Why PS5, Series X Games Have Yet to Blow Us Away

IGN: This week we have a very special guest, developer Thomas Puha from Remedy, makers of IGN's 2019 game of the year, Control. We talk PS5 activity cards and what it was like adding activity cards to the PS5 version of Control, porting control to next-gen in general and what the team used to really upgrade to a PS5 and Xbox Series X experience, why making games for PC, PS5, Series X, Series S, PS4 and Xbox One all at the same time "sucks" for developers and how that effects the games they're able to put out.

[garos82]

When they not complaining about lack of assist modes, they moan about not getting blown away by freebies given to them. If demon souls isnt eye opening or hasnt blown you away you have no clue what you are talking about. typical nonsense journalism.

[darthv72]

I personally have not played Demon Souls (original or PS5) but I can say I have been impressed with the way new hardware brings existing games into a new light. One of the first i played on the Series S was Ori Will of Wisp and that was stunning on my Samsung 4K tv. Running at 60fps with HDR lighting really made the colors POP. I had never seen anything quite like it honestly. And that is only the beginning, for when development leaves the previous XBO behind and all attention is on the Series line... it can only get better.

[Locutus_of_borg]

How are you liking the Series S ... would like to hear your thoughts .

[darthv72]

^I like it, sure it doesnt have an optical drive but I have a One X to play those games. As it is I was very impressed with it's overall size. It is pretty much the same as an original fat PS2 in terms of overall space it takes up. And it is very fast and quiet. Load times are not like I'm used to and quick resume is pretty neat. The only games I have installed to it are those listed as X/S optimized so Dirt 5, The Medium, Ori Will of Wisp. I have an external 4tb drive that holds all my other digital games from og, 360 and xbo.

Game pass was already a deal for me before getting the SS and now I am going back through some of the library in search of S optimized games. I need to get me one of those expansion cards as I know I will run out of space soon with Gears 5 and just queued up both Jedi Fallen Order and Squadrons (both have X/S updates for improved performance). Overall I am very pleased with it. The only thing better would be the SX but that one will have to wait, same with the PS5 because they are so damn hard to get (without resorting to scalpers).

[remixx116]

What made you opt for a S over a series X and how does it compare to your one?

[darthv72]

@remixx, I got the S because the X was sold out and I wasn't going to pass up my chance to have something. Gamestop had sent out an email that they were going to do more preorders on a certain date and time. I was right there to click on it and in less than 2 minutes the X's were all sold out and I jumped on the S and as I was finishing up my order, they sold out. I didnt receive it for a couple of weeks because they didnt have stock to ship.

As far as comparisons go, I like my One X just fine but the same games played on the Series S are noticeably better. Like having a solid 60fps on jedi fallen order vs 45-60 on the one x. And its just so cute. I know the Series S gets lots of hate, because it isnt at the same performance level as the Series X but it is able to hold its own. It really is an impressive little machine and I know I will get much enjoyment out of it in the meantime while I wait to get the PS5 and a Series X.

[DaveZero]

All these Nay Sayers downvoting.
For people who have a series S we know full well how capable that machine is, it's the fanboys that don't.

I've played Conan exiles on an Xbox one and an Xbox X then on my series S and boy does it blow away the last gens consoles abilities.

Everything in the series S is just absolutely magnified to the point it's more than capable of doing a fine job at whatever the Devs can put out which leads me to wonder what the ps5 and Xbox series X are capable of. Load times were crazy reduced for a start, then you have all the draw distance, graphical upgrade and FPS upgrade, not one bit of lag, just so smooth. Yes Conan is a demanding game to the point last gens just couldn't cope with it well.

Any game I've played on my series S I can honestly say the series S has not been tested yet and I am looking to see what games this gen will truly put it to the test. If we get through this gen without a game managing to break the series S then for the price and what MS did which was to get customers who wanted the cheap way into gaming, well they deserve an award for it to be fair, especially if it can hang with the big boys PS5 and Series X

[Einhander1971]

Totally agree mate.

[patriz420]

I will agree with this statement.

[chronoforce]

Demon souls looks a cut above anything on the previous generation but stops short of being mind blowing. That UE5 demo is mind blowing.

[GamerRN]

If we can get a game like that UE5 demo, that would be amazing... That being said, I doubt it. No AI characters, no NPCs, and very little interaction, and the best the PS5 got was sub 1440p at 30fps

[mcstorm]

This is what i always find funny about demos like the ue5 one. They are tech demos not games. Remember the zelda tech demo from Nintendo years ago?

Once you add everything to a game then it will never look as good.

