Azuren said:
I agree on your first two points, though I would lump TLJ's 50%+ drop from TFA in with Solo's outright bomb. Not fair to only include the bottom of the down hill slope.
But Gen 8 is definitely not a low. It's home to two of the three fastest selling consoles in history, as well as the first Hybrid Console (Switch) and first significant console refreshes (Pro and X). The indie scene is flourishing, PC gaming is relevant, and AAA titles aren't limited to bland shooters. The only lows are the underperforming Vita and Wii U, with the Vita signaling Sony's exit from handheld (due largely to phones and tablets) and the Wii U showing Nintendo's second generational Mulligan (the first being VirtualBoy). The XB1, while now doing worse than the 360 did, is still on track to maintain as least a decent marketshare in the US.
Remasters are also not a very large emphasis, and doesn't get much fanfare. Even Dark Souls Remastered, one of the most requested remasters, is only doing alright. You'll notice that a pretty big section of the highest rated games aren't remasters but are new entries in old franchises or new IPs. We've had more high quality titles in the past few years than SNES got altogether. |
I want to say that I am not including Switch in Generation 8. That is why I said "maybe" for gaming being in a golden era. It's too early to tell, but we may be heading that way. Indie scene is also promising, but it needs to come to the forefront more to be included in a true "golden era" As for the rest of your post:
Wii U was not a mulligan. Nintendo supported it for 5 years. That is basically a whole generation. It was disappointing as hell, but Nintendo didn't abandon it like they did the Virtual Boy. 3DS and Vita were also disappointing compared to any previous handheld generation. They both had a smaller library than their Gen. 7 counterparts (or any Nintendo handheld for that matter). Any way that you cut it, Nintendo was at an all time low for Gen. 8 and the handheld market in general was at an all time low. It also is very clear that XB1 is a disappointment especially when compared to XBox360.
That just leaves the PS4. The hardware is selling well, but what about the games? The best selling game on the PS4 was also released on the PS3 and XBox360. GTAV is itself a remake. They released it again with extra content. That really shows how terrible Gen. 8 is because nothing in it can compete with a Gen. 7 game. "AAA is no longer limited to bland shooters". I am not sure what you are including in AAA. Uncharted 4, God of War 3, Dark Souls 3, Monster Hunter World, Fallout 4? All of these franchises were actually present in Generation 7.
Most importantly Generation 8 has done anything really new compared to Generation 7. Generation 4 introduced fighting games and other games that needed more than 2 buttons. Generation 5 introduced 3D and more importantly CDs which allowed for much bigger games. Generation 6 introduced large open world games and more importantly disk games had much better action and speed than Gen 5. Generation 7 introduced both motion controls and made online gaming mainstream. What did Generation 8 do? Nothing. Better graphics is not enough. Every generation has better graphics, but a new generation needs to do more than that. It needs to actually advance gaming in some way. Wii U, XB1, 3DS, Vita and even PS4 are all huge disappointments.
But I still give a "maybe" to gaming, because maybe Switch will turn things around. It at least has the potential to do that, because it is trying to advance gaming. It is trying to change things up and do something different. Now the games have to be good too. It is too early to tell on that front, but Switch looks promising at this point.
curl-6 bet me that PS5 + X|S sales would reach 56m before year end 2023 and he was right.
My Bet With curl-6
My Threads:
Master Thread, Game of the Year/Decade
Switch Will Be #1 All Time
Zelda Will Outsell Mario (Achieved)
How Much Will MH Rise sell?
My Bet With Metallox