Back around the PS4, I posited theories that we’d hit the “graphical plateau”, and while it was technically possible to make a stronger console, the returns were not great. I was wrong, and we got the PS5, but I don’t think I was wrong by much. It’s nicer to have 60fps and 1080p more reliably, but there’s really nothing urgent going past that - and if I understand right, there’s still a pretty large install base of PS4 users. It even runs some of the latest - did anyone notice games like LEGO Batman: LotDK and Jedi: Survivor somehow run on there?
I think there’s still plenty of ways to pull people’s interests, but it’s not going to be by the same big E3 reveal of some graphical leap. Not like we have E3 anymore anyway.
(I will admit this is a very anti-consumer move, but honestly, the most logical long-term strategy I could see them going for is returning to making large console-exclusive games)
I’m on the Xbox side, but I started with 2600/NES. I think 360 (PS3 on your side) was kind of the peak for graphics/gameplay. With XB1/PS4 we saw bigger and more expansive games, but I felt like something was lost on the way. And then with XSX/PS5 era, everything’s so pretty but I’m not really seeing those amazing gaming experiences.
The generations don’t perfectly translate… PS2 had GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, I believe. Then GTA 5 came out (after GTA 4 which is beside the point) on PS3, then it was on PS4, and now it’s on PS5, they just keep adding onto it. But is GTA 5 really better than San Andreas? I mean, it’s prettier, and the three protagonists was cool, but IMO San Andreas was when the series peaked.
Same with Bethesda. Now, Bethesda games suck on PlayStation because PlayStation has some funny quirks, developers used to it can turn out some amazing experiences, but developers who aren’t turn out buggy messes, and Bethesda games are a buggy mess in the best of times. But again, their best games were in the 360/PS3 generation. Fallout 3 and Oblivion. Skyrim isn’t trash, but it’s very shallow. Fallout 4 is pretty, and it isn’t exacltly shallow, but I feel like something was lost from Fallout 3. Trying to turn it into a city sim, they half assed both sides of the game.
The Mass Effect series was on 360 and PS3 and is some of the best games ever. Andromeda was on XB1/PS4 and was a big step back — but it was pretty. (The best Mass Effect is the Legendary Trilogy, which is the original trilogy remastered and a lot of things fixed, was on XB1/PS4, but that’s an exception.)
Back around the PS4, I posited theories that we’d hit the “graphical plateau”, and while it was technically possible to make a stronger console, the returns were not great. I was wrong, and we got the PS5, but I don’t think I was wrong by much. It’s nicer to have 60fps and 1080p more reliably, but there’s really nothing urgent going past that - and if I understand right, there’s still a pretty large install base of PS4 users. It even runs some of the latest - did anyone notice games like LEGO Batman: LotDK and Jedi: Survivor somehow run on there?
I think there’s still plenty of ways to pull people’s interests, but it’s not going to be by the same big E3 reveal of some graphical leap. Not like we have E3 anymore anyway.
(I will admit this is a very anti-consumer move, but honestly, the most logical long-term strategy I could see them going for is returning to making large console-exclusive games)
I’m on the Xbox side, but I started with 2600/NES. I think 360 (PS3 on your side) was kind of the peak for graphics/gameplay. With XB1/PS4 we saw bigger and more expansive games, but I felt like something was lost on the way. And then with XSX/PS5 era, everything’s so pretty but I’m not really seeing those amazing gaming experiences.
The generations don’t perfectly translate… PS2 had GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, I believe. Then GTA 5 came out (after GTA 4 which is beside the point) on PS3, then it was on PS4, and now it’s on PS5, they just keep adding onto it. But is GTA 5 really better than San Andreas? I mean, it’s prettier, and the three protagonists was cool, but IMO San Andreas was when the series peaked.
Same with Bethesda. Now, Bethesda games suck on PlayStation because PlayStation has some funny quirks, developers used to it can turn out some amazing experiences, but developers who aren’t turn out buggy messes, and Bethesda games are a buggy mess in the best of times. But again, their best games were in the 360/PS3 generation. Fallout 3 and Oblivion. Skyrim isn’t trash, but it’s very shallow. Fallout 4 is pretty, and it isn’t exacltly shallow, but I feel like something was lost from Fallout 3. Trying to turn it into a city sim, they half assed both sides of the game.
The Mass Effect series was on 360 and PS3 and is some of the best games ever. Andromeda was on XB1/PS4 and was a big step back — but it was pretty. (The best Mass Effect is the Legendary Trilogy, which is the original trilogy remastered and a lot of things fixed, was on XB1/PS4, but that’s an exception.)