This really doesn't impress me. Graphical fidelity is pointless if you can't buy the hardware to enjoy it, or have to rent the experience through a cloud provider, or as we're seeing now, don't even own the game you're playing. And if the games take a decade to come out, it doesn't impress me. And if they're unplayable and full of bugs at launch, it doesn't impress me.
Call me old, sure, but I don't think I've actually been fully impressed with a game for at least ten years now. I've had fun with them, absolutely. But the feeling of "wow we're in the future!" hasn't really gripped me for some time since all the improvements seem to come hand in hand with significant drawbacks.
disclaimer added after posting: I just kinda ramble on, don't read this if you're after any useful insight.
> if you can't buy the hardware to enjoy it
In fairness, that's a recent problem and not the fault of the game companies.
> if the games take a decade to come out
And this is only an issue if the game's release has been teased for 8 of those 10 years.
The last time I felt the "wow, we're in the future" feeling was the stereoscopic (VR) viewing of 360-degree Youtube videos via Phone + headset (eg. Google cardboard), like skydiving and wingsuit flying videos. I reckon that's going back maybe 10 years. But I'm not a gamer (any more) so I can't comment on modern gaming experience - although Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA6 look exciting to me - entirely based on their marketing videos (aware that it's specifically the best examples that are chosen).
I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently about, what more can we do? Is there a VR version of GTA6? Do we yet have full haptic feedback suits and gyro rigs that we can run and fly and drive and shoot in? How far away are we from that next level of immersion? (looking at the price of 32Gb of RAM, a long fucking way).
Following that last train of though, what is AI costing us in terms of the progress of other technologies? Will it eventually bring the other things faster?
As a middle-aged parent, I don't game any more, but I keep my finger very loosely on the pulse. I'm slow acquiring a library of only the highest rated / quality games, purchased at old/heavily-discounted prices, to play in my retirement when I may have the time to spare and my physicality prevents me from participating in more healthy, active pursuits. I'm looking forward to it, but also will be fine if that future never arrives due to staying fit and healthy until the lights eventually go out.
The future is, and always was, analogue. Until the actual future arrives where we can upload our minds (into Microsoft's or Google's cloud, no thanks! I'll host my own). Only then will the future be digital / electronic.
Honestly I'm in the same boat as you and don't necessarily disagree with anything there (except I'm quite pessimistic about the future, I think my kids will be pretending to play mario with shadow puppets on a burned out CRT in the wastelands in the near future). But while most of my issues with modern gaming aren't at all just the studio's fault, none of it exists in a vacuum and I think the overall life experience of seeing game tech go from nothing, to the golden era of the early-mid 00s, to now the dumpster fire thats happening with all technology has just left me sour.
Also I was so super hyped for CP2077, and it missed the mark for me unfortunately, and that was depressing. I'm desperately wanting to play Baldur's gate 3 as I've been assured that its great. I also suffer from the lack of time issue however, lol.
This really doesn't impress me. Graphical fidelity is pointless if you can't buy the hardware to enjoy it, or have to rent the experience through a cloud provider, or as we're seeing now, don't even own the game you're playing. And if the games take a decade to come out, it doesn't impress me. And if they're unplayable and full of bugs at launch, it doesn't impress me.
Call me old, sure, but I don't think I've actually been fully impressed with a game for at least ten years now. I've had fun with them, absolutely. But the feeling of "wow we're in the future!" hasn't really gripped me for some time since all the improvements seem to come hand in hand with significant drawbacks.
disclaimer added after posting: I just kinda ramble on, don't read this if you're after any useful insight.
> if you can't buy the hardware to enjoy it
In fairness, that's a recent problem and not the fault of the game companies.
> if the games take a decade to come out
And this is only an issue if the game's release has been teased for 8 of those 10 years.
The last time I felt the "wow, we're in the future" feeling was the stereoscopic (VR) viewing of 360-degree Youtube videos via Phone + headset (eg. Google cardboard), like skydiving and wingsuit flying videos. I reckon that's going back maybe 10 years. But I'm not a gamer (any more) so I can't comment on modern gaming experience - although Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA6 look exciting to me - entirely based on their marketing videos (aware that it's specifically the best examples that are chosen).
I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently about, what more can we do? Is there a VR version of GTA6? Do we yet have full haptic feedback suits and gyro rigs that we can run and fly and drive and shoot in? How far away are we from that next level of immersion? (looking at the price of 32Gb of RAM, a long fucking way).
Following that last train of though, what is AI costing us in terms of the progress of other technologies? Will it eventually bring the other things faster?
As a middle-aged parent, I don't game any more, but I keep my finger very loosely on the pulse. I'm slow acquiring a library of only the highest rated / quality games, purchased at old/heavily-discounted prices, to play in my retirement when I may have the time to spare and my physicality prevents me from participating in more healthy, active pursuits. I'm looking forward to it, but also will be fine if that future never arrives due to staying fit and healthy until the lights eventually go out.
The future is, and always was, analogue. Until the actual future arrives where we can upload our minds (into Microsoft's or Google's cloud, no thanks! I'll host my own). Only then will the future be digital / electronic.
Honestly I'm in the same boat as you and don't necessarily disagree with anything there (except I'm quite pessimistic about the future, I think my kids will be pretending to play mario with shadow puppets on a burned out CRT in the wastelands in the near future). But while most of my issues with modern gaming aren't at all just the studio's fault, none of it exists in a vacuum and I think the overall life experience of seeing game tech go from nothing, to the golden era of the early-mid 00s, to now the dumpster fire thats happening with all technology has just left me sour.
Also I was so super hyped for CP2077, and it missed the mark for me unfortunately, and that was depressing. I'm desperately wanting to play Baldur's gate 3 as I've been assured that its great. I also suffer from the lack of time issue however, lol.
I think there are good uses of DLSS 5 when the developer can set it up how they want, this one is perhaps a bit over-the-top though.