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I am completely confused now on what looks "next gen" and what not.

Really, and it seems everybody else is as well.

On that PS5 showcase, people here deemed some game trailers as like the greatest things ever, and others said it's "barely PS4 levels".
What's happening here?

Are our perceptions of what next gen should look like so skewed, or do we not have any real idea about how it should look like yet?
Is there any game where we can mostly agree that it looks next gen?

Discuss!
 

sn0man

Member
Some of the low hanging fruit of graphics are already conquered. Next gen won’t always be about a completely new game. Sometimes it’s the same basic structure (e.g., Spider-Man Gran Tourismo) with some advanced subtle features that do not stick out to everyone universally (ray tracing).

Growing up in the 1990s and being a pc gamer it was always about upgrading to get those 3dfx and riva tnt2, or buying that latest id Software title to get those dopamine hits of graphical leaps. It’s just that devs And hardware are hitting the other side of the hockey curve.

Not every game is going to be Mario64, Project Gotham Racing 3, or Metal Gear Solid 2 all over again on consoles.
 
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TBiddy

Member
It's all about which platform you supports. If you're a hardcore Xbox-fan, the PS5 showcase looked barely next-gen and was very disappointing, whereas the July event will be full of next-gen experiences. If you're a hardcore PS-fan, the PS5 showcase was the best ever with loads of games only possible on the PS5 thanks to the SSD, whereas the July event from MS will be Gears, Halo and Forza where games will look held back by cross-gen.

For those of us inbetween, well... GT7 looked awesome, R&C is not possible on PS4 and Horizon was a stunner, as always, and I suspect the July event from MS will feature loads of similarly great games.
 

Blond

Banned
I think it’s a case of watching the Sony stream vs watching the videos in 4K.

The difference was huge.

Listen to this guy, I watched a 4K horizon stream on my OLED and if that's what it looks during real-time on next gen I demand to see it in person. Ratchet looks like child's play
 

Romulus

Member
I think it’s a case of watching the Sony stream vs watching the videos in 4K.

The difference was huge.

Really? I watched it in 4k. To me it's far less than ps3 to ps4 for example and that wasn't even a colossal leap to begin with. Something like KZ shadowfall really showed off the possibilities from the get go. I just don't see that level of jump here, not that it ps4 reveal was all that impressive anyway.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Maybe stop concentrating on what looks “next gen” and look at which game’s overall visuals appeals to you.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits looked absolutely gorgeous because of the art direction, does it has “next gen” graphics? I don’t know and I don’t care. The end result is the game Just looks beautiful and inviting that I can’t wait to just explore it and that only thing that matters in my eyes.
 
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everybody else is as well.

I'm not a 5 year old. You're one of the few who cares what next gen looks like. Gaf is not the majority, nor is gaf the majority of gamers. Next gen can be the same as current for all and most ppl care. Look at Nintendo. No one cares about your 8k resolutions and raytracing. Are they nice? Fuck yeah but hardly important. We need games to be games. I'd rather they stick with 1080p/4k and just give me 60-120 framerates to be honest. Bring me fun gameplay and great stories to enjoy.
 

sol_bad

Member
Really, and it seems everybody else is as well.

On that PS5 showcase, people here deemed some game trailers as like the greatest things ever, and others said it's "barely PS4 levels".
What's happening here?

Are our perceptions of what next gen should look like so skewed, or do we not have any real idea about how it should look like yet?
Is there any game where we can mostly agree that it looks next gen?

Discuss!

It's probably the fact that the people that think the games looked great saw the trailers on something bigger than a phone or tablet. A proper 4K TV that's 55inches or bigger.
 

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
I agree that Kena and R&C looked great.

It's going to depend on your situation. If you're coming from a XO or PS4 then there's more of chance to be impressed than if you're coming from a decent PC. Concerning consoles, I hope a lot of the "next-gen" experience will come via the greatly improve CPUs in regards to both richer and more interactive worlds, and higher frame rate as well.

For PC I'm hoping for nice jump in raster performance, but even more so I want a giant leap in RT performance. To each their own, though.
 

