Pretty much. Going from Super Mario World to Super Mario 64 was something that won't happen ever again.
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That's a big misconception people have. VR can be the most relaxing way to game if you play the right games, given the greater mental stimulation. For example a version of Stardew Valley in VR would likely be the more relaxing version because you'd feel all cozy in your town with your animals and such. Granted, the headset size and lack of perfected display technology makes this not an ideal thing today, but it will be by the time it matures.
It should be noted also that consoles may eventually be the peripheral to VR/AR headsets. Sony has mentioned this idea before, and Nintendo's handheld hybrid Switch strategy kind of naturally evolves into a pair of glasses eventually anyway. Though it's also possible no physical console or processing box will be present and it will just be streamed.
Not in forever, but probably since the upgrade from the SNES to the N64 just because there are things in the next generation consoles can do that couldn't be done easily or at all before with the SSD and insanely powerful CPU (remember, PS3 CELL was theoretically stronger than PS4's CPU)
I feel like Ratchet and Clank is the best demonstration of next gen power, and that's easily only the beginning. I am really fucking curious to see the kind of shit that Remedy, Bethesda Game Studios, Sony Santa Monica and various other developers will be able to do on the consoles.
I mean sure, there's diminishing returns on the graphics and all that, but shit, look at the Hellblade 2 trailer, the UE5 demo and the Demon's Souls gameplay (which looks like a current gen game but with effects kicked up to like 12, making it look awesome) and tell me that there isn't a noticeable improvement in the games in motion. Games will definitely feel better
I feel like Ratchet and Clank is the best demonstration of next gen power, and that's easily only the beginning. I am really fucking curious to see the kind of shit that Remedy, Bethesda Game Studios, Sony Santa Monica and various other developers will be able to do on the consoles.
I mean sure, there's diminishing returns on the graphics and all that, but shit, look at the Hellblade 2 trailer, the UE5 demo and the Demon's Souls gameplay (which looks like a current gen game but with effects kicked up to like 12, making it look awesome) and tell me that there isn't a noticeable improvement in the games in motion. Games will definitely feel better
This is going to get off-topic, so I don't really want to discuss everything about VR here but:
That doesn't address me coming home a breaking visual contact with my family while being in front of them with goggles strapped to my face after a horrendous commute.
If this is how people blow off then great - that's not ever going to be a good way for me to enjoy coming home, spending time with my family though.
Also, the family would have to enjoy video games, which mine...doesn't really.
Again, I think it will have many applications in the future. I don't see people picking it up en masse over the next 10 years solely for gaming, though, unless someone can really come through and market it to a wide audience, like motion controls did for the Wii. Maybe in 20 years? But, in 20 years, I somewhat expect to have technologies more revolutionary than just VR, so who knows.
Back On Topic:
The display medium shouldn't really count as part of the console when talking about generational leaps in this context.
VR is bigger than that and applicable to many more contexts other than gaming.
Why break visual contact? Just have the headset be in a VR and AR mode simultaneously. The AR would look only at other people nearby so you'd still be fully immersed in the virtual environment and the built-in headphones would typically sit off-ear. And as households buy multiple Switches to play together, people will do the same for VR.
Well you have a point about the display medium, but there's also the category of actual VR consoles like Oculus Quest. If we can imagine that perhaps the big three consoles evolve that way in the future, then that evolution would be an enormous change from the box sitting under your TV to the console you actually wear.
It's a huge shift but the current gen, especially the PS4, has too big of an install base to quickly move over. I got questioned repeatedly for suggesting even games like Spiderman would be cross-gen.
I do think graphics have come to a point where most would agree they look great now so it's good to see things like frame rate and raytracing having an impact this coming gen.
I do think graphics have come to a point where most would agree they look great now so it's good to see things like frame rate and raytracing having an impact this coming gen.
The SSD speeds will spoil us going forward. I think it's one of those things that we won't fully appreciate until we're so used to it; previous consoles will feel achingly slow.
Because storage speed is fast enough that you don't need 64GB of ram
Consoles finally having SSD is pretty nice, though really impressive would be if every game not just first party on these systems, played at 60fps minimum or at least have a 60fps mode.
