BEHOLD THE EMPEROR'S NEW CONSOLES! - BY MR BIFFO

BEHOLD THE EMPEROR'S NEW CONSOLES! - by mr biffo

9/11/2017

Um... So... you know those side-by-side comparison videos showing the difference between the Xbox One/PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One X/PlayStation 4 Pro...? Am I, y'know, the only person who can't really tell much of a difference between the old and new hardware?

Maybe you need to see them running side-by-side on a big 4K, HDR, telly, rather than a little YouTube window embedded on a web browser. But... if there's no stark difference, no massive leap up, what's the point of upgrading?

Certainly, what's the point of upgrading when in order to do so you have to pay hundreds of pounds for the privilege of some imperceptibly nicer visuals? What are you actually paying for?

It's like iPhones. There's this big hoo-hah every year when the new model is announced, but then you get the new phone, and you realise that it's basically exactly the same as the old phone, and even runs the same iOS, except it doesn't have the scratches and greasy fingerprints on the screen.

I'm asking this because I kind of want to upgrade my consoles... but I also don't know why I want to upgrade my console, and that conflict is troubling me.

THRILLSELLERS
See, what concerns me is that we're not being sold new technology; we're being sold the thrill of the new, of owning the fastest, the bestest, the most now-est bit of hardware.

We're being sold that little buzz we all get when we unbox something which still has that factory-fresh smell, when its impact on how we live our lives, play our games, make our phone calls, is virtually negligible.

In short, we're being sold a feeling, a sense of superiority, that we're ahead of our peers.

Admittedly, lots of us are content to stick with what we've got. Call of Duty: WW2 looks great on my bog-standard PS4 and HD telly. I've seen 4K TVs running and - yes - they're really nice and crisp, but not nice and crisp enough to ditch my current hardware. Likewise, I can't see a single good reason to get rid of my iPhone 7 right now, but can't deny feeling that pressure wave which wants me to do so.

Yeah, I know that technology shouldn't just stagnate; there are always going to be those punters who are buying a PS4 or Xbox One for the first time.

Thing is, technology has reached a stage where it's good enough, and that's clearly a problem for the people making the technology. What I'm talking about is the slightly insidious culture that has risen up wherein we're told we should be excited about this new stuff, regardless of whether we actually are, because they know they can't offer enough innovation to get us to buy it otherwise. Yet from a business perspective they still need to make money by selling us new things.

What makes an utter mockery of all this is Nintendo's Switch, probably the most beloved games console on the market right now, yet it refuses to play by the same rules. It can't even display its graphics in 1080p, yet it makes not a single jot of difference to how glorious its games are.

THE EMPEROR'S ARSE
I guess this does just stem from feeling like the kid who pointed out The Emperor's arse, when everyone else was cooing over his fine, invisible, threads, so nobody thought they were stupid.

So, I'm saying it: there's nothing wrong with you or me. When you see those graphical comparisons, of two games running on different systems, and you can't really tell the difference, and don't get the big deal, but try to tell yourself that you're the one who's wrong... it's not your imagination, because there isn't much difference. Frankly, to all intents and purposes, they're exactly the same.

If you're considering upgrading to an Xbox One X from your Xbox One, or to a PS4 Pro from a PS4, and your existing hardware is still working fine... don't. Please don't. You're not going to have your gaming experience dramatically altered. You're buying into hype, paying good money so as not to feel left out. You've fallen for their scheme.

You honestly don't need to do it, and if you stumble into the trap of having to have the newest and the crispiest, then you're focusing on the wrong thing. Gaming shouldn't be about having slightly better graphics; the industry was built upon innovating within a limited set of resources.

And try not to worry; if you don't upgrade right now you're not missing a damn thing. In fact, count yourself lucky that you've got a ringside seat at The Emperor's Ball-show.

78 Comments

Jareth Smith

9/11/2017 08:56:41 am

The Xbox Box X and Pro are entirely cynical and cater for the gamers who've convinced themselves all that matters is graphical prowess, like those idiots who bleat on about "console peasants" or who dub the Switch "an underpowered piece of crap".

Sony and Microsoft would be better suited promoting innovation and better games, instead all these beefed up machines will do is churn out increasingly generic guff which is instantly forgettable. Still, the games will look really ace!!!! Shame they're so boring to play.

I've seen hundreds of articles comparing graphical shots side by side and, you know what, I just don't give a damn. The big irony here is the best thing about modern gaming is the vibrant indie scene, which typically relies on archaic graphics and this little thing called gameplay.

an adult

9/11/2017 09:12:30 am

What a terrible boring comment completely grounded in falsehoods and childish misinterpretation, make a better one next time

9/11/2017 09:24:56 am

Still licking your wounds, I see? :o)

Jareth 2

9/11/2017 10:36:19 am

What a caustic and meaningless comment, do stop this feeble bleating every time someone correctly points out your knowledge of gaming is dictated by a childish infatuation with branding. Try and make a better comment I can respond to next time.

Spiney O’Sullivan

9/11/2017 10:20:17 am

Every. Single. Day...

