Next-Gen Console Watch

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Daemon, Max, and Ryan assess the dumpster fire that is this current generation of gaming consoles. With the 1-2 gut punch of PlayStation not supporting physical media in a couple of years, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announcing yet another round of layoffs that will stretch into next year, things have never truly looked so bleak for the games industry...

This week we got the surprise announcement from Sony that it is ending production of PlayStation discs in early 2028. So in 18 months, going forward PlayStation will be an all-digital ecosystem. Your existing discs will work in your PS5 if it has a disc drive, but the PlayStation 6 will presumably not play discs at all. We expect Xbox's Project Helix to go the same way. And so, it falls to Nintend...

All three platforms have held their big summer showcases. They’ve laid out their plans for the rest of the year and into 2027. So it’s time to survey the results. Who had the best showcase? Who has the best game lineup? On this epsiode of Next-Gen Console Watch, we dive into the Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo showcases. Which one did you like the best? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Epic Games unveiled the sixth generation of Unreal, appropriately titled Unreal Engine 6. Rocket League will be the first game to get the UE6 makeover, but certainly not the last. Daemon, Ryan, and Max take a look at some of the biggest franchises that will very likely make the jump to UE6—even if many games haven't taken full advantage of Unreal E...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week, Daemon and Max are joined by Nintendo Voice Chat's Logan Plant and Podcast Unlocked's Miranda Sanchez to give their predictions on the summer's big gaming showcases. Both Xbox and PlayStation have showcases in June, and Nintendo can't be too far behind with a new Nintendo Direct. So what do we think will be there? Some real Wolverine gameplay? A c...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week we dive into recent reports saying Nintendo's shareholders want the company to raise the Switch 2 price. It's no secret that Nintendo's stock price has plunged in the year since they've released the Switch 2, despite their new console having a stellar launch and strong, if slow, holiday sales numbers. Current economic conditions have made the Switc...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! Xbox's new CEO is already making moves to course-correct the company's direction. Last week's leaked memo from CEO Asha Sharma has been proven true, with Xbox dropping the price of the Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass plans. Daemon, Ryan, and Max go over what's different with the new plans, what led the company to this decision, and what changes could be...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week we discuss the leaked memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma regarding Game Pass' price. She agrees that Game Pass has become too expensive and Xbox must find some way to make it a real value for players. But what does that mean? Take away features? Plus we have last week's poll results and a new poll for you to vote on at IGN.com and Spotify. YouTube Spot...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Ryan is joined by IGN's Community Lead, Jada Griffin, and the host of Nintendo Voice Chat, Logan Plant. The crew looks ahead to the rest of 2026 to see if there are any more surprises left from the big three console makers. Recent rumors and leaks about a Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake and a new Star Fox game have given us pause to think that there'...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Daemon, Max, and Ryan peer into the future of gaming, only to see the same consoles we're playing today being used possibly years from now. With all models of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox having received several price hikes over the years, and with world events and economic factors keeping the prices of nearly all goods high, it looks like true next-...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Ryan and Max are joined by Logan Plant, host of IGN's Nintendo Voice Chat podcast to talk about the Nintendo Switch 2's Year 1, and what we're expecting for Year 2. The Switch 2 has become not only Nintendo's fastest-selling console, but the fastest-selling console of all-time, with more than 17 million units sold in less than a year. Mario Kart Wo...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Daemon, Max, and Ryan are joined by IGN's senior tech manager, Bo Moore, to discuss Nvidia's reveal of their controversial DLSS 5 update. The footage caused a stir on the internet as the tech clearly is doing more than just enhancing performance relative to resolution, with many accusing Nvidia of using the equivalent of "AI TikTok filters" on char...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! Microsoft is getting a head start on next-gen by officialling announcing the next Xbox, codenamed Project Helix. Of course, we have a ton of questions, but we've pared it down to six burning questions ranging from price of games to whether or not it will ship with a disc drive. Plus, we have last week's poll results, and a new poll for you to vote on at IGN....

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! On this week's episode, the crew discusses a recent report that Sony might be rethinking PC ports in the future. Specifically, first-party single-player games like Ghost of Yōtei, Marvel's Wolverine, and others might not see PC versions. Multiplayer titles like Bungie's Marathon—published by Sony—will still see multiplatform releases. The report cites low sa...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! After last week's bombshell news story about Xbox's leadership shaek-up—an exclusive from our very own Ryan McCaffrey—we take this opportunity to put together five tips that might be able to win back wayward Xbox fans. The Xbox brand isn't what it used to be, but all hope is not lost, and hopefully incoming CEO Asha Sharma can right the ship. Learn more abou...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week we take a look at a few games that might have a chance of coming to the Nintendo Switch 2. It's the fastest-selling console of all time with almost 20 million units sold globally in less than a year, and other triple-A titles are already coming to the platform such as Resident Evil: Requiem and 007 First Light. Upcoming games like Marvel Tokon: Fig...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week we take a look at 13 supposed PS5 and Xbox Series games that we should have already been playing. Games like Judas, Knights of the Old Republic remake, Little Devil Inside, and Beyond Good & Evil 2 have had rocky development paths, but at this point, we're wondering if we'll even get these games at all, despite developers and publishers assuring us...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Daemon, Max, and Ryan look at the possible ups and downs of a delay of the PlayStation 6. With PS5 software sales holding strong, and with prices for gaming components like RAM skyrocketing, there's a real possibility Sony will wait another few years before debuting the PS6. This could make the current generation the longest console cycle so far, w...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch. This week Daemon, Max, and Ryan take a look at the latest Xbox Developer_Direct. Microsoft Game Studios showcased Playground Games' Forza Horizon 6 and the Fable reboot, plus Kiln from Double Fine, and Beast of Reincarnation of Game Freak. While it's shaping up to be a good year for Xbox (in terms of games), this showcase was also great news for PlayStation...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch. This week we take a look at how the recent RAM shortage will affect the next generation of console games. With AI data centers demanding more and more RAM, manufacturers have pivoted to providing this growing industry with pretty much whatever it needs, thus forcing the cost of consumer RAM through the roof. What does this mean for the PlayStation 6 and next...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch. This week we take a look at 12 games we think will push the current generation of consoles to their limits. Games like Marvel's Wolverine, Control: Resonant, Resident Evil: Requiem, Gears of War: E-Day, and more are going to be amazing showcases for what the PlayStation 5 (and PS5 Pro) and the Xbox Series X (and the underpowered but still capable Series S) c...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch. On the last NGCW of the year, we look back at 2025 and pick what we think were the "most next-gen games" of the year. We're probably past the 'halfway point' for this generation so we should be seeing some of the best-looking games the PS5 and Xbox Series X can run, and we weren't disappointed. Battlefield 6 and Death Stranding 2 showcased what photorealism...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! It's the day after The Game Awards and along with Sandfall's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 winning big, we received a mountain of new announcements. We're at an interesting time in this generation where any newly-announced game might just end up on the PlayStation 6 or next Xbox, so we break down what titles we think will end up on gaming's next-gen consoles....

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Daemon, Max, Ryan, and Logan grade the Nintendo Switch 2's launch window. The Switch 2 broke Nintendo—and industry—records by becoming the fastest-selling console of all time. But how did it fare against the Switch 1's first six months? Did the Switch 2's lineup of Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond hold up agains th...

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch! This week Max, Ryan, and Daemon dive into Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's comments about PC gaming. Zelnick says that gaming as an industry is moving more towards PC, even with the ongoing popularity of the PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Valve's recent Steam, Machine announcement makes it very clear that the company is making a play for living rooms—traditionally...