I agree, but I feel a lot of people overstate it. SNES and other platforms at the time already messed with 3D Rendering. I still agree it was huge, especially being a small child at the time. But people use this to invalidate every technological game advancement we ever have it seems... and act as if N64 was the first realm into 3D Gaming. Plus outside of some exceptions a lot of those products were really bad, we just remember all the gems that did it perfectly.
In general I just find it weird when people rank "Generational Leaps". They were all important and critical for their respective times.
Technically, maybe. Like how technically 4K is four times 1080p but you sure as shit ain't perceiving four times the upgrade in graphical quality.
Frankly, I've been rather nonplussed by the next-gen content that has been shown, with the exception of the UE5 demo, but that's not even a game.
Personally the leap from PS1/N64 to Dreamcast will never be topped.
Frankly, I've been rather nonplussed by the next-gen content that has been shown, with the exception of the UE5 demo, but that's not even a game.
Personally the leap from PS1/N64 to Dreamcast will never be topped.
Console RAM is shared by the CPU and the GPU, the OP RAM configuration is right.
I think he meant it's equivalent in just ray tracing capabilities. I believe the PS5 is equivalent in power to the 2070 Super, and the Series X is equivalent to the 2080 Super, but both consoles being behind in ray tracing.
I think the differences this time around will be in game design, moreso than visuals (although the leap will be huge there as well).
Game devs have been used to trickery in order to load areas in games. Crawling through tight speces, slow elevator rides, slower characters in general in order to easily stream in the next area...
All of these things, will be a thing of the past. Gone. Just like that... That's crazy to me - And I can't even imagine how it must feel for developers!
Ratchet on PS5 is currently the best example of this. I imagine God of War will blow our minds next year.
*Kratos voice*
YOU'RE NOT READY.
N64 to Gamecube
PS1 to PS2
Saturn to Dreamcast
Everything console that came out from 1999-2001 dwarfs the previous generation by a fair margin. More so than now.
PS1 to PS2
Saturn to Dreamcast
Everything console that came out from 1999-2001 dwarfs the previous generation by a fair margin. More so than now.
This felt like the biggest leap to me
When you put it like this....HOLY HELL FIRE!
Ps5/XSX games, based on what we've seen so far, look like refined/enhanced Ps4/XB1 games, which looked like refined/enhanced Ps3/360 games. Probably a bit simplified POV, but mainly what I'm saying there is a diminishing returns effect going on for a few gens. Graphics for me reached the point of 'this looks good enough' a while ago, but maybe my standards are low ( shrugs).
I've had three ' this is next level' moments in gaming: 1) going from SNES/Genesis to running around the castle in SM64, 2) playing Gears of War for the first time with my first HDTV, and 3) putting the PSVR headset on for the first time and playing astrobot in the playroom. Otherwise, the generational improvements across the last 2 decades are clear but the effect of 'more HD/more effects/HDR' etc lands differently.
I've had three ' this is next level' moments in gaming: 1) going from SNES/Genesis to running around the castle in SM64, 2) playing Gears of War for the first time with my first HDTV, and 3) putting the PSVR headset on for the first time and playing astrobot in the playroom. Otherwise, the generational improvements across the last 2 decades are clear but the effect of 'more HD/more effects/HDR' etc lands differently.
These are all great refinements, but previous gens were not just about visuals either. We're talking about literal transformative changes like going from 2D SNES games to 3D N64 games. Completely new genres and types of interactions popped up during the PS1/N64 eras just by the nature of 3D being possible outside of highly specialized very limited experiences like SNES Star Fox.
And the move to CD as a storage format likely benefited sound design more than anything else. We actually had generations of console games where it was impressive if a game robotically spewed a handful of highly digitized words to full on voice acting in games.
This isn't a knock on the gains of the XSX or PS5, but the early generations of consoles were so limited in capability that every next gen experience was actually transformative. Fewer hidden loading zones isn't anywhere in the same ballpark as something like 'oh now Mario 64 is actually possible'.