For me i dont need a game to make my mid blown away. This gen seems to be about fps and for me how it should be. Ide rather have a gaming running at 60fps and look good than running at 30fps and look really good. You dont sit and admire the view when playing a game.

I do think we will get amazing looking games from sony and Microsoft but i do feel it will be more of a choice like on a pc. Abit like spiderman is.

That said we are also in the cross over period of a new gen and alot of games are ports to the new consoles rather than created for them. Its also part of the reason you see Microsoft doing the 60fps updates on old games for the series x.

[TheEroica]

With all due respect, demon souls came out a decade ago... Why should they pretend to be blown away by something they've already played?

[garos82]

thats far from the point. the visual upgrade, running at 60fps plus that insane loading speed is what blew me away. Fast travelling and seeing how quickly high quality assets are getting streamed in an almost instant IS game changing. This is only the beginning, wait till really talented studios start bringing their creations to life and are not bogged down by last gen, then the jaws will trully hit the floor

[NeoGamer232]

There was some info to be gleaned from that video if you watched all the way through. My takeaways:

1) Getting stuff just to run on nextgen hardware was easy. Getting it to run well took time
2) Sony's tools are ahead of the XB's tools at launch because Sony stuck to things that were similar to last gen where as XB is doing new things.
3) The last gen engines were designed for last gen devices so next gen designed engines will be able to do a lot more
4) XSS is going to affect the design of games if they are CPU or GPU bound. But this is a reality always faced with devices. There is always a lower spec device that drives what can be done.
5) Load time improvements in Control were freebies. True, next gen games will improve that stuff further.

[Rude-ro]

Because hardware NEVER brings “next gen”...
Game engines do.
Hardware ALLOWS more to be done, but the investment is in the game engines and tools that take advantage of the hardware.

Who invests/invested more in said area?

We are raised off of catch phrases and hype marketing... while in reality, we would just get modified game engines with more pixels from major third party developers.

Noticing the changes are minute.
Sony and their developers spent the better part of the PS4 gen making new game engines and tools...
If you sit there and break down the details of every game, you would notice the extra mile that was put into games like horizon, gran turismo, the last of us 2 and even the last uncharted....
But in a mass market YouTube community, you just see a game and advancements do not stand out unless broken down for us.
Something as simple as a characters interaction with the environment while walking is huge.
Look at cyberpunk and watch the shadow of the character. It is as simple as an animation can be... but coated to “look” better compared to Nathan drake in uncharted that has far more animations while just walking through a cave.
It takes the combination of the power, tools, and engine to advance gaming.

Demon souls “looks” phenomenal... but all of that beauty is on the old engine. This is hardware being utilized to offer more. Your advancements are eye candy alone.

Cod still uses a modified 1998 game engine...
Ie this why they wow you with said eye candy, but then the game is still as stale as it was 6 years ago.

Your major third party developers want cheap production, safe bets, and cash cows.

Gaming “feels” stale as a whole due to this illusion of “power” and our inability to fully realize the differences.
Competition will abuse this.

Halo infinite looks like halo from the 360 days but on a bigger map. Once again, like cyberpunk, watch the shadows. It is a bot. Old engine being modified. Nothing wrong with this... but after a couple of hours, the colors and hd becomes normal to the average viewer and what is left to be judged is the actual game engine and if a game feels stale or repetitive.

So in long, not enough hardware is out there or available to see what a company will offer for that next gen feel or any advancements with any game engine.
Why try to cash in on said advancements when you can not even meet demand on the hardware for said software?

But with Sony, Santa Monica, naughty dog, gorilla games, Sony studios, polyphony etc all invested in and advanced brand new game engines and tools. The confidence is there that will eventually shine on the ps5...
But most likely next year before the first “wow” must have title.

Microsoft? We do not know. They have not a made a new engine let alone a new AAA ip since the 360.
So 🤷🏻‍♀️
But they will tell you teraflops and more pixels is next gen.

[masterfox]

I wish they stop comparing the two of them, even thou they seem very close in specs, in one side they already show us a small glimpse of how a next gen games can be, and they do that with trailers of new IPs or games already released looking insanely great that no other game can be compare to it, and also not to mention the games that will be receiving in the next following months.

And now if we move to other side, not a freaking display of next gen games has been shown or released one, I mean everyone super excited to play year old games again on their 500 dlls machine?, that's really the excitement or to go out and spend that amount of money?, sure there was a huge buyout but and so what?, do you at least got a teaser of a new next gen game?, oh is because you have subscription to play yet again old games?, is that your definition of next gen?, yikes!, well in the end the sales speak for themselves. So yeah I wish they stop comparing them, one is on top for obvious reason and the other is trying to convince people with services to catch up that one in the top.

