What do you think of modern consoles?

[Digmac]

Modern consoles have their place. I’m not one to get my “retro” gaming fix on modern platforms, though. Some people enjoy getting the rereleases and retro style indie games, but that’s not for me. If I want that experience then I’ll get it on original hardware of the period. I look to modern consoles for experiences I couldn’t get on older hardware. I’m a racing game fan, so I enjoy picking up newer titles in that genre, like Gran Turismo 7 which will be coming out later this year (hopefully). I’m not too deep into the “AAA” gaming experience, but there are games which I enjoy along those lines like the Yakuza series. I think older platforms and newer platforms all offer something different, so it’s worth having both around.

[max 330 mega]

All consoles have their merits but most of the titles worth playing appear on PC anyway for which they're better off played on.

Yup!

[2D_Master]

DLC and "seasons" are the worst things to happen to gaming.

Fucking cash cow games.

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

Modern consoles have their place. I’m not one to get my “retro” gaming fix on modern platforms, though. Some people enjoy getting the rereleases and retro style indie games, but that’s not for me. If I want that experience then I’ll get it on original hardware of the period. I look to modern consoles for experiences I couldn’t get on older hardware. I’m a racing game fan, so I enjoy picking up newer titles in that genre, like Gran Turismo 7 which will be coming out later this year (hopefully). I’m not too deep into the “AAA” gaming experience, but there are games which I enjoy along those lines like the Yakuza series. I think older platforms and newer platforms all offer something different, so it’s worth having both around.

Hey whats up Digmac. I hear ya when it comes to the older software, but there are a lot of great sequels, expansions, and spiritual successors being made by the original developers that one still needs a pc/modern console to play on though. As much as I play on og retro hardware, there’s just been too many good full fledged sequels to retro games on modern/new hardware made by longstanding/original japanese dev teams to ignore:

Blaster Master Zero I & II (Inti Creates)
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Inti Creates)
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Koji Igarashi)
Fighting EX Layer (Arika team)
Mega Man 9, 10, and 11 (Inti Creates, Koji Oda)
Ninja Warriors: Once Again (Tengo Project team)
Wild Guns Reloaded (Tengo Project team)
Anything made by Vanillaware
Anything made by Arc System Works
etc

No need to miss out on full fledged retro sequels from the original developers because of an arbitrary cutoff on old/new hardware imho.

DLC and "seasons" are the worst things to happen to gaming.

Amen.

[Ajax]

Hear, hear. Stuff like that is 99% of what I've played on my Switch. Monster Boy was dope too, and Ryuichi Nishizawa was involved. While we're at that, the Wonder Boy III remake was impossibly good.

[cr8zykuban0]

For me I don’t mind the newer consoles like the ps4 and switch, especially the switch with some amazing games coming out physically. The Xbox one was trash in my opinion with only 1 games I actually had interest in which was killer instinct 3.

People tend to focus solely on graphics these days but what good is it if everything else about the game sucks ass?

[Syn]

I love my Series X so far. It's actually got me going through and playing some 360 games. Trying to get the games separated by which one's play on the X.

[bulbousbeard]

Depending on how you look at it, the last real console was either the PS2 or the PS3. They were the last ones that really had proprietary dedicated hardware in them that let you do things you potentially couldn't do with a contemporary general purpose PC. You could make an argument that even the PS3 just used a generic PC GPU whereas the PS2 had more exotic proprietary video hardware. It's the reason that PC ports from the PS2 era generally blow cock. People who ported games got lazy and didn't bother to re-create special effects that relied on PS2 features.

Current consoles are completely useless. They're just crippled up PCs at this point. They're a complete ripoff. There's nothing in it for the consumer. "We artificially restrict the release of software so our platform has value." Not impressed.

The only thing that ever justified the existence of consoles was that they could do shit that you couldn't do in general purpose hardware. Take a high end PC from 1990. It couldn't have done a Neo Geo game justice if its life depended on it. That is why dedicated video game hardware used to be interesting. It's not anymore. It's fucking dull. Will never buy another console.

[Neorebel]

Depending on how you look at it, the last real console was either the PS2 or the PS3. They were the last ones that really had proprietary dedicated hardware in them that let you do things you potentially couldn't do with a contemporary general purpose PC.

