The latest gaming consoles still feel unjustified in 2024
Gaming Bolt’s recent video brings into sharp focus precisely what many of us think about the PS5/Xbox Series generation
KOSTAS FARKONAS
PublishED: July 1, 2024
It’s not often that yours truly suggests that everyone should read a story or watch a video about any specific games industry topic, but this really is one such example that needs to get the attention it deserves: Gaming Bolt has recently published a video titled “This Console Generation Has Been Completely Useless So Far”, taking a look at what the PlayStation5 and the Xbox Series S/X have offered gamers up until now, three and a half years after their release (so currently in the middle of their expected lifecycle). The gist of it: the latest gaming consoles still feel unjustified in 2024.
This opinion piece in video form does a good job at explaining what yours truly and other journalists have already expressed publicly and discussed privately with friends and colleagues: that the current PlayStation and Xbox generations have not yet done nearly enough to justify their existence in the eyes of consumers – not in the only way that matters anyway, which is by offering high-quality exclusive games that truly leverage the hardware of these consoles. In contrast to what happened during the previous generations of PlayStation or Xbox hardware, either platform has precious little examples of exclusive AAA productions to show for itself and, just as the Gaming Bolt video states, it’s fair to say that PS4/Xbox One owners have not missed all that much by not making this transition yet.
There are points made during this video that yours truly could not agree more with and others that invite further discussion. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, was clearly to blame for the slow uptake of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X because of stock shortages, as well as for disrupting the development cycle of many AAA games. On the other hand, is now clear that the pandemic was not to blame for Sony’s questionable first-party cross-generation strategy (which was planned and executed way before 2020) or for Microsoft undeniable mismanagement of the Xbox development studios and the platform’s highly erratic release schedule (both of which effectively cost the company this console generation).
It’s true that the circumstances surrounding the current generation of console hardware were different compared to those under which the PS3/Xbox 360 or PS4/Xbox One generations launched and thrived. Stock shortages, ballooning development budgets, higher game prices, underwhelming launch game lineups, an emphasis on services and subscriptions, no price cuts to speak of… all played their part in holding the PS5/Xbox Series back during the last four years or so. At the same time, though, promises were broken, new technologies like SSDs or raytracing were not leveraged in innovative or even interesting ways, while extremely few creative risks were taken by every company still having that luxury. Profit above everything else has negatively affected the mentality, practices and output of the gaming industry as a whole – a still ongoing process that will surely influence the next generation of home entertainment systems too.
In any case, Gaming Bolt‘s video obviously deserves a watch not just because it happens to align with the view that yours truly and many others share regarding this generation of console hardware: it really does because it brings context to the reasons why gamers need to start asking more of platform holders and major publishers alike. With a few notable exceptions, all that consumers who invested in a PS5 or Xbox Series S/X since 2020 got in return were too many cross-gen games, too many heavily monetized games, too many derivative games and definitely far too many remasters or remakes. This simply will not do. Here’s hope that the back half of this console generation makes up for what we’ve been offered up until now. Better late than never, no?