One already has blown us away and more is coming, and the other one hasn't simple as that.

[DJStotty]

Next-gen games have been shown for both.

not many have been released so far for either.

[Shiken]

@nfrog

They are both selling out. How can you try to call out bias, and then you yourself spew more bias?

[LOGICWINS]

"You're not fooling anyone and that's why PlayStation is selling out in seconds and xbox sits on shelves."

Okay, post a link to where you see a Series X available for purchase at regular price. I'll wait 😆

[Orchard]

@nfrog Please link me to the store where I can purchase an in-stock XSX.

[darthv72]

@frog... more like 1.5:1

[Orchard]

@nfrog So it's outselling it 2:1 (actually 1.5:1, but we'll go with 2:1 to make you happy). Yet Xbox just posted it's biggest quarter ever... and Nintendo are doing great too... It's almost like hardware sales (which are at a loss) are a small % of revenue for games companies...

p.s. Still waiting on that link to where I can buy my XSX in stock today.

[Orchard]

@nfrog Ah, so by 'xbox sits on shelves' you meant if you look REALLY hard, you can find one retailer in the world, who doesn't even have the X in stock, but has some S in stock. Bit of a misleading statement by yourself.

I wouldn't really consider it 'sitting on shelves' until I can walk into Walmart, Target or BestBuy right now and buy one - which I can't, unfortunately.

PS5 was in stock today on BestBuy, and Mediamarkt in Europe - does that mean it's not selling well? It's clear to anyone that PS5 and XSX are in short production numbers (along with GPU's and CPU's) and sell out immediately when they become available.

[Shiken]

@nfrog

The Series X sells out in seconds, so that basically means Sony just has more stock and thats it.

Real talk though, Series consoles will outsell the X1 easily. PS5 will likely sell more overall hardware than Series, but will likely sell less than PS4 because while it will sell more, MS will cut into their bottom line in due to being more successful than gen 8. MS will be more profitable overall due to gamepass and PC on top of increased console sales.

Gen 9 is shaping up to be great, with all three doing great. Any downplay to any of the big three right now is pathetically laughable. No amount of downplay will change that.

[Orchard]

@nfrog My point was you only managed to find one retailer with an XSS - clearly you tried to find an XSX and couldn't - same as me.

If you think XSX and PS5 aren't selling out online in seconds, you're living in a fantasy land.

@Shiken Exactly. Gen9 is shaping up to be great, with all companies seeing huge success & firing on all cylinders - which is great for us gamers - competition means good pricing/offers and lots of good content.

[Orchard]

@nfrog I guess if you consider being factual and realistic as ridiculous, yes, we are very ridiculous.

[Malacath]

@nfrog

Both consoles are selling out. Nothing is remaining on shelves.

Honestly what do you get out of being a fanboy that has to make things up and hate on the console you don't own?

It's pathetic.

[DJStotty]

@nfrog

"Ah the old xbox has no games so try to say both consoles have no games."

No, that is just what your little imagination came up with.

Neither console has many next-gen games on the market, a cross platform game is not next-gen, don't be angry at facts.

Signs of someone losing an argument is when they start personal attacks like "You guys are just ridiculous."

Facts :

PS5/PS5 DE is outselling Xbox S and X by a ratio of 1.5:1

Neither console has any next-gen games currently on the market, the xbox even less.

Stores sell out of the Series X and PS5/PS5 DE within minutes of getting stock, some stores have Series S available, as more gamers want the X not the S.

Nfrog, you tried really hard to somehow discredit factual information provided by people.

Maybe in the future, fact check before commenting.

P.S. i have showed no bias, only stated factual information, available to anyone with a computer and a quick google search, but i am open to be proven wrong....i'll wait....

[LOGICWINS]

Well....your comments are always entertaining to read. That I can't deny lol.

[InUrFoxHole]

TRIGGERED.

[The_Beat]

So, basically an article that pretends to be one thing but just ends up being an article talking down PS5's cards and controller features. How unsurprising.

[sactownlawyer916]

Yah IGN has turned pretty anti PlayStation. It’s just hit piece after hit piece against PlayStation.

[Zhipp]

It's not an article. it's a video interview with one of the developers of Control. He had nothing but positive things to say about the PS5 and the cards system. The controller didnt come up at all. he went into some of the complications of developing for these new systems, but was all around positive about everything except for the series s.

