famousmortimer
Banned
People seem to be disappointed by the news coming out of Gamescom of a lot launch games confirming that they aren't 60fps or they aren't 1080p or in some cases... both. I can understand being upset about this... but honestly this is not out of the ordinary. In fact, good launch games are out of the ordinary.
I think part of the reason why people thought this gen was going to have a bigger bump at launch is that the systems are closer to typical PCs than older generations. While this is true... if you are developing games as PC games the PS4/Xbox1 are very middle of the road PCs. A game needs to be coded to take advantage of what these systems are capable of because if you are just porting over PC code you aren't going to get great results. PC can use brute force of extremely powerful hardware to overcome the fact that games aren't designed to specific hardware (like nothing is designed specifically for a GTX... but the titan is so absurdly powerful it just makes everything better). So the fact that these games weren't built to take advantage of these consoles means they will be pretty mediocre.
As with any other gen... the standout games is most likely to be games made specifically for the platform.
For instance the 360 launch lineup was as follows in the US:
Amped 3
Call of Duty 2
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Every Party
FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
Gun
Kameo: Elements of Power
Madden NFL 06
NBA 2K6
NBA Live 06
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
NHL 2K6
Perfect Dark Zero
Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4
Ridge Racer 6
Tetris: The Grandmaster ACE
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Guess what... Most of those games look awful. Tony hawk is a bit of a joke now but it was pretty huge then - so that was a pretty huge cross-gen game, like BF4 or CoD now, and the graphics are just complete crap. The sports games were all awful... madden didn't even have announcers. The games that stood out and still hold up ok were designed for the system.... Kameo and PGR3 specifically... also Condemned was strong and still pretty solid.
Oh look, a launch NFS game. Wanna see a bullshot of it?
That's a bullshot!!! Look at that nonsense. That's the same hardware that Forza 4 is on.
Developers are more entrenched in the "HD era" now than they were then - and budgets are bigger, the architecture is more familiar, etc. I get all of that. This launch will likely be stronger than previous ones but not by as much as a lot of people are hoping. Most games aren't going to be 1080p/60fps with amazing particle effects and lighting. The games designed specifically for these systems - like Forza and Killzone, will be the games that stand out. Much like PGR3 for the 360 or Resistance for the PS3...
I recorded a podcast about this if you would like to hear more of my sophomoric explanation why launch games are usually crap.
Also... EA just had a conference a few months from launch didn't show a second of gameplay in Madden or FIFA. Given their previous generational transitions I think it's safe to assume those games are going to be complete garbage. NBA 2k also... there's like one picture of Lebron's head. Are they keeping it a secret because it's fun to have secrets? Or does it suck...
Call of Duty 2 360 launch game.
Call of Duty 3 PS3 launch game
TL;DR - Rushing towards launch, cross gen games are mostly going to be crap. These consoles are like PCs, yes, but mid range PCs. If you don't take advantage of the hardware you're going to end up with mediocre performance.
Pro tip: If you want the best graphics possible, no matter if a new system just launched or not - get a PC. It's cheaper in the long haul anyway when you factor in software.
P.S. - I expect to get yelled at for the transgressions of these developers, that's ok. I'm not apologizing for them though. I'm just saying we had no reason to expect otherwise - judging by every console launch ever.
I think part of the reason why people thought this gen was going to have a bigger bump at launch is that the systems are closer to typical PCs than older generations. While this is true... if you are developing games as PC games the PS4/Xbox1 are very middle of the road PCs. A game needs to be coded to take advantage of what these systems are capable of because if you are just porting over PC code you aren't going to get great results. PC can use brute force of extremely powerful hardware to overcome the fact that games aren't designed to specific hardware (like nothing is designed specifically for a GTX... but the titan is so absurdly powerful it just makes everything better). So the fact that these games weren't built to take advantage of these consoles means they will be pretty mediocre.
As with any other gen... the standout games is most likely to be games made specifically for the platform.
For instance the 360 launch lineup was as follows in the US:
Amped 3
Call of Duty 2
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Every Party
FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
Gun
Kameo: Elements of Power
Madden NFL 06
NBA 2K6
NBA Live 06
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
NHL 2K6
Perfect Dark Zero
Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4
Ridge Racer 6
Tetris: The Grandmaster ACE
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Guess what... Most of those games look awful. Tony hawk is a bit of a joke now but it was pretty huge then - so that was a pretty huge cross-gen game, like BF4 or CoD now, and the graphics are just complete crap. The sports games were all awful... madden didn't even have announcers. The games that stood out and still hold up ok were designed for the system.... Kameo and PGR3 specifically... also Condemned was strong and still pretty solid.
Oh look, a launch NFS game. Wanna see a bullshot of it?
That's a bullshot!!! Look at that nonsense. That's the same hardware that Forza 4 is on.
Developers are more entrenched in the "HD era" now than they were then - and budgets are bigger, the architecture is more familiar, etc. I get all of that. This launch will likely be stronger than previous ones but not by as much as a lot of people are hoping. Most games aren't going to be 1080p/60fps with amazing particle effects and lighting. The games designed specifically for these systems - like Forza and Killzone, will be the games that stand out. Much like PGR3 for the 360 or Resistance for the PS3...
I recorded a podcast about this if you would like to hear more of my sophomoric explanation why launch games are usually crap.
Also... EA just had a conference a few months from launch didn't show a second of gameplay in Madden or FIFA. Given their previous generational transitions I think it's safe to assume those games are going to be complete garbage. NBA 2k also... there's like one picture of Lebron's head. Are they keeping it a secret because it's fun to have secrets? Or does it suck...
Call of Duty 2 360 launch game.
Call of Duty 3 PS3 launch game
TL;DR - Rushing towards launch, cross gen games are mostly going to be crap. These consoles are like PCs, yes, but mid range PCs. If you don't take advantage of the hardware you're going to end up with mediocre performance.
Pro tip: If you want the best graphics possible, no matter if a new system just launched or not - get a PC. It's cheaper in the long haul anyway when you factor in software.
P.S. - I expect to get yelled at for the transgressions of these developers, that's ok. I'm not apologizing for them though. I'm just saying we had no reason to expect otherwise - judging by every console launch ever.
