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Zekkyou on 19 July 2014
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160rmf said:
Zekkyou said:

I never said it wasn't :p I was pointing out the huge visual jumps we've already been seeing in the next gen. Hence why using current cross gen titles as a reference for the capabilities of the 8th gen systems doesn't make much sense.

AW still isn't exactly the best looking game ever, but next gen platforms being the lead has done wonders for it. It will still be relatively close to the 7th gen, but a bigger jump than we saw with Ghosts.

Then you have ACU which looks downright amazing. A tad unstable at present (understandably, given how many character models they're trying to use simultaneously), but still amazing.

If COD AW isn't one of the best looking games, neither is ACU, EA ufc or any other "next gen" exclusive title. You just said AW is big jump over ghosts and yet it still available for last gen consoles. For me, last gen holding back is just a lame excuse to the developers make less work and force people to purchase the "next gen" hw. The real problem is that this generation isn't capable enough to improve during its lifetime like the  previous generations

Games don't get a free graphics upgrade coupon when they concentrate on next gen systems or go next gen only, it simply increases the possibilities available to them. There will always be games like Knack or UFC that fail to capitalize on that potential.

Cross gen 7th > 8th:

AC4 and Ghosts. Both 7th gen games powered by 7th gen tech. The only difference between the versions is some performance changes and LOD distribution. PC is often held back in the same way.

Cross gen 8th > 7th:

AW and Destiny. These are still cross gen, but made with the next gen first in mind. They are still limited in that the game has to linearly scale back to the 7th gen, but they can utilized stuff like 8th gen effects. Anything that can be removed without changing the game itself.

Can a game be on the 7th gen but still use next gen tech in the 8th gen version? Sure it can, but you end up with a heavily gimped 7th gen version. It's rarely worth the effort, thus rarely done. So in that scene you are partly right, it's down to laziness. However, there are often good reasons for said "laziness".

8th gen only:

Finally you have games like ACU, which are making the most of the new tech available to them. Since they don't need to worry about scaling the game back, they can utilize stuff like their mass concurrent NPC simulations. That tech wouldn't be possible on the PS3/360, it would have to be entirely removed and replaced with a standard scaling LOD NPC spread. That's what this gen is about. The 7th gen introduced the potential for HD, the 8th is improving on that and giving us a chance to create truly living game worlds.

You're free to believe whatever tickles your fancy, but personally, i look at the jump between AC4 on the PS3/360 and ACU on the PS4/X1 and i can't help but be impressed ^^ You're opinion is perfectly justified, but i can't say i agree with it.