Personally I don’t have a 4K TV or VR headset, so this upgrade is largely pointless for me and I won’t be doing it. However:

Some people care more about graphical fidelity than you do. That’s their preference, and who are you to insist that you know better than them what they like?

9/11/2017 10:28:23 am

Spiney O’Sullivan - "Some people care more about graphical fidelity than you do. That’s their preference, and who are you to insist that you know better than them what they like?".

As so many of them make such a big deal of it. If these gamers weren't clogging online forums with invective and bile I'd let them get away with it. If they weren't there suggesting the likes of the Switch are terrible simply as the graphics aren't quite as good as on the PS4, I wouldn't be here pointing out the reality of the situation. If odious pricks weren't going about stating "console peasants" or having endless flame wars about whether the PS4 or Xbox One has the best graphics, I wouldn't need to do this.

What I'm interested in is exceptional games. The CoD and GTA brigade have ensured the SNES era remains, unquestionably, the peak of gaming brilliance. It doesn't have to be like this. The indie scene is getting there, which is why it has to be celebrated. But a colossally cynical and obnoxious upgrade, where it's £450 for slightly better graphics, and you're turning to me and levelling that turgid guff in my direction? It's there cash, ultimately, yes, and if they're happy being mindless philistines then that's fine. But it's time to strive for me than this.

Please provide a more constructive comment next time. Thank you.

9/11/2017 10:36:25 am

I am evidently every bit as bad at you at getting needlessly riled up over tedious invective and bile online, so I guess we could both learn to just ignore people posting that.

Also I used to try and be constructive. I really did. But it’s become very clear that you just want to post the same comment every day and then dismiss whoever disagrees with you as not making arguments up to the standard of debate that you somehow think your daily copy-paste rants meet.

9/11/2017 10:50:33 am

Spiney O’Sullivan - Same right back to you, dude. All the worst!

9/11/2017 10:58:28 am

I find that remark vacuous and caustic.

Jareth's Epiphany

9/11/2017 11:05:17 am

Yeah, Jareth, they should take a lesson from you and not make a big deal out of it.

Literally the only 'odious prick' here that tries to start console war nonsense is you. How do you not see that? Who were you responding to today, with your first comment, for example? Who here angered you to such an extent you had to make the same detrimental wearying post, again? What upset you?

Mrtankthreat

9/11/2017 12:28:26 pm

"But it's time to strive for me than this."

Has there ever been a more perfect Freudian slip? If only everyone was like Jareth he "wouldn't need to do this". It's like he wants a round of applause. Bloody hilarious by the way. Keep it up everyone.

PeskyFletch

9/11/2017 04:02:52 pm

" If odious pricks weren't going about stating "console peasants" or having endless flame wars about whether the PS4 or Xbox One has the best graphics, I wouldn't need to do this."

You don't 'need' to do this. It has no effect anyway. It almost seems like you're just after some attention, to be honest.

John

13/11/2017 09:29:17 am

So, I'm one of these 'consumerist morons' who dares care about fidelity. As such I have a PC over four times more powerful than the Xbox One X and a 75" 4K display. I don't care what anyone else has, and I'm not here to boast, I'm here to confirm that yes: 1) You absolutely cannot tell the benefits from a YouTube video. 2) Because you can't, people assume the benefits of 4K are small, this is again not true. Compression removes that extra detail and even 4K YouTube videos are very, very lossy.

In essence, you have to see it for yourself. It's a failing of 4K that it can't sell itself till you actually sit down in front of it, but I guarantee that if any one of you sat in front of my set-up and fired up AC: Origins, for example, at 4K max settings and at 60fps, your face would come to a complete, dumbstruck stop as it came to the end of a long, drawn-out 'Oooooooooh'.

Many games running at this sort of fidelity become INCREDIBLY immersive. Everywhere you look is absolutely stunning, the level of detail near-photographic.

People play games for different reasons. Me, I play to be immersed. It is escapism. I can't escape by jumping on Bowser's head.

I don't have a bad word to say about Nintendo. Truly, I get it. But it's also not for me. No matter how good a Mario game is I have zero interest in hopping up and down on platforms. You don't give a damn, we get it, but really, if someone handed you my set-up, I'm willing to bet your Switch would barely see the light of day.

Switchcuits

9/11/2017 09:20:54 am

I want to get a Switch after xmas, but I reckon there will be a newer, fancier version released next year...maybe a bigger screen, improved resolution etc... even worse, I can foresee a non-portable version being released for cheaper than standard, and it comes packaged with the usable pad...I'll never take it out of my room, I want that!!

I seem to remember the PS4 Pro claim being that it improves resolution for VR...not much use to me so I won't get one. I've never been a gadget fan though, I got my phone last year and it's from 2010. Just gimme the games!

Nostrildamus

9/11/2017 09:41:47 am

Aside from their retro collectors editions, Nintendo will never release another console that is not portable. Switch, and Nintendo's publicised statistics about how it's being used, has seen to that.

And the enormous success of the system as it is means that form factor, capabilities and price are likely to remain as they are for quite some time to come, through next Christmas at least.

