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. 

I think we are saying similar thing.  I think the jump is there with things like 4k, 120 fps and ultra settings.  

But you are 100% right, the jump isn't necessary.  I mean once the ps2 launched, ps1 games immediately looked and played like crap.  That isn't true anymore. Heck 360/ps3 games are still perfectly fine.

So is there a jump?  Yes.  Is it necessary?  Nah, it is just gravy.  

The biggest jump, just my opinion, is fps.  120 fps is glorious and addicting.  The responsive controls is game changing. 

I think AAA games are struggling because they all feel the same.  I think the Switch was successful because of unique experiences.

How many times can someone play the same AC game before getting bored?  

Goal post shift.  "Is there a difference" is a different question than "do people care."

Ferrari is niche compared to Honda.  But there is a massive difference.

Gaming is the same way.  Massive difference in high end, but yes it is niche

Same is true with audio.  Most people don't buy paradigm, but that doesn't mean TV speakers are the same as paradigm speakers.

What people buy and enjoy is there choice and I respect it.  Someone is super happy with a 3050 they just bought.  I'm happy for them, they will enjoy it. 

NTO has nothing to do with performance gaps.

The problem with AAA, imho, is the cookie cutter approach.  Those games all feel the same.  Make the games smaller and focus on new gameplay.  

Edit

And AI is coming and not just in gaming.  Most industries are pushing AI.  There is a reason nvidia stock is up 3,000% in 5 years....  and it isn't because AI is a myth.  Predictive modeling is huge in the sciences.  

I'll close by pointing out that the internet and online shopping was laughed at in the mid 90s....  the world changes quickly and significantly.

lol, a PS5 is not a Ferrari compared to a Honda relative to a PS4. We're talking more like the difference between a Honda Civic and a Honda Accord. 

Senua's Saga is a "small game" ... it is completely bombing, so I don't really buy that as a solution. 

When AI can drop a budget of $300 million down in half or a third, then that's a discussion, as of right now it's a pipe dream, it means nothing to a studio head who is trying to finance a game today.

Kids today don't give a fuck about graphics. Lets even look at most of the top brands in the industry right now

Call Of Duty - Right here in this thread, still a cross-gen series almost 5 years into this generation. 

Fortnite - Biggest new hit gaming IP of the last 10 years probably, not exactly a graphics focused game, you can even play it on a smartphone. 

Minecraft - This one doesn't even need an explanation. 

Mario Kart - The most modern one and successful one is a Wii U game that's now sold 50+ million copies and continues to sell every month. 

Animal Crossing - Biggest phenomena during COVID that totally crushed FF7 Remake in sales head to head, had massive social media and popular media following. 

Genshin Impact - A game you can play on a smartphone if you want. 

Roblox - I dunno even know what the fuck the appeal here is, but apparently it's massive. 

Helldivers 2 - Even this is entirely playable on like 10-series GTX cards that are pretty ancient. 

Legend Of Zelda - Skyrocketed from a franchise selling about 4-8 million to over 30 million with BOTW/TOTK, but this is basically a Wii U graphics engine. 

NBA 2K/FC Soccer/Madden NFL - I mean there's a graphics overhaul every new gen, but then they just rehash the same engine every year, in Madden and FC Soccer's case I don't even think the "generational leaps" are impressive anymore even. Another group of games that aren't really graphics driven. 

When even a lot of big 3rd party IP are not really graphics focused titles, it shows to me a shift in audience mentality. People would rather play this stuff than graphical showcase titles.

Yet another sign of this is the Fallout games all of the sudden charting again in big numbers because of the TV show ... but these are last gen games coming out of nowhere, no one cares though that it's "last gen".

It will be interesting to see just how long COD holds onto the legacy platforms.
The last COD on PS3/360 was Black Ops III in 2015, two years after the release of PS4/XBO. We'll be two years passed that point when Black Ops 6 launches.

Franchises with mass casual appeal often remain on old platforms for a long time; FIFA released on PS3 and 360 until 2018, 5 years post-replacement, and Just Dance released on Wii until 2019, 7 years post-replacement.

The way we are going, I doubt this will be final COD on PS4/XBO.

I really hope it's the last COD for last generation... like wtf it's been 11 years lol

Yes, it'll be 4 years which is why I made this thread. It's akin to releasing the original Black OPs on the wii, PS2 and Xbox which is unthinkable.... or hell, maybe even modern warfare 3. I think the dates match up.

Doubt it, unless a significant portion of the ps4 player base upgrades a year from now. Half are still on PS4.

MS own Activision, lol. It's be surprising if it was only PS4. 

In the old days, a marginal or moderate increase in budget/development time gave us massive graphical and mechanical upgrades on the NextGen console. Nowadays a massive increase in budget gives you a moderate increase in visuals and hardly anything else.

Perhaps engines are still experiencing a weird transitional period, and the most advanced tech require many times beefier hardware than PS5. Until then, really high budget ($200 million+) just ain't worth it unless it's GTA.