Something i really noticed after watching Sony's E3

[MosquitoSmasher]

It's a bit long, but if you don't mind that, read it and tell me what you think.

Now you guys know me as someone who highly prefers Xbox One and how Microsoft handles things. I still don't have a PS4, that will happen next year. I really enjoyed Microsoft's show, but unexpectedly Sony's show for me, was far better. I also noticed something, it's nothing new, but it slightly saddens me.

When i buy a new console, i expect to be blown the f*** away by graphics. Ryse definitely did that, not its gameplay, but graphically for damn sure too. Also what i've seen of Killzone SF and Infamous SS looked really goddamn good. I am a big graphics fan, even though i DO realize that....gameplay>graphics. But i can never agree when some people say...''who cares about graphics, even if this game had 360 graphics i'd be ok with that.'' Sorry...but no, just no.

So i was hoping to be blown away by some graphics in new and/or already announced MS games. Halo 5 looked good, but didn't exactly do it for me, and i have to be honest, i did not like the shimmering/aliasing one bit. Not when Halo 4 looks soooooooooooo clean. How will that be when it launches? We will see then. That said...nothing blew me away. Nothing that made me say'''oooooooh shiiiiiiieeeet, this looks too good!''. Rare's collection is awesome, but the new IP? Errr....i don't know yet. I would have gone wild if they had had a proper Banjo 3.

I am not even going to talk about the surprises from Sony too much..(The last guardian and Shenmue 3 kickstarter) but when they showed Guerilla's Horizon (i can be proud when a developer like that is from my country) and i saw the environments, i thought to myself...''damn if this is in-game, it already looks prettier than Witcher 3.'' Then they showed gameplay and my jaw dropped to the floor. That is truly something you'd call a real next gen/current gen game, something that in no way would be possible on PS3. The other time my jaw again dropped was during Uncharted 4. I was not a big fan of the previous demo, not too impressed at all. But this was crazy, just too f***ing good. How exactly can they make worlds like this , looking so damn good with little/no aliasing to be seen and this smooth? ND are truly wizards.

So in a few words...it actually pains me to say this as a big Xbox dude, but Sony is bringing the true state of the art graphics and Microsoft was not....not yet at least. I don't believe it's all because of the hardware difference, it's part of the reason, but i also believe Microsoft sadly just lacks the developers with that kind of talent. I also like how Sony actually shows gameplay of games that are not even close to release (Horizon), true gameplay, why did MS not do the same with Recore? A game that is apparently releasing Spring 2016.........

Maybe Scalebound and Crackdown are truly going to impress,but no way on Guerilla and ND levels. I've seen some pretty crazy comments on other forums, after Sony's show was over, things like..Xbox is dead, go pack your things Microsoft and all that bulls***. No way that's how it's for me, but i AM a bit disappointed that my console of choice is not yet getting games with really jawdropping graphics, but i am positive that the system is capable of it.

I'd almost forget Gears 4. Mixed feelings about that demo. I had truly expected a first Gears 4 reveal to be jawdropping, like it was with the first one back in the day. That's not to say it looked bad, no, the moving foliage was great, really helped bring a nice atmosphere and the creatures at the end were great too. But it missed a whole lot of graphical punch. It was way too...flat. No bumpmapping on ground/walls, no real impressive lighting yet, except for cool flashlight in the beginning of the video. I DID really dig the destruction part though. Now the game is 1.5 years away from release,so a lot is no doubt going to happen, i expect it to look a lot better next E3, this is Gears man. I assume they just wanted to show something and not another CG trailer.

With all that said, i am looking very forward to the holidays with games like Halo 5(hope they can improve things some more, i just despise shimmering), Rise of the Tomb Raider, maybe Fable Legends and of course my favorite Fallout 4.

 

[The Living Tribunal]

Different strokes. There seemed to be alot of Xbox fans that were pleased with what they saw both graphically and gameplay wise.
There seems to be this hive mind going around that one console needs to 'win' and the other needs to 'lose.'

I don't think people truly fathom the breadth of such things in thinking that either Sony or Microsoft should 'pack up and go home.'
An industry with one console and one vision is a stagnant one regardless of who is taking the reigns.

