It’s 2022, and we’re currently a year and a half into the generation of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X|S. But if you look at the current state of gaming, you’d be forgiven for not noticing that. In fact, I own both a PS5 and an Xbox Series S, and I spend most of my time playing the same games I was playing on the PS4. Red Dead Online, No Man’s Sky, Minecraft, Hitman 3, and Final Fantasy XIV are among my most-played titles on these new consoles.
And when you look at this year’s biggest games so far — games like Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, and Dying Light 2 — all of them are available on last-generation consoles. Sure, I’ve played a couple things that are exclusive to the new gen, such as Deathloop and the Demon’s Souls remake, but owning multiple current-gen consoles kind of feels a bit unnecessary (I admit that I appreciate the shorter load times, though).
And when you look through a list of games coming out this year, you see a lot of stuff that is still playable on the older consoles. For example, God of War: Ragnarök, Saints Row, and Stray — just off the top of my head — will be cross-gen titles.
This is unusual. Sure, there’s always some carryover between generations, especially in the first year of a new console generation, but the PS5 an Xbox Series X|S are approaching their second birthdays while the PS4 and Xbox One refuse to go softly into that good night.
There are reasons for this lag, of course. The new consoles came out during a global pandemic, and supply-chain issues have slowed both production and distribution of these machines. This was always fated to be a rough transition, and developers can be forgiven for their hesitation to forsake the much larger install base of the older machines.
But, as an owner of current-gen consoles, I’m starting to feel like the future of gaming is being held back by this fact. The most exciting thing about a new console generation is that it opens up things that simply weren’t possible before. Those possibilities, however, don’t really exist if games are designed to be cross-generational. Sure, the new-gen versions are going to be prettier and they’ll run smoother, but the potential scope of these games will always be tied to the earlier consoles.
I admit that I’m part of the problem. I completely skipped titles like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and the Yuffie DLC for Final Fantasy VII Remake, opting instead to squeeze every last drop out of games like Hitman 3 and Final Fantasy XIV. I’m sorry, but those games are still absolutely incredible.
So maybe we don’t actually need current-gen exclusives quite yet. When you look at massive titles like Elden Ring, they don’t feel all that scaled back. We’re not yet seeing a lot of cut corners in cross-generational games.
On the other hand, it’s possible we’ve just not noticed those as much because we still don’t know what the current gen is even capable of. What should a truly next-gen game even feel like? How smoothly should it run, and how ambitious should it be? How big should open worlds be, and how far should draw distance be without sacrificing those beloved 60 frames per second?
I don’t have answers to these questions, and therein lies the problem. We’re living in a period of extended generational lag, and the games that are coming out this year don’t seem like they’re doing anything that would have been impossible in the summer of 2020. And I for one am getting antsy to see what new things this generation is even capable of.
So can we finally say goodbye to the PS4 and Xbox One? Isn’t it time to move forward instead of being perpetually chained to the previous gaming generation? This is technology we’re talking about, after all. While it’s fine to be nostalgic about the past, there should also be some forward momentum propelling us into the future.
And I’m just waiting to see what that future might look like.
………Say good bye to the generation not being held back by scalpers….okay. It’s much less Nostalgia and more so we can’t all just buy one at the store or even online without doing a bundle. Almost no one I know actual payed the original sale price for a PS5.
I do think scalpers are an important part of this conversation. Yes, there is scarcity due to supply chain issues and processor shortages, but also, scalpers are artificially inflating the scarcity. If we got rid of scalpers entirely, there would still be scarcity, but there would also be more consoles in the hands of those who are actually playing them.
Okay, so I’m pretty sure this was my most downvoted comment on this entire site, and I kind of get the feeling people didn’t read it.
I was basically saying that yes, scalpers are part of the problem. Or was I being downvoted by scalpers?
You’re getting down voted because your article and comments read like something from an entitled and privileged child. Sorry to sound rude, but a lot of people can’t get a current gen console due to a lot of factors, and it’s actually a huge benefit to the customer base to have ability to play new games on last gen stuff instead of missing out. Also, given that the platforms all ride pc style hardware now, it’s really not hard for game devs to drop “quality” in areas and release on older gen, not too dissimilar from pc gamers being able to play everything new on lower settings with an older gpu…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls
They are absolutely crack prices at this point. It was sad that I was able to get myself the best Meta Quest 2 before I could grab the console I really wanted. Most people options are to just do the same because it’s CHEAPER.
Better Idea, let’s say goodbye to you.
Wait, are you saying someone should murder me over the fact that I said that technology should move forward? That seems a little… unhinged?
Dude nobody said anything about murder. Someone’s a little defensive. We just don’t like that you are speaking for the gaming community. No instead as a current and continuing customer of PS4 products means it should instead continue receiving support for longer especially with bigtime titles like Elden ring releasing this year and selling massively across all platforms including PS4 and future titles still being planned for release on PS4 like the new god of war.
I don’t speak for the gaming community, though. I also don’t speak for Sony and I don’t speak for any game devs who are making console games. I just speak for me, and this is my opinion.
“We should say goodbye to the old gens of consoles so the 27 people who actually got to buy one of the newer gens can play by themselves.”
Makes total sense.
Also not sure how you got murder from that. Rather defensive tbh.
Maybe if people like you didn’t buy multiple consoles or buy them all up at one time to turn around and sell them for 2x as much people would have said consoles.
I have one PS5 that I bought at Best Buy, and I bought it for me. I’m not in the business of scalping consoles.
Wait, do people think I’m a scalper? Is that why they are so irrationally angry?
Don’t worry folks, Sony is gonna fart out 80M units at this year, you’ll still get your chance to get one….
….directly from a scalper.
Sure, if you’re going to buy everyone a ps5 or one x that can’t get one still due to bots!