Biscuits

9/11/2017 11:09:26 am

I don't think a non-portable Switch is out of the question, nobody could see the point in a 2D 3DS either, but that showed up for a cheaper price somewhere down the line. You're right though, it's probably early days

9/11/2017 12:53:34 pm

With 3DS, the 3D functionality was not massively well recieved, and was actually off-putting for parents concerned about children's eye development issues (the key market for the rugged, budget-focused 2DS).

Conversely, portability has been a massive hit with Switch, and there is no corresponding downside.

A more accurate model of how a non-portable Switch would perform, would be that time Sony launched a non-portable PSVita.

9/11/2017 02:09:30 pm

The downsides would be the expense (compared to a non portable version), and the pad...if a new non-portable one came out that was just a plastic box with the modest hardware in it, I don't see it being more than £200, surely? And you would get the real pad as the others would be redundant. So instead of spending over £400 with 1 game and the pad I'd be looking at spending under £300 with 2 games and the pad. All arbitrary estimations based solely on baseless guesswork, of course.

I'm not on public transport much these days, but I've never seen a Switch 'in the wild', and I live in a busy old place. I guess people play them carrying them around their house or at work though

a c adler

9/11/2017 11:57:32 am

I wouldn't wait around for a new model, they're selling incredibly well and there's not going to be a v2 for quite some time. And as you said, it's the games that count to you - based on that, you're missing out !

Biscuits the amiibo

9/11/2017 12:21:11 pm

Now there's two substantial games I want for it I'm definitely going to get one...careful though, there is no 'missing out'! Whether I'm getting it today or in 10 years, I'll still play the games... that's like what this here article is about.

I have so much to do before xmas it doesn't make sense getting one until afterwards, I'll just be worrying about getting things done while playing. The ubiquity is also taking the shine off it at the moment, I doubt that's going to wind down before xmas though

Voodoo76

9/11/2017 01:32:41 pm

Get one now, a better version is always round the corner, unless its a ps4 or Xbox one.

Matthew Long

9/11/2017 07:22:12 pm

I suspect the only 'upgrade' we'll see in the near future is maybe something closer to an add-on that increases performance in docked mode, compatible with the existing console, rather than an all-new Switch 2. But I understand what you mean - I'd love to own a Switch too, but I'm going to have to wait a bit for financial reasons.

Very tempted by these great Xbox One S deals, though, as I don't have a 4K TV so the latest super-pricey X version would be a needless expense.

Darren link

9/11/2017 09:26:34 am

I love you, man! You’ve articulated what I’m feeling by these micro updates. It’s not like the old days when an upgrade each generation was exactly that.

RichardM

9/11/2017 09:59:16 am

This is an interesting counterpoint to Penny Arcade’s view that the XOX is the best thing sliced bread, when played on a massive 4K TV. Perhaps they lost perspective because they got a free one! £450 for slightly better graphics... Just wow.

Cynical Clive

9/11/2017 11:15:01 am

I think they got a free one and lots of money for that kind of endorsement

Spiney O'Sullivan

9/11/2017 12:27:01 pm

PA have largely seemed pretty honest since they started (sometimes too honest in Gabe's case...), and they don't really give much of an impression of kowtowing to the big companies. In fact, some big companies have tended to desperately kowtow to them, as happened with MS seeking his feedback on the Surface Pro 3 when he complained about it. And frankly, given that PA is less a comic and more an empire, they don't really need to be bought off with cash.

That said, Gabe's outpouring of support for the XboneX did initially surprise me, but on later consideration, I can understand it.
(a) He's got a real affinity for the Xbox brand, and was pretty disappointed by the Xbone on launch, so it's no wonder he's glad to see them bounce back.
(b) But it's not only that, he's an artist, so of course the graphics upgrades speak to him: he likes things that look beautiful, and most of his life has been spent striving to make visual improvements in his own work (though personally I liked the style of Penny Arcade circa 2004ish best).

As to whether being given the system for free impacts how he views it, that's a fair point. I'm honestly not sure, but I suspect that those guys get given a LOT of free stuff, so if he's actually mentioning it, it's because it made an impression that everything else didn't.

wariospeedwagon

10/11/2017 09:04:05 am

It's weird - To me there's a fair, obvious gulf between DVD and Blu Ray quality of visuals... I'm just not seeing it on Blu Ray to 4K quality. Before PS4 Pro and Xbox X, I've been plugging a PC with a GTX 970 card into my telly, and for the love of me I'm not seeing the difference between 1080+ and higher.

As discussed earlier - regardless of graphical punch, nothing has come close to Zelda or Mario regardless.

DEAN

9/11/2017 10:01:49 am

I bought a PS4 PRO and a 4K telly earlier this year because of these things:

1 - I hate thinking that the games could be looking better.

2 - My old telly was a bit shit.

It's been a mixed bag!

The new TV is superb and absolutely worth upgrading to. I don't watch anything in 4K (won't pay for premium Netflix or a player) but normal Full HD looks even better on to my eyes. The TV also has a wide colour gamut and movies and games look absolutely gorgeous on it.

I've played a few enhanced (should say enchanted) for PRO games and yeah, they look lovely, but when I play games on my brother's Xbox ONE on a 1080p set they look lovely too....

