Video games are a huge part of my life and I'm sure it is at least a small portion of everyone else's. There's exciting new developments in the gaming world for 2020, and I have a few short opinions.
Playstation vs. Xbox:
- PS5 will have much better data streaming than Xbox and PC due to it's custom SSD architecture. What that means for me is shorter load times, and less pop-ins for graphical assets. I'm sure there are more technical explanations but that's really unnecessary for me.
- Xbox Series X has higher specifications on paper than PS5, but that doesn't account for much. The previous model XBox One X was also more powerful than the PS4 Pro and it did not outsell the PS4 Pro. However, games will look great on both. Healthy competition between the two consoles drives the quality higher and higher.
- XBOX has an impressive marketing department, but they try to mess with consumers by confusing them with their weird naming schemes. Because the Xbox started one generation behind Playstation they did not want to appear as they were behind even though their hardware was superior. Playstation 2 was already out when the first Xbox was released. When PS3 came out, Xbox didn't want to change their comparative console to be named Xbox 2, but rather named it the Xbox 360 just so that it had a bigger, longer number than PS3. When PS4 released, Microsoft didn't want to call it Xbox 3, rather they called it Xbox One. Now with the Playstation 5 on the horizon, the next Xbox will not be Xbox 4, but rather Xbox Series X. At least Sony is keeping it straight forward with the linear naming and you know exactly what generation of hardware you are getting.
- In the end I will get both. I do prefer PS5 because of it's game lineup and exclusives and so I will be buying that console first. Xbox Series X will be great but it won't have any exclusive titles like Halo Infinite or Forza Horizon 5 until at least year 2022, and the majority of it's games will be available on other platforms anyways. The XSX purchase will come later.
Downloadable Content:
- Downloadable content can be categorised as Expansion DLC or Microtransaction DLC. Sometimes both are combined.
- DLC should never be pay to win. Game companies should not sell powerful items to players for real money. It should be earned in-game. If players can buy better items that make their avatar more powerful, it enables an unfair advantage over players that do not buy said DLC. That's just unethical and bad practice. What if one player legitimately spent hundreds of hours of gameplay to get a powerful item, but then at the same time, a different player who played for just minutes, went and bought it outright with real money. That is just a ridiculous situation.
- DLC should not be used to sell random loot boxes. Much like slot machines, it is a form of gambling, and this type of scum baggery should not be allowed in video games. It gives false hope to players that they will win something big, but in fact are just draining and wasting their money away.
- Some smart game developers have actively heard the community outcries and have turned some DLC into cosmetic items, which make the player's avatar look cool and stylish, but does not give them an unfair advantage over other players. That's a good thing. More games need to do this. Path Of Exile and Fortnite are good examples where the entire game is actually free but the money made from the game is done through cosmetic DLC Microtransaction sales. Sure, it looks good when you buy a fancy cosmetic, but does it give you more game to play? Nope.
- Expansion DLC should include a moderate amount of extended gameplay content so that players can explore new areas or try new items. It needs to be priced accordingly as well. Some DLC is overpriced for what you get as a player in return.
Remasters and Remakes:
- I am a big fan of these. It helps me to revisit old games with improved graphics and fidelity, and makes them more enjoyable.
- I am not a fan of re-buying a game I've already played and previously owned. There should be some kind of licensing that allows players of the original game to have the newly remastered game for free or at least an option to buy it at a heavily discounted price point.
- Xbox Series X is making some progress by introducing their new Xbox Smart Delivery, which will automatically give you the best version of the game that you own.
Crossplay and Cross-save:
- Similar to the Remaster problem, I don't want to buy a game that I already own, every time that I switch to a different platform or a newer generation console.
- There needs to be some kind of licensing system, where we buy one version of the game, but can use it on any platform whether it be PC, Xbox, Nintendo, or Playstation systems. There is likely a very long wait for a fix to this glaring problem as all game companies are out to get our money by any means necessary. They are forcing us to double-dip, triple-dip, quadruple-dip or even more so that we keep having to buy the same game over and over, but on different platforms and systems.
- crossplay and cross-save games should be standardized and required for modern games. Being able to play any game with friends and family across multiple platforms would be the ultimate achievement.
- crossplay is pretty difficult to achieve since there are separations in the different types of gaming networks. A standardized central network must be built, per game to make this even work correctly. Fortnite is one instance where they are trying to make it work across all platforms.
- Destiny 2 is also making some progress with this by making their game cross-save across all available platforms. Although you can't play with friends or family at the same time across platforms, you can at least switch to the matching platform and continuing playing with the same universal saved progress.
My handle and ID is usually Phresh Ninja on all platforms with some variance. Catch some of my archived gameplay on Twitch or YouTube.
https://www.twitch.tv/phresh_ninja
https://www.youtube.com/user/phreshninja
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