Next-gen consoles — I’m not really convinced yet. Yeah, I own a Wii U because I’m a hopeless Nintendo fan and high-def Nintendo games are something I’d been waiting forever for. But the Xbox One and the PS4? I dunno. The games announced so far don’t seem that far beyond current gen games, and most of the touted features for both systems I’m either here-nor-there on (the PS4’s Share button) or outright against (the Xbox One’s always on Super Kinect). Obviously I’ll get one or both eventually, but I’m not there at launch. Not yet.

That said, there are a handful of simple features now possible due to new technology that would really pique my interest in next-gen consoles. These features wouldn’t necessarily be mind-blowing or revolutionize the way you play or anything — they’re just basic stuff this gamer of over 25-years has wanted for a while. Stuff like…

Every Console Should Have Its Own “Gaming Netflix” On Day One

Right now I can watch thousands of HD movies on my console, no fuss, no muss. An HD movie comprises as much, if not more, data than an HD game. Certainly more than most retro games. There’s no reason a “Netflix Instant” for games shouldn’t work. Both Sony and Microsoft are talking big about their Cloud services — let’s put them to good use.

I want every Sony published game ever available on the PS4 at launch, and every Microsoft game ever available on the Xbox One. 3rd party games can come later. 10 bucks a month. No half steps or screwing around — no releasing one game here, one game there and charging for each individually.

The concept of renting games doesn’t have to die with Blockbuster.

While You’re At It, Bring Back Game Rentals

For most of my gaming career I rented most of the titles I played. I’m pretty sure the majority of people did, and yet oddly, the gaming industry didn’t collapse into a smoldering heap because of it.

Of course, the business of renting physical media is all but dead, but that just means Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have the opportunity to take over the business themselves. No more paying a cut to Blockbuster!

For 5 bucks I should be able to temporarily download any new game for two or three days and play as deeply into it as I want. From there, it could choose whether I wanted to buy the game permanently or rent it again. I can 100% guarantee, if I could rent games again, I’d play a hell of a lot more games.

Publishers would no longer live in fear of Metacritic — who cares if a game only gets a score in the 60s? Just give it a rental and try it out! At least publishers would make some money off a middling game rather than having it gather dust on GameStop’s shelves. Bringing back game rentals would be good for everyone.

Let Me Play 3rd Party Games With People Who Own Different Consoles

Okay, listen, I’m not advocating the end of exclusives, or a one-console future. I think exclusives that really take advantage of a particular platform’s strengths and weaknesses are important (and more essentially, usually some of the best games out there).

That said, there’s no good reason why somebody playing Call of Duty: Ghosts on the PS4 shouldn’t be able to play against somebody on the Xbox One or PC. There just isn’t.

Gamers would win because they’d have a greater selection of people to play against and publishers would also win because people would be more willing to buy their games on less popular platforms if they knew it was one big pool when it comes to online multiplayer.

The only loser would be whatever console was in first place, since they’d no longer have the “we have the biggest online pool, buy us” selling point. But hey, nobody knows who’s going to end up on top, so let’s just call a truce now and tear down the online multiplayer walls.

Let’s bring back this cutting edge technology from 1994.

Bring Back “Super Game Boy”

So, one of the big touted features of this next generation is the ability to transfer console games to a portable screen (as long as you’re in range of the console). This is kind of cool. I guess.

But what about sending games the other way? What about reviving the old “Super Game Boy” concept and letting gamers wirelessly transfer their handheld games to the big screen? Honestly, I already play most of my handheld games on the couch in front of the TV anyways — I’d love the option to be able to push a button and instantly be playing Pokemon, Professor Layton or uh, whatever they have on the Vita on the big screen.

Stop Screwing Around When It Comes To Controllers

This one is as basic as it gets — I want to connect as many controllers of as many types to my console as possible. Back when the N64 came out it shook-up multiplayer by including four controller ports standard, and bafflingly, little has changed since.

Despite the fact that controllers have all been wireless for some time now, most consoles still only support four controllers. Also, both the PS4 and Xbox One won’t support the previous generation’s controllers (even though PS4 and Xbox One controllers are really only slight improvements on Sony and Microsoft’s previous offerings).

I should be able to invite a big group of people with an assortment and wireless Sony and/or Microsoft controllers and have some raucous eight, nine or 10 person local multiplayer. Why not? Make it happen then immediately get Konami to work on a new Bomberman game and I’m sold on this next generation.

So, those are my simple, no reason they shouldn’t happen, yet (sadly) still totally pie in the sky ideas. Got any of your own? Hit the comments and let us know.