With a new console generation, is the expectation of a huge
graphics jump. This time… that’s not really the case, which begs the question…
Are we hitting the Law of Diminishing Returns on consoles? The Law of
Diminishing Returns can be seen in almost everything, when you spend or improve
so much that the gains become smaller and smaller. This is usually a topic of
debate, and with every topic of debate, there are 2 sides to the issue, and I’ll
try to present both sides equally.
I’ll start with why people believe we hit the wall with the advent
of the PS4 and Xbox One. It’s quite hard to tell the difference between some of
the games and improvements for games like BF4 and AC4 are kind of minor. Unless
you have a direct comparison, it can be hard to tell the difference between the
games. Spec wise, none of the new consoles are really running in new
resolutions: some games on the PS3 and 360 can run in native 1080p, so why is
it impressive that the new consoles can? 720p ->1080p is a much smaller jump
than from SD -> HD. Another argument is more fundamental: the fact that
games are expensive to make. Polygon making, texture designing, etc., it’s an
expensive and hard thing to do. To make better looking games, they will have to
put more effort than ever, and that was the case even with last generation.
Next is the other side of the argument, why we haven’t hit
the law of diminishing returns on the new generation of consoles. The new
consoles have a bunch of new stuff that you can easily see, with higher quality
textures, better lighting, and just more effects in general that the older
consoles couldn’t do and it really looks snazzy. Look at Forza 5 vs Forza 4,
there’s a huge difference in that. The problem with these comparisons is that
they are comparing games based on the same engine, and games that are built
ground up for the new consoles, look so much better. Another aspect, is this
generation is much easier to develop for, so in the future, we might see games
that absolutely blows away the current gen stuff while not being that much more
expensive. Development will be complicated, but with the easier to use tools, it
might be easier than ever to make great looking games and it’ll help alleviate the
bubble in graphics we have now.
Now that I’ve presented both sides of the argument, what do
I think? I think it’s a Yes and a No. I believe that there’s a lot to go, but
for most games on consoles we see, we essentially have but every mobile
computing gaming platform has a long time before we get anywhere near this theoretical
wall. It’s really a case by case issue: games look great now no matter how you
look at it, and some games will make use of the new technologies, but others it’ll
be really hard to tell. Nintendo has a good idea when they release a console
with old technology: it’s cheaper and easier to develop for, and games still
look great. Even last generation, with the advent of HD, the launch titles looked
quite similar to their PS2 counterparts. Games will look better, that’s a fact.
But some will look much much better, while others will look pretty similar. 2D
games like platformers and Puzzle games hit a wall long time ago, you won’t
find any improvement there… but for more graphically intensive games like
shooters and racers, it’s quite a big difference.
