5 Reasons Why: The Newest Console Generation has Underwhelmed

ThisGenGaming Writes: "PlayStation 4 has sold 20 million units world wide since its inception, making it the fastest selling console of all time. Nothing else has ever come close to comparing to the overwhelming consumer reception and support that Sony has received for its console. Outside of the PlayStation 4, however, there isn’t anything that has really made people say “wow” about this console generation. For the most part, it has been a disappointment for many reasons. While the PS4 has thrived, many games and other competition have found ways to blunder through and made it one of the more puzzling console generations to date; not to mention one of the least competitive. Why is this so? Why have gamers become a bit disgruntled, or have been so since the start of the console wars? Has this generation helped or hurt gaming in general? Here are Five Reasons why it has underwhelmed overall, and a look at its affects on gaming as a whole."

[UKmilitia]

what a load of crap.

i have said wow many times and thourly enjoyed this gen so far.

all on different pages so 6 clicks.
N4g needs to change fast because all of those points could be on 1 page but its over 6.

[3-4-5]

* The one that that FOR SURE has gotten worse this generation is journalism as a whole, everywhere.

* Nobody is holding these people accountable for their words and they keep pumping out click bait articles left and right....

[Stringerbell]

There is no room for integrity on this internet. Good stuff gets approved here put it usually remains a low temp / story with few comments. A shame really.

[decrypt]

Dont need 5 reasons why the gen sucks. No games is enough reason.

[Panzerkanzler]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm not visitng a click fest POS web site.

[Blade92]

Of course you have....some people are more easily impressed then others.

[rainslacker]

I find more fun in the PS3 and Vita games I've been playing lately, although have had a few good experiences with next gen stuff. I'm not underwhelmed though, as I didn't expect to be rolling in games like the last few years of last gen because....well it's a new gen and they take a couple years before they really start to thrive, although this gen is ramping up quicker than other gens in the past. For those not keeping track, this years holiday will be 2 years.:)

[Fro_xoxo]

I hope this gen satisfies you someday.

Take the good with the bad.

Give it time, I think you had high expectations from the get-go.

The best is yet to come.

Until then, enjoy your portion of the sales profit.

[mixelon]

Was that supposed to come across as a very weird poem?

[rainslacker]

Two years from now, people won't really remember the first couple years anyways. How many people remember the first couple years of any new gen? They always remember the games that came out throughout the whole generation and end up taking it as a whole. I never see people talking about the SNES or PS1 or PS2 saying that it didn't have that many game releases it's first year or so, but they still talk about all the great experiences they had with their favorite games on any given system.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

Why is it that there are people out there looking for 10 out 10 experiences when this console cycle is less than 2 years old?

The exceptional games don't start coming until developers learn how to work with the hardware. I think this year will be pretty good, but 2016 will be great. I expect 2017 and beyond to be exceptional.

[BigDuo]

It is rarely wise to buy a new console in the first 6 months to a year because the 1st party games in the past two generations have lacked hardcore-oriented killer-app titles. Platform holders typically get their 1st real big releases in the first year for the upcoming holiday season. New console owners have to endure slow and bare bones operating systems while they gradually receive newly added features, maintenance and stability and firmware updates. This process takes quite some time to get to the point where each console's respect OS has undergone a good amount of improvements.

Unsurprisingly, most of the big third parties still have not released new games using their newly created game engines. Where are the games created on Unreal Engine 4 and Cryengine 4 and various proprietary engines such as Pantae Rhei, Fox, Luminious, Frostbite and Snowdrop ? Oh right... those games are all still in development! See them generally released by the 2nd/3rd year from then. We tend to see a lot of cross-gen ports and late remastered ports to hold is over while third parties still have their current-gen only developed titles still cooking in the oven.

[SpinalRemains138]

Its not only that they dont know how to push the hardware real far, but that when a new machine's user base is still small, from being young, it isn't a sound investment in a huge AAA title if only 10 mil users are out there. Of the 10 mil, only a portion are going to buy the game.

Later in the life cycle, when the machine has a healthy and hefty base of over 50 million, developers and more specifically, producers, are going to go all in with huge titles so their return is much safer.

Seems a lot of people dont take this into consideration, but its very real and the huge games are going to come. They need an incentive to be made first.

[AWBrawler]

Ahem*
Bayonetta 2
Smash Bros 4
Mario Kart 8
Pikmin 3

Just to name a few 10 out of 10s this gen

[TheCommentator]

Notice how they're all sequels? Where's the innovation? 10 year old processing and a foot wide controller don't cut it. Besides, I don't wan't the same thing over and over, I wan't to see new games.