 

[menace-uk-]

Comments like "I would be happy if it was 360 graphics" & "Graphics don't matter" are generally exaggerations to get a point across. People seem to be so focused on how a game looks & how they can use that to further their console war propaganda these days.

As for MS & Sony showings, I was gleefully happy with both. As somebody who likes graphics but doesn't put much stock in them when judging games, all the games shown looked great, visually. Some looked better than, sure. Horizon looked amazing, but to say it rivals Witcher 3 at this stage is premature. The Witcher world is massive, but we do not know how big Horizon is. If the world is half the size, it should look better.

As for Gears 4, expecting the same thing now as we got with Gears 1 is unrealistic. The 360, at the time, was technologically superior to anything else on the market. Its GPU had features that were not even on PC. I personally thought it looked very good for a game so early in development. I am happy they didn't do an Ubisoft.

I am looking forward to Rare's new game. Only game of theirs I have ever really liked was Donkey Kong. Since then, it has all be meh games, IMO. This new one, Sea of Thieves, looks really interesting. The sea/ship combat looked great. Visually it looked nice. Plus, we do not get many pirate themed games, which is a shame.

Overall, I think this was best E3...ever, at least the best one that I can really remember. So many awesome games coming from every which way. Horizon, Last Guardian, No Mans Sky, Tomb Raider, Forza 6, Gears of War, Recore, Sea of Thieves, Ghost Recon Wild Lands, Rainbow Six Siege, Dark Souls 3, Fallout 4, the list could continue on for ages.

Great time to be a gamer. Not just this year either, but 2016 looks jam packed with great stuff already.

 

[starseeker]

I think whats amazing for me, is pople expect Sony to be 'killed' in this E3, but instead they stealed the show. Maybe MS thought they could 'win' this E3 easily, hence withhold games until Gamescom.

I do agree with a lot of point MosquitoSmacher mentioned, though I do think the hardware gap make quite a difference.
When I looked at Gears 4 & Halo 5, I think, not bad, but when I looked at Horizon & Uncharted 4, I was in disbelief. Depends on how you use the extra power, it can made a big difference with that extra 40-50% juice. Most 3rd part games settled for some simple easy to asjust graphical enhancement like AA or resolution, which really do not show the difference as clearly. 1080p is 44% more pixels than 900p bu but many people think it looks that much difference, expect for a little sharper on the 1080p version, but it required almost as much as pixel difference in power to rendered a 1080p game (all else equal).

My dissappointment with the much weaker hardware of X1 (some people will say its only a bit, & its fine) has already long passed, but seeing what PS4 is capable for, I cannot but impress. While I do have a PS4, & for a short period, even thought to be a PS4 fanboy, but the reality is, I play mainly on my PC, (only play on egame DA:I on my PS4 in my 7 8 months of ownership), I still have a soft spot for Xbox brand.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Comments like "I would be happy if it was 360 graphics" & "Graphics don't matter" are generally exaggerations to get a point across. People seem to be so focused on how a game looks & how they can use that to further their console war propaganda these days.

As for MS & Sony showings, I was gleefully happy with both. As somebody who likes graphics but doesn't put much stock in them when judging games, all the games shown looked great, visually. Some looked better than, sure. Horizon looked amazing, but to say it rivals Witcher 3 at this stage is premature. The Witcher world is massive, but we do not know how big Horizon is. If the world is half the size, it should look better.

As for Gears 4, expecting the same thing now as we got with Gears 1 is unrealistic. The 360, at the time, was technologically superior to anything else on the market. Its GPU had features that were not even on PC. I personally thought it looked very good for a game so early in development. I am happy they didn't do an Ubisoft.

I am looking forward to Rare's new game. Only game of theirs I have ever really liked was Donkey Kong. Since then, it has all be meh games, IMO. This new one, Sea of Thieves, looks really interesting. The sea/ship combat looked great. Visually it looked nice. Plus, we do not get many pirate themed games, which is a shame.

Overall, I think this was best E3...ever, at least the best one that I can really remember. So many awesome games coming from every which way. Horizon, Last Guardian, No Mans Sky, Tomb Raider, Forza 6, Gears of War, Recore, Sea of Thieves, Ghost Recon Wild Lands, Rainbow Six Siege, Dark Souls 3, Fallout 4, the list could continue on for ages.