Shame on you, dude. You literally pulled your entire narrative out of thin air. Next gen games haven't blown us away compared to what we're gonna see when the titles built from the ground up with the new tools start releasing. That was the gist of that statement.

[shabz666]

Lol, Nobody watches the videos here, you should know that by now.

Interesting bit about the interview was that implementation of the dual sense came late into development. Eventhough it was the first thing Sony showcased about the ps5. And the guy confirms that ms dev tools were behind and Sony was much more ready for next gen development.

[OB1Biker]

I agree it was an interesting video. Even part of the video is taken out of context on twitter to brag about the tools or other things pushing console warriors narratives. It's nice to see the dev being genuine about Series S and how development turned out to be comparing PS and Xbox. Everyone will put words in his mouth for their own narrative though.

[isarai]

I disagree, Demon's souls is a marvel to look at, the attention to detail is absurd! Astrobot excited me like i was a child when feeling everything the Dualsense can do. It really gave me the sense of wow i had when playing the likes of Ape Escape, or when first playing a 3D game.

And just in general i cannot get over the instantaneous nature of next gen games. Godfall, Astrobot, Spider-man, Demon's Souls all are so quick to load that it really feels like i'm back playing on the n64, nothing breaks the experience, it's amazing!

The drought rught now is real for sure, but those examples blew me away, and im excited to see what else is in store

[ocelot07]

Speak for your self. My favourite game ever got a masterpiece of a remake and I was blown away day one that game would he demon's souls.

Also Astro Bot a free game shipped with every ps5. Not only was it fun it was mind blowing showing of the features for the duelsense.

Admittedly other than them 2 noting else has "blown me away" but I have enjoyed other games. Then again I still have a few games I have yet to play like spider man, sackboy adventures, hitman 3.

We are only 4 months into next gen consoles life span. At least with playstation they have the likes of horizon 2, god of war 2, ratchet and clank and gran turismo coming in the next 12 months. At.least give both systems 12 months before complaining.

[SCW1982]

Don't sleep on Returnal either

[ocelot07]

I shamefully keep forgetting about that.

[Minute Man 721]

Still can't find a XsX or PS5 😞

[BrainSyphoned]

Use the walmart app and spam the add to cart button when they get stock. Finally got mine yesterday (April 10 shipment) doing just that off advice from one of the 24/7 stock watchers on youtube. Blaze2k is the streamer. Best Buy stock right now.

[frostypants]

Also gotta already have your payment info entered into an already-created Walmart account. Otherwise they'll sell your PS5 to someone else while you're entering payment details. Use paypal if possible, too, since Walmart seems to trigger bank card fraud alerts.

[SCW1982]

Got a PS5 at launch and bought a Series X through all access a month ago with no issues. I feel for ya bro.

[Sayai jin]

Sign up for Twitter Ps5 and/or Xbox stock alerts.

[gold_drake]

mate, we're in the middle of pandemic times. consoles are sparse, new games are sparse due to it.

play with your toes if u need to be blown away.

people these days, honestly. if theres nothing to complain, they complain about absolut nothing, being nothing.

[Hellcat2020]

I want to complain about storage space on my ps5
I have to delete games from here on out to add new games

[anast]

I was lucky enough to get 10 PS5s, but I don't like the way they look when I stack them in a pyramid. It throws off my whole living room.

[SegaSaturn669]

I'm happy with the reduced load times and 60fps on last gen. Get me ps3 games and ill be blown away by ps5.

[darthv72]

I second that. PS3 should be a no brainer to add support for.

[Einhander1971]

Personally when Unreal engine 5 comes to fruition then we will start to see even more next gen quality.

[NextGenCeo]

Until PS2 era Consoles graphics was real deal. But After PS3 and Xbox 360 era PC gaming get higher graphic and compute power every single year. PS4 and Xbox One then today PS5 and Xbox Series X is not much more powerfull than our mid range PC at home. That`s why PC gaming and console gaming graphics tech not have gap anymore. What every PS5 or Xbox Series X gone show us, we already saw or we already know the tech actually from our PC hardwares.
(Sorry for English. ESL Guy.)

[Magog]

Hateful slobs. I was blown away by the Ray tracing in Control and Watch Dogs Legion and by the tight and joyful gameplay of Astro's Playroom.

[Thundercat77]

PS5 has already amazing jaw dropping games like Demon's Souls and Spider Man MM. This is tipical IGN where they take an Xbox situation and drags Playstation with it.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Demon's Souls Remake has blown me away and is the best to come out on current gen so far. Waiting for the next ps5 exclusive to drop.

