Next-generation home video game consoles are soon upon us. In 2020, Microsoft will release a long-awaited new Xbox, while Sony will finally unveil the PlayStation 5. With these consoles, we can expect the usual graphics, frame rate, and storage improvements, but there are issues from this current generation that need to be remedied in the next. Here's what home video game consoles need in 2020.

Well-Structured Backward Compatibility

Some argue that backward compatibility isn't important. I vehemently disagree. Preserving video game history is vital to the medium, as older hardware ages and breaks down.

Microsoft is doing a bang-up job with this feature. On the new Xbox, you can play games created for that particular console, as well as Xbox One titles. Microsoft plans to leverage its free Xbox Backward Compatibility emulation (which is compatible with more than 600 games) to bring Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles to the new Xbox, too. You can re-download the digital games you own or—remarkably—pop in your original game discs. That's awesome, and something for which Microsoft should be thoroughly applauded.

Sony, on the other hand, needs to get it together in regards to far-reaching backward compatibility. Though PlayStation 5 will run PS4 games, potential out-of-the-box compatibility with older console games is still a mystery.

You could, of course, sign up for the $9.99-per-month PlayStation Now, which lets you stream more than 800 PS4, PS3, and PS2 games to a PlayStation 4 console or PC. Or, you can download more than 300 PS4 games to a PlayStation 4 console.

PlayStation Now isn't the ideal way to handle backward compatibility. There's a monthly subscription at play, and there are zero original PlayStation titles. Plus, streaming retro games isn't the answer to backward compatibility, as titles beamed to your home aren't as reliable as games stored locally, whether via disc or digital download. Sony really needs to step it up next gen, in this regard.

More Cross-Platform Play

The crumbling of the online walls that separate people playing the same game has been this console generation's most underappreciated aspect. The current generation didn't begin with this cross-platform play (or "crossplay") luxury. It took hard game publisher work to get the online gatekeepers onboard with the idea, particularly Sony.

Now, Fortnite, Rocket League, Smite, and other titles let PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC gamers duke it out in heated video game competition. In fact, NetherRealm Studios is testing crossplay (or, "krossplay") between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Mortal Kombat 11 players.

Crossplay is no longer uncommon, so Microsoft and Sony should not backslide in regards to enabling it in their next-gen boxes. After all, cross-platform play greatly expands the number of potential co-op and competitive matchups in a given game. Few gaming-related happenings are more frustrating than going online for multiplayer fun only to find tumbleweeds.

Free Online Gaming

This one, I admit, is a long shot. Maybe the longest of all shots, as it's expensive to maintain servers used by millions of gamers. Plus, there's just too much money to be made charging people to play multiplayer games online.

Still, as a PC gamer, I find the idea of paying a monthly fee to play online multiplayer games absolutely ridiculous. After all, I'm already paying for internet access; why should I pay an additional $9.99 per month for either PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold? Sony states that it has good reason.

"The main pillar for the PS4 will be online play. We're developing many new ways to play and connect which requires a large investment of resources," a Sony representative told Kotaku. "Considering the cost, to try to keep such a service free and consequently lower the quality would be absurd. We decided that if that's the case, then it would be better to receive proper payment and continue to offer a good service."

Whether or not PlayStation Network is a "good service" is debatable, but it likely requires lots of upkeep. Xbox Live Gold, too. It's just odd to think that console gamers now pay for something that was once free of charge. That, however, is the state of modern entertainment: subscriptions, subscriptions, subscriptions. However, should one of these console manufacturers pull off free online console gaming, it would give that company quite the advantage over the competition.

Developers Offering More PC-Like Options

Console gaming's biggest draw, besides the games themselves, is that one system operates just like another system. As a result, there's zero chance of, say, little Timmy's Xbox lacking the system resources to run a Forza Horizon game. I like that. Keep the boxes closed, I say, with non-upgradable parts. It makes the gaming experience for Joe and Jane PlayStation as simple as possible. However, I want game developers to give console games the options that PC gamers enjoy when they boot up their laptops or desktops and launch a title.

This current generation, Microsoft and Sony released base and upgraded hardware, with the latter machines delivering more graphical output. With the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro, developers let you choose between smoother-playing games or better graphics. That's a good first step to where console gaming should go.

Next generation, I'd like to see game developers dive deeper and give console gamers to ability to tweak even more settings. PC gamers can toy with the likes of texture quality, reflection quality, global illumination, and other options. Why shouldn't our console brothers and sisters?

Reduced Load Times

Honestly, this is my biggest hope for next-gen gaming. If you've played a AAA from this generation, you've suffered through quite a few loading screens—I'd hate to think of the minutes (or hours!) I've spent staring at spinning wheels. However, I recognize that long load times are a technological issue born out of the combination of high-definition assets, mechanical hard drives, development blindspots, and other factors.

Fortunately, Microsoft and Sony will place high-speed, solid-state drives into their next-gen machines, as well as speedy processors, which should hopefully reduce load times a bit.

To the Future

Those are just five features I'd like to see flourish in the next console generation. The future, after all, lies before us. To be fair, Microsoft and Sony haven't released much information about their upcoming systems, so, hopefully, some of my ideas are also some of their ideas. We'll know in a few months, hopefully with some surprises in store.