Great time to be a gamer. Not just this year either, but 2016 looks jam packed with great stuff already.

I can partly agree with that. 360 was indeed QUITE the piece of hardware. But if i am right..Gears 4 is Unreal Engine 4, right? Man i was expecting to be left with my jaw open, i know the X1 is capable of it, especially when it;s Gears because...IT'S GEARS, but also because it doesn't contain an immense game world, i'm just gonna assume it's very early and a lot of graphical stuff is gonna be put in. I am sure the game is going to be great.....but i cannot deny that my hopes for a impressive graphics show for this game were far from fullfilled. 100% agreed on the last part, nothing but awesome games coming out. Good lord...gamers win, but the wallet cries, ahahahaha.

I think whats amazing for me, is pople expect Sony to be 'killed' in this E3, but instead they stealed the show. Maybe MS thought they could 'win' this E3 easily, hence withhold games until Gamescom.

I do agree with a lot of point MosquitoSmacher mentioned, though I do think the hardware gap make quite a difference.
When I looked at Gears 4 & Halo 5, I think, not bad, but when I looked at Horizon & Uncharted 4, I was in disbelief. Depends on how you use the extra power, it can made a big difference with that extra 40-50% juice. Most 3rd part games settled for some simple easy to asjust graphical enhancement like AA or resolution, which really do not show the difference as clearly. 1080p is 44% more pixels than 900p bu but many people think it looks that much difference, expect for a little sharper on the 1080p version, but it required almost as much as pixel difference in power to rendered a 1080p game (all else equal).

My dissappointment with the much weaker hardware of X1 (some people will say its only a bit, & its fine) has already long passed, but seeing what PS4 is capable for, I cannot but impress. While I do have a PS4, & for a short period, even thought to be a PS4 fanboy, but the reality is, I play mainly on my PC, (only play on egame DA:I on my PS4 in my 7 8 months of ownership), I still have a soft spot for Xbox brand.

I definitely did not expect Sony to get killed or whatsoever, i already knew that Uncharted was going to look killer, but damn...all the rumours floating on GAF turned out to be true. Overall i was expecting more of the graphics in most X1 games. Halo 5 sadly did not really impress me all that much, things looked good,but also seemed rather similar to Halo 4, unless i am very wrong on that. It should be awesome to play it though and the 60fps is lovely. I DO hope we get big scale fights, cause this part was all rather...straight to the point, almost CoD like.

From now on i am going to lower my expectations for graphics on Xbox One and just enjoy the games for what they are. that;s not to say i don't hope Scalebound and Crackdown are not going to bring some awesome stuff. Really hoping for some impressive destructions in Crackdown and Scalebound....s***..i dunno what it even really is, but i really want to see it.

MS did confirm that we will get gameplay of both during Gamescom, right? MS has the only show there, Sony not. So MS should take advantage of that, bring the big guns. Show Quantum Break and reveal a release date. Keeping my expectations at a normal level, but am looking forward to August.

 

[Mua'dib]

This will end well...

 

[starseeker]

Not probably going to end well, but I think we should be able to express how we feel, even if there are negativity in them without worrying about backlash.

This is not the same as trolling, biasing or fanboyish comments that some members here like to do, but in my opinion, we limiting ourselves to express what we think if we choose the politically correct (PC)comments.

I mean, there are things better kept to ourselves, but come on, its gaming, not talking about comparings our kids or in-laws, so I do not thing we need to be so 'PC' or retrained.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

I absolutely did not make this thread to start a fight or stupid trolling or whatsoever. That is so not me to do such a thing. It's just me being 100% honest. People should simply accept that and if they don't like it, they can stay out. But so far so good.

 

[Andy]

So far, the opinions are reasonable, balanced, and not at all fanboyish. When it heads in that direction, which it probably will, we'll close up the thread.

 

[Dno69]

I just don't think Microsoft's studios are that great from an artistic point of view. The difference in hardware is there for sure. But third parties seem to be pushing the Xbox One further than Microsoft.

Look at something like Just Cause 3. It's more impressive than a lot of Microsofts studios stuff.

