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sc94597 on 04 April 2016
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baloofarsan said:
  • 1. ease of software development
  • 2. easier to port from PC to consoles (and vice versa)
  • 3. shorter and cheaper development
  • 4. more optimized code
  • 5. using scalable game engines like UE4

 

  • 6. most PS4/XB1 games still cost $60
  • 7. many games have been rushed and/or delayed (i.e. planning was not easy despite the well known X86 architecture)
  • 8. many games are not optimized (resolution, framerate etc) despite scalability of game engines.
  • 9. games are migrating from consoles to PC but not many in the other direction.
  • 10. higher development costs resulting in absurd sales demands.
  • 11. developers closing down or migrating to mobile 

Number #1 did happen. It just also happened to be the case that games became more complex as well. #2 has happened, the performance issues of current gen PC ports are nowhere near as bad as the 7th generation pc ports. 3. Also happened with respect to the predicted development times. 4. Didn't happen, but also wasn't predicted. #5 is probably the biggest effect. 

Before I address 6-11, I'd like to say that the PS3 is a perfect example of why X86 as a standard architecture was needed. The PS3 was very gimped by its unique and specialized architecture. 

#6, this is for market reasons. The video game market is not a perfectly competitive market, so there is no reason why P(price) = MC(marginal cost), video game producers have market power and can control prices. Not to mention inflation, $60 in 2006 is about $70.57 in today's money. 

#7, the same was true for the 7th generation. 

#8, It seems to me that optimization of the consoles occured much sooner in this generation than it did in the 7th generation. I don't see there being huge improvements in graphics left for the PS4/XBONE, while the PS360 had some huge improvements in their last few years. The consoles are just weak. 

#9 Mostly because there are fewer games to migrate from PC to consoles than there had been in the past. Most games are multiplatform while at the start of the 7th generation PC had many more exclusives. 

#10. There is no way around this. Development costs are ALWAYS going to increase until we have a huge breakthrough in programming design or hardware power. 

#11. Seems to be mostly a Japanese phenomena, and this is an effect of they not releasing games in the 7th generation. Otherwise, the market is pretty healthy.