Board 8 > Is this the most disappointing start to a console gen that you can remember?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm talking about the ps5 and series s/x. For how ever long they have been out, a comparable amount of time to previous console or gaming gens. Like the quality of games and stuff

I don't think there's ever been such strong hardware with such weak games. Nintendo kinda figured it out by making weak hardware in order to force the games to be good.

I mean it's been almost two years and you still can't buy them in stores so that's not great

But anyway yeah two years in and you can count on one hand the number of actual PS5 exclusives that aren't remakes/remasters

Games wise, it's pretty much on par with how other generations started - first year is always slow with 1 or 2 big games to showcase a console's power, second year opens a bit more, and next year will open up even more. I think the difference is this time there's more of a focus on continuing to synergize with last-gen. Almost every big exclusive is still available on last gen. There's just less of a reason to buy new consoles right now, not to mention them being more difficult to obtain than previous generations as well.

Im gonna say no. Theres tons of stuff Ive been playing on PS5 even if Covid really impacted releases. I guess you could complain some of it wasnt exclusive to this gen by releasing on PS4/XBone too, but that doesnt bother me

A new gen never really gets going until 2 years in. Next year is starting to see some stuff but it's still coming out on PS4 so.

I'd say no, but I can see how it feels like it is. With most stuff being cross-gen and more stuff being available on PC, it definitely feels like there's fewer truly 'next-gen' games, like previous generations had.

While I think I had higher expectations this time due to the (much, much) more impressive hardware, overall no I think this is still a less disappointing start than the PS4/Xbox One. Both of those were but why for 2-3 years. This time there are already some really good exclusives and the backwards compatibility makes them a better place to play old games.

Returnal
Demons Souls
Elden Ring
Halo Infinite
60 FPS versions of PS4/XONE games

no way. Ive been very happy with this Gen

It's between this and last gen for me.

Last Gen was severely lacking in the games department at first. Like I didn't even have a desire to get one of the consoles until 2015.

This Gen has the opposite problem, there's plenty of games to play. It's the damn console availability that's the problem. The exclusives made me want a PS5, but I settled for the Series X just because I lucked out through a Gamestop email of all things.

as someone who didnt get a ps4 i don't really have a concept of when ps5 started and what's on it

the whole ecosystem just isn't in my headspace

Does Switch count as part of this generation? That had a great start.

Grimlyn posted...

as someone who didnt get a ps4 i don't really have a concept of when ps5 started and what's on it

It's all PS3/4 games

I have zero desire to get a PS5. None whatsoever.

I might get a switch at some point, probably once Tears of the Kingdom comes out.

Id say the launch of Series/5 was slightly stronger than 4/One, 2021 was way better than 2014 for video games and while I liked 15 more than 22 Im not completely caught up on the newer games.

Throw in features like BC and I think its a push. Exclusives are almost gone which I feel is nice too

Yes, but there hasn't been a good start to a console gen in at least 20 years.

The 360 and Wii had a terrific start, just ignore the PS3

...No?

PS5 has been great.

The difference is that PC's are now so powerful that everything is on PC so having a console means less than ever. Steam decks are basically consoles now

I have to say that I've been pretty confused by the new gen. It just feels like there's nothing really going on there to justify how much demand there was for PS5s.

And while launches are typically pretty sparse, there also wasn't anything on the immediate horizon either.

Mainstream videogames might actually be creatively dead. Like we're lucky to get one really good mainstream videogame per year. It's really all about the indies now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:PlayStation_5-only_games

For two years in this is pretty insane. The "generation" itself hasn't been too bad just in terms of the games that've been released in the last couple of years, but you can barely call it a "generation" thus far when the vast majority of stuff is cross-gen and almost nothing is being released exclusively for - and thus made to take advantage of - modern hardware (PC included, mind.)

That does seem like it's finally going to start changing in 2023, but look back to the utterly insane lineup PS2 had within its first year and this generation does feel pretty anemic.

LightningStrikes posted...