That's not to say that I didn't like what I saw from Microsoft. I thought their main games looked great. Rare's game was awesome.

Overall. I think Dice just killed everyone including Sony with Battlefront.

 

[Grimmy]

Although I liked MS press conference better, I've actually stepped away from the XBox. Built a new PC earlier this year and haven't really touched it. I'll go to it for exclusives or some MP games...arcade too (pinball, etc.)

I'll probably pick up a PS4 next year, because there is absolutely no reason for me to get one this year.

I concentrate on games that are coming out this year when I see these press conferences. A title for next year or they started production on it, does nothing. I want to know if I'm getting it in my hands this year.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

So far, the opinions are reasonable, balanced, and not at all fanboyish. When it heads in that direction, which it probably will, we'll close up the thread.

Understandable.

What's interesting though is that this difference is really not as big when it comes to third party games so far. The biggest differences so far have been resolution and in the beginning it was rather bad with 720p on some Xbox One titles oh and BF Hardline (I SO hope Battlefront will be at least 900p) but Witcher 3 very impressively at 900p. Most of the time those are the differences, 900p versus 1080p. But these two exclusives from Sony...they show a difference of night and day, it's crazy. I don't believe the Xbox One is holding back third party games, a complaint i often read on other forums, it's just that devs probably don't have the time to go the extra mile for PS4's version i guess. With all this said, i am positive we are going to see very impressive Xbox One games. Tomb Raider looked really nice for sure, and i am just going to assume it ran on Xbox One hardware there. Scalebound could potentially look really nice too, but i am very curious about Crackdown.

The problem too is that some of the exclusives, like Tomb raider is cross-gen and that really is not a good thing. I persnally don't believe the X1 version is not held back by that, i really think it is.

 

[Partyman]

Xbox One has the best controller and backwards compatibility. Nananabooboo! (sticks thumbs in ears and wiggles fingers at OP).

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/controllers/elite-wireless-controller

 

[Dno69]

I think it all boils down to art direction. Sony has always excelled in this area even when they had inferior hardware. Now they have talented studios and hardware that is easier to exploit.

I may have overstated in my first post. Microsoft does have talented studios and great artists. Just nothing on the level of Naughty Dog.

ND could blow you away on X1 hardware Misquito. I'm 100% sure of it. They're just that good.

 

[Qbert]

When i buy a new console, i expect to be blown the f*** away by graphics. Ryse definitely did that, not its gameplay, but graphically for damn sure too. Also what i've seen of Killzone SF and Infamous SS looked really goddamn good. I am a big graphics fan, even though i DO realize that....gameplay>graphics. But i can never agree when some people say...''who cares about graphics, even if this game had 360 graphics i'd be ok with that.'' Sorry...but no, just no.

I 100% agree. Now, before anyone says anything....that doesn't mean that I think graphics are more important than anything else, because they are not (if that was the case, we'd all play PC games). However, if I'm not being blown away or really impressed, then why am I being asked to buy a new console at almost half a grand at release?



Honestly, I still play my 360, and haven't jumped on the XB1 bandwagon yet, and I know some people think it's because I'm a PS fanboy (I'm not), but it's because the 360 still has great games that I'm playing.
I expect a new console to blow me away, if not, then I see little reason right now to get into them.



Now, with the above stated....I'd hate to see developers give us "blow your socks away" graphics with ho hum gameplay.

 

[Larry]

You should have known this before the consoles even came out. The PS4 was known to have the more powerful hardware to provide games with better graphics. The Xbox One seemed like it was created more towards being an entertainment box rather than a game console...especially with being able to control TV stuff.

 

[menace-uk-]

I 100% agree. Now, before anyone says anything....that doesn't mean that I think graphics are more important than anything else, because they are not (if that was the case, we'd all play PC games). However, if I'm not being blown away or really impressed, then why am I being asked to buy a new console at almost half a grand at release?


Honestly, I still play my 360, and haven't jumped on the XB1 bandwagon yet, and I know some people think it's because I'm a PS fanboy (I'm not), but it's because the 360 still has great games that I'm playing.
I expect a new console to blow me away, if not, then I see little reason right now to get into them.

Seems like odd thig to say. I mean your reason for staying with 360 is technically the same reason to buy an X1.

