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Soundwave on 05 June 2024
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Chrkeller said:
curl-6 said:

That we're 3 and a half years into the generation and many games are still crossgen is quite unprecedented; by this point last gen (2017) PS3/360 had been well and truly left behind.

AAA games cost so much these days that publishers don't want to let go of the last gen player base.

Regarding the gaps between gens, I do feel that they're getting smaller as a result of diminishing returns; with the exception of Hellblade II, PS5/Xbox Series games don't look massively better than PS4/XBO games to my eyes. Technically the gap is there, but its less noticeable than in the past cos last gen games already looked really good, to my eyes at least.

The problem is console gamers are still tied to the archaic "generation" classification that isn't fit for purpose anymore.  Games are scalable, there is no reason not to leverage sliders and supporr weaker hardware.

Console gamers are also struggling because they hung their hat on exclusives, which is dying.  And I think it is great.  Why buy 3 pieces of hardware when I can buy 1?  

The gap is there and has a long, long way to go till diminishing returns.  UE5 demos, like the forest and car, are mind blowing.  The big difference between now and the past, panel quality is the limiting factor for many.  OLED, large screen at 120 hz makes games look significantly better than LCD, small screen and 60 hz.  We have entered a period where extra hardware is required to get the most out of powerful gpus.  

And AAA games aren't going anywhere.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  AI tools like DLSS and RT are already here.  More will be coming to reduce development costs.  There are already NPC generators and voice acting AI being investigated.  

Nobody but a tiny niche audience gives a shit about Unreal 5 Engine demos, lol, let alone the games. 

Both Senua's Saga and Immortals Aveum (two games that are supposed to showcase Unreal Engine 5 from two huge publishers) both flopped, in Immortals Aveum's case half the studio got laid off afterwards. Senua's Saga on Steam is trending below a game (HiFi Rush) that bombed so bad the studio got shut down entirely. Like this is a disaster. 

There is no AI tool that's here and or even on the horizon that's going to significantly reduce the cost if I'm financing a game right now, there's no magic AI that's going to take my $150 million budget and make it $75 million let alone $300 million down to $100 million. That doesn't exist. As long as you have human beings making games you have to pay them a fair wage and if you're making a game that takes 4-8 years to develop with 80-400 people, you have to pay those people every 2 weeks and then you have to pay for a studio and keep the lights on, and pay for mo cap studio, etc. etc. etc. none of that is becoming free any time soon. 

Even OLED displays ... they're not selling huge numbers, so much so that Sony ditched OLED models for this year because by and large people don't pay the extra premium for those screens. Most people don't know or care about the Hz of their TV either. 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 05 June 2024