XSX vs PS5

[Nintex]

Xbox sales cut in half in Europe (excluding Germany+UK) 

[chronovore]

It's so weird to see "Switch sales down…" when the system is older than the other two systems they're comparing: 2017 launch, and new games are still coming out for it. I'm interested in when a Nintendo game comes out, does it sell like people expected. I'm curious about the Princess Peach game, because it's out of their usual character gallery, just a little. I want to know about Splatoon's Side Order DLC performance, because it's Nintendo doing something new with an existing license that isn't Mario.

[RetiredSkunk]

That Ps5 Pro sounds like a real turd.

[Nintex]

It sounds like Sony is doing the usual 'cheap' PC upgrade.
Which means overclocking the CPU and buying a new GPU.

Now this will make PS5 Pro more competitive with PC hardware but the GPU will be severely bottlenecked (10% - 25% depending on the resolution or game).
With that said, most games aren't made for heavy processor workloads because they have to scale over a variety of systems so in reality this won't make much of a difference with 'fixed' framerates of 30/60/120fps. I believe it was actually developer feedback that made Sony skip a CPU upgrade as supporting Zen 2 for PS5 and Zen 3 for PS5 Pro would mean a lot of additional work. Same reason the memory set-up is the same. 

It is essentially an overclocked Ryzen 3600X paired with a Radeon RX 7700XT as opposed to a stock Ryzen 3600X paired with an RX 6700.
In general PS5 punches above its weight compared to Series X and equivalent PC hardware (a bit like the Xbox One X did).

Due to the Series X retarded memory set-up and the gimped Series S, the PS5 Pro should comfortably pull ahead of the Series X. 
It will also run GTAVI better which is what this is all about. Most games should comfortably run at 60fps@4k quality mode that now run at unstable 30fps and at 1440p/1080p everything should be locked at 60fps and perhaps pushing 120fps for well optimized games. Ray Tracing will also be far less demanding and finally viable on consoles. It all comes down to the price but anything in the range of $500 - $600 would be a much better value than the PS5 and Series X currently are.

[Nintex]

[chronovore]

Hope you guys like GaaS!

[Nintex]

Pretty nasty checkerboard bug(?) on Xbox 

[who is ted danson?]

just do a 360 and walk away brehs

[Potato]

Retiring? I'm sure his 1210 subscribers will be devastated.

[Nintex]

I enjoy small passionate niche REAL gamers YouTube more than the big mainstream "influencers".   
As for gaming I'm at the same point with the Series X, it's mainly my 4K Blu-Ray player and Capcom machine.

The problem they're running into now is that they've also exhausted the best candidates for remakes and remasters at this point.
The likes of Mass Effect were great, Nier Replicant made that game more accessible, Resident Evil 4 god tier. 
Now we're talking Felix The Cat Collection, Sonic Generations and Epic Mickey.  

Steam  + Nintendo Switch wins.

[Nintex]

They keep putting their eggs in a single basket.
Cyberpunk, HALO Infinite, GTAVI as of late it's always this 'one game', third party partnership or hardware thing that will turn the fortunes of the industry around and when it doesn't they are surprised and dissapointed.

It reminds of the GameCube and Wii U. 

Some interesting thoughts from the creative director of Ori Will of the Wisps:

Just watched the latest
@digitalfoundry
Podcast where they discussed what upcoming consoles could do. Let me share some thoughts! 😀👍

I think a lot of non-developers are wondering where else we could go from here since 'just higher resolutions and more polygons' doesn't sound too exciting since it has no direct influence on your play experience and I'd agree.

Personally, I think this generation has been quite lackluster so far since we haven't really seen any groundbreaking, new gameplay experiences yet. You could very well argue that most of this gens games could've also been accomplished on PS4 and Xbox One and you'd probably be right.

So here are some ideas and developments that I'm personally excited about.

1) New Controllers: Our current controllers don't really allow for much innovation from a developers perspective. I've been pestering Microsoft for years to instead do split 6DOF controllers for their upcoming consoles since that could revolutionize how certain genres are being played on console. And it would allow for entirely new genres of games to emerge. Input is an INCREDIBLY crucial piece of the puzzle for that to happen!

This one sadly hasn't happened yet since apparently publishers treat controllers like steering wheels: Don't fix what ain't broken. But that attitude is in direct opposition to innovation.

Here's a bold statement: Give me split 6DOF Controllers and I could code up a first person shooter prototype that plays better than any other FPS being sold on consoles right now. And I'm pretty sure that prototype could even beat KB&M in terms of felt precision.

Our current controller designs are still basically the same as they were 20 years ago. I only really see Nintendo innovating in this aspect and I'm afraid we'll still use the same old stuff 20 years from now unless developers speak up. Remember how great it was when Nintendo introduced the Analog Stick for the Nintendo 64? It allowed for entirely new ways of moving your characters around in 3d - I'd like to see a revolution in input happening again in my lifetime!

And no, Rumble ain't it.

