Stumbled upon this video, which kind of summarizes the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJxaIP8F3K8
In summary
- lack of risk taking by the industry
- lack of creativity
- industry prioritizes profit by making games compatible with the previous consoles generation
- removal of split screen
- outdated voice communication compared to PC Discord
- disabled voice communication by default
For people here who have a current console, what do you think about this?
Another video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61lX2mixdKQ
Abandon consoles. Embrace the inevitability of the PC master race.
2026 will be the year for me. Let DDR6 and next gen APUs hit mini PCs and I’m there.
Yeah, never had a console. I recently did get the steam deck and that has definitely allowed me to play a few games I never had the time to play before. Still have a huge backlog though.
Pretty glad I skipped the current gen consoles - my last one was an Xbox one S. Still have it around to play DVDs and blu ray lol. Steam deck has been the best gaming purchase and I don’t see myself going back.
I did the PC thing for 13 years. I’m over it.
The biggest one for me is that most of the games come out on PC eventually anyway, and will generally run at higher resolutions and frame rates.
I’ve also got more than enough in my steam account to play whilst I wait for any exclusives to decide they actually want my money
Also I like that I’ve got my PC, laptop, steam deck and Nvidia shields with steam link that can all play my games in various different situations. A traditional home console kinda limits the situations in which I can play my games.
Is it an issue, though?Edit: The whole comment was just a misunderstanding.
I mean, they hold the game hostage on a platform for a while just to sell things on that platform and the platform itself. That’s a bit of an issue, IMO.
That it limits how I can play games? Well yes, it might not be a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, but it kinda sucks when you want to go to engage in one of your hobbies and can’t for whatever reason.
A simple example—I don’t have a lot of free time these days and my partner might be in the middle of watching something on the main TV where the console would typically live.
With my current situation I can hang out in the same room as her and play something on my steam deck or laptop, or I could go upstairs and play on the PC or even on the bedroom TV via steam link.
With a typical console (I’m not including the switch here), I’d either have to kick my partner off the TV (kinda shitty) or fumble around for a bit disconnecting it, moving it and connecting it up again to my other TV. All of the PC options seem better to me IMO
I meant this:
The biggest one for me is that most of the games come out on PC eventually anyway, and will generally run at higher resolutions and frame rates.
Did you edit the comment? I could have sworn there was the word “issue” in there, originally.
Nope no edits on that one! I don’t think Lemmy has the 3 minute grace period on edits like Reddit either, so it would have an edited indicator on it.
Regardless, I wouldn’t say that was an issue for me, I guess it’s an issue for the console manufacturers as I assume the point of paying publishers for console exclusives is to attempt to shift more hardware and if I’m representative of any demographic that’s not good for them.
I have a Switch, which has hundreds of games and great couch coöp. I can’t speak to most of the other concerns except creativity, and to that I say: Any platform open to indie devs is one that won’t suffer from lack of creativity. You’ll have to deal with Sturgeon’s Law, but that was always true.
Thank you for your comment. The Switch is indeed a the nice exception of this generation.
I don’t know what this sub’s view on that is, but a hacked switch is especially nice, since usually the latest releases won’t be cracked right away but older ones will be
Have I stumbled upon the only Switch comment about indie that doesn’t have a Steam Deck response?
Wait… What have I done…
People are mentioning handheld consoles when talking about handheld consoles? So weird.
Part of the value of the Switch is being able to put it in the dock and connect to TV. It’s a lot harder to co-op when you only have the little screen.
I mean, I’m all for play what you want, thus my joke, but the SD can do that, too.
oh I never hear people talk about docking their steam deck! Thats very enticing.
I usually stick to PC which has a stellar track record for backward-compatibility and emulation capability, or with last-gen consoles that have an established game library.
I’m not going to buy a next-gen console based on promises and hypotheticals.
Pretty much this. Haven’t bought a console since 2010. Fully on Steam.
Games from forever ago work. And now it’s portable on Steam Deck.
Unless you’re obsessed with the latest releases, PC is great. Even exclusives are getting on Steam. The only thing that’s not on PC is Nintendo… “Officially” anyways.
I think the Switch and the Steamdeck/PC are where the creativity is. Indie devs are making games themselves instead of working for large game development studios. If it’s popular enough they publish on Switch as well since it’s Arm based. Mobile is where it’s at honestly.