[DarXyde]

@TheCommentator,

So sequels can't be innovative? There are new IPs that lack the creativity of some sequels.

[ShaunCameron]

@ TheCommentator

What good is a new IP if it's gonna barely offer anything that existing and established IP's already offer?

And neither is 10-year-old gameplay mechanics and ideas with just better graphics gonna cut it.

[AWBrawler]

ok here's some non-sequels that i myself would give 10s to:
shovel knight
wonderful 101
captain toad
alphadia genesis

[UltraNova]

I blame ND living last gen with a 10/10 game.

The bar got raised very high and we gamers are as entitled as they come. Get a taste of the best once and nothing can satisfy as going forwards...everything needs to be 10/10 to exist.

[S2Killinit]

Underwhelmed? Im loving it

[MysticStrummer]

One reason why it may have underwhelmed for some people : Unreasonable expectations

I'm greatly enjoying my PS4. The only game I wish I hadn't bought was GTA5, only because I played it so much on PS3 and I don't really like the first person view unless I'm just driving or walking around the world without a goal.

[freshslicepizza]

i can think of at least 7 reasons why this generation is lacking so far,

1. constant delays
2. broken games at launch
3. connection issues and ddos attacks
4. not many must have exclusives so far
5. the wii u has some great games but the hardware is once again lacking and not very compelling
6. system features that should have been there at launch
7. too many cross gen games meaning publishers are afraid to let go of the previous install base

some issues have improved since and i imagine many will eventually be forgotten but as of right now i don't see any real need to jump into buying them yet if you have a pc and a last generation system

[SpinalRemains138]

They're not afraid, they're maximizing their potential for profit.

If you produced games, you would do the same thing. Its just a business decision. Its not wise to neglect a gigantic customer base. Those customers are profit for them.

[freshslicepizza]

of course it makes business sense but i can't help feel some of the games have been held back because of it. which again goes back to what i said earlier about the need to upgrade to the new systems. that generation of consoles has been around way too long.

[Arturo84]

a good list especially those first three we get nickeled and dimed on everything and we cant even get a secure game experience

[MysticStrummer]

1. Delays are hardly a new thing this gen
2. Broken games at launch are hardly a new thing this gen
3. Connection issues and ddos attacks are hardly a new thing this gen
4. Entirely subjective
5. Entirely subjective
6. Lots of system features were added last gen as well
7. It's not fear, it's good business to not ignore 160+ million consoles in favor of approximately 30 million consoles

[Blade92]

It's way to early for 85 percent of everything you just said. It's still early this gen. Plus the WII U has the best exclusives out right now and can make some compelling titles.

So I disagree with you on the Wii U comment because Nintendo has proved time and time again that the most powerful hardware is not what's always better. It's the devs and original ideas and gameplay they come up and how well the hardware is utilized.

[mhunterjr]

I'm actually pretty pleased with this gen...

I was expecting games with visuals like the Order and Drive Club to be the norm (and at 60fps instead of 30), but that didn't come to pass. Other than that, However, I am having a lot of fun with the games that have come out so far, and I've got plenty future games on my radar.

I like how indie devs are getting a bigger peice of the console pie. I like how new distribution methods are being tested, like PSN now and EA access. I like how cross-platform play is becoming more common. I even like some of the F2P games current and upcoming.

I look forward to advancements as the gen progresses, particularly in AI.

[bmwfanatic]

Not clicking on 6 different pages fix your format and ill go to your site if you have thought provoking relevant info.

[oONinjavitiSOo]

Sorry you're title implies that you are speaking for all gamers but unfortunately I dont share the same feeling so please quit trying to put words in my mouth. This should clearly be a opinion piece. P.s. quit crying game media you are big babies.

[ShaunCameron]

It's because the 8th generation is still fairly young and there hasn't been that many games that came out worth playing yet.

[Remy_S]

Delays upon delays, broken games needing multiple updates to run properly, underwhelming exclusives for the most part, parity clauses, missing features that were standard in the previous gen, lazy "remastered" port jobs, and DLC run amuck; that's just off the top of my head. Granted, I like my current gen consoles and wouldn't want to go back to the previous gen, but there are a lot of issues that I hope will be ironed out going forward.

[blakstarz]

You pretty much nailed it.....I like the new consoles but those are some glaring issues that still need to be worked on.

[WickedLester]

I am fine with gen 8 so far but if I'm being honest, it hasn't totally lived up to my expectations. I basically was expecting games to be a consistent 1080p/60fps across the board. While at first glance the games this generation look "good," once you look at bit deeper you begin to realize that ALL the console providers low balled us this generation on performance. Especially when you start looking at the compromises developers are having to make just for a rock solid 30fps, let alone 60fps. That's why we're seeing so many games with sub 1080p resolutions and I'm afraid its only going to get worse this gen as developers continue to try and push their game's further and further. It wouldn't surprise me by the end of this gen if all games are around 720p just so devs can push more and more graphic effects, AI, frame rate, etc.

