Page 1 of 3

If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 22nd, 2013, 5:26 pm
by Paul1231
My wife and I moved our family and my business to Las Vegas about a year ago, and the other day she and I were walking through one of the main shopping malls just off the strip.  Just before the new "Windows Store" we started seeing displays in the middle of the mall that had a big, green, backlit panel holding a bright Samsung 50"-ish TV.  Below the TV was an Xbox One, and standing side by side in front of the TV were always a pair of Microsoft employees playing whatever game was on the screen, which in all of the six or seven I saw was Madden or a racing game.  It was a very odd and uncomfortable scene to me.  While I'm sure the employees were told to always be playing the games to show off the system, it gave more of an impression of disinterest by the passing shoppers, because nobody else was asking to play or asking questions about the system.  One or two people stopped and watched with me, but there was essentially zero interest in what they were doing.  My theory on why nobody was interested?  I COULD NOT see a visible difference, from my vantage point, between the games they were playing and those from the previous generation.  And I wasn't the only one.  After my wife slipped off to a chick store, a tall guy stood next to me, arms folded, and after a second said, "Is that the new Xbox?"  "Yes", I said.  After another few seconds he said, "Looks the same as the old one."  "That's what I was thinking."  I said.  These employees were playing Madden.  After about 15 more seconds of the character models looking the same and the movement of the players, while looking good, still looking the same as previous football games, and the crowd looking embarassingly bad on this particular game, ESPECIALLY when it's supposed to be next gen, the guy asked the employees how much the system was.  At their response he turned to me with a smile and a "Psh!" and walked away. 

This had me thinking, should the console makers veer away from the graphical improvements of the next gen systems if they want to succeed?  Seriously, if I was looking into buying a console for my kids, I would be telling them to enjoy what they have and get them some new games instead. 

Any thoughts?

If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 22nd, 2013, 6:05 pm
by Sut1
Sort of agree, I was originally underwhelmed with the character models on Killzone, however when you got out of the confines and onto the cliff face, that's when it hit - wow this is next generation. I didn't realise how enclosed environments where on the PS3/360 gen until I played this. So yeah character models not much better, however I think we are going to have some brilliant open world stuff this generation - that's where you will see the PS4 & XBone flex their muscles.

Also remember it's very early days as far as games are concerned.

If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 22nd, 2013, 6:33 pm
by darkrage61

Well to be fair Madden isn't really the best game to show off, usually those games have barely any discernable differences in terms of graphics, Madden 2013 dosen't look much better then Madden 2012 and so forth. 

Dead Rising 3 looks amazing though, the 360 simply isn't capable of producing that kind of scale and look.  I don't think console makers should veer away from graphics, they may not be the most important aspect but they do matter, I don't think developers should slack off in that area.


If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 22nd, 2013, 6:34 pm
by PSX1
It's still pretty early though.  I've always been unimpressed with the graphics of new systems when they first launch, at least for the past couple generations.  I thought the same thing when the Xbox 360 and PS3 came out, but after a few years developers eventually got to the point where they were producing graphics that were a large visible improvement over the previous generation.  

But personally, the last time the graphical jump between systems was actually "impressive" and made me think "wow" was for the Sega Dreamcast.  Especially watching the sports games like NFL 2K.  Back in the 80s and 90s, the jump was always amazing.  But I think those days are done.  I'm always tempted to think that graphics will eventually plateau -- either because the hardware power reaches a peak or because our eyes are no longer able to perceive the difference -- but I think that might be unrealistic considering the trend of the past 35 years.  Instead, I think graphics will always be improving, but I think we've passed the point of gamers being amazed by the graphics of the new systems like we used to be.

If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 23rd, 2013, 6:54 am
by Weekend_Warrior1
Has there ever been a Madden game that blew everyone away with its visuals? Because I don't ever remember one... 
 
I was at the Microsoft Store at the Mall of America on Saturday, and they had Forza 5 going on a big screen (70"?). I thought it looked quite impressive. Even in split-screen, the game looked great and ran ultra smooth. 
 
Graphically, you may not see much of a difference (not yet anyway). But performance-wise, it should be noticable after playing for a bit. Things like... steadier frame-rates, less/no screen tearing, better lighting and shadow effects, smarter AI, more realistic character movements and facial expressions, etc    

If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 23rd, 2013, 12:54 pm
by Greisha1
[QUOTE=Weekend_Warrior]
Has there ever been a Madden game that blew everyone away with its visuals? Because I don't ever remember one... 
 
[/QUOTE]

I don't remember one, either.

Back in the day, NFL 2K blew everyone away on the Dreamcast. The graphics were "WOW!" inspiring. Like PSX said, those days *might* be over.

I'll be excited when Madden can replicate the horrible playcalling of the Lions. That would be awesome?

If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 23rd, 2013, 3:23 pm
by gleebergloben1
@Paul, I know it's very early, but I do agree with you. I got the XBox One the day it came out; my 13 year old son is a huge fan of the 360, and we really enjoy playing Black Ops 2, Zombie mode on the 360. We got Ghosts from Gamestop for the 360 when it came out, and then exchanged it 2 weeks later for the XBox One version. Neither of us can really tell a difference in graphics or gameplay.

Also, in Extinction Mode (like Zombie Mode for the 360, except with Aliens), we couldn't play other people online or even SAVE OUR PROGRESS. That floored me. However, a few days ago a patch put out to correct that problem, and now we can save our progress and play with others online.

We only have two games: Ghosts and FIFA 14. I mentioned this in a previous post, but I was hoping that my son and I could play online with my brother-in-law who is out of state. We wanted to play on the same team against the computer, but we don't have that option. When we visited by bro-in-law last month, we were able to play against the computer, but you can't online. This is 2013, and to me, that's bogus.

I think things will get better for the X-Box One, but for the next few months, at least for me anyway, it's slim pickings as far as games go. If I could do it over again, I would have waited until mid next year to purchase the XBox One.


If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 24th, 2013, 9:40 pm
by Paul1231
Yes, I obviously am aware that it is early in the generation and that it takes a while for things to get up to speed, but even so, up until now I have felt that each new generation offered such a marked improvement in graphics quality so as to make it immediately obvious what at least one of the benefits of the system are.  I personally believe this is one reason why Microsoft is going so all-out on promoting the general home entertainment benefits of the Xbone, because they are concerned that the minor graphical improvements of the console will not be enough to capture gamers interest right away. 


If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 24th, 2013, 9:45 pm
by darkrage61

I think Sony is a bit concerned as well, which is why they put a gimmicky looking touchpad on the controllers.


If this the best the next generation can offer?

Posted: December 25th, 2013, 1:37 pm
by weallmissedme1
Let me get this straight darkrage6, you think touchpads and touchscreens, along with motion controls is gimmicky, but a camera that senses your movements (which was done 10 years ago, by the way [wink]) is not? Clearly, as much as you hate to admit it, you have a bias for the Xbox One, every time someone mentions yet another negative thing about them, you have to rush to the rescue. It's pointless to even argue against it. You'd probably buy one if it required them to admit it watched you.