Current games console wars are strange?
quad damage
Do you think the current games console wars are just a bit odd?
Do you think to much importance is still going on with development for 360/PS3 consoles?
Stores stocking 360/PS3 titles as if in duplicate to Xbone/PS4?
The graphics fidelity feels like it has not gone into hyper drive yet with exception to "The Order: 1886" which is the only game that comes to mind when thinking about what is pushing boundaries. What else is there?
What needs to be done to improve the current situation? What can convince publishers/developers to give up on old consoles?
This image illustrates the issue.
Do you think to much importance is still going on with development for 360/PS3 consoles?
Stores stocking 360/PS3 titles as if in duplicate to Xbone/PS4?
The graphics fidelity feels like it has not gone into hyper drive yet with exception to "The Order: 1886" which is the only game that comes to mind when thinking about what is pushing boundaries. What else is there?
What needs to be done to improve the current situation? What can convince publishers/developers to give up on old consoles?
This image illustrates the issue.
Replies
The dev team did an astounding job supporting older systems, and released it simultaneously on PC. This is pretty much the first time that such a high caliber Japanese release is *not* tied to a specific console ; as a matter of fact, the PC is probably the definitive version here.
If anything, MGSV is not illustrating an issue but rather opening up for a rather bright future for more widely accessible games.
But of course, if devs relase their games on old platforms as well, it's normal that the games visuals wont have that much differences...
last gen is sub Full hd and capped at 30 fps everything else is not.
Though this game has great art direction that covers up the fact that is not trying to pull off a lot of tricks when it comes to eye candy.
I dont think This game is pushing anything out there too hard.
Hell it runs great on 4 year old graphic cards.
It doesn't have some of the newer fancier effects coming out, just damn good art direction and attention to detail I think. Everything just looks so natural.
It's the same things with MGS4, that game has mostly static lighting and basic effects but has fantastic art direction.
To me I think it just shows that great visuals go well beyond the technology used.
Also between the platforms, the main differences are post effects (depth of field), frame rate, textures, and draw distance. PC has a MUCH better draw distance in GZ at least.
Considering how much time you spend looking at snake in a chopper, i'm pretty sure they were proud of their visuals as much as anything else.
And they should be, the game looks amazing. Sure it's no The Order: 1886, but it's an open world game so you gotta sacrifice stuff.
To elaborate on what I meant, the higher ups clearly wanted money. They're developing for PC anyway so you gotta hit a minimum requirements, why not aim for Xbox 360/Playstation 3 requirements then anyway. That way you get to release it on 5 platforms and hit a lot of PC specs.
Well the answer is easy; more possible customers moving to the newer consoles and much shorter console life-cycles !
no kidding.. If I where a gamer, I would want again a time where I could simply buy a supermarket PC and play all games on max/ultra settings because there is no development going on in the console market.
so to sum it up, maybe for now its all settled*... sadly thou a console is in terms of PC hardware a long time investment where the hardware has to last at least 5+ years.
* while completely ignoring that HD will in a couple years clearly not cut it any more evne with advanced upscaling options.
Additionally Japan has already planned to broadcast 8k television next year so devices which allow 8k will soon be in American and European stores too and more importantly,
4k screens get much more affordable and people will jump to it.
My idea would be, ask that question in a couple years when the console hardware is again three or five hardware-cycles behind the PC and for consoles more important the television market with bigger screens which demand bigger rendered images.
They're also cancelling a lot of last gen titles because they can't make the games scale like they want to.
Sick of the optimizing needed I guess?
You can't blame publishers and developers for that - they are simply trying to make their product widely available. If anything, blame console manufacturers competing for the home market with two nearly identical product offerings for 3 cycles in a row.
I don't think anything "can be done" ; and I'd personally rather see games available to more people, as opposed to console tie-ins resulting in short-lived games (Ryse, The Order). Also, engines with very high scalability are always a good thing ...
Consoles really seem like a thing of the past now. Whether that's a good thing or not, I am not sure ; but times are definitely changing. Seeing an open world game like MGSV run beautifully on aging hardware makes me think that we reached a very interesting tipping point.
http://www.konami.jp/mgs5/tpp/jp/products/compare.php5
PC left, PS4 Right
( allergic to loss of mice and keyboard. Diagnosis incurable )
console via PC
http://xim4.com/
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All those look pretty next-gen to me.