You say they dont impress, visually, yet you stick to a platform that is visualy inferior.

 

[Qbert]

Seems like odd thig to say. I mean your reason for staying with 360 is technically the same reason to buy an X1.

You say they dont impress, visually, yet you stick to a platform that is visualy inferior.

No, I even mention that I don't put visuals before gameplay, it's not the most important thing. I'm just saying, that if I'm expected to plunk down hundreds of dollars, I'd like to be blown away.
I'm not blown away yet. Hell, I have a PS4, and sometimes I regret getting it, because I've yet to see a game that really blows me away. Many games I can already get on pc that will blow me away. On next gen consoles, there's not really much that blows me away that can't be had on pc.

I don't know, maybe in my old age, I'm just hard to please.

 

[Two Pennys Worth]

Enjoyed both presentations immensely. Great games ccoming out on both consoles. I was happy to see there wasn't many leaks before hand. BC was a real shocker. Very suprised and happy they managed to keep a lid on that.
I think we can all be happy regardless of which console we own.
Glad to see PC got its own conference too and long may it continue.

 

[CasualGamer]

op just needs to suck it up and buy a ps4 or he is really concerned about performance buy a gaming pc

 

[This_Hard_Land]

I think it's a combination of things.

First of all, the Xbox One is definitely the less powerful console. It's not by much but I think at this point, the power disparity is coming into play a little bit.

Secondly, Sony has a stable of top tier development studio's that they've supported for a long time. Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, Guerilla Games, Sony Japan Studios, and Polyphony Digital are all studio's capable of delivering unbelievable looking products.

Turn 10 (Who is as talented as hell) never really created a graphical showpiece. Rare, Lionhead, The Coalition, and 343i are all some combination of trying to establish themselves or just never had the goal of creating the worlds most beautiful games.

With that being said, who cares! Sea of Thieves was Microsoft's most exciting game at E3 and that game wasn't a looker. It was clean, smooth, and looked like it could be loads of fun.

 

[hrudey]

I'm usually the person who doesn't care much about the visuals. I think Quantum Break looks like hot sex, though, but if it looked like Alan Wake on the 360 I'd be just as hyped for it. I think that while graphical progress from generation to generation is a good thing - Deus Ex HR for example, visually, blew the original game out of the water - the more important thing to me is that it allows for much more gameplay wise too. More open worlds (even though those are still pretty much done horribly to this point), hopefully more intelligent AI and game systems, all sorts of things like that.

I've never personally played a game and regretted it because of the graphics, nor would it really bother me if it's better graphically on another platform. I have been horribly disappointed in games because they're just horribly uninteresting or just have poor gameplay, and I end up avoiding a lot of games because they look great and seem like that's all they're about.

In terms of this topic, Sony certainly brought what people wanted - games that should have been completed 10 years ago. I don't like the trend of remakes in general, but some games are worth it and FF VII is one of those that clearly has as much right as any game to claim that. It was arguably the game of that generation, and seeing what they could do with it now is exciting. The Last Guardian's a game that's so desired that years and years after being announced at an E3 it can be reannounced, in pretty much the same look, and people go crazy.

I think more than anything, though, graphics are iterative and what's awesome graphically now is retro kitsch in a decade. And with all apologies to Sony, it's not that greatness awaits. The truth is this: Greatness Endures.

 

[Mcmasters]

I absolutely did not make this thread to start a fight or stupid trolling or whatsoever. That is so not me to do such a thing. It's just me being 100% honest. People should simply accept that and if they don't like it, they can stay out. But so far so good.

No no no no no! f*** THAT!.....f*** THAT!.....f*** YOU!!....f*** THIS PANSY ASS THREAD!!.....f*** THIS FORUM AND f*** OBAMA AND MY f***IN TOASTER THAT ALWAYS, ALWAYS COOKS MY f***ING TOAST TOO LONG NO MATTER THE SETTING!!

K. Im done. lol....


If Im being honest, I'd like Microsoft to take a page from Sony's book when it comes to more creative games. Horizon was just so impressive and it showed a real spirit of creativity not yet seen in Microsoft games. I genuinely was thinking of getting a Ps4 when the Horizon demo revealed. I need to see more of that before I consider picking up a PS4, but Horizon is definitely a step in the right direction.