I'm glad I bought a new telly and when playing games and having the option to boost the res or FPS then I guess it's cool but would have to agree that if you're happy where you are, spend your money on something more worthwhile like a sensual hairdo.... or a really great hat.

9/11/2017 10:07:07 am

"1 - I hate thinking that the games could be looking better." - A damning indictment of the modern gamer, but I'm glad you're at least happy with your setup.

Super Metroid could look better. So could Super Mario Bros 3. Half-Life 2 could look better as well. It's utterly irrelevant, though. They're simply far better games than the generic pap which are created primarily with the graphics crazed brigade in mind. This is why mainstream gaming is, largely, so stagnant and tedious.

9/11/2017 10:14:52 am

I'm not disagreeing with you, Mr Smith!

It's like a great movie doesn't need amazing cinematography BUT
sometimes I like watching movies that look really cool - a Ridley Scott flick for example.

There's nothing wrong with having an eye for beauty and don't think that automatically makes the beholder shallow.

And besides, what's wrong with wanting to have your cake and eat it too? It's what separates us from the intellectuals!

9/11/2017 10:22:47 am

DEAN - A fine outlook, but it further highlights the problem with these mindless spec upgrades. They should be used to support greater innovation and better games - that should be the scenario.

In reality, these upgrades ensure the industry is further plagued with increasingly conservative, insipid, and flat-out boring AAA titles. I'd be absolutely on board if this graphics-mania led to better games, except the situation is we're having our cake... but inside it's filled with dog crap.

9/11/2017 10:31:01 am

Most of those games looked as good as was possible at the time. Super Metroid was gorgeous by the standards of Mode-7 sprite-driven games, and Half-Life 2 in particular looked stunning at the time and recieved some significant graphical expansions in the episodes, like HDR lighting.

While the core gameplay might have been conceived first, neither developer took the view that graphics didn’t matter at the time.

Please stop harking back to this imaginary time when developers only cared about gameplay. It’s ludicrous.

Da5e

9/11/2017 10:49:35 am

Super Mario Bros. 3 looks incredible for the hardware and the time it was released, and Nintendo released a 'remastered' version on SNES a few years later.

You come across like a pound shop icycalm, fella.

9/11/2017 10:54:26 am

Spiney O’Sullivan - Missing the point entirely again, I'll try to contain my amazement. Just to update you on where we're at - Nintendo didn't release a souped up SNES and charge £450 for it just to make Super Metroid look a tad better. Anyone who rushes out to buy the Xbox Box X is, simply put, a consumerist moron.

It's impossible to have a discussion with you, I'm afraid, so I'll be ignoring your tediously reductionistic responses in future. Cya!

Spiney O’Vacuousandcaustic

9/11/2017 11:09:43 am

At this point I really only respond to you for the sake of not making it appear to outside readers that you represent the unquestioned opinion of the largely very reasonable commenters here.

But you are definitely right that Nintendo never release new versions of a base console with small upgrades. Guess I’ll go and think about that while I play my Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Advance SP, Gameboy Micro, DSi, DSlite, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, 2DS and New 2DS XL.

lol

9/11/2017 11:11:37 am

"I'm defeated" - Jareth

1997

9/11/2017 11:18:57 am

Gameboy Advance SP with tribal tattoo graphics=the only true Gameboy Advance SP

9/11/2017 11:27:16 am

@1997: Nothing says “it’s 2003” like that model of GBA.

The N64's Expansion PaK

9/11/2017 11:28:50 am

Why does everyone always forget about me...

9/11/2017 12:43:02 pm

Why did Nintendo wait until 5 years after the tribal tattoo craze (sparked by 'From Dusk til Dawn') hit its peak before releasing the tribal Gameboy? And why such an ostensibly macho design for a Gameboy? And why was the execution so bafflingly bad? Maybe because tribal tattoos are traditionally depicted snaking around vertical, cylindrical arms and legs, instead of being slapped on a flat square. So why choose to do that??? For the trend????? But it was so long after the craze!!!!!!!l!!l!!

I hold tribal GB over the WiiU in terms of 'Ninty' misfires

9/11/2017 04:09:32 pm

Jareth

Did you mean: reductionist?

Also, you really don't come across as a very reasonable person on these posts, in fact your tone reminds me almost exactly of the sort of people who go on about "console peasants" and which console is better. And yet you rail against these people in your posts.....

9/11/2017 11:21:58 am

Oh man DEAN, I got a new pre-owned TV a couple of weeks ago. Not 4K but still pretty slick. The difference is massive, I feel like I'm being bathed in colour...I played all the Supergiant games on it due to their glorious hues and design.

I take it back, I'm well into gadgets, me

Neptunium

9/11/2017 10:08:36 am

I think Microsoft and Sony are just delivering what their existing customers want - their customers want bigger, shinier, more powerful and they're quite happy to buy a second version of the same console.

I don't own a current version Xbox or PlayStation, but I've been seduced by the same old shit before - I upgraded my DS to a DS lite and then a DSi, which are all much smaller changes compared to the leap in hardware between Xbone and XboneX. After going through about 46 Xbox 360's due to it's wonderful reliability, I was giddy to get my hands on the 360S or whatever it was called - which was just the same hardware rejigged to fit into a different case.

