I sure am. I kinda was of this one too but running as long as it did sure helped.

Let me explain: It is budgets in particular that terrify me. I felt for a long time that this generation wasn't as good as the last one not due to nostalgia (promise), but due to not having as many good games because of the very quantifiable fact of simply not having as many games in general.

With the shiny new HD graphics there came a need to squeeze every last ounce of fidelity possible, that cost money which in turn made releases rarer. Instead of making two games for 10 million dollars now companies made only one. Maybe you guys don't remember, but when I first bought my first next-gen console in 2008 (my pc was rubbish) and was anxious to play these new games I could only find a handful of high profile ones.

The biggest example I find is Atlus. Persona 3 is my favorite game of all time. They released several games a year for the PS2 but, despite this generation being around for 7 years now, they've only released a SINGLE game

Now that problem isn't as big, devs found ways around it, they got used to the Unreal Engine, etc. Of course that might have come at the price of new IPs, what easier way to cut costs than reuse your previous engine and assets? Still, I'm glad for it, sequels or not there are a lot more exciting releases now.

The matter is: with a new generation won't budgets skyrocket even more? Sure new tech is great but who will be able to make use of it? An even smaller number of companies than now will be the only ones with the money for the AAA releases. What will happen with the smaller developers? Probably be forced to stake their entire future on a single game or move on to mobile platforms.

TL;DR: New tech. Bigger budgets. Less games. I don't want it. Why do you?

publishers at the end of the day want to make money with the least overhead and expenses etc.hence why you see so much development of games for consoles. cheaper easier to program for.more casual crowd easier to please.make more money from them with less effort.
PC gamers especially will have to look more to indie developers ice kick starters for more niche games publishers won't touch :/. there are good AAA games still being made..
but way too many ports.

TBT there was more development for consoles/handhelds, nowadays the lion share is going into iOS/Android games because they are cheaper to make and sell a ton. So they might not get the same revenue from one copy, but any game for said platforms sells a lot more copies.

Nope, I'm optimistic about gaming in the future.

Not really, due to diversity. I am a little worried about PC gaming getting the shaft again for a while as the market focuses on the new shiny, but gaming is so varied now I imagine there will always be awesome stuff coming out for every demographic and budget.

Well, I was going to say because new systems with better specs and x86 based CPUs will help make PC ports better, then I realized its been a while since I played a consolized game on my PC. So I guess I want to see it to see how things turn out. The current consoles have pretty much been maxed out though and are due for a refresh.

I think there is a good chance one of the big three will be out of the race by the end of the generation or shortly after. We are already seeing it happen in the handheld market with the Vita on life support at this time. Nintendo will be the last ones standing there by Christmas 2014 against the iOS/Android juggernaut.

Better graphics does not automatically equal bigger budgets. Some of the existing PC hardware features the new consoles will tap into actually reduce the developer workload, e.g. tesselation dynamically scales model detail in real time rather than requiring multiple pre-generated versions of each model, plus it reportedly has a lower performance overhead than an equivalent model with the same number of polygons baked in (everyone wins).

Design is also getting generally easier with Unreal Engine 4 and others finally starting to catch up with CryEngine's real-time multiplatform editing; this would of course reduce the development man hours (and thus budget) of many projects.

I honestly dont know anymore.
Consoles/handhelds like u said have been around for a while and its pretty well known it is cheaper to program for thos platforms. I actually don't put iPhone nor Android in as handhelds as they are primarily mobile phone OS's with ability to play some games. Both Apple and Android markets have a lot of cheap games, BUT they also have a lot of turds as well (probably about 80% of games - im sure EA and Activision are raking in the money from selling game apps which they dont need to put much effort into).

I don't doubt gaming in general will pull through. While I've barely used my 3DS it has games I want, I just haven't got around to them because there are still so many great games I haven't played on the DS, and I mentioned Atlus who has thrived in that system.

For PC, smaller devs have focused on titles like Bastion, Mark of the Ninja and Torchlight which are every bit as high quality as the big name releases.

When I say I'm afraid is about AAA experiences, like Far Cry 3, if it gets too costly developers won't stop making games altogether, they'll just move to a different system, but those types of games might end up left by the wayside. I don't know much about the technical side but this sure made me happy. I've said in the past I wouldn't mind if next gen graphics stayed the same as long as they made it easier to develop.

Didnt you know? it was outdated when you bought the parts for the PC :P

Initially thought this was another rant about the youth these days and I was ready to jump in. My bad. On the topic at hand, I'm not too concerned. I'm sure I'll be able to find something I'll be able to play. Hell, if I don't, maybe I'll be able to work my way through half of this backlog before I'm a crusty old fuck.

If they up the graphics (and thus budgets) again and don't see a rise in sales then yes, the AAA market might come crashing down (outside of massive franchises).

I'm not really worried about that though. If it happens it happens and there will still be awesome games.

It is the job of the current generation to fear and or worry about future generations. It has been happening since the beginning of time.

I don't know, I think it will probably be alright, maybe even great. Certain genres which have lain fallow are making (potential) comebacks - like space sims - and I don't think having new consoles will kill the innovation in the indie or mid-tier scene. If anything, that should improve. AAA games will always be expensive to produce and those trying to push technical boundaries will still spend a lot of money to do so. But someone interested in simply creating a great looking game should find it even easier and cheaper to do so with the new design tools and hardware coming out (at least on the technical front, not counting the necessary artistic vision of course).

There are some not so great trends, such as games as a service, since while they too have their place, I do like the old model of simply buying my own copy of the game and playing whenever I feel like it rather than a monthly subscription rate or other such payment schemes. Everything old however is new again, eventually the market will equilibrate, and while the internet allows for the games as a service model, it also allows even small, niche markets to be more easily catered to as well. That will probably increase on the console side with the new generation of hardware too. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will be getting new competition and overall I think the market for both PCs and consoles will probably be a little volatile to begin with, but come out healthier for it.

So overall, nah I think it will be fine. :)