XSX vs PS5

[Nintex]

They keep putting their eggs in a single basket.
Cyberpunk, HALO Infinite, GTAVI as of late it's always this 'one game', third party partnership or hardware thing that will turn the fortunes of the industry around and when it doesn't they are surprised and dissapointed.

It reminds of the GameCube and Wii U. 

Some interesting thoughts from the creative director of Ori Will of the Wisps:

Just watched the latest
@digitalfoundry
Podcast where they discussed what upcoming consoles could do. Let me share some thoughts! 😀👍

I think a lot of non-developers are wondering where else we could go from here since 'just higher resolutions and more polygons' doesn't sound too exciting since it has no direct influence on your play experience and I'd agree.

Personally, I think this generation has been quite lackluster so far since we haven't really seen any groundbreaking, new gameplay experiences yet. You could very well argue that most of this gens games could've also been accomplished on PS4 and Xbox One and you'd probably be right.

So here are some ideas and developments that I'm personally excited about.

1) New Controllers: Our current controllers don't really allow for much innovation from a developers perspective. I've been pestering Microsoft for years to instead do split 6DOF controllers for their upcoming consoles since that could revolutionize how certain genres are being played on console. And it would allow for entirely new genres of games to emerge. Input is an INCREDIBLY crucial piece of the puzzle for that to happen!

This one sadly hasn't happened yet since apparently publishers treat controllers like steering wheels: Don't fix what ain't broken. But that attitude is in direct opposition to innovation.

Here's a bold statement: Give me split 6DOF Controllers and I could code up a first person shooter prototype that plays better than any other FPS being sold on consoles right now. And I'm pretty sure that prototype could even beat KB&M in terms of felt precision.

Our current controller designs are still basically the same as they were 20 years ago. I only really see Nintendo innovating in this aspect and I'm afraid we'll still use the same old stuff 20 years from now unless developers speak up. Remember how great it was when Nintendo introduced the Analog Stick for the Nintendo 64? It allowed for entirely new ways of moving your characters around in 3d - I'd like to see a revolution in input happening again in my lifetime!

And no, Rumble ain't it.

2) Stop wasting hundreds of millions on dollars making insanely labor-intensive assets. I don't think players really care all that much about seeing every pore and every pimple meticulously modeled and painted out in characters. It's sure nice to look at... once. And then you play the game and wonder why it kinda, sorta LOOKS better, but doesn't PLAY better.

Visuals are important, I mean... we sure as hell put a lot of effort into making our games look amazing here at Moon, but we do it by fully focusing on Art Direction instead of just spending insane resources on singular assets.

Our budget for art is naturally much lower than what a typical AAA studio spends on art, but players usually love the look of our games. If we produce the same sentiment with an art budget that's 10 times lower than yours, you ought to ask yourself some questions.

Most AAA studios right now spend more time and money on fancy visuals than on fancy gameplay.

I think the priorities here are upside-down.

3) NPCs for the most part are the same as they were 20 years ago. Here's an NPC, he spawns at a particular spot in the world and says a line or two and then repeats those lines. After some world event changes, the NPC has some new lines.

That's still the state of things today. My hope is that we'll see AI help with that. Feed AI with scripts of your game, assign each character a role and identity and so on and have them act way more natural.

4) Enemies also still act like they did 20 years ago. We're still using the same old behavior trees and really simplistic 'AI' to set up enemy behaviors.

This is another area where I think recent developments in AI could help greatly. Instead of NPCs just having a bunch of simple behavior trees, it'd be amazing if an AI would instead take over and do the 'logical thing'. Instead of just walking around and reacting to the player, interact with the environment, have them flip over a table and shoot from behind the table. If they're idling, they should do natural things, non-scripted.

Have them take cover, shout out sensible stuff, make each encounter different and unique while still following certain rules the designers laid out.

This is definitely an area where we'll also do quite a bit of research at Moon, but I'm surprised we haven't seen any company really do for Enemy AI what Havok back then did for physics in games.

And here are some thoughts on how I think the industry needs to change:

A) Reduce Development Costs across the board.

I guess some people will say I'm crazy - and maybe I am - but I've been vocal about this before: Just once, do not spend 200m USD on your next blockbuster game that could flop hard. Instead, try to use that budget to make 10 20m USD games or 100 2m USD games and see what happens. Who knows, you might just produce the next 'Minecraft' this way!

Aren't we tired of seeing the same old FPS games with this years twist being regurgitated on an annual basis over and over again?

Spread your budget on genius creatives and some of them will land a smash hit... But hire a factory and you'll get factory work.

There's a reason why books aren't written by entire teams of people even though you could churn out much more stuff if they would be. Think about why.

B) Videogames can be an artform, let's treat them as such:

I choose my words very carefully here - I say 'can be' because in my humble opinion art should always contain meaning and a willingness to ask questions. Most games aren't developed with that mindset.

Very few games attempt to be artistic expressions and I understand why: Games are expensive, extremely hard to make, tons of risk, etc. But games are the only massively popular interactive medium we have and with that, there's massive untapped potential.

We've seen smaller projects blow up like crazy before because they dared to do things a AAA studio just never would.

There's magic in that.

C) I think we've come to a point where the market is telling us that the status quo is no longer sustainable. How many more people need to lose their jobs before drastic changes are being made?

This is already happening and it clearly will continue: Over the next decade, we'll see quite a lot of massive studios that were 'too big to fail' go bankrupt. And newer studios will take their place. Those newer studios will be the ones that dare to innovate, that execute better or more efficiently, that adapt to new tech and understand the zeitgeist. In short: They give players what they actually want.

In a hit-driven business, if you dare to become complacent, you'll be dead tomorrow.

While that might sound a little nihilistic, I actually think this is a good development and we'll see incredibly exciting things happening from fresh talent and a new generation of developers who aren't yet set in their ways.

Anyway, sorry for the mega-post, I have quite a lot more thoughts on these subjects, but I think I've been rambling enough already! 🤣👍❤️