8th Gen to 9th Gen: Visual Analysis Thread

[VAMatt]

CGI-Quality said:

Shiken said:

Oh you misunderstand!  I am not trying to imply that games like Horizon could run on a PS4.  I am simply saying that the visual leap to the human eye is less impressive, even on my 4k TV.  It has nothing to do with technical aspects that explain why a game could/could not run on a gen 8 machine, but more to do with the diminishing returns of visual leaps from gen to gen as a whole.  I meant that it LOOKS like a sharper PS4 Pro game with a few added details that will go unnoticed in motion, not that the game could in fact run on a PS4.

Not to mention, with Horizon in particular, I am sure there are some new physics related things that will even further prevent it from being played on a gen 8 machine.

The idea of diminishing returns is also a slippery slope (at least right now), because what we've just seen was effortless and still the jump is apparent. They haven't even scratched the surface (though they are taking advantage of the hardware). What went into these games is nothing compared to what will go into later ones, where the visual/technical aspects will make even these early games look vastly outdated. 

We'll reach the climax of diminish returns when the effort is not met with the appropriate response. These games still floored plenty of people, even if there are those who don't see much of a difference (or look for said details). Some are simply satisfied where we are, and until things look photorealistic, they won't really care to invest in the finer details.

As I always try to tell people, they don't put in what is assumed they do, and as each gen comes along, they won't have to. But, the weight of diminishing returns are inevitable and will be reached some day. 

People have been talking about diminishing returns, with respect to graphical leaps eeachtime there's a big change in the tech (such as a new console generation) for as long as there have been big changes in the tech.  This thought does seem to pass the smell test, as it always has, but the smell test keeps being proven wrong.