Last Gen vs. Next Gen. A case for performance.
I've been reading some articles slamming the state of graphics performance on the PS4 and Xbox One. Most of these systems make a few flawed assumptions. The first is that because the next gen games are more powerful than their predecessors that they will immediately be better looking. The second I've seen so far is in comparing the most recent last gen titles with launch titles.
Both points are actually intrinsically linked.
While the console hardware may be improved, the current wave of games can be considered 1st gen games for these next gen consoles. Whereas the most recent batch of games on the last gen consoles would be Nth Gen games for their respective consoles.
And, the topic is more nuanced than that. It isn't just the games makers experience that improves over time. The SDK's also improve over time. So too do graphics drivers and other system level improvements in the consoles.
For those who want a valid comparison of the difference between this generation and last generation console gaming, you actually need to go back to the launch of the last gen consoles. Here is an article with a collection of screen shots of PS3 launch games. Now, here are some PS4 launch titles. And, just to solidify the fact that this is nothing new, here is a list of PS2 games with screen shots. You'll even find a number of PS2 games that looked MUCH better than many of the PS3 launch games. And that hardware change was arguably even bigger than the current one.
The argument is simple, it hasn't been since probably around the SNES -> N64 days that console graphics and computing power has been orders of magnitude greater than the prior generation. There has also been no jump in graphical gaming paradigms like the jump from 2D - 3D games that occurred around the same time.
As a result of these things, the types of games available on newer systems hasn't been markedly different from those available on the prior console for what? 15 years? The simple outcome of this is that there is typically a period of time where the more mature, more cutting edge games from the outgoing system outclass the incumbent. And that is simply what is happening here.
Here is the same for Xbox. Some original Xbox launch titles. And here are some Xbox 360 launch titles. 2 things should be IMMEDIATELY obvious from those. Firstly, the Xbox 360 games look FAR better than the original Xbox. But then secondly... suddenly, compared to these, Xbox One titles actually look pretty darn good.
But, as we already know based on these article, the games coming in at each of the outgoing consoles end of life are spectacular. But, there is very little untapped potential remaining in the last gen consoles. By contrast, the new games for the new console look good, but less impressive. But, there is a world of potential that has not yet been tapped.
We are also ignoring one other VERY important factor. Virtually all of these launch titles were developed long before the production console specs and SDK's were finalized. And they were tested on pre-production hardware. Even if there were aspects that the developers could have leveraged in the final units, development would most likely have advanced beyond that point well before they got their finalized versions of both the consoles and the SDK's.
So, even without ANY changes at all, or even any new knowledge or experience on the part of game developers, graphic quality should start to improve in games over time as titles which began development after the final dev kits were received start hitting the shelves.
And, obviously, beyond that, as skills are honed and the devices are improved by updates and more power is unlocked in the SDK's we should see games that are as comparatively better to the current launch titles, as the final wave of PS3 and Xbox 360 games were to their launch titles.
Both points are actually intrinsically linked.
While the console hardware may be improved, the current wave of games can be considered 1st gen games for these next gen consoles. Whereas the most recent batch of games on the last gen consoles would be Nth Gen games for their respective consoles.
And, the topic is more nuanced than that. It isn't just the games makers experience that improves over time. The SDK's also improve over time. So too do graphics drivers and other system level improvements in the consoles.
For those who want a valid comparison of the difference between this generation and last generation console gaming, you actually need to go back to the launch of the last gen consoles. Here is an article with a collection of screen shots of PS3 launch games. Now, here are some PS4 launch titles. And, just to solidify the fact that this is nothing new, here is a list of PS2 games with screen shots. You'll even find a number of PS2 games that looked MUCH better than many of the PS3 launch games. And that hardware change was arguably even bigger than the current one.
The argument is simple, it hasn't been since probably around the SNES -> N64 days that console graphics and computing power has been orders of magnitude greater than the prior generation. There has also been no jump in graphical gaming paradigms like the jump from 2D - 3D games that occurred around the same time.
As a result of these things, the types of games available on newer systems hasn't been markedly different from those available on the prior console for what? 15 years? The simple outcome of this is that there is typically a period of time where the more mature, more cutting edge games from the outgoing system outclass the incumbent. And that is simply what is happening here.
Here is the same for Xbox. Some original Xbox launch titles. And here are some Xbox 360 launch titles. 2 things should be IMMEDIATELY obvious from those. Firstly, the Xbox 360 games look FAR better than the original Xbox. But then secondly... suddenly, compared to these, Xbox One titles actually look pretty darn good.
But, as we already know based on these article, the games coming in at each of the outgoing consoles end of life are spectacular. But, there is very little untapped potential remaining in the last gen consoles. By contrast, the new games for the new console look good, but less impressive. But, there is a world of potential that has not yet been tapped.
We are also ignoring one other VERY important factor. Virtually all of these launch titles were developed long before the production console specs and SDK's were finalized. And they were tested on pre-production hardware. Even if there were aspects that the developers could have leveraged in the final units, development would most likely have advanced beyond that point well before they got their finalized versions of both the consoles and the SDK's.
So, even without ANY changes at all, or even any new knowledge or experience on the part of game developers, graphic quality should start to improve in games over time as titles which began development after the final dev kits were received start hitting the shelves.
And, obviously, beyond that, as skills are honed and the devices are improved by updates and more power is unlocked in the SDK's we should see games that are as comparatively better to the current launch titles, as the final wave of PS3 and Xbox 360 games were to their launch titles.
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