[RaiderNation]

In all honestly, I wasn't looking to be "blown away." I was just looking for a better experience and so far my PS5 has given me that in spades. Playing Ghost of Tsushima at 4K/60fps with nearly zero loading alone has made having the PS5 worth it to me. Playing Spider Man and Miles Morales at 60fps with ray tracing was a wonderful experience on PS5. Playing Days Gone and God of War at 4K/60fps has been a fantastic experience! I've yet to play anything on my PS5 at anything less than 60fps and I don't even want to go back!

[WeAreLegion]

Diminishing returns on graphics.

That's where we are. That's all that needs to be said.

[ScootaKuH]

You don't need phenomenal graphics to be blown away though surely? The way you interact with a game is far more important than how it looks to me. This is where DualSense can make the difference.

Of course the developers have to ensure it's implemented properly though, unlike the likes of Yakuza Like a Dragon and AC Valhalla which barely use the features at all.

[Petebloodyonion]

I will not listen to the podcast because I don't have 20 min to waste on an opinion piece but here's my take.
Next-gen has yet to blow us and probably won't because it already failed the top marketed feature

1) 4k /60 frames as the bottom line.
Already the consoles are struggling to achieve that feature unless we use performance mode

2) Raytracing...
Wasn't Raytracing the main reason to get a Ps5 or Xbox series? always hear raytracing, raytracing, etc.... but to achieve 4k 60 frames you need to turn it off making the feature non-essential to the design of the game

So basically in the end we are currently just getting a soup-up versions of games that we are familiar with instead of getting new experiences.

[Tedakin]

The consoles are only 4 months old.

[DVAcme]

Simple: the first games that come out for a new console generation since around the PS3/360 are always transitional games, i.e. upscaled games that are also available for the previous gen. It isn't until a year or two in that we start seeing the true next gen experience, with developers having had time to get familiar with the new hardware and the user base being well-established enough to merit full-time development on it. This is nothing new, we've literally seen the same situation for a decade and a half, I don't know how this is in any way news-worthy.

[Visceral89]

Maybe because both consoles have only been out for 4 months during a pandemic

[TheColbertinator]

Give them time. They will have more ways to disappoint you later.

[SinisterKieran]

I guess feature wise I haven’t been blown away but demon souls visuals blow almost anything I’ve played out of the water. I think returnal has potential to blow me away.
Funny enough if I had to say what’s blown me away...I’d say Astro bot was amazing. Would love a larger game of that.

[ScootaKuH]

PS5 blew me away with a free game - Astro's Playroom. The reason? DualSense.

I'd heard about how good the haptics and adaptive triggers were but i couldn't have known just how effective they were until I tried them myself.

I'm not fussed about graphics, I care more about immersion and the experience, and this is where DualSense really excels when it's implemented properly. It is easily the biggest advancement in controllers for some time. For me this is where the revolution is, not in the graphical capabilities of the consoles

[Imortus_san]

Most games will always be PS1 games with better graphics, that's a fact.

[Einhander1971]

As with every new gen, you get always get that cross over period from the previous generation. Once developers start pushing the envelope, and consumers have next gen consoles then eventually games won't be possible on the old. At the moment its just remasters with a few extras, even though I'm fine with that. As I've said before we ain't seen nothing yet the best is to come, second gen PSVR as well:)

[RosweeSon]

Uh because there haven’t really been anywhere, I enjoyed miles morales but just a prettier version of previous Spider-Man new missions character etc and no ones telling me fifa cod and assassins creed are next generation versions 😑😑🤣
28540; heard great things about demon souls but not got the patience for that 😅😅🤣 luckily may isn’t far off now. Returnal (end of April, or start of June once price has a dropped a bit £70 🤨😑😜) may has Resi8 and Deathloop both of which should be using Ps5 features and geared towards those consoles rather than built for existing (last gen) and ported like majority so far. June has Ratchet then the rest is still to be announce Kena looks great also. Thankfully even buying PS4 day1 still got plenty of top games to get through so enjoying the quiet ish launch period and catching up. Free games have been pretty great so saves me paying £70 a game day1 (not happening for majority of current releases)
Resi8 and deathloop are £48 day1
Not disappointed getting it day1 tho great system.

[Miraak82]

It takes about a couple years after a console release before we truly see their potential , been gaming 35 years and it’s the way it’s always been . Writing articles like this shows how naive people can be

[C-H-E-F]

Uhhh Spider Man Miles Morales, Demon Souls, there's a few exclusives that are amazing, The PS5 controller itself adds to immersion as well. I can't speak on series x cause I don't own one, but my PS5 has been blowing me a way for sure.