The best thing as a non-adopter is that the technology itself is fantastic - XboneX delivers 4 times the graphics performance than the Xbone. This means that the designers now have more experience under their belt creating cutting edge hardware, the chip makers will get experience on how to fabricate it and in a few years the technology will come down to a price that it can be roughly inserted into the new iPhone XXX or Nintendo Switch Lite XL SP - now with better battery life and 468 times the graphics performance.

Col. Asdasd

9/11/2017 11:38:36 am

That's a very good point and one more gamers really need to lodge between their corn stalks (ears). Competition is major driver of innovation, especially in tech sectors, so you should really want a number of healthy actors in the scene even if you're loyal to a 'side'.

The console war threads on Digi are always a funny read. I'm pretty sure we do it differently to everywhere else on the web, in that we're all broadly Nintendo-favoured and anti the Sony/MS SUPAGRAPHIKS paradigm, but still end up assuming a much more pro Sony/MS stance than we ordinarily would because the strongest apparent opposing viewpoint is Jareth's swivel-eyed (Super) Nintendo fanaticism.

9/11/2017 03:42:06 pm

@Col. Asdasd: You're bang on there.

I actually sometimes worry that I come off as a defender for all things Sony, MS, AAA and some kind of anti-Nintendo zealot, mainly because of how much I argue with some people here.

On the contrary, I do actually have big concerns about how AAA business models harm games I like, like Activision's oversaturation and total abandonment of the music game genre, Ubisoft's driving Assassins Creed into repeated narrative ruts, or how we won't get a conclusion to the Adam Jensen Deus Ex game because Squeenix shareholders couldn't get a high enough return on the no-doubt astronomical development costs (though the awful "augment your preorder" scheme likely didn't help). And don't get me started on what microtransactions have turned into.

However, I think it's a vast overstatement to damn the whole industry and all its creations the way some people do. Every. Single. Day. There's still a lot of interesting games out there that are mechanically fun and thematically intriguing.

As for Nintendo, I'm as fond of their games as anyone. I'm very excited to crack into Mario Odyssey, which just arrived today. However, I'm not blind to their flaws, perhaps because I don't have SNES or NES childhood nostalgia. The old brick Gameboy was my introduction to games as a young child, and I've owned every main system since the Nintendo 64 (excluding incremental ones like the New 2/3DSi sp micro lite XL Famicom Edition). And I accept that that includes some indisputable failures.

For all this "they know the value of gameplay over graphics and only care about gameplay and joy and the smiles of children" narrative that people love, let's not be under any illusions: Their current business strategy (and it is a strategy for doing business, because they are a business) appears to reflect an acceptance of competitive realities and the value of being able to play heavily on a legacy propped up by strong IPs and extremely high brand loyalty.

They are where they are now because of the following chain of events: They lost most 3rd party developers through draconian stubbornness in the 1990s, hurting the N64, and completely destroying the Gamecube. They found a new niche with the brilliant and well-priced Wii, which even brought back 3rd party developers briefly (even if I suspect that the "gameplay over graphics" mantra of that system was only because they didn't think that HDTV prices were going to drop so soon). They then immediately dropped the ball by making a system that had a few good party games, but which ultimately nobody even understood.

They now know that their place is being a cheaper, less powerful, niche console that you own alongside the main consoles for a select few very strong IPs, essentially expanding their very successful handheld strategy to their main "home" console line. And that's actually very clever. You don't have to duke it out with the big boys if you're happy in your own space. They are the perfect example of "blue ocean" strategy, if you're interested in business management theory. But they are a business, and they do have a strategy, and they are no more your friends than McDonalds or Adidas.

In short, I love some AAA games, even if the industry is riddled with problems that I sadly don't see being solved short of a major industry crash. I also love many Nintendo games, but refuse to buy into the branding the way a lot of people do. I played Deus Ex: Mankind Divided yesterday, and it was great. I'm going to play Mario Odyssey tonight and expect greatness too. Hooray for videogames.

9/11/2017 03:45:08 pm

Bloody hell, that was an essay.

For those who can't be bothered: AAA has serious and perhaps unfixable problems, but not everything they turn out is bad and unfun. Nintendo make great games but are not Santa Claus.

Jol

9/11/2017 04:50:36 pm

Look, Spiney, this is no place for well reasoned and balanced opinions. Pick a side and then attack the other for their massively wrongful wrongness.

(You're spot on. Generally speaking there's enough AAA stuff and non-AAA stuff to satisfy everyone's tastes. The market is in a tough place when it comes to balancing development costs / profits / creative risks, but then that's why safe bets like CoD and Zelda exist)

Ramblin' Biscuits

9/11/2017 04:55:56 pm

Great comment, I also find the unwavering sycophancy for Nintendo distasteful, especially the 'They are the only creative company and actually are probably my friends and they probably don't even like money tbh' narrative disconcerting, in how easily it has been accepted and propagated. They are a huge business that don't think twice about ripping off their most ardent fans - like any company then, but exclusive to Nintendo, there's an extra layer of sinister intent, as their marketing model is 'We are your childhood friend!'