Wow, definitely not. Pretty much any generational leap between 1980-2000 was much more dramatic.
There's also the question of how long a 'generation' is. 7 years isn't far off the time between Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario 64 (depending on region).
You'll never see generational leaps like you did over those decades. I suppose if you've only been gaming over the last 20 years maybe it seems a big deal.
There's also the question of how long a 'generation' is. 7 years isn't far off the time between Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario 64 (depending on region).
You'll never see generational leaps like you did over those decades. I suppose if you've only been gaming over the last 20 years maybe it seems a big deal.
I think this upcoming generation will be transformative precisely for the reasons I mentioned. Developers haven't been able design games around moving several gigs of data in only a second, ever. From desiging games around 20 mb/s to at least 2,5 gb/s - That's simply crazy!
You choosing to limit it to terms like "just fewer loading screens" is doing these new SSD's a disservice.
We can just barely imagine what types of experiences developers will cook up with them. Whatever is in the game world, will be available in seconds. Devs won't need to plan around the current restrictions anymore!
Dynanism in general will skyrocket next-gen. Have a fully detailed town ravaged and blown to smithereens while you're in it? No problem! Moving around detailed environments at blistering speeds? Not. A. Problem!
Game scenarios in general won't be as stiff anymore. While it's a game with it's fair share of problems, Star Citizen is a good example of what to expect, gameplay-wise.
I recommend you watch DF's series on it, to get a much better grasp on what I'm talking about. Dictator did an amazing job explaining it all!
I know exactly what the SSDs can do, it was just a generalized point. The point is the while the SSDs can bring about a ton of QoL features, improved details, segments not possible on previous systems without strict loading points (Ratchet and Clank portals for example) fundamentally the gameplay isn't as different as what previous generations brought, because current gen consoles (PS4/XBO) aren't nearly as limited as prior tech was.
I'd go as far as to say that the straight up introduction of an analog stick on a default controller is a bigger generational leap for gameplay than the SSD tech in the PS5/XSX.
Sounds like upcoming VR games might be your thing, then. And no, I'm not being sarcastic - I think these consoles will be transformative for that as well (just imagine the PSVR2 games on PS5...)
I get what you mean, but I still disagree. You might have a certain moveset, but it'll be extended either way (an evolution). They ways in which you'll be able to interact with the world on the other hand, will be transformative.
Not to mention the immense CPU upgrade, which will help with dynamic crowds, better AI, much better physics etc.
The big step with the current generation was the jump to 8 gigs of RAM.
While not nearly as big a leap in RAM this time around, this upcoming generation is still taking major strides toward in eliminating bottlenecks that haven't been addressed for 20 years.
In general, I'd say the leap is bigger than from 360/PS3 > X1/PS4 and much more akin to Xbox/PS2 > 360/PS3, which is good enough for me.
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The only thing that will top a 2d to 3d generational leap in my opinion is like a Full Dive VR like Sword Art Online. Even then that is many decades away.
It's a pretty big leap, but some of the biggest leaps were from earlier generations, especially the PS1 to PS2. The Xbox 360 and PS3 were also pretty huge leaps from their previous gen counterparts.
The hub world in Kameo was pretty awesome looking at the time.
People are only focused on graphics. I'm also expecting better A.I, better physics, better destructible environments, more interiors, more NPCs, faster load times ,etc, etc.
No duh is not gonna be a 2D to 3D leap or even PS1 to PS2 leap but its definitely going to be a leap. I'm expecting open world games to take the most advantage of the new hardware. Also racing games maybe more intense with SSDs(someone correct me).
No duh is not gonna be a 2D to 3D leap or even PS1 to PS2 leap but its definitely going to be a leap. I'm expecting open world games to take the most advantage of the new hardware. Also racing games maybe more intense with SSDs(someone correct me).
This. I can totally agree that, we will certainly not see a generational leap as prolific as the SNES > N64, as that went from 16bit to a whopping 64 in just a few years time. Mind you the N64 was delayed several times before its initial release, but in spite of that, the system helped to revolutionize what we play today.