Was going next-gen necessary?

[Saturn]

Back in the last generation of gaming people and companies made the same claims they make today, that this generation may very well be the last generation of consoles since we have reached such a high level of technology. However, as it turns out there was a new generation, since we now have the seventh generation with PS3, Wii, 360, and OnLive. But was the jump really necessary? Last generation we really reached a level where for the first time high-end graphics and RAM were available. And aside from HD and 3D, it's not all that much different from the current generation.

In this generation we saw an increased use of HD and online play. Compare a current generation game's graphics to a last generation game's graphics on a SDTV, and (depending on the games compared), the difference in graphics is either non-existent or only different on a minuscule level. I may be slightly wrong in this statement, since the only last generation console I am really familiar with is the Nintendo GameCube (and Dreamcast), which was praised as being "eons" ahead of it's competitors in terms of graphics last generation.

Of course, online was only starting to become popular for consoles last generation, and now online is simply a must for all games. Last generation the Dreamcast's online service (Dreamarena, and the second iteration of SegaNet) was shutdown, along with most of it's games, the GameCube's online service only met with limited success (namely Phantasy Star Online), and neither the PS2 or Xbox had online capabilities at launch.

Sure now we can watch Netflix, listen to Last.fm, download updates to games that were half-broken to begin with due to lazy developers, and browse the internet on our consoles, but in terms of actual gaming, was the leap to next-gen really necessary? We had some games last generation that were simply amazing, such as Metroid Prime, Halo CE, Twilight Princess, REmake, Shadow of Colossus, Geist, and tons of others that meet with, if not surpass, the current generation in terms of gameplay, albeit, most likely not graphics. And more importantly, how would gaming be different today if we were still in the sixth generation, with PlayStation 2, GameCube, Dreamcast, and Xbox?

[JackOfClubs]

Yes. All of the 7th gen consoles have more RAM and better processors which allows them to create a more lifelike game, and do more at once. And in the case of the PS3, the use of BluRay allows the developers to pack a lot more onto one disc, compared to DVDs and CDs.

[Korashk]

You forgot about motion controls. That may have been introduced earlier, but only gained popularity and actual functionality recently.

[Magus]

And more importantly, how would gaming be different today if we were still in the sixth generation, with PlayStation 2, GameCube, Dreamcast, and Xbox?

I don't see a big difference between now and then, except in technological aspect(like what Jack said).

I was shocked back in '06 when they announced the release of Playstation 3. It hasn't been four years for the PS2, and they already made up a new console.

They could've tweaked PS2. But they wanted the Jump, unfortunately.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/wp-content/seekingalpha/images/Sonygameconsoleunitsales.jpg

I see nobody is buying PS3 nowadays. The shops I knew were all Shut down, there are only few retail shops that sells PS3 and its peers.

[Perseus]

I wouldn't mind another generation since the 360 needs a blue-ray capability so the games can get bigger and bigger since blu-ray has more memory on the disc than regular CDs. I'm getting tired of pop-up, too.