Kagey K

Banned
I mean, when I saw the first screenshots of Gears of War on the 360 back in the day, I knew that was something I haven't seen before on a console.

Same with KZ:SF on the PS4.

It seems we don't have this moment yet for a real game.
I think Halo will do it for the XBsx

The only game that convinced me the PS2 was good was Onimusha. And that came out a while after the PS2 was a thing,
 

bitbydeath

Member
Really? I watched it in 4k. To me it's far less than ps3 to ps4 for example and that wasn't even a colossal leap to begin with. Something like KZ shadowfall really showed off the possibilities from the get go. I just don't see that level of jump here, not that it ps4 reveal was all that impressive anyway.

In 4K you can see the tiniest of details such as the hair follicles on Aloys skin.
 

Superkewl

Gold Member
I am really not overly concerned about graphics. I just hope next GEN allows more complex gameworlds, like more cars on roads, more npcs walking around, etc...making the gameworld feel more lived in
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Law of diminishing returns.

Graphics don't matter like they used to. People just want to play what's fun. Fanboys arguing over graphics are akin to soldiers found deep in the jungles of Vietnam twenty years after the war ended, still fighting.

Everyone's partying with shitty looking games like Fortnite, Minecraft, League of Legends nowadays.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Reposting the same thing here:

You know what diminishing returns are right? That's "generational" upgrades now. Generations are dead, we've got mid-lifecycle hardware upgrades, Nintendo releasing systems completely at odds with others, and now Microsoft telling you that you can play Halo Infinite on any Xbox from the past 7 years.

There is no such thing as a "generation" any more. It's a marketing gimmick at this point. PCs are never generational, Xboxes are PCs now, Nintendo don't follow anyone else, and Sony alone don't define a time period.
 

Ar¢tos

Member
My definition of nextgen is very simple and very achievable for nextgen hardware :
- no loadings or very short loadings
- no aliasing
- no pop-in or very very little pop-in
- no more ultra limited FOVs on 1st person games

I'm fine with 1080p and current gen graphics, if they get better it's just an extra for me and not something mandatory.
 

tassletine

Member
I think it’s a case of watching the Sony stream vs watching the videos in 4K.

The difference was huge.
I thought it was noticeable but not huge, I got about the same increase last time I changed my graphics card. Sharper and prettier but I can live without it.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I was unimpressed, even GT7 which you'd expect to be glorious had obvious flaws and outside that still didn't give the impression of something that you can't have today with the likes of last year's Assetto Corsa Competizione (and even its 2014 prequel, Assetto Corsa), on PC at least.


These days even near-indie games like Automobilista 2 look pretty glorious so big publishers need to offer a lot more to justify that AAA tag.
 
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John254

Banned
I mean, it's not that hard (in terms of first-party games)
It's clear, that Spider-Man: MM could be done on PS4 if Insomniac and Sony wanted. But R&C looked next-gen because of that "fast through dimension stuff."
GT7...I dunno. It doesn't look next-gen and Horizon looks great, but I'm really not sure, if devs are doing anything that could not be possible on current console in terms of game design. I don't think so, since it is rumored, that Horizon FW was supposed to be PS4 project, but then Sony moved it to the next-gen.

So, the only first-party game that i think could not be done on PS4 is Ratchet.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Are our perceptions of what next gen should look like so skewed, or do we not have any real idea about how it should look like yet?
Its not Sony's fault. There studios and partners worked together to make some amazing games taking full advantage of PS5. But some people(for example in the next gen speculation thread) hyped it to be something else.
"SSD will let it stream higher quality data"
"PS5 high settings, 3080 medium, XSX low"
Nothing in there event will make 3080 look like medium settings and Xbox Series X low settings.
 
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sol_bad

Member
I mean, when I saw the first screenshots of Gears of War on the 360 back in the day, I knew that was something I haven't seen before on a console.

Same with KZ:SF on the PS4.

It seems we don't have this moment yet for a real game.

See, you are mentioning 1 game per next gen reveal, thats what your minds eye remembers. For me it was Kameo on X360. You werent amazed at the R&C reveal? The graphics on their own are amazing and it gave us a taste of the possibilities of their SSD I/O technology. Lena also has a crazy amount of geometry detail.