MGSV is probably the last major cross gen AAA title that we will see released.
Cross-Gen development is really the only thing that was holding some of the games back the past couple of years IMO.
Edit:
almost forgot my favorite one!
@MrHobo - yeah those titles is what its all about, they look light years above old console titles. Looks like this winter will see the current gen spark into life like never before.
Never thought about it before but maybe the current system of easing the banton between the consoles development cycle is actually better for the industry in the long run? more units sold = more jobs.
New consoles like the xbox One and PS4 cost far too much money for adult working people to afford. They cost about $400. If you have a mom or dad that can buy that for you, great, but you're probably a teenager or below or maybe you got lucky. Most people in the world don't have that kind of luxury to drop that much cash on a console and games and controllers.
When I get a paycheck I don't even think about buying a new console, but about paying lots of bills and using my PS3 as long as I can. I can still play dark souls 1 / 2 and CoD on it.
I dunno man, people are routinely paying more than that for phones which get replaced far more frequently than consoles.
The $400 price point isn't far off from last generation either, in the case of the ps4 it is quite a bit lower, but I'm pretty sure the console cycle won't be as long.
People need phones to live and communicate with their bosses at work. You can get a wide variety and cost of phones as well.
I had my mom and dad get me previous consoles, but this goes back to the point of your parents buying you things as a child. Now I think about insurance, dental operations, etc.
The only large population of gamers I know are either really young and on xbox live or psn playing halo or cod after school or in college, gaming in the dorms. Never came across that elusive 37 year old gamer yet. LOL. Maybe they are out there.
http://www.dailydot.com/geek/adult-women-largest-gaming-demographic/
50 year old gamer here
( started with Magnavox Odessey II in the 70's )
once a gamer always a gamer.
we r elusive cuz we can close the door to our office and pretend we r werkin'
whereas kiddies can't lock the living room
Edit: Just saw it above. Wow 48% of gamers are women! Could have knocked me over with a daisy
No need to be cynical. I tried to supply a mix of games that are more or less coming soon and have some video to back up how good they look versus some stuff that is admittedly too early to tell but still looks promising.
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A bit of a tangent:
When I see stuff like that, I cant help but feel a bit aggravated by it.
It generally reads as one big confirmation bias, one that seeks to create this narrative meant to dismantle any perceived "patriarchy" found in this medium. The genres and the platforms matter. Specifics matter.
Age and gender are drastically different depending on the genre, the platform and certain markets they are trying to appeal to. Females for example do have a huge presence, but its also important to clarify that it is within both social and mobile spaces. The "angry birds" comment is intellectually dishonest, because its suggesting that only angry birds and the smart phone market is the sole contributor or claimed to be the sole contributor. I recall getting my first Gameboy in 1989 for example... mobile gaming has been around for a long time, it doesnt have to be on a smart phone. Then there is browser based gaming which has been around for awhile. On the Sims grew a huge following back in 2000.
Genres and platforms are key. It should never be generalized and used to force widespread changes across all markets. For example, Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, does that mean its the most popular or used globally? Should all games then be in chinese or all products have chinese because of that fact? No. China, chinese is the most popular language its also a very densely populated area with its own localized market. The same can be said with what markets female and male gamers find themselves in. Social and mobile is certainly dominated by females, and thats fine but in the same vein, other markets have massive male domination, which is also fine. Different markets with different platforms, and they should not force either to adhere to the other. They can coexist without one trying to consume the other through a socio-political lens.
It just depends on the game/what community you experience. I used to play a lot of eve-online and a lot of the friends I made there were in their thirties. A lot of the milsim crowd are older as well.
My brother in law is 37 AND is a huge gamer, arguably bigger nerd than i but hes more of an anomaly than the norm. Most people his age and over didn't grow up with video-games as much as the 80s and 90s kids.
And i don't see myself ever stopping as long as there's stuff out there calling for my attention.
No, they r suggesting that because these gamming grannies have been gaming since 2002 for the most part that their number pre-dates the current social and mobile landscape. Also they r inferring that their data suggests their superior numbers do not necessarily have anything to do with social and mobile trends.
But yea...
best way to tell a lie yadda yadda...
But then again...