Not sure what part of the world you live in but I was able to get a disc version of the PS5 for myself back in 2020 and a second one for my brother for Christmas 2021 through Walmart. I shelled out an extra $15 to become a preferred member or Walmart+ or whatever, which gave me early access when stock went on sale. Once I actually started to crack the code it got much easier to obtain, well two now. I wish you all the luck and maybe this will help you if you shop through Walmart.
Say good bye to the generation
Wow, for one not everyone has the money or access for a new console not to mention the fact that maybe some of us just don’t want to switch to a newer console (a 500$ bare minimum investment if you’re lucky and avoid scalpers) for the slightest of upgrades. I’m sorry but every single Ps5 exclusive so far could easily run on PS4. How about instead we end this shitty Ps5 era?
When you can start producing enough product to get to all potential buyers, you can start having a whiny b*tch opinion like this.
Very few people in the market for a ps5 is capable of finding one. From my understanding, they’ve only manufactured around 11 million of them, but the market of playstation gamers is over 100 million.
In no sense is it a good idea to move on… Unless you’re just a whiny selfish pr*ck of a person.
PS5 sales are at over 19 million units, and that’s units SOLD not MANUFACTURED.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps5-sales-surpass-19-million-units/1100-6503280/
Can we say good bye to game journos idiotic opinions?
To be fair, the time for that was a long, long time ago.
I’m so glad to see other people down voting this guy. So tired of seeing articles like this. Saying that the gaming industry is in any way being held back by cross gen releases coming out later and later after the release of new consoles is uninformed and downright incorrect. In fact the opposite is true. Making multiple versions of these titles may be more time consuming but requires very little extra resources from the devs and keep in mind the new releases he mentioned are the sole project of these developers. Essentially the only point this guy made is that he believes games should be less avalible and more expensive for everyone.
I’m not pushing for exclusivity for no reason. If a game runs on a PS4, by all means, release it on PS4. What I’m pushing for are games that are too big or technical to be playable on a PS4, and we’re not there yet. Typically, at this point in a console’s lifespan, you should start at least hearing about what the industry thinks the future of gaming might be, and it’s a troubling sign for the PS5 and Xbox Series that we’re not hearing about that yet.
It’s pathetic to see that you can’t appreciate what “technological forward momentum” we have with the cross gen games playing them on a new console. If these games were released exclusively on current gen, the current gen versions of them would not be better. You are just endorsing exclusivity for no reason.
Honestly for what they charge for a ps5 isn’t worth it to me still I probably won’t get one until late next year & I don’t think it’s really a huge jump from the previous systems I am still fine playing PS4 I grew up on Nintendo & Sega so I definitely appreciate how far technology has come but am not a sucker that buys stuff full price Never in my life will I buy a game system for $1,000 or even close to that that is a waste of money clearly you don’t know anything about being on the poorer side of life
Tec : Well, I said I got Gamecast, man. Damn! I can’t afford it!
Just cannot afford a ps5. Gas and oil are more important. I will stick with the ps4 and elden ring. Im good.
Well it will be a little bit hard for anyone to do that since over 80 mil. PS4 are still around and production is still going. Until Sony decides that it feels like they need to stop PS4 production there still will be cross-gen games. It’s just like what happened with the PS2 as well. One of the last games that was released for the ps2 was FIFA 14 which was a cross-gen game.
Dude do you not realize a lot of people don’t have money to buy that were not rich like you
I feel both consoles came two years early. They should of let the playstation pro, and the Xbox X live a few more years and let the covid pandemic fade off. 2022 should of been the release date an let the developers catch up with unreal engine 5
I agree wholeheartedly.
Honestly, I agree with this take. The current gen consoles MSRP are no more expensive than the previous gen if you get the base models. And anyone saying they aren’t that much more powerful are huffing some serious copium.
PS5 has twice the RAM and 5 times the GPU power of the PS4 not to mention the insane SSD speed boost over the previous gen.
Devs will always design games with the lowest powered devices in mind which by design will limit the scope of said games or they will have to be seriously crippled to even get them working at all.
Typical game journo. Well, I can afford both consoles. What, you peasants can’t? Well, you should be left behind then. Just stop being an entitled brat and let people game how they want. You can see how much you’ve been down voted. You should probably quit while you still have the chance.
Most games at the start of a new generation are only marginally, or incrementally better than the last generation, especially when compared to games on the tail end of said previous generation. So yes, so far most PS5 exclusives could technically run on a PS4, as evidenced by the fact that they technically currently are, of course not always nearly as well as they could on beefier hardware.
And I understand a good number of people are still experiencing difficulties in obtaining a current gen console. The issue is that as the generation progresses and developers start to learn how to take more advantage of the new hardware, that’s when we start to really see what these rigs can do and we also start to see truly ‘new gen’ games.
But to have to straddle the gulf of the last gen and the current gen, even if that gulf is only at first seemingly negligible, will only hamper the development of truly next gen titles down the road if they have to be shackled to aging hardware. And this itself could end up dissuading consumers to want to buy into the new gen if they can simply play what is effectively PS4 hampered PS5 games on their PS4 or PS4 Pro; or Xbox Series titles on the Xbox One.
I’m all for releasing games on the last gen, after all, that is where indies are currently thriving, and there is still a large install base whether by choice or by circumstance. If for no other reason than that is where a good deal of the money is still for the industry. But I think, and this is especially true for first party software, focusing purely on the new generation machines will better serve the product and if nothing else drive home the advantage of these more powerful rigs. I think once we start to see more people able to freely opt in, on top of the tens of millions of people that already have, this will become the dominant sentiment. Love it or hate it, the new generation is currently upon us, so the industry should start to reflect that reality sooner rather than later.