"We don't do DLC guys, now buy this physical, poorly made plastic tat we didn't make enough of, again, to unlock an in-game hat! In fact, buy one for each of the 40 characters! How whimsical!" I'm deeply not into it. Same with Witcher 3 when they announced '16 items of free DLC to be released one a day after release!' - so, holding back content and drip-feeding it as the basis for a cynical marketing ploy? And not even hiding that? I'll cut them some slack though because (although I'm the only human being that thinks Witcher 3 is a pretty poor game) I've been enjoying Gwent for free, and for a free transaction-based game they are extremely generous with cards and stuff, I can't imagine ever spending money on it.

Anyway I too am looking forward to completely submerging myself in BotW and Mario come Jan, I bet they are great and wash the taste of the marketing away. In fact I bet I start gushing too

9/11/2017 06:40:59 pm

Spiney - fantastic comment. Agree with the both the sentiment and the analysis, especially about Nintendo's stubbornness at the height of their dominance - I was there for the tail-end of the NES/SNES years, and I'm still struck when I think of how many 3rd party games even the n64 enjoyed compared to now.

One thing though, fuck you Nintendo are my friends NINTENDO ARE MY FRIENDS THEY LOVE ME I CAN'T HEAR YOU *puts fingers in ears, sings loudly, preorders more amiibo [with nose]*

9/11/2017 07:34:40 pm

Excellent. It's a funny position to be in: I broadly agree with the point he makes about Nintendo's qualities versus their competitors, the heart and imagination of their best work versus a cold pursuit of specs and the yearly, increasingly slick franchise updates of Sony and Microsoft. But when that view it is repeated constantly, daily, coupled with an unwillingness to acknowledge that others might feel differently - and it's okay that they don't agree! - it gets very tiresome. Loving Nintendo doesn't mean you have to hate Sony or Microsoft. They provide different things, which is healthy. The 'single format console' argument that often raises its head would be the really damaging thing for gaming, in my view. We need competition and variety.

Sidney

9/11/2017 12:09:10 pm

"I think Microsoft and Sony are just delivering what their existing customers want - their customers want bigger, shinier, more powerful and they're quite happy to buy a second version of the same console."

See how 'quite happy to.." isn't the same as "want" though...were these consoles never released, nobody would be clamoring for the meager upgrades offered

9/11/2017 12:16:26 pm

@sidney, well summarised. I guess the problem is that the PS4 and Xbone one were pretty underpowered when they came out. PC was already better at the time and the gap has grown signficantly since. If the OG consoles had been better futureproofed from the get go, these meager updates wouldn't even need to have been offered. You expect your console to be pretty cutting edge. Their failures to be so (especially after such a long previous generation) started to shift gamers to PC so MS and Sony have countered accordingly, the switch to PC has been spoken about on numerous occasions as being the driver behind these new versions. Not sure it's really helped us though!

9/11/2017 12:35:34 pm

@a c adler Remember the start of this generation? '60 FPS' was all anyone was talking about...to this day , the amount of AAA games that manage that on console can be counted on one hand...even new releases that take advantage of the Pro are in 30 fps. I'm not sure what the point is.

I've often given a thought to PC gaming but honestly the one time I took my PS4 apart to clean it I hated and resented the hassle, I don't think I have the interest or patience to put together and maintain a 'rig'. Divinity OS 2 is my most wanted game at the moment though

9/11/2017 12:44:33 pm

lol, yeah I remember that! Not to be a PC fanboy (I happened to set up a decent system last year because of VR, which turned out to be rubbish) but I didn't realise how easy PC is nowadays. I've never had a second's problem / hassle with it, and having an nvidia graphics card means the drivers auto update, even auto optimise things nowadays. Might be worth considering one day ;)

captain red dog

9/11/2017 10:21:44 am

I think I'm where you are with these new consoles Biffo. The standard consoles are good enough and for me to fully upgrade to 4K would cost near a grand once I factor in a decent TV, upgrading the PS4 and XB1 and getting a 4K bluray player.

I just can't justify that. We aren't looking at as big an increase as SD to HD, and in gaming terms it doesn't mean new experiences. When we went from the original Xbox to the 360 (and upgraded to HD at the same time) there was a tangible increase in terms of the gameplay experience. That has been missing already from the 360 to the PS4/XB1 era and the latest iteration of these consoles doesn't address that.

Conversely, the Switch has games that still look fantastic, play completely differently to what has come before, and has the portability that is definitely the way forward in a world of tablets and smart phones. It brings greater innovation in terms of what is expected of a games console in 2017.

Ben the Boffin from The Big Breakfast

9/11/2017 11:28:40 am

"When we went from the original Xbox to the 360 (and upgraded to HD at the same time) there was a tangible increase in terms of the gameplay experience."

If I may be so bold, I think this is like the HD effect...when HD came in nobody could see the big deal and everyone hated getting a new TV for it and what have you as the difference was negligible. They immediately noticed when they tried going back after a couple of weeks of HD though

9/11/2017 01:42:10 pm

But new games were made specifically for the more powerful 360. As I understand it the xbox1x just plays current gen games, so what's the point of all that power?