I kind of agree with this - I held off on getting a PS3 initially and bought many games on PC at that point... looking ahead I may hold off on any new consoles for a long time by just buying a new PC and getting the new game that is within my interests here or there that way. The only thing that they can do to sell me a new console is exclusive content

[oliverclaude]

I love my Series X so far. It's actually got me going through and playing some 360 games. Trying to get the games separated by which one's play on the X.

Same here, but if one thinks about it, isn't that also a hint that there're less to no reasons to feel exited about a new console today? Sure, backwards compatibility is great, but as a main feature, and that's how it's advertised, it's somehow daunting − at least if we speak about the excitement of the new. But what else have we got to feel excited about, right?

Mostly sequels/prequels of franchises, which already started three or four generations back and HD remakes, which hardly deserve this tag and seem to be nothing more than a quick cash grab. I guess, there's still plenty of rehashed nostalgia in that recycled 8- or 16-bit look to enjoy. Still hardly anything to get excited about in my opinion. Not even the design of the main menu on Microsoft's flagship has that breath of fresh air, because the previous one was already perfect. Never change a winning team, as if they don't even bother to try to fool us anymore.

Our last hope seem to be those groundbreaking, revolutionary graphical enhancements, you know, the same ones which force you to sit an inch away from your humongous flat panel to even realise they're there. Makes me think back when Homer performed a little surgery on the family's tv because it started to crack, and after another one of his slaps, that "cheap Chinese tube" reduced the image to a single dot. If you look close, you can make them out, Bart comments. Welcome to 4K my son...

VR will still take years to get on a decent level, but at least it promises to turn everyday life's bore into pure entertainment gold, see the "Yard Work Simulator", yet another Simpsons classic. So, what's the near future of gaming excitement look like? Kind of like digital-only streaming, which will finally put pitiful consoles to a sleep. Well, I'm already thrilled to the bones.

[neo_moe]

Becoming less and less interested in modern games - off the top of my head the only franchises I care about are Gears of War and Ninja Gaiden.

I do love the Switch though and a lot of the indie games. I don’t know why big studios haven’t picked up on the awesomeness of the indie developers and some of the retro styled games. I’d be all over a 16-bit side scrolling God of War or Uncharted game.

[city41]

I like the Switch just cuz I like Nintendo made games. But other than that, eh. Every new generation has diminishing returns. I can barely tell the difference graphically from late 360 games to PS4/XB1 and even current gen games. It's nothing like when a new gen came out back in the day and it just utterly blew away the previous generation.

[Mr.Bojangles]

They're alright and all, and I will be picking up a PS5 later this year, but to me, nothing will ever beat retro gaming, whether its Neo Geo, or SNES, Sega Genesis, Turbografx 16 or the classic NES. I'd also add the PS1, N64 and PS2 to that list of consoles I'd rather be playing.

[Alphabet]

My last console was the PS2 and I didn’t buy anything else after for the reasons listed previously. Lack of time and interest also to have year after year the same big license and franchise promoted (FIFA, PES, NBA 2k...)living not to much choice and gaming experience at similar level if I compare with the first generation of console.

[bulbousbeard]

One can't even count on modern PC gaming these days vs retro. I cite the great iconic camel scam of 2016.

That release was such an abomination they recently did ANOTHER re-release that was based on the Genesis version. As usual, history vindicates me.

[LonelyWarbler]

Consoles are just DRM tokens with a service fee at this point. I have zero interest in buying a PS5. Sony's actual exclusives are not my thing. I like to play games and I like to watch movies. Never have I wanted to do both at the same time. I do enjoy some of MS games. MS decision to release everything on PC made buying an xbox pointless. I still enjoy Nintendo because they are trying to be more than just "PC with a bad controller".

[ebinsugewa]

i've got no horse in the pc vs. console debate. pc nerds have a fetish for spending $2k to play league of legends so there's idiocy on both sides.

that being said as i've gotten older i don't play games as frequently. this means when i want to play a console game on either ps4 or x1 i need to wait like upwards of an hour for a system/game update. i know this wouldn't be a problem if i played them more frequently, but it is what it is. usually that's enough for me to find something else to do, and forget about it until the cycle repeats.

i literally have the x1 solely to play halo 1/2 from fucking 20 years ago. there are so many good older games i haven't spent time with yet that i feel a flashcart and an older system is a better way for me to spend my time almost 100% of the time.