From my vantage point everytime a new console title is released without a campaign ( and whose multiplayer community seems to wither and die immediately ) I am wondering if such numbers might actually represent market value in an unappreciated older demographic that wants a bit of mature and beautiful narrative before all the bangity bangity spaz twitch play?
From my vantage younger people hardly game at all compared to friends my age and are quite ignorant on a great number of gaming concerns. Rated M for mature means I have to hold the kiddies hands at gamestop and make final approval of that used copy of GTA for my hormone raging 15 year old nephew/nieces.
( which doesn't fill me with much glee considering the scary stuff they did in the COD Russian airport )
What?
I am 50 and was 14 years old in 1980. Yer 37 year old friend was about 2 years old in 1980. I would call him a kid of the 80's and 90's!
Although I spent most my quarters in the 80's ( cuz like I was cool and had a job and drove a bitchin Camaro. )
I lived in the arcades in the 70's malls as well. ( as did everyone else! )
Everyone u know who is 50 years old had at least one arcade game they were king at! Be it Galaga or Asteroids or Reactor ( me ) or whatever! Chances r they would school you if given the chance. Every 50 year old is a gamer ( even if they do not remember
I'm 40, a gamer, and a developer. I work with a bunch 25-45-ish year old gamers and developers.
More to the point, one of the reasons games in general have been so recession proof is because, yeah, 400 bucks is a lot of money; but people see the long term entertainment value in that investment.
I'd argue its more of a publisher problem than an audience related one, but yeah I am in no way trying to diminish the demographic that grew up in arcades and with consoles from the 70s-80s. I think the console publishers and well big publishers in general were to focused on the newer audiences and what their... "market research" was saying that they ended up drying up the well.
Some genres dont even get made any more because from their stand point, it might be popular or reach the same kind of audience that a 4 hour FPS game might. They kind of forget also that those very games quickly recycle at used game retailers, which does more damage than piracy. Over on the PC, gamers were able to find some of the genres that were more enriching, whether it be crpgs or space sims... or just the social experience that came from interacting with others with written word rather than what limitations the controller provided.
Then there is kickstarter and the rise of self published/crowdfunded games. It was like the Berlin wall falling and gamers and content creators were able to interact directly without the middle man calling all the shots. The consoles and usual publisher reliance do not seem to be all that appealing anymore.
oh and I think the witcher 3 is a pretty impressive all platform game considering its an open world its a big step up from any fantasy open world Ive ever played before.
sound scientific method: ( wheres Walda )
take 1rst random "large crowd" shot from a Bing comic con image search...
n count the percentage of female geeks. ( hopefully tranny cos-play does not throw a wrench in an otherwise water tight survey ):
I get about 34%
Sure looks like 30 somethings rule. If not the Median.
?
I'm 36, and most of my childhood friends are roughly the same age.
Most of them still play games (Most of them are parents).
A lot of them still just play NHL, WoW, Starcraft and Civ, but it's the same gaming habits they've had for a few decades. They don't have careers that require them to learn anything, or hone skills at home.
I think the statistics are more aligned with my PoV than yours.
I know a lot of mid 30s to 50 year olds that buy consoles and games for their children. They don't play them themselves. I've never ever seen a 30-50 year old serious console or pc female gamer.
It's like when you go into a burger king and see a dad getting a bunch of Chicken Fries and you tell them that you like them as well and that they're incredible, right? He must like them since he's buying a bunch of em, right? Nope, they're all for his kids and he only eats burgers.
ahh I c whuts happening here...
Of course he is telling u he doesn't like chicken fries! He is assuming u r a spy his wife sent! 50 year olds invented chicken fries.
So one has to admit that with age also comes "hiding" from percieved "stigma" of not growing up. Having kids to shield one's activities is amateur hour.
You think parents take their kids to see Pixar movies cuz they r such good parent? HA!
double HA! When Incredibles 2 comes out sit in the front row and turn around mid-movie and tell me what age demographic iz enjoying the movie more?
( the 50 year old with the I will be gay for Brad Bird t-shirt thats who. btw get tickets NOW for the nationwide re-release of the iron giant to be released sept 30th! )
OP I am terribly sorry. I digress mucho.
CGSociety has an article devoted to aging video game creators today ( Growing old in VideoGames )
http://www.cgsociety.org/news/article/1795/growing-old-in-videogames?edit=true
as everyone since the 70's has now grown up with video games that demographic will soon be the rule instead of the exception.