BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Isn't that the definition of "diminishing returns" though? There's still the angle it'll be a big enough to appreciate, yes, just looking at how much nicer console games looked on an GeForce 8800 GT shows that, nevermind a more modern card like a 560 Ti or the 680 used for the UE4 demo. But it IS probable the jump will be more subtle, and something that we'll appreciate but maybe not the masses at large. Hell, this generation was a bigger jump in raw numbers than this next one is likely to be, yet the jump in my eyes for polygonal models from the PS1 to PS2 dwarves your example there.
Frankly, my bigger hope is more with larger, more seamless/active areas if technology's seriously pushed. We may get that even without, just a jump in ram from 512 to 2 GB, nevermind 4 or 8 would do a lot.
Yes, and yes we will see diminishing returns next gen.
That said, it does not mean that the jumo will be tiny like some are suggesting.
There were be a large difference, and one that is very tangable. It will just be focused in different areas.
Lighting of the environment, subsurface scattering on skin and water and plants, bokeh depth of field for cinematic, less clipping of clothing and armors, better physics and destruction, higher resolution assets, larger scale, lack of as many loading cells, etc etc etc.
Models will improve, but they don't need to improve THAT much to look fantastic.