The 360 and Wii had a terrific start, just ignore the PS3

The 360 had nothing good before 2007

I think we're effectively past the point of having a "console generation" now

Project Gotham Racing 3, Viva Pinata, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Hitman: Blood Money, Gears of War, Marble Blast Ultra, Burnout Revenge, and others say hi!

MacArrowny posted...

Does Switch count as part of this generation? That had a great start.

it doesnt even have a Zelda exclusive yet

For me, it's kind of *fine*, since I went straight from PS3 to PS5, meaning that all of the PS4 games I missed in the last generation are, in effect, still completely new to me, especially since PS5 has the backwards compatibility to PS4.

Dark_Silvergun posted...

For me, it's kind of *fine*, since I went straight from PS3 to PS5, meaning that all of the PS4 games I missed in the last generation are, in effect, still completely new to me, especially since PS5 has the backwards compatibility to PS4.

This is a good point, in that I don't think this "New gen" is really much of a new gen at all but a continuation

Games as a service model combined with shortages and PC's has resulted in games just kind of trucking along.

We'll probably see a shift to the new hardware soon but right now everything is still on everything

KCF0107 posted...

Project Gotham Racing 3, Viva Pinata, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Hitman: Blood Money, Gears of War, Marble Blast Ultra, Burnout Revenge, and others say hi!

Not a single worthwhile game in that list.

And you've played all of them enough to be able to say that with no hesitation?

I have, which is why I brought them up.

Haha nah I'm mostly trolling. Oblivion's the only one of them I've played, and I hated it.

With a lot of titles being released across both PS4 & PS5, it does feel as a continuation. It kind of makes sense, since many people still can't find the PS5, software sales would definitely be stronger on the PS4, as it is more widely available.

MacArrowny posted...

Not a single worthwhile game in that list.

PGR3 was a brillaint racing game

Malenia posted...

it doesnt even have a Zelda exclusive yet

I'd say Link's Awakening remake counts.

Last gen: My PC plays stuff gud
This gen: My PC plays stuff gud

So, uh, nope!

Paratroopa1 posted...

I think we're effectively past the point of having a "console generation" now

Microsoft is definitely done with the concept, but I think Sony has at least 1 more in them. Nintendo might just release Switch enhancements for the next 10 years.

No, I didn't get a PS4 until 2016 when FFXV came out, so 3 years in

I don't think it's fair to count cross-gen games against this generation though, as supply issues means releasing games only on next gen consoles means a lot of people can't play them

Switch had an extremely good first year if that counts.

Otherwise I'm going to say yes mostly because of how hard it is to find anything.

foolm0r0n posted...

Microsoft is definitely done with the concept, but I think Sony has at least 1 more in them. Nintendo might just release Switch enhancements for the next 10 years.

To me, it's more the fact that there just isn't really that much that delineates the generations anymore. The last really big fundamental, revolutionary change in how powerful the consoles were was between the PS2/Xbox/GC gen and the PS3/360/Wii gen - those all changed the way games look and felt and created a new paradigm, and you had to get the new consoles right away. Yeah, the PS4/Xbone/Wii U gen further increased the power of the consoles, but now with PS5/Xbox Series whatever/Switch it's like... a lot of people are still on their PS4s and the PS5 only has a handful of key exclusives, nobody really considers the latest Xbox a must-have anymore by any metric, and the Switch is barely even a part of this 'generation', having been released several years earlier and completely doing its own thing. This 'generation' doesn't really feel like anything, to me. So many games are ports and remakes upscaled to a new console, and a lot of games are multiplatform on PC as well which knows not the concept of generations at all. I don't even mean for this to sound lamenting - I think gaming in the 20's is amazing, way better than the 10's and the 00's. I just don't really think of the consoles in generations anymore. To me, the PS4 era was the last true "generation" of consoles and everything has kinda forked off in its own direction now, with no foundational shifts in the fundamental ability of what games are able to do from console to console.

No

Yes is what poor people like Vlado would say.

Paratroopa1 posted...

