going to be a time when we are going to settle for what we currently have. That said, we didn’t really have a baseline graphics card in mind for our dream console, but more of what it can do. It should be able to present the latest games as realistic as possible. BUT it should also be able to handle next-generation virtual reality and immersion. Think of the cool VR systems rendered in futuristic movies and anime where they’re wirelessly hooked up to the box and you get the idea.

Backwards compatibility

To look forward, we also should remember where we came from. In this case, our dream console also should have the ability to play older games down to the time of Pong (if you’re an enthusiast or that old). This console will have a DVD drive for your physical copies of games, no matter the platform, so you won’t really need to sell off your old games. A lot of gamers still want the feel of holding and seeing plastic cases in their shelves, and we don’t want to deprive these people their satisfaction.

Cloud services
The popularity of “retro consoles” among old school and even new school gamers is gaining traction. And let’s face it, these old games are still a challenge and a joy to play even until now—and for the foreseeable future. Since old consoles are becoming a rarity, game developers are turning to digital to save the old games. Our console should effortlessly be able to connect to the cloud to purchase and play these games. Cloud connectivity also means that you don’t really need to download these old and new games to your console per se, but you can play them right off the cloud while interfacing with the console.

Built-in capture card for streaming
Streaming and content creation is a definite thing now, and more and more people are looking for hassle-free solutions for sharing their gameplay without too many separate parts needing to talk to one another. That said, our dream console would have a built-in capture card and a dedicated USB port for an external hard drive to be able to record and stream their games to share with viewers. The option is also included to just straight-up stream without recording! That works, too!

Cross platform functionality
As gamers, we dream of a time when green, blue, and red (you know who these brands are) will enable cross-platform gameplay. There are a lot of titles made to cater to each platform but very few offer a way for gamers owning these different platforms to actually interact with one another. Our dream console would have the ability to access these other existing platforms to be able to play games seamlessly, driving the point home that gamers should be able to connect with one another regardless of what console they prefer.

Multi-screen support
There are some gamers who buy the biggest possible TVs their budget allows in order to have the best possible gaming experience. For us, a dream console should allow for multiple displays to be connected for even more immersion. This goes with our desire for content creation and streaming and would want that option to be considered.

Highest possible FPS
For us, frames per second is really important, especially when you’re playing shooters. With our dream console’s advanced graphics and CPU, we can totally output 4K at the minimum and crank it up higher, all the while maintaining at least 120fps, if not higher. More frames mean better visuals, after all. The human eye is built to detect 1,000 frames, but can process 150, so getting as close as possible to that or even exceeding a bit is the sweet spot for graphics output.

Wireless, customizable controllers with touch functionality
VR interface aside, the main point of interacting with consoles is still the controllers, so a wireless and highly moddable set of controllers will be key in our dream console. Different people have different preferences in how their hands are angled and in place when playing, and we want to have the most comfortable experience when using controllers for long periods of gaming. So, having a controller with adjustable length, width, and grip pads will be a big boon. The touch functionality in terms of movement will be helpful and less taxing on thumbs, but, at the same time, retaining pressure sensitivity, and, most of all, precision in how the controller reads the small movements of your fingers. As a bonus, we also would want our dream console to have USB ports for a keyboard and mouse for a measure of flexibility when it comes to controls and for ease of typing. A built-in microphone rounds everything out because we’d like to be able to talk to our friends as we’re playing, of course!