Following a Sony developer’s admission that the PS5’s graphics are not a major leap over the last generation, a reader is unwilling to give the PS6 a chance.
I don’t know if he’s going to get in trouble for it, but I really appreciate the director of Astro Bot admitting that the PlayStation 5 has barely been any better than PlayStation 4 when it comes to graphics. He was diplomatic about it, but he told the truth and I respect that.
He’s not wrong about the DualSense and SSD (aka fast loading) being a positive improvement, but of course we all know that they’re a very minor thing and that no one would ever buy a new console just for that. But I won’t criticise him for not admitting that.
So, where do we go from here? Everyone knows this generation has been a complete waste of time and yet another one is just starting up, and the hype for the PlayStation 6 is going to go into overdrive over the next year. So what’s to stop that from being a failure too?
The problem as I see it is that basically everything to do with the business side of gaming is a complete disaster. Companies are run by greedy morons and so many companies are being bought up that virtually none of them are still independent. Developers are laid off by the hundreds for no reason, destroying the backbone of studios that have been around for decades.
On the other hand, you have the fact that the games being made today are just as good, if not better than ever. From big budget games like Death Stranding 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza to double-A indie games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hades 2, to low budget indie like Ball x Pit and Citizen Sleeper 2.
But those games are great in spite of how publishers act, not because of it. These people making great games are being treated like dirt and they’re only going to put up with it for so long. Given everything that’s been happening the last year or so who’d ever want to be a game developer, coming out of university? And who that isn’t already one wouldn’t be thinking of leaving?
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There’s going to be a massive brain drain and, just like everything else, publishers are not going to prepare for it at all and are going to act surprised when it happens. And we all know what their solution to this self-inflected problem is going to be: AI. Which won’t work properly and will lead to worse games, but publishers won’t care because they’ll be cheaper to make.
The chances of net generation being even worse, of the PlayStation 6 being a bigger disappointment than the PlayStation 5, are real and I have absolutely no faith that publishers are going to do anything to avoid it or that they even recognise the danger.
For me, I think the whole situation is past saving and the only thing we can do now is just bypass traditional publishers entirely. If double-A games has become a thing this gen, then hopefully triple-A games can be a thing next gen. Games that don’t go through Microsoft or EA or Ubisoft or any of the other idiot companies that have brought gaming almost to ruin.
It’s not an ideal situation but we can also do something about rising prices for consoles too: just buy a PC instead. I don’t really want one, but they’re lower in price nowadays and, more importantly, console prices are getting close enough that it won’t make much difference anyway. And then you won’t have to worry about what scam Microsoft or Sony will pull next because you’ll be out of their ecosystem.
That’s what I’m planning to do anyway. This gen has removed any chance that I’ll trust Sony again and if the PlayStation 5 ends up being my last console I’m not sure I even care anymore.
By reader Ratso
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