Agreed, I’m fairly impressed how many games Nintendo is still releasing for Switch very late in its lifetime.
I was so excited about the potential of the PS5 hardware, yet here we are and I’ve only really bought 2 games really made for it: Returnal and Stellar Blade. In the same timeframe I’ve also bought and played at least a dozen bangers on my Steam Deck, some of those being new releases like Hi-Fi Rush that the Deck could play flawlessly. AAA is an albatross.
I did something similar. I also got the premium version of the PlayStation Plus. It was fun enough for awhile. I let that lapse and now my $40 Hell Divers 2 is useless. I forgot how much I hate consoles because of having to pay for multiplayer.
I don’t even turn my Series X on…I’m tired of call of duty and my switch plays the same games
Creative industries in general have been somewhat stagnant including TV, video games, movies, and so on.
Part of it is the raw bureaucratization of society where box checkers and rule followers are getting into creative positions and being uncreative.
That’s also why there are good things out there in niche spaces, because creative people didn’t disappear they’re just keeping low.
I have got the PS5 for a year or two and, I haven’t really touched it at all. There were only a handful games that I enjoyed. Didn’t like the new Horizon forbidden west nor God of war Ragnarok, they felt just way to “same-y” (if that makes sense).
I refuse to get a Switch because, I genuinely dislike Nintendo as a company. Though thats for another time.
This also might’ve to do with the fact that I bought a gaming PC and do everything on there. I’m currently busy with Alan Wake 2, Last of us 1 and later on probably Hellblade 2.
But yeah, I agree. Console gaming has been a bit disappointing.
I refuse to get a Switch because, I genuinely dislike Nintendo as a company. Though thats for another time.
Absolutely wild to hate Nintendo but support Microsoft or Sony 😅 they’ve got their share of sins, sure, but they aren’t nearly as anti-competitive or scummy as the other two, especially not if you look deeper than the surface.
Just as other people have reasons to dislike certain companies, so do I have mine to dislike Nintendo as a whole. The reason why I didn’t went into it fully is because this isn’t the right thread for it.
However if you want a deeper dive into my reasons, let me know. I’ll let you know but might take few days as I’m currently lying sick in bed.
currently lying sick in bed.
Hope you’ll get better soon!
As someone who hates talking on the phone, I do not mind a bit that we’re moving away from voice communications
Voice communications are pretty simple on console too. I prefer to turn it off even if games have it, unless I am playing with an actual friend, so that default is fine by me. And when actually using it, it’s pretty easy, takes just a few button clicks. PS5 even got discord integration recently, but all my multiplayer friends are on PS, so didn’t had a need to test that. Though I don’t play on PC so I am not sure if discord on PC is even easier.
As for creativity, indies are leading in that department (and Nintendo has been pretty good too!). There are some great games out there, but unfortunately for AAA when you spend millions of dollars on a game over 4-5 years, it becomes a big risk, specially in today’s environment where even a successful game doesn’t ensure you won’t be layed off, an unsuccessful game is just a suicide.
But in general, yeah, kinda disappointed by the current gen. Eagerly waiting for Switch 2 though.
I don’t find a lot of the things in the video that relevant to be honest. Not many people speaking online in games? Sure, but I never spoke with randoms to begin with. Discord seems to work fine on the PS5 from my experience. Do either of those things really affect the decision to buy a console? Games taking a while to download - you have the same thing on Steam.
I could definitely see that developers being shackled to the previous generation is an issue. Having to develop/optimise for 11 year old hardware must limit creativity.
Being a patient gamer, I think a lot of the issues people have with lack of current gen games isn’t so much of an issue for me. There are a ton of previous gen games that I never got round to playing, and the PS5 experience in playing them is superior. And there are a ton of current gen games I’ve now got my eye on - GTA 6, Spiderman 2, GoW Ragnarok, Dragons Dogma 2, Baldur’s Gate, FF7 Rebirth, Death Stranding 2, Astrobot, Monster Hunter Wilds, Resident Evil 4 remake and MGS3 remake.
I agree that PC is the best option in a lot of cases. For me, I like sitting back on a sofa with a controller. The Steam Deck is really great for this but it’s not powerful enough to play a lot of modern games at full res. The PS5 is filling that niche for me.
