We're in 2023, which means that we're in the 10th year of the PS4 and Xbox One. Both systems just got 2 huge new releases in the form of Diablo IV and Street Fighter VI. They also continue to get the vast majority of indie or AA games, even if some of the AAA stuff has finally started to skip them, now that the new systems are nearing 3 years old and are entering their traditional primes.
While it's not unheard of for popular consoles to continue to receive support for years after the release of their successors it has traditionally lasted for a year or 2 with releases slowing to a trickle after that. That's not the case with the 8th gen. Instead what we're seeing is almost the opposite, the vast majority of games being available for them with some games even skipping a PS5/Xbox Series X release entirely and relying on backwards compatibility to be playable on the new systems.
I think this is on balance a good thing. It's not great that some games are being held back by having to be playable on what was underpowered hardware when it released and is now downright archaic, but I think the games that are using the new horsepower and faster loading times for valuable stuff are, in fact, starting to cut the tether and of course there are lots of games that don't harness a fraction of the power of the PS4, let alone the PS5. Ganryu 2 could run comfortably on a PS3 (and probably a PS2 at a lower resolution) so there's absolutely no reason not to sell it on PS4. It's good that people who couldn't find new consoles or don't want to/can't spend the money to upgrade are still getting things to play, and it means that indie devs have a massive userbase, some of whom are cut off from a lot of the higher profile stuff (though they can still play Diablo and Street Fighter!)
I think the reasons behind this are many. Part of it is the pandemic that led the newer consoles to have slower uptake. Part of it is the Switch, which has a massive install base and means that anyone who wants to sell their game there has to shoot for specs far lower than those of the PS4 and Xbox One. Part of it is new game engines that are very good at publishing on many platforms at once; if you're making a game in Unity and you can make a PS4 version with minimal effort why wouldn't you?
But I think a large part of it is diminishing returns. Capcom realized that for the core of its new Street Fighter game it just didn't need the full power of the new consoles. Tone down the effects, reduce the texture quality, and the art style they went with is not very resource intensive. IT's not like you need complex AI or vast worlds for Street Fighter. Same for Diablo. We really are reaching a point where console architecture is iterative (The PS5 is pretty similar to the PS4 under the hood) and we're not seeing vast jumps so why not make games for old hardware? The PC does it all the time.
Ultimately I'm happy about this. For one thing I have my Xbox One X hooked up to my treadmill and it's great that I can just play Diablo IV on it (along with lots of other stuff) without worry. For another thing it's good when games have more places to sell and when people can enjoy the latest and greatest without having to upgrade kit. It's really a win win.
The only slight tinges I have are a concern that some games might be held back (though to be honest the majority of the best games this gen have been the cross gen ones with a lot of 9th gen only games like Redfall and Forspoken being kind of duds) and just missing the excitement of a new generation. There was nothing quite like going from NES to SNES, or PS1 to PS2. PS4 to PS5 is nice but you have to really be looking to notice much. And then there was the excitement of new hardware having a fresh library to explore, whereas now the vast majority of my PS5 library is PS4 games. I just platinumed Pyre, and while I loved it, it's an old game that's just as good as the new stuff coming out, and it all mixes together. I just wrote about the nostalgia for my Xbox 360 and I won't have that with PS5 because the upgrade was so seamless.
But those are just old man ramblings. The good far outweighs the bad here. With SF 6 coming out on these old things they'll be at least getting new DLC for many years to come. I don't think they'll survive to drinking age but they might make it to their teens, and that's a new frontier in a whole new way.
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