Depends on which games though. Like a CoD or FIFA will continue as usual, small visual upgrades but still yearly releases with minimal changes. Going from a PS4 to a PS5 with those games will hardly be a difference. I think current generation consoles focused more on higher resolution and higher framerates anyway, which was a welcome change to me, since a lot of games on PS4 ran like sub-par 30 FPS.
But if you take games like Horizon Forbidden West, it’s a pretty significant visual upgrade from Zero Dawn. Same goes for Spider-Man on PS4 and then Miles Morales on PS5, visually looks like a pretty significant visual upgrade.
Perhaps not everyone notices the visual fidelity moving up in consoles, but honestly that’s never been all that different with previous console generations. Unless you compare games from early in the life-cycle of a console, and then another game from the end of a new generation console. It still mostly gradually happens over the lifetime of a console generation.
I do think graphical progress has been slower than before, mostly because they seem to have shifted focus on higher framerates and resolutions. But in 5 or 10 years we’ll look back at these visuals as laughable. I remember feeling like this every few years, like thinking something looks like the most realistic game ever, and 5 years later you look back at it is being pretty mediocre compared to new standards.
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Focusing too much on image detail improvements over game play is definitely a problem that most AAA games have.
MurrayL@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Because improving visuals is an easily quantifiable task, but improving gameplay requires creativity and risk-taking, neither of which are compatible with the AAA business model.
ms_lane@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
That’s what the publishers keep saying, because it distracts from the real issue. (also- 3D artists, 2D artists and graphics programmers aren’t doing gameplay systems…)
The real reason is the monetization of play, if they make things too fun, you’ll keep playing some osingle player game instead of their expensive live service titles.
They make everything bad to try and prop up those live services.