To me, it's more the fact that there just isn't really that much that delineates the generations anymore. The last really big fundamental, revolutionary change in how powerful the consoles were was between the PS2/Xbox/GC gen and the PS3/360/Wii gen - those all changed the way games look and felt and created a new paradigm, and you had to get the new consoles right away. Yeah, the PS4/Xbone/Wii U gen further increased the power of the consoles, but now with PS5/Xbox Series whatever/Switch it's like... a lot of people are still on their PS4s and the PS5 only has a handful of key exclusives, nobody really considers the latest Xbox a must-have anymore by any metric, and the Switch is barely even a part of this 'generation', having been released several years earlier and completely doing its own thing. This 'generation' doesn't really feel like anything, to me. So many games are ports and remakes upscaled to a new console, and a lot of games are multiplatform on PC as well which knows not the concept of generations at all. I don't even mean for this to sound lamenting - I think gaming in the 20's is amazing, way better than the 10's and the 00's. I just don't really think of the consoles in generations anymore. To me, the PS4 era was the last true "generation" of consoles and everything has kinda forked off in its own direction now, with no foundational shifts in the fundamental ability of what games are able to do from console to console.

This, I agree with.

Paratroopa1 posted...

To me, it's more the fact that there just isn't really that much that delineates the generations anymore. The last really big fundamental, revolutionary change in how powerful the consoles were was between the PS2/Xbox/GC gen and the PS3/360/Wii gen - those all changed the way games look and felt and created a new paradigm, and you had to get the new consoles right away. Yeah, the PS4/Xbone/Wii U gen further increased the power of the consoles, but now with PS5/Xbox Series whatever/Switch it's like... a lot of people are still on their PS4s and the PS5 only has a handful of key exclusives, nobody really considers the latest Xbox a must-have anymore by any metric, and the Switch is barely even a part of this 'generation', having been released several years earlier and completely doing its own thing. This 'generation' doesn't really feel like anything, to me. So many games are ports and remakes upscaled to a new console, and a lot of games are multiplatform on PC as well which knows not the concept of generations at all. I don't even mean for this to sound lamenting - I think gaming in the 20's is amazing, way better than the 10's and the 00's. I just don't really think of the consoles in generations anymore. To me, the PS4 era was the last true "generation" of consoles and everything has kinda forked off in its own direction now, with no foundational shifts in the fundamental ability of what games are able to do from console to console.

Great post

foolm0r0n posted...

Nintendo might just release Switch enhancements for the next 10 years.

I would be very happy with this.

Switch is the most I've played a Nintendo console since Gamecube. It's just such a great concept for a system, and the library is stellar.

With the games they've got coming to Switch i'd be surprised if they have another completely new system planned before late 2024.

shane15 posted...

With the games they've got coming to Switch i'd be surprised if they have another completely new system planned before late 2024.

I assume the oled switch was supposed to be switch 2 before the pandemic really killed supply chains.

I think we get an official switch 2 (That acts like a ps5 playing switch games) either next year or the year after

Paratroopa1 posted...

To me, the PS4 era was the last true "generation" of consoles and everything has kinda forked off in its own direction now, with no foundational shifts in the fundamental ability of what games are able to do from console to console.

That's why I said Sony still has 1 more in them. They clearly tried to advance the hardware and UX of console games in PS5 with the fast SSD, raytracing, haptics, and 3D sound. If games actually existed to use those, they would feel like a new generation, and distinct from PC.

But there's a huge disincentive to use those features, since they cut you out of the rest of the industry, who are happy with just being compatible with PC gaming. And so you would need a ton of money to even consider making a PS5 exclusive. Sony's budget for that must have been woeful if there's only 3 real exclusives.

That is the root of the death of generations, not enough exclusivity money. Nintendo is still doing a lot of exclusives but it does feel kinda inevitable for them to step into PC as well.

dreamcast was pretty bad also(soul calibur and... struggling to think of something else)

SuperNiceDog posted...

dreamcast was pretty bad also(soul calibur and... struggling to think of something else)

Sonic Adventure and NFL 2K. Both of which were amazing at the time.

Dreamcast introduced networked multiplayer