Isn't it strange that in this day and age we still find things to complain
about. Not only are we as gamers getting some fantastic games, on all formats,
but developers are hitting the sweet spot on their work.
Games like God of War Ascension, Gears of War Judgement and
BioShock Infinite are all examples of great games that have been made for each
respective format late into the “console cycle”. And yet they are some of the
best games that we have to play at this time. Each game is a sequel in a series
of games that has defined this generation. Yes i am aware that God of War
started on the PS2, but it was the 3rd entry that made people
notice.
Now lots of people, mostly high profile journalists will
complain that we need to consoles, that game design is struggling right now.
There is nothing new coming out but is that true. I don’t think that its the
case. Just this year we are getting Watch_Dogs, a brand new IP as well as
Beyond Two Souls. Both games are coming very late but both are brand new IP’s
and both look beyond outstanding on these 6 year old machines.
Of course, people that make game engines, who have dreamt of
electric sheep for ages, will indeed want more powerful hardware, to showcase
their engine better. But if you take a
look at games like Crysis 3, or even Battlefield 3, those games on console look
amazing. But if you take away the
graphics, is it the same game?
At any point when you’re looking at a game you are going to
be drawn to the graphics. The way a game looks will always be more appealing
then what the player is doing with their fingers on the controller. And it’s at
this point that things are getting to complex, we have had amazing games with
great physics for some time now. But it appears that we are glutens and want
more. Looking at the debut footage for Playstation 4 games, can we really say
they looked miles above the current consoles?
I don’t think so, sure they did look cleaner, but in terms
of Killzone, just as an example it will play exactly the same as the previous
ones. The controller, while having a touch screen has the same button layout as
the Playstation 3 controller. Now its not a bad thing, i think each console,
has got amazing controllers, each has a solid layout with no real flaws.
Does getting a new console cycle mean that we are only going
to get marginally better graphics? Because thats all it seems to do from a gameplay
point, at this stage. Feature sets like Gaikai for PS4 could easily be
introduced into the PS3 via a firmware update. Take a look at the xbox, it has
had 3 major revisions of its console software since launch, not to mention all
the little add ons over the years.
So while its all well and good to have shiny graphics, the
gameplay is not changing in this new generation. No matter how good a game
looks if it plays like utter crap no one will care. So releasing a new console
with the same controller, for the next round of Call of Duty’s and such all
with a newer coat of paint wont help anyone, but you never know stranger things
have happened.
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