Andy Naylor assesses the current state of the Next-Gen War…
It’s now been 3 months since the launch of the next generation of console gaming. So far, the PS4 leads the way with 5.3 million sales worldwide, compared to the Xbox One back on 3.6 million. The differences between the two consoles and how they work are negligible at most, but the gulf in sales can be attributed to Microsoft’s loss of credibility after some strange console implementations followed by a complete 360 on them when the gaming community erupted in disgust. Since that moment it’s been Sony’s battle to lose.
But that isn’t the story of these consoles so far, the absolute lack of titles has been. With the exception of the annual franchises (FIFA, Madden, COD, etc.) there has been nothing of note released since launch. At the moment all that seem to be released are previously released games on older consoles with little or no improvement. Some of these games are good in their own right, but this isn’t what people bought a PS4 for. I don’t want to play a game on my PS4 that I’ve already played, completed and enjoyed on the PS3. It’s a cynical and lazy ploy that will only lead to the disillusionment of gamers at best, and at worst will give the developers a reputation as low as EA’s currently is.
I’m sure both Sony and Microsoft are equally disappointed with the lack of content for their consoles at present, at the end of the day games sell machines. In the past I’ve picked a specific consoles based on a single game. Final Fantasy 7 is the reason I owned the original PlayStation and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the reason I bought the original Xbox. At the moment neither console has that generation defining game. Killzone on the PS4 is a major disappointment and Ryse on the Xbox One, well it’s TV advert contained the words “Not actual in game footage”, there’s no excuse to advertise a game anymore and include that phrase.
Later this year we should have a better idea of the quality of titles this generation can produce. Personally, I’m extremely excited about Alien: Isolation, if you haven’t checked out the trailer yet then do so here. All of it is in game footage and it looks absolutely stunning. The only concern is that it has been a good long while since a game from the Alien universe was any good.
In the meantime, don’t cast aside your Xbox 360 or your PS3, there is still an exciting wealth of games to come for them this year too, and being honest, you need something to play between the sparse next-gen releases.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the next generation consoles? Let us know your thoughts, or head on over to The Flickering Myth Forum…
Andy Naylor – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published February 19, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
