Soundwave said:
Alan Wake 2 is on the graphics oriented PS5, XBox Series X is it not? Do these people not want a graphics showcase that actually pushes the system? Guess not. You should be able to crack at least the top 20 with PS5/XBox Series X alone easy if graphics are such a big draw. It's not even like it's just a graphics whore showcase, it got great reviews too, GOTY nominations, etc. etc. Still can't even chart in the top 20. Nintendo is releasing Switch 2 to focus around a graphics upgrade not even probably because they want to but because they want to force people to buy in again to another (what they hope is) 150m systems and without a Wiimote or DS type input miracle, they have to rely on basically better hardware. Some people don't even care for that, but they get forced into having to upgrade otherwise you're locked out of new installments of IP you enjoy. Simple as that. These hardware totals are not growing either, it's the same group and same numbers of people just buying over and over again, any gain in audience looks like its being offset by equal numbers of people who quit/grow out of game consoles. 120-130 million-ish Playstation users, 120-150 million Nintendo owners, maybe 40 million and sinking XBox. Which wouldn't be a big deal if the budgets of the games weren't going up 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, etc. etc. etc. You need the userbase to rise equivalently and it's not happening. Shawn Layden former head of Playstation just flat out stated this is a big problem and he would know better than anyone on this board. If the market worked the way you think it should the sales of hardware would go like this 1.) High end PC GPUs like a 4090 for max graphics powah! 2.) XBox Series X (most powerful console) 3.) Playstation 5 4.) A distant, irrelevant 4th ... Nintendo Switch When the reality is actually inverted completely, lol. Games like Alan Wake 2 and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora should be dominating the sales charts, when they're less relevant to gamers than Roblox is, a game so ugly it that makes the Wii U LEGO game look like a master class in visuals. Graphics have their place, but it isn't actually the majority driver of the market and the economics of chasing graphics is becoming more and more unrealistic. To get a serious generational leap beyond PS4 games like Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West I don't think even $300 million is gonna get you close. Spider-Man 2 does not look a generation better than Miles Morales. You need to go in to $400-$500 million range on the minimum spend I think, GTA6 is what? A billion for the main game? Are you getting even 50% extra customers for the 300% additional budget you've spent? Nope. Insomniac's own leaked memos bemoan this fact, they're aware of it and not happy about it. |
For me Alan Wake was more of a PC franchise than console.
Power matters, but so does price. You still keep viewing things in overly simplistic stagnant terms and seems incapable of multivariate understanding.
Nintendo is upgrading the switch because graphics matter.
And you keep bringing up costs while ignoring AI tools that will be bring development costs down.
Honestly I'll leave it be, given I don't get your point anymore. Graphics aren't going anywhere and will continue to be a focal point, like it always has.
The biggest issues is you are ignoring, and the real problem, is corporate greed. Developers are not having trouble turning a profit, but the elite shareholders simply want a second yacht. Thus we have a "problem" in the industry.
Last edited by Chrkeller - on 14 March 2024
