Back in the 360 era, it was E3 time and they were hyping new consoles and I asked, what were we getting? My friend on Live said, "aren't you ready for new hardware?" And I was like, WTF does that mean? Prettier graphics? And he said, new consoles. Any question I had was just met with, "it'll be new" and I just let it drop.
But I always ask, aside from graphics, what do you get when you get a new gen these days. From Genesis to 64 to Xbox, I see the upgrades, the power, the control, connectivity, NEW ideas, etc. But after 360 and beyond, it's always graphics, graphics, graphix, GrAfFiXs! That's all people talk about, "look at those colors!" "wow, the water looks ace!" "Ray tracing!" "If this game is less than 60 frames then it's for faggits!"
Now I love the quick load times on PS5 and I like the frames and how smooth it looks. But what else have we gotten other than...superficial upgrades? We've had online for decades, rumble features for decades, water and light physics for decades, amazing sound for decades. Now all we seem to get is one dimensional sameness across multiple genres trying to get the same casual dollar by slowly dripping out a safe and similar experience. How many times have you read someone call Game X "an UbiSoft open world game, BUT BETTER!" or "done right!" ? Hell, people are STILL complaining that we still don't have a new GTA or a new "GTA". (think about it)
Maybe my old man yelling at the clouds is showing here but, I remember when we had droves of games coming out and people were playing them and having fun above all. Now that people have trapped themselves in the graphics box, games take way longer to make and are way more expensive on all fronts. Now we have less games and viable genres.
All in all, I think gaming peaked a while ago. Things are more stagnant than ever before. The "next big thing" is ALWAYS just around the corner in quarter 4, but it may get delayed. And then when it does come, it's been HEAVILY downgraded.
I miss fun...endless fun was nice