2) Stop wasting hundreds of millions on dollars making insanely labor-intensive assets. I don't think players really care all that much about seeing every pore and every pimple meticulously modeled and painted out in characters. It's sure nice to look at... once. And then you play the game and wonder why it kinda, sorta LOOKS better, but doesn't PLAY better.

Visuals are important, I mean... we sure as hell put a lot of effort into making our games look amazing here at Moon, but we do it by fully focusing on Art Direction instead of just spending insane resources on singular assets.

Our budget for art is naturally much lower than what a typical AAA studio spends on art, but players usually love the look of our games. If we produce the same sentiment with an art budget that's 10 times lower than yours, you ought to ask yourself some questions.

Most AAA studios right now spend more time and money on fancy visuals than on fancy gameplay.

I think the priorities here are upside-down.

3) NPCs for the most part are the same as they were 20 years ago. Here's an NPC, he spawns at a particular spot in the world and says a line or two and then repeats those lines. After some world event changes, the NPC has some new lines.

That's still the state of things today. My hope is that we'll see AI help with that. Feed AI with scripts of your game, assign each character a role and identity and so on and have them act way more natural.

4) Enemies also still act like they did 20 years ago. We're still using the same old behavior trees and really simplistic 'AI' to set up enemy behaviors.

This is another area where I think recent developments in AI could help greatly. Instead of NPCs just having a bunch of simple behavior trees, it'd be amazing if an AI would instead take over and do the 'logical thing'. Instead of just walking around and reacting to the player, interact with the environment, have them flip over a table and shoot from behind the table. If they're idling, they should do natural things, non-scripted.

Have them take cover, shout out sensible stuff, make each encounter different and unique while still following certain rules the designers laid out.

This is definitely an area where we'll also do quite a bit of research at Moon, but I'm surprised we haven't seen any company really do for Enemy AI what Havok back then did for physics in games.

And here are some thoughts on how I think the industry needs to change:

A) Reduce Development Costs across the board.

I guess some people will say I'm crazy - and maybe I am - but I've been vocal about this before: Just once, do not spend 200m USD on your next blockbuster game that could flop hard. Instead, try to use that budget to make 10 20m USD games or 100 2m USD games and see what happens. Who knows, you might just produce the next 'Minecraft' this way!

Aren't we tired of seeing the same old FPS games with this years twist being regurgitated on an annual basis over and over again?

Spread your budget on genius creatives and some of them will land a smash hit... But hire a factory and you'll get factory work.

There's a reason why books aren't written by entire teams of people even though you could churn out much more stuff if they would be. Think about why.

B) Videogames can be an artform, let's treat them as such:

I choose my words very carefully here - I say 'can be' because in my humble opinion art should always contain meaning and a willingness to ask questions. Most games aren't developed with that mindset.

Very few games attempt to be artistic expressions and I understand why: Games are expensive, extremely hard to make, tons of risk, etc. But games are the only massively popular interactive medium we have and with that, there's massive untapped potential.

We've seen smaller projects blow up like crazy before because they dared to do things a AAA studio just never would.

There's magic in that.

C) I think we've come to a point where the market is telling us that the status quo is no longer sustainable. How many more people need to lose their jobs before drastic changes are being made?

This is already happening and it clearly will continue: Over the next decade, we'll see quite a lot of massive studios that were 'too big to fail' go bankrupt. And newer studios will take their place. Those newer studios will be the ones that dare to innovate, that execute better or more efficiently, that adapt to new tech and understand the zeitgeist. In short: They give players what they actually want.

In a hit-driven business, if you dare to become complacent, you'll be dead tomorrow.

While that might sound a little nihilistic, I actually think this is a good development and we'll see incredibly exciting things happening from fresh talent and a new generation of developers who aren't yet set in their ways.

Anyway, sorry for the mega-post, I have quite a lot more thoughts on these subjects, but I think I've been rambling enough already! 🤣👍❤️

[Potato]

Imagine being a video game developer "CEO" and being so far behind on the reality of the industry than even the humble thebore's potato©®.

I've been saying this shit since before this generation even began. These idiots are just cottoning on to it now? 

No wonder the industry is in the right fucking mess that it is...

[Nintex]

“The phrase one major company who released a big game last year said [was], ‘I don’t know why we bothered supporting it’.

He added: “I thought it would be fine, but then I didn’t really factor in that some developers and publishers might just go, ‘yeah I don’t, you know, is there any point?’ And that is when you can lose it.”

Morons really thought they could go multi-platform half way through the console generation

[Nintex]

A couple of companies said this isn’t going to grow the market – it’s not going to move the needle. This generation doesn’t even seem to have got started really, let alone feel the need for a mid-generation update. How about we just get some original, next-generation software up and spinning?

Yeah, how about that.

[Potato]

I should be running this fucking industry. These jokers don't have shit on me.

[nachobro]

these motherfuckers are out of their minds if they think people* are gonna buy another goddamn ps5 when there's like 10 decent current gen exclusives wtf

*"people" meaning people outside the hardcore bubble

[Nintex]

New Heatsink, new color

[Polident]

The case for a PS5 Pro seems crazy when nearly every game runs at 60fps at acceptable resolutions. Being a philistine or whatever, the quality modes aren’t a meaningful difference in image quality.

