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Xbox One and PS4, product shots

Video game consoles about always receive numerous hardware add together-ons. From the Robotic Operating Buddy for the NES to the Kinect for the Xbox 360, additional peripheral devices are par for the grade. The PS4 and Xbox One volition certainly receive at to the lowest degree one mid-cycle add-on each, so what can we expect the hot new thing to be a few years from now?

At that place have been a few popular trends bubbling upward in the last couple of years, so nosotros tin can easily extrapolate some of the accessories we might see for the PS4 and Xbox One. Notwithstanding, it's incommunicable to foresee many dramatic swings in popularity. When the Xbox 360 was launched in 2005, there was no way anybody could have guessed that move-based gaming would have taken off like it did with the Wii in 2006. Nobody could have predicted the Kinect then, and it ended upward beingness a massively popular addition. Keep in listen that surprises are bound to happen, and expectations are constantly shifting.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality isn't a new concept, and the gaming industry has tried it before. From the Cybermaxx to the Virtual Boy, quite a few attempts have been made to add a deeper level of immersion to the gaming feel. Unfortunately, VR has been quite lackluster until recently. With noticeable lag, shoddy frame charge per unit, and absurdly loftier costs, many pundits causeless VR was dead in the water.

TrackIR

However, the last few years accept seen a surprisingly large resurgence in virtual reality. The TrackIR has proved that head-tracking tin can be done uncommonly well, and at a reasonable cost. Many controllers have accelerometers and gyroscopes built-in, so natural movement is ever being tracked. Hell, Nintendo fifty-fifty released some other portable gaming arrangement focused on 3D games. But put, VR doesn't suck anymore.

Oculus Rift

Of course, the biggest news in the virtual reality scene is the Oculus Rift. This headset, while still in development, has provided exactly what people wait out of a VR feel. It displays the game world in 3D, it tracks your motility, and it makes you feel like you're really inside the game. The final version has withal to ship, but the reaction to the development hardware has been astounding.

Rumors are swirling that Sony is developing its own VR headset, and Valve seems to be on the aforementioned path. The Oculus Rift effectively got the ball rolling, and now VR is well on its way to becoming this generation's large panel add-on.

Better second screens

At present that tablets and smartphones are then popular, it'due south no surprise that the new consoles both have companion applications for the major mobile platforms. Basic controls, messaging interfaces, and in-game displays are all standard at this indicate, just at that place are many more opportunities for 2nd screen devices to offer new gameplay opportunities.

Second Screen

Without a doubt, Sony has a caput beginning in the second screen game. The PS4 streaming features built into the Vita are infrequent, and will undoubtedly inform Microsoft's way frontwards with second-screen gaming. Microsoft'southward operating system and controllers are everywhere, but it hasn't taken advantage of that synergy very well.

Nosotros can look second screens to go more than vital to the gaming experience, and perchance more dedicated hardware like the Vita or Wii U gamepad could make its way into our living rooms. At the very to the lowest degree, expect the official PlayStation and Xbox apps to proceeds substantial functionality as time goes on.

Biometrics

The most novel part of video games is their interactive nature. It'due south not unidirectional anymore, though. Non only can you interact with a game, but it tin can potentially collaborate with yous. Of course, the game has to know what you're doing and feeling, so biometric sensors are a must-have.

Vitality Sensor

Infamously, the Wii Vitality Sensor was supposed to track your heartbeat, and alter the gameplay of compatible titles. Sadly, that device never saw the light of solar day due to purported failures in the design. Meanwhile, both Sony and Valve are working on potential biometric sensors for their respective platforms.

The Xbox 1's Kinect tin already observe your pulse, so developers could theoretically implement biometric data into games without boosted hardware. Yet, the add-on of sweat analysis could certainly brand things more than accurate and interesting. Genres like puzzle games and horror games could certainly do good from this additional data, so it wouldn't be too surprising to run across biometric sensors make their manner to the new consoles.

The time to come

Whatsoever of these improvements could be released in the next couple of years, but in that location is absolutely no guarantee. The market is extremely fickle, and new tech trends heavily influence what companies similar Microsoft and Sony release to consumers. Equally soon as i company announces a new accessory, expect the other to follow suit as before long every bit possible. Obviously, neither company wants to get left backside in the wake of a called-for-hot trend.

Gaming trends run very hot and cold, and then we tin ever await the major consoles to jump to the side by side big thing long earlier the adjacent generation rolls around. Sony and Microsoft likely accept the better part of a decade to sell millions of these machines to consumers, and then conceptualize new peripherals early and oftentimes to continually stoke interest.