i have a ps4 mostly for tekken 7 and garegga. t7 is on pc and my brain is far too smooth for garegga. so wtf am i doing? i really like the yakuza series but it too succumbs to the cinematic/movie experience with a dash of repetitive gameplay a lot as well. kinda just over it.

the switch is the only modern console worth owning, imo. the portability of it is a really nice feature i didn't expect i would use. and tetris 99/mario 35 are some of the most fun i've had playing a game in a while, and they're both free. but back to my main point, they're both 30+ year old games.

ultimately, i just don't really have the attention span for the style of games that are made now. it's not a better vs. worse thing, it's just not for me. when someone says a (non arcade-style) game has 100 hours of gameplay i would rather jump off a bridge.

[beigemore]

I haven’t owned a modern console since my ps4 was stolen here: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showth...=1#post3887834

If I could get a ps5 I probably would, but it would only get used for a few AAA titles and not much else. PC for Overwatch, Magic the Gathering, and IIDX is all I really play lately.

[bulbousbeard]

Consoles are still different because they are standardised hardware. Everyone's PS5 has the same internal hardware, and games developers can make their games with that in mind. With consoles, you aren't compelled to upgrade your hardware, to play the latest games. So, the only real ongoing cost is the cost of the games.
Also, the cost of buying a console goes down over time, as it's subsidised by game sales. If you buy a PS5 next year, it will be cheaper than buying it this year.

They're not standardized anymore. That's one of the problems. As soon as they started doing stupid shit like the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, they flushed it all down the toilet even more.

And it's absolutely stupid how almost every PS5 game has a "performance" mode that runs at a higher framerate with lower detail or a "fidelity" mode that runs at a lower framerate with more resolution. It's pussy junk. Basically every disadvantage of the PC (variable hardware, variable game settings), and none of the advantages of a PC (open market, ability to easily make whatever software you want for it).

Console gaming is in the fucking sewer right now. Honestly, if it wasn't for From Software defibrillating the corpse, I'd say that it's completely dead.

[flat6]

They're not standardized anymore. That's one of the problems. As soon as they started doing stupid shit like the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, they flushed it all down the toilet even more.

...

Having 2 variants from the same manufacturer isn't exactly the same story as having countless variants, from different manufacturers and even home-built. When a console is say 4 years old on the market, I can still count on console game developers (competent ones anyway) to write code for that spec, but I doubt PC games would be tested on something that old.

And that's an important point for someone like me who doesn't use a Windows PC as my primary computing platform. Spending $$$ to keep up on hardware every couple years is insane and bad ROI. I'd rather spend that money on my Neo Geo (okay, and a Switch too), which is just as insane.

[bulbousbeard]

Having 2 variants from the same manufacturer isn't exactly the same story as having countless variants, from different manufacturers and even home-built. When a console is say 4 years old on the market, I can still count on console game developers (competent ones anyway) to write code for that spec, but I doubt PC games would be tested on something that old.

And that's an important point for someone like me who doesn't use a Windows PC as my primary computing platform. Spending $$$ to keep up on hardware every couple years is insane and bad ROI. I'd rather spend that money on my Neo Geo (okay, and a Switch too), which is just as insane.

It's kind of an all or nothing deal. That's the problem. You either have a single fixed platform or you don't.

Needing to upgrade every two years is an old wives tale. PCs last as long as a console generation at this point. If you buy a high end PC within 1 or 2 years of a new Playstation launch you'll have a more powerful platform for that 7-8 year generation of games.

There are people still running 2600k CPUs with new games without any problems. I got my last PC in like 2015 and it absolutely kicked the shit out of the PS4/Xbox One and still runs new games fine.

[Missile]

I will never have the same impact that watching a two and three neogeo art of fighting produced on me than watching a modern console, no matter how much ultra hd it may have.

100% agree. I remember when 360 and PS3 came out - all that power, all that colour and game developers seemed to just want to make their games in shades of brown or grey. I guess the users are to blame but I was disappointed by that.

Lots of things annoy me about modern gaming - tutorials, hand-holding, an experience rather than a game. Games that last hours rather than 20-30 minutes

There are some great games out there still but I will always prefer 16 bit era pixel visuals. I don't like the hi-res "hand drawn look" many of the 2D games have now. It doesn't look detailed or artistic - it looks bland and cartoony. e.g. Streets Of Rage 4