[Nintex]

Getting another $600 or more from the Sony ponies seems to be the goal.

[who is ted danson?]

They need to release PSVR2 Pro Max at the same time

[Potato]

Sony are the worst thing to ever happen to gaming.

[Puffy Fucking Baby]

The fact that nothing has come close to matching the visual fidelity of horizon 2 (that I've played) yet says to me there's more to be had from the original without the need for a pro model

[Nintex]

Someone just destroyed Phil Spencer 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/opinion/phil-spencer-long-cast-as-xboxs-saviour-may-be-remembered-as-the-man-who-killed-it/

I do not see much point in dwelling on how we got here, because I think it is quite obvious to us all what’s gone wrong. All of Spencer’s big bets — the pivot to subscriptions, the variable hardware SKUs, the spending spree of studio acquisitions — were contingent on Xbox not just being, to borrow the Xbox tagline, ‘the best place to play’, but the best place to play the best games.

If there’s one lesson we can take from the Spencer era it’s that you can enact all the disruptive change you like, but you cannot disprove this industry’s oldest truth: great games sell consoles. A hundred billion dollars later, Xbox still doesn’t have them — if anything I would argue its firstparty output has got worse since the shopping spree began — and its struggles are, as such, no surprise at all.

To be clear, I feel bad for Spencer. He seems a decent sort. I think he’s come into this with the best of intentions, and in a parallel universe where every horse he backed romped home, he would be credited with transforming, and perhaps even saving, the game industry. In another, where instead of spending $70bn on Activision Blizzard he spent it on 230-odd games with the same budget as Spider-Man 2, perhaps Xbox is flying.

But in our world he has spent ten years and gargantuan amounts of money taking Xbox from third place to third place, and that is not the market’s fault.

[Nintex]

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/does-a-stuttering-console-space-offer-an-opportunity-for-others

Speaking to a major European retailer last week, I was told they ‘can’t shift anything with an Xbox logo on it’.

In previous generations, this chatter would have spelled doom for a platform – just ask Nintendo about what happened to GameCube and Wii U when publishers and retailers started to back away. The world is different now

 

But also, maybe this is a chance for the likes of Netflix and Amazon to start really mixing things up.

 

This will mostly be a year for people to catch up I think. If before you were on the fence for Xbox Series or PlayStation, you can now 'safely' pick the PlayStation. If you missed out on the Switch there's probably some good deals to be had this year.

PlayStation 5 Pro is a mistake, without it more Xbox owners would've probably switched to PS5 by now.

[who is ted danson?]

This will mostly be a year for people to catch up I think. If before you were on the fence for Xbox Series or PlayStation, you can now 'safely' pick the PlayStation. If you missed out on the Switch there's probably some good deals to be had this year.

PlayStation 5 Pro is a mistake, without it more Xbox owners would've probably switched to PS5 by now.

Wait for Switch 2

And by that I mean, wait for Switch 2 but then actually skip it and wait for Steam Deck 2

And by that I mean don't buy either. Instead pick up the top of the line 2026 Sony Xperia phone. Use it to post on Resetera about how Sony phones are the best on the market, and Sony need to release Vita 2 with some AAAA exclusives

[Nintex]

We're getting the first next-gen game of this generation everyone  

[Potato]

Laughable.

[who is ted danson?]

possible release in 2026?

[HardcoreRetro]

Just in time for the Xbox Series Y. As in Y was this shit console even made.

[Nintex]

You'd think they would focus on getting Fable, Perfect Dark and perhaps Everwild out the door first  

Hellblade 2 is finally out next month and that took them a year of development for every hour of 30fps gameplay.

Just in time for the Xbox Series Y. As in Y was this shit console even made.

Apparently Kareem Choudhry who was in charge of backwards compatibility, Xbox Cloud and new AI initiatives left Xbox and they merged his XEmTech group with the general Xbox Hardware Team.

The former Windows OEM lead Roanne Sones is now in charge of the Xbox hardware group. (again fueling rumors about third party licensed Xbox hardware). 
They've also set up a new group called Xbox Experiences and Platforms focusing on QOL features.

Microsoft is really going in the direction Seamus Blackley always feared: Excel on Xbox. 

Anyway I think that before that happens they should just bite the bullet, pull off the bandaid and announce at E3 that they're now a third party publisher. This year Call of Duty: Gulf War will be their biggest release by far and sell more on other platforms. Give Xbox Series X owners a bunch of games or a Phil Spencer fleshlight or whatever and pull the plug. Developers can get games out the door far quicker if its just Steam/PS5 and they no longer have to downgrade for Series S. Dragging along a dead platform is no help to anyone. 

Also Rebrand that shit, call the non-Activision Blizzard/Bethesda stuff "Rainbow Games" or whatever, as that is more accurate as to what it actually is. 

If this 

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

is your focus now and you mandate it, don't be a coward hiding behind shady consultancy groups, stop pretending you still care about the past and own it. 
Because in the end that is what pissed people like me off more than anything, that there was always this T-shirt or teaser or trailer for something that we actually do want.