It used to be that people argued that it’s worth getting the new game console because “better graphics”. The console wars hasn’t gone anywhere, it’s just expanded.
In any case, in regards to just installing a game and playing it, no, not really. When I was playing games in college in 2012 it was still a time when you would open a game and go to the settings menu to adjust settings.
Sometimes it was just turning off motion blur, but there was always settings to change to try to reach a stable 60FPS.
Nothing changed, it just expanded. Now instead of 60FPS it’s a variable 60-240FPS. Instead of just 720p-1080p resolution, unless it’s portable, it’s 1080p minimum otherwise variable up to 4k. Instead of “maxing out” we now have raytracing which pushes software further than our hardware is capable.
These aren’t bad things, they’re just now 1) slightly marketed, 2) more well known in the social sphere. There isn’t anything stopping you from opening up the game and going right away, and there’s nothing stopping other people from wondering about frame timings and other technical details.
Sure, focusing on the little things like that can take away from the wider experience, but people pursue things for different reasons. When I got Cyberpunk 2077 I knew that there were issues under the hood, but my experience with the game at launch was also pretty much perfect because I was focused on different things. I personally don’t think a dip here and there is worth fretting over, but some people it ruins the game for them. Other people just like knowing that they’re taking full advantage of their hardware, hence figuring out the utilization of their components.
There’s one last aspect not mentioned. Architectures. 10 years ago games would just boot up and run… But what about games from 10 years before then? Most players not on consoles were having to do weird CPU timing shenanigans to be able to boot up a game from (now 20) years ago. We’re in the same boat now with emulation, which while emulation is faring better, X360/PS3 generation games that had PC ports are starting to have issues on modern Windows. Even just 5 or 6 years ago games like Sleeping Dogs wouldn’t play nice on modern PC’s, so there’s a whole extra aspect of tinkering on PC that hasn’t even been touched on.
All this to say, we are in the same boat we’ve always been in. The only difference is that social media now has more knowledge about these aspects of gaming so it’s being focused on more.
The one thing I do agree with though is that this is all part of software development. Making users need better hardware, intentional or not, is pretty crazy. The fact that consoles themselves now have Quality vs Performance modes is also crazy. But, I will never say no to more options. I actually think it’s wrong that the console version of games often are missing settings adjustments, when the PC counterpart has full control. I understand when it’s to keep performance at an acceptable level, but it can be annoying.
I definitely don’t see a fixation of performance lol
The reliance on AI upscaling and frame generation, while the entire game takes up half or your entire SSD shows that optimization is an after thought. These solutions make everything look pretty and smooth, at the cost of how it actually feels to play (input lag up the fucking ass that makes the game feel way worse). Couple that with the myriad of performance issues the majority of AAA games have at launch.
The focus is entirely on making something visually good looking that will sell millions in pre-orders alone.
I don’t really relate as I typically linger two or more years behind the cutting edge games and tech so by the time I get it my hardware can easily run it and I can actually just install the game and play.
That and all tge good games float to the top of the pile in that time so I rarely end up spending money on something I don’t enjoy.
I see all the graphics technologies as an extra bonus to the gaming experience. It might make the game experience slightly better; but it alone doesn’t make the best experience.
I’ve tried various team based shooters over time like Dirty Bomb, Overwatch, Paladins, and even now I try newer stuff, like Marvel Rivals. However everytime I feel get bored of them, I hop onto TF2 and no other team based shooter gives the the same satisfying gameplay loop compared to it.
Regardless of graphics; a well made skill based game can keep players for a long time inside it; i mean just look at aoe2, it’s the chess of strategy games and a ton of people still play it to this day.
I feel it’s a bit like any hobby. You’d see casual film enjoyers and then those who refuse to watch unless it’s a bluray on their 4k Dolby Vision TV with 1000 nits OLED brightness. There are some who just enjoy listening to music on their airpod knockoffs by streaming on YouTube music and then there are those who buy $500 headphones with high quality gold plated aux wire and a custom DAC and use some obscure format to really enjoy music. There are some who enjoy team sports and then there are those who know personal routine of each player and the wetness of the grass or the year of the ball’s manufacturing and its impact on throw.