Optimist

9/11/2017 02:27:52 pm

Maybe we will come to see, and Sea of Thieves etc. will look astonishing! Or not.

9/11/2017 12:03:02 pm

Couldnt care less about the "X" or the "Pro", Biffo quite right on this. But I have a beautiful 4k OLED TV, and a 4k Blu Ray player. Watching 4k HDR movies is absolutely stunning, the difference in quality is as big as VHS to DVD was, it's amazing. There are genuine cool things going on in tech as well as the silly mid life refreshes (which can never be any real use given the original hardware has to be supported for all time).

PS - silly troll person further up the comments, take it somewhere else, it's very dull for everyone else to scroll past.

Lodge Rebel

9/11/2017 01:18:23 pm

Hello everyone, I'm a weregiraffe and have upgraded my toaster. I only use it on full moons.

9/11/2017 01:45:23 pm

Hello weregiraffe thanks for joining in. Does that mean you only have toast on full moons or you use a different toaster for non full moon toast?

9/11/2017 01:55:15 pm

Surely it's an age thing. Those of us who were around at the dawn of gaming have had to make do with shit looking games for years, having to use our imagination to fill in the blanks. The younger generation born into the PlayStation era have had great looking games all of the time, so to them graphics are a much more important part of their gaming experience. To me the best games have a soul and character to them that can't be seen, something you can't quite put your finger on but its there.

9/11/2017 06:57:21 pm

I think I know what you mean.

Take the Infinity Engine RPGs on PC at the turn of the century - gorgeous painted scenery, ropey, underanimated sprites, impressive (for the time) spell effects, and that peculiar middle-budget fantasy character art that doesn't look wholly convincing but would you somehow suspect is crucial to the atmosphere.

Between the setting and the visuals, a young mind had to work in overdrive to fill in the blanks. But the result was that these worlds seemed so much vaster than they would have if everything was presented at face value.

9/11/2017 03:05:04 pm

The same goes for GFX cards on PCs. Yes I want the £600 top of the range card, but I know if I bought it I wouldn't notice the difference between that and my 2 year old mid range card. I know if I was able to turn on all the graphics options that my card doesn't support, it would play the same and look at best very similar.

Alice Fever

9/11/2017 05:10:14 pm

A PS pro does make a significant difference to PSVR. It makes PSVR so much better

Nam Rood

9/11/2017 05:40:23 pm

Huh? Some of you chaps need to get to Specsavers!

I have a 4K HDR TV. It's not even that big - 43" although I sit quite close.

Also have a 27" 4K monitor about a foot from my nose right now.

I own a Pro and Xbox One X (as well as a gaming PC).

Not only can I see massive differences between the PS4 Pro and a base model. I can also easily see the improvements between the X and the Pro.

I can see the benefits on Youtube but due to the heavy compression in use, that is only about 10% of the difference that I can see in full uncompressed glory on my TV.

I can hear the differences as well as the X is silent, the Pro is a like a hair dryer and the original launch PS4 is like standing next to Concorde on afterburner.

I started gaming on a ZX Spectrum in 1984 or something so it ain't an age thing as some suggested.

I've also spent a fortune on PC components because again the improvements in resolution, detail, frame rate and frame pacing are noticeable, increase immersion and improve the playability/responsiveness of games.

I also have a Switch and still enjoy that mind you.

Hardware can also improve what is possible in games. AC Unity for example had amazing crowds that were actually realistic in size. It ran like a dog because Ubisoft made an error in predicting the performance of the then "next gen consoles" and in particular the CPU power. You can see how it was cut down in Syndicate to the not-so-"bustling" London.

Roll on a new generation I say. The current gen consoles were obsolete at launch. The 360 was far closer to a high end PC in it's day than the PS4 was. I think a lot of people don't realise just how much these consoles are holding back game design.

I couldn't wait to upgrade to the Pro and X as whilst they can't do much about overall game design, the improvements in frame-rate and frame pacing seen in so many games definitely increase the enjoyment and they can at least go someway to making the games look a little less outdated. Especially on a 4K TV which does show the warts and all.

9/11/2017 05:50:57 pm

Somehow I suspect that the fact that most of us don't have 4K monitors makes those HD vs 4K comparison videos largely pointless. Presumably watching those on our screens is like staring at the Mona Lisa and a Jackson Pollock side-by-side while wearing glasses smeared with vaseline.

"I don't see the difference. Also they both smell like menthol."

9/11/2017 05:52:01 pm

Wait, I meant Vicks Vaporub, not Vaseline.

9/11/2017 06:16:30 pm

Yeah I mean these close-up freeze-frames just give absolutely no impression whatsoever as to what it looks like full-screen and in motion.

As I just stated in my post, I can see the difference easily on my TV. But I can't really see the difference in that 3-way image that was posted at the top of this article.

If people look at that image and say "well what's the point in upgrading to an Xbox One X and a 4K HDR TV just for that", I'd totally understand! I'd say the same! Based on that image it isn't worth it.

But that is NOTHING like the reality!

In some way I can compare that to my experiences with VR where YouTube videos both make it look a million times better than it does in the headsets with their godawful low resolution but at the same also doesn't give the viewer that amazement of truly being inside the world.