 

[hrudey]

If Im being honest, I'd like Microsoft to take a page from Sony's book when it comes to more creative games. Horizon was just so impressive and it showed a real spirit of creativity not yet seen in Microsoft games. I genuinely was thinking of getting a Ps4 when the Horizon demo revealed. I need to see more of that before I consider picking up a PS4, but Horizon is definitely a step in the right direction.

To be honest, watching Horizon on a pretty low quality stream that night live, I didn't have any idea it was as polished graphically as it apparently is. I still thought it was awesome. It really reminded me of the type of thing we could have seen from Too Human in the future if Denis Dyack wasn't a completely evil being created from Peter Molyneux's DNA and then corrupted through unspeakable atrocities. I mean, not that I'm bitter or anything.

 

[Mcmasters]

To be honest, watching Horizon on a pretty low quality stream that night live, I didn't have any idea it was as polished graphically as it apparently is. I still thought it was awesome. It really reminded me of the type of thing we could have seen from Too Human in the future if Denis Dyack wasn't a completely evil being created from Peter Molyneux's DNA and then corrupted through unspeakable atrocities. I mean, not that I'm bitter or anything.

lol. Hrudey, youre alright my friend.

I do think Recor could be one of those creative games along the same lines of Horizon. We'll have to wait and see, but I think that one will be worthy of my interest and possible investment. With the creator of Metroid at the helm, you cant go wrong.

 

[MisterxboxNJ]

I'm a huge MS fan and I don't disagree with him. I don't think anything Microsoft showed (at E3) really competed visually with either Uncharted or Horizon. From a games surprise perspective I think PS4 also had a better surprise in the Last Guardian. That being said. I don't think MS lacks the developers, they just made a choice to focus on unknowns or games coming out in 2015 and this choice meant leaving three of their potentially best graphics games off the menu at E3.....Scalebound and Quantum Break more so for graphics and Crackdown for art style and possibly for destructible environments/physics.

As a gamer in my 40s with a small child, I barely have time for games anymore. So buying two systems was out of the question. While the PS4 has some nice exclusives, in the end I went with MS because they have more exclusive franchises I prefer like Halo, Crackdown, and Forza Horizons. Also, while PS4 might have some great looking games, sometimes those games, like the Order don't always pan out in terms of gameplay, and usually MS's do. As great as it is to have beautiful exclusives, what good are they if they take forever to come out? Why would I buy a PS4 now when games like Horizon/Uncharted 4/Last Guardian probably aren't going to show up until 2016....at least with the Xbox I'll have Forza 6, Halo 5 and other games coming in 2015 plus the backlog of quality titles that are already out that I haven't even gotten around to playing.

I still agree that MS needs to step up their game in the graphics department for their exclusive.

 

[Mcmasters]

On a side note: Horizon was a really great looking title. Not even kidding. But when compared to the rest of Sony's reveal there wasnt much more in the way graphically. However in the Microsoft camp, mostly all of their games looked really solid in my opinion. It wasnt one game that looked better than the others, but mostly every title looked really, really good.

I get that many didnt think much of Gears, but graphically it looked astounding. (That tornado tho!)

Perhaps that is why it appears Microsoft's games didnt look as good. Nearly all of them looked good! Not just one or two...Just an observation though.

 

[menace-uk-]

On a side note: Horizon was a really great looking title. Not even kidding. But when compared to the rest of Sony's reveal there wasnt much more in the way graphically. However in the Microsoft camp, mostly all of their games looked really solid in my opinion. It wasnt one game that looked better than the others, but mostly every title looked really, really good.

I get that many didnt think much of Gears, but graphically it looked astounding. (That tornado tho!)

Perhaps that is why it appears Microsoft's games didnt look as good. Nearly all of them looked good! Not just one or two...Just an observation though.

 

[Mcmasters]

Nope. Genuine. Not that guy... Legit opinion/observation.

 

[Obscene Jester]

Nope. Genuine. Not that guy... Legit opinion/observation.

The only game between MS and Sony that I thought was really impressive visually was Horizon. There was plenty that looked good, but that game just impressed the hell out of me.