Stalker 2 had bugs on launch yet it easily sold 1 million copies. Black Myth Wukong uses frame gen to achieve 60 fps on PS5 and otherwise it locks to 45 fps, yet it has broken all records. Elden Ring is still a stuttery mess on PC and barely hits 60 fps on consoles, even the $700 one, yet it’s beloved.
These people aren’t the ones talking about resolutions and frame rates on X, but just playing the damn game in millions.
Just like millions use sub par TV settings and stream music or don’t have much clue about team sports but still have a great time.
Elden Ring is still a stuttery mess on PC and barely hits 60 fps on consoles, even the $700 one, yet it’s beloved.
I have an old ass PC and a PS5 with the game on both and they run smooth as shit unless you’re using raytracing, which literally doesn’t even change the visuals in the game; it just makes it slower.
Stalker 2 is a busted mess. The performance issues have been fixed mostly after 3 patches, but the game itself shits itself once you get to a certain story mission. Literally nothing works beyond that point. The A-Life system does not work, scripted events are all jacked up, IDK if anyone else is getting this but every now and then I have my secondary weapon replaced with a random other weapon that I didn’t even have in my inventory, sound effects don’t play properly, the hud completely disappears, and so many more things that make me glad I’m only playing through GamePass and didn’t actually buy the game. There’s a good game under the mess, somewhere. But they should have just bit the bullet and delayed it another month or two instead of releasing what they did for the holidays.
The reason they sold so many copies though, is because pre-ordering. People bought them before they ever saw the game in action. And games like Stalker 2 are the reason why you shouldn’t pre-order. Because the chances of getting burned by busted-ass shit like this is increasingly more common. Again, because people pre-order the fuck out of games.
Yeah, I’m sick of it as well. Having to guess whether my rig will play something at a framerate that won’t make me sick because a dev studio chose pretty graphics (that aren’t really much better than AAA 10 years ago) over good optimization.
Most of the games I play are relatively undemanding for this reason. That and because indie games don’t have as much monetization.
There are many games where you just install and play them. I’ve found many after excluding both AAAs and popular indies.
As far as AAA goes, the very emphasis is on graphics, sound, etc (big ehhh to the gameplay). Popular indies are also not my thing because it has become more of a social activity and the makers themselves play on that a bit. Aside from those two categories itself, I’ve got maybe a hundred good games which can be played maybe hundred to a few hundreds of hours each, maybe more. Most of them unplayed.
Old games are also something which are not going away if you check compatibility in advance (or use GOG preservation mark games, which apparently try to fix those problems).
I’m currently playing Battlefront 2004 and Monster Slayers (deckbuilder) but have a shitload of games from many genres installed. Most of them unheard of, being good quality in game design and enjoyable for many hours.
2023 was a phenomenal year for gaming. One great game after another. AAA and indy. Of course there will always also be bad games. But I think we do have enough good stuff. And looking at Ubisoft it seems like customer’s dissatisfaction with bad spectacles seems to reach the big companies. And with development tools becoming ever more accessible I think we’re looking at a bright future.
The bubble of AAA gaming and reviews/benchmarks definitely has that kind of thing going on. But you can really just ignore that subset entirely and have so many good games to play from smaller studios and devs.
It’s not really a new thing, I remember when Crysis came out and it was all about the graphics and hardware to run it the fastest.
The best games these days are almost all indie games, stuff about AAA & ray tracing etc etc is more of a nerd hobby fueled by the industry rather than entertainment.
Also there are many retro games that used to be AA & they are just as good today as they were 20 years ago. If you want good gameplay there are so many amazing games to play a lifetime is not enough to even scratch the surface.
What you’re describing is not exactly gaming, but a different hobby entirely which is sometimes referred to as benchmarking. I’ve dabbled in it myself for some games, and the goal isn’t to experience and talk about the game as it is, but to figure out how to benchmark, best settings for performance and all that jazz.
Discussions about specific games for their merits are still very much alive on the internet though, you usually have to go to reddit and look for a dedicated subreddit for the game you’re interested in or their itch/discord if it’s a small indie game.
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