Also, for X360, I had to buy a 7K TV to take agavantage of the new graphics. Without it the jump wouldnt have been as big.
 

Life

Member
I think "next-gen" is mostly THIS-gen - but with no loading times and 60fps? But even the 60 fps is questionable until we actually get the games.
 
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You werent amazed at the R&C reveal?
The graphics on their own are amazing
Not that much better than what I have seen on the PS4.

and it gave us a taste of the possibilities of their SSD I/O technology.
Which is completely underwhelming to me so far (and not really the topic of this thread, which goes more into the visual quality of next gen.)

This SSD crap is solving a problem no one felt he/she had until told so by the industry.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Not that much better than what I have seen on the PS4.


Which is completely underwhelming to me so far (and not really the topic of this thread, which goes more into the visual quality of next gen.)

This SSD crap is solving a problem no one felt he/she had until told so by the industry.
SSD is overhyped but necessary, in that with higher quality assets you need to be able to read/access it faster, in order to keep being able to do what could do with lower quality assets (the old systems couldn't handle better anyway) over slower storage (enough for streaming open worlds etc.).
 
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sol_bad

Member
Not that much better than what I have seen on the PS4.


Which is completely underwhelming to me so far (and not really the topic of this thread, which goes more into the visual quality of next gen.)

This SSD crap is solving a problem no one felt he/she had until told so by the industry.

Have you seen this video? It makes R&C PS4 look bad.


Regarding SSD, its not about there being a problem, its more about creative freedom. Doing things they couldnt do before.
 

sol_bad

Member
Well, what I am looking for is that "HOLY FUCK WOW" moment.
If I need an assistant video for that to show me what I am missing, it's proving my point.

Q.E.D.

Ya.
We'll have to agree to disagree because seeing Ratchet instantly travel from planet to planet along with "CG quality" graphics was a "holy fuck" moment for me. That's never been done before as far as I know. And people are comparing PS5 R&C to Toy Story, doesn't matter that Toy Story is over 20 years old, games have never been able to look that good and now they can, better even. PS4 R&C wasn't compared to Toy Story.
 

Radical_3d

Member
The first clue that this would happen appeared in the 2013 PS4 reveal. There you could see a CGI-like game called inFamous. Later confirmed in the 2014 release: since the trailer weren’t bull shots you could imagine this would happen in the next generation 7-8 years later. Diminishing returns, or “where do you go from TLOU2”. Yes, Linneman can do a 200% zoom and tell you that this RT reflection in the railing is “more accurate” than the screen space reflection but, did you noticed before? We are there and that’s why they are promoting loading times so hard. That’s something the average Joe can notice, not the difference between the PS4 Ratchet and the PS5 one.
 
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Stuart360

Member
The problem is that people auto think its fanboying if you say you're not impressed, or you're saying the games look bad, if you say you're not impressed, when in reality most games from this gen still look good. Saying you're not impressed, or whats shown so far is not meeting your expectations, does not mean you're saying the games look bad.

For me there has been no Killzone Shadowfall moment so far -
34230.gif


Something that really made you step back and go 'wow, that really couldnt be done on current gen'. The ''Killzone Shadowfall moment' so far would of been the UE5 demo, but no game shown so far has come close to that demo, maybe Hellblade 2 but we dont even know if that was true game graphics.
What we have seen so far is the result of the push for 4k and ray tracing. No one can deny that both XSX and PS5 are powerful consoles, but for me if they targeted 1440p with no ray tracing, we probably would of been looking at many Killzone Shadowfall moments so far.
 

Rat Rage

Member
Realistic graphics are getting boring. It's like with Cinema CG. People have gotten used to it and now it's nothing special anymore.

It's amazing, though. Diminishing returns might be the only thing that can save this industry. Companies will soon realize that it's just not worthwile to invest hundrets of millions and thousands of man hours to render a piece of gras as lifelike as possible. It might "force" a rethinking in the sense that games hopefully are going to focus more on "gameplay first", "developer vision first", "overall fun first", like in the golden age of gaming where hardware was limited in power, so developers HAD to compensate with great ideas, playability and passion.
 
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