This is just talk of visuals. The videos don't give you the feeling of improved controller response the framerate/pacing either.

You are dead right that the average person is on a 1080p screen and "smeared with vaseline" is exactly what Youtubes video compression does to the image.

But I know in this day and age money is tight for a lot of people, especially those with families. I wouldn't blame them if they expect to have their head blown off for that money and I don't think these consoles/4K can live up to that sort of expectation.

Plus I know when I was younger and a lot skinter I used to convince myself that something I couldn't afford wasn't much better. I know that feeling so don't hold that against anyone.

I advise not going around a mates house to try one out. I remember in the early 00's when I was a boyracer, someone warned me "never drive a car that is faster than you can afford" as once you do that, everything you own will seem rubbish and you will never be satisfied!

Wise words in hindsight. I lost a lot of money because I didn't heed it!

9/11/2017 06:23:34 pm

"Plus I know when I was younger and a lot skinter I used to convince myself that something I couldn't afford wasn't much better."

This is unbelievably true. You have essentially summed every console war argument ever.

Mark

9/11/2017 07:07:25 pm

Hey Biffo you know the switch does output 1080p when docked if the game supports it. This culture about having the latest tech stems from kids, my 13 year old son and his friends seem to think the Xbox one x is an entirely new console and he now wants me to trade in his old Xbox one

Lummox60N

9/11/2017 08:33:35 pm

Hm. So, if I buy the latest iterations, and play them without wearing my glasses, it'll be just like the normal versions?
I can spend money on a console rather than glasses just to keep pace with the degradation of my eyesight? That's a bit of a bargain if I buy a new pair of stupidly expensive glasses each year for two years.
Count.
Me.
IN!

PS1Snake

9/11/2017 09:10:52 pm

Xbox One X and PS4 Pro are for those who'd rather watch a Digital Foundry video over EastEnders.

Geebs

10/11/2017 08:43:15 am

Ehhhh.... Higher, more consistent frame rates make games feel better to play. Arguably the Pro is a little bit redundant since they’ve gone mostly gone for more pixels, but the Wunnex makes games run more smoothly and therefore objectively better (note: I only own a Pro). It’s a bit dumb to complain about still images looking similar when the difference comes in motion.

The Switch is a nice console, and Odyssey is a very good game (not as good as Galaxy IMO but still great). Still, the games are eye-strain-inducingly blurry when blown up on the big screen. However both Mario and Zelda have an absolute ton of pop-up which I personally find very visually distracting.

So yeah, both Pro and Wunnex are basically just fancy laptops anyway and the tech analysis is a bit overblown but there’s nothing wrong with people wanting their games to run a bit better.

Hmmm

10/11/2017 09:00:48 am

"The games are eye-strain-inducingly blurry when blown up on the big screen"

Woah woah, is this true?

10/11/2017 10:23:29 am

No not true at all.

10/11/2017 03:53:58 pm

Totally agree.

That Galaxy is better than Odyssey.

And that my Switch (and my old base model PS4/XO to a lesser extent) look awful at times on my 4K TV.

The frame-rate dips and stutters in Zelda are very distracting and break immersion.

Also at some points in Odyssey, the dynamic resolution they are using appears to drop down to original Wii levels! The jagged lines are horrendous.

MK8 on the other hand always looks awesome.

Scott C

11/11/2017 04:54:03 pm

There is one technological upgrade that is worth paying for, and for me that is high framerates. Such an upgrade is not available on current TVs or consoles, except for PSVR. Games feel truly beautiful, smooth, and responsive at 120+ fps (and 1440p), giving a significant boost to gameplay, and critically, immersion (and to my surprise, substantially beyond the experience at 60fps). I returned to PC gaming by accident (after a 13 year hiatus) when I discovered that my 2011 laptop could run my backlog of multi-platform games better than my PS3 (Portal 2, Bioshock trilogy, Batman Arkham games). I then bought a second-hand 120 Hz monitor, and eventually took the plunge to build myself a decent gaming PC. Modern games now autoconfigure their settings, while the unsustainable hardware race of yesteryear is over. The slowed rate of CPU development and the fact that modern games offload so much onto the GPU, means that a processor from 5-6 years ago will run games almost as well as the latest generation chips. My upgrade strategy so far has been thus; wait until a £300 GPU is available with 50-100% performance boost over my current one (GTX 1070 was my last upgrade), and sell my old the one for ~£200; that's equivalent or cheaper than keeping pace with console generations (PC games are also cheaper and online play is free). Most killer Nintendo games can be emulated shortly after release. For example, I bought a brand new copy of Breath of the Wild for Wii U to ensure that Nintendo rightfully got my cash for making a masterpiece, before emulating it on PC with substantially enhanced graphics (although I'll admit, also with a few crashes). When a Switch emulator is released I'll do the same with Mario Odyssey (I can't bring myself to pay £280 for hardware for playing a handful of games at sub-par resolution/framerate). I expect that Nintendo will bring out a Switch XL/Pro/U in the near future just as they released multiple versions of the DS and 3DS.

BEHOLD THE EMPEROR'S NEW CONSOLES! - by mr biffo

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