By Chris Kavan - 03/05/15 at 08:17 PM CT
While I wasn't gung-ho about jumping into the new generation of gaming systems, I was presented with a deal I couldn't pass up and wound up with a brand new Playstation 4. The Nintendo WiiU has been fun, but nothing I was dying to get. The PS4 was likewise on my "somewhere down the road" list, but I was willing to give it time. That being said, after jumping in, have played (or am playing) two of the most highly-regarded games - Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age: Inquisition. One will also note they are both cross-platform games.
There is nothing wrong with the PS4 - graphics-wise, it is certainly a beast. But I have never been one to hang my hat on how good graphics are (as seen my my less-than-stellar PC setup). However, at this time, it may be the most impressive thing about the system. Exclusives? Thus far they have been few and far between - Knack and Infamous: Second Son both launched with the system - though both were somewhat successful, neither were overwhelmingly good - nor really a system-seller. The recently-released The Order: 1886 has fared even worse. That being said - upcoming exclusive, including Street Fighter V, Bloodborne, Until Dawn, a new Uncharted game, No Man's Sky, a new Ratchet and Clank, a Dragon Quest Heroes (a Warriors-style beat 'em up in the spirit of Hyrule Warriors), new games in the Persona, Disgaea and Hyperdimensional Neptunia franchises - I'm not saying I'm going to get them all, but it looks like the exclusives on the horizon at least provide some much-needed value to the system.
But it's not just games that are on the horizon, the much-hyped Project Morpheus is set for release in 2016. The PS4 VR headset could be the future of gaming... or it could be another fad (cough Kinect cough) that is more of a novelty than a true revolution. Still, it's bound to be more interesting than the half-assed "Move" that tried to copy the Wii controls... at least I hope so. If games are actually designed or can implement the Morpheus in some way... it could literally be a game-changer. I imagine playing something like the teased "Silent Hills" with such a setup - and it kind of gives me chills. Still, it's a bit away, so who knows how they are going to spin this. One thing is for certain... it's something!
What am I most excited about? More multi-platform games! The Witcher 3, Final Fantasy Type-O (and XV if they ever finish it), Dying Light, Batman: Arkham Knight, Far Cry 4 and (maybe) an all-new Rock Band. And there is some reason that I am glad I have a PS4 for some of these: namely, 1) even though many of the games are available for the PS3 - the last-gen system can't handle the load as well (see the terrible downgrade to Shadow of Mordor for example) 2) my PC may be able to handle some of the latest releases, but I believe many of the upcoming titles (Witcher 3, for example) are just going to be too much for my computer to handle. Could I upgrade? Would PC ultimately be better? Probably - but I still feel my investment has a longer-term prospect than upgrading my hardware (eventually I'll be forced to - but I'll cross that bridge when I get there).
If you're wondering why I haven't brought up the operating system, mutli-player or other aspects - well, it's because I just haven't explored them much. I don't have PS+, and since I did pretty much zero online multiplayer with the PS3, I don't see that changing. The interface is... fine, I guess. There have been some outages (including a much-antagonizing Christmas takedown) that could have been handled better - but, overall, it has run smoothly. Eh - I don't have much else to say on the subject.
My final advice - if you're thinking about jumping in to the next generation - you can probably wait (especially if you have a good computer set-up). I would say this year is going to finally bring some decent exclusives - so maybe Christmas of this year would be the time to jump in (or summer, if you just can't wait) and I think things are really going to get interesting when Project Morpheus finally drops (whether it will truly be next year - who knows for sure). Wait for some of the newer games to drop in price (and maybe even the system itself - but don't hold your breath), snatch up some good deals and settle in.
Comments
Jonzor - wrote on 03/15/15 at 11:43 PM CT
Probably. I don't know if anyone has put out specs yet, but Arkham Knight DOES sound like a bit of a beast. I've seen interviews saying if you put the model of the Batmobile into a 360 it MIGHT have enough processing power to rotate the model so you can look at it 'cause the polygon count is so high.
But then I'm playing in my office, since my PC isn't hooked up to a TV. And I don't know which version will look better, the PS4 or the whatever-settings-my-PC-runs-on.
In the end, it doesn't feel like a PC game. I still have some unreasonable segregation of stuff into "PC games" and "console games" groups. Most 3rd person affairs I'll usually relegate to a console.
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/15/15 at 02:04 PM CT
Jonzor, won't your PC run Arkham Knight?
Jonzor - wrote on 03/07/15 at 09:14 PM CT
Once Batman: Arkham Knight comes out, it's going to get harder to say no to a PS4. I'll soon be keeping an eye out for a good bundle from Amazon or Target or that throws in an extra controller or something.