In a nutshell, I was expecting Driveclub level graphics at a consistent 60fps.

[BigDuo]

I appreciate your honesty, but [email protected] fps was never going to be a new standard for home console gaming this generation for reasons you've already mentioned. It was pretty obvious before we even it was clarified what the specifications for PS4 and Xbox One were going to be. Home consoles don't have the performance luxury that PC has.

[maniacmayhem]

Besides a couple of games there really hasn't been any stand out titles or anything that I have rushed home to play only on the new consoles. WiiU really shined and came through with some excellent must have titles like Donkey Kong, Bayonetta 2, MK 8 and Smash.

Dying Light is pretty much the only game that has impressed me for the Xbox One/PS4. Sunset Overdrive and Deadrising 3 were pretty good too. Every other game has been "meh".

I'm sure this coming summer line up and definitely 2016 we will see these consoles start to shine as the last gen systems start to fade away.

[SaveFerris]

One thing I don't get is that both Sony and MS had been working on the PS4 and Xbox One respectively for a number of years before release, and yet a lot of the OS and media features are only being added now. Shouldn't many of these features been available upon launch?

[ShottyatLaw]

I have no regrets that I jumped into this gen from the beginning. It can be fairly argued, however, that this generation has been underwhelming thus far. The majority of this list doesn't even touch on that actual argument, though.

We can discuss a lack of innovation or true AI and gameplay leaps. We could talk about the cross-generation period where we are seeing slightly enhanced versions of gen 7 titles. We can point out that a resolution bump is not the same as "next-gen graphics." Those are valid points that have valid counterarguments.

For the life of me, I can not see how things such as all three systems including bundled games is "underwhelming." I believe I understand the point this article was going for, but it doesn't add anything to the real argument.

[WESKER2015]

no new game ideas, online focused console design, there are lots of reasons why this gen has failed so far, and the whole spiel about games costing more to make so thats why there are less AAA games this generation is a load of twaddle, the graphics dont look that much better than games later in the last generation of consoles life cycle, i mean uncharted 2 and gears of war 2 could still go toe to toe with a lot of these new gen AAA titles today, the 8th gen is just a sign that console gaming(not gaming) console gaming is dying, soon it will all be ipads and androids

[BiggerBoss]

If you can look at Gears 2 and the Order 1886 and say the graphics are toe to toe, you need some new glasses friend:)

[WESKER2015]

the order is different, that game was specifically designed for graphics, kind of like a tech demo, all tech demos can look good, even a 2007 tech demo would destroy any game on console today

[BiggerBoss]

Except its not a tech demo, its a game. And it looks much better than any 360 or Ps3 game. In fact quite a lot of games so far this gen blow last gen out of the water graphically

[SpinalRemains138]

Failed?

PS4 has sold over 20 million machines in 16 months!

That is roughly 1/4 of the PS3 user base, in 1/8th the time! That is ludicrous.

Expectations may not be met, but the new generation is anything but a failure.

[jeremyj2913]

Because people are expecting way too much too early in the cycle.

[DrRobotnik]

Well I'm overwhelmed. And so are the other 40mil people who own a PS4/XONE/WIIU. We got a GTA/Mario Kart in the first year and a Metal Gear in the second. That's pretty damn good compaired to last gen wait 5-6 years for something.

[Spotie]

It'd probably help if people weren't expecting the generation's best games to land just a year or two in. Cuz that doesn't usually happen.

Honestly, this mentality speaks of newcomers to gaming, more than anything else.

[SpinalRemains138]

Yes.

It is naive to think that anyone will invest millions into a game which will only return a fraction of the previous generation's profits.

Its a fine balance of giving us just enough so that we continue to buy the new machines, thus maintaining their margin and growing the base so that the bigger can follow.

[kingbain90]

Speak for yourself, this gen has had a more exciting start than last gen imo. i have too many games to play and it feels good (something i didn't have last gen tbh)

[Canary]

Not gonna bother reading the article because... does anyone really need to? Virtually everything that has changed this generation has changed for the worse. The only people who are happy with the way things are going are fanboys--and they'll jack off to anything.

[TardcoreGamer]

Here are nine reasons...
Battlefield 4
Cod Ghosts
Titanfall
Watchdogs
Destiny
Assassins Creed Unity
Masterchief collection
Evolve
The Order: 1886

[Dfooster]

It's year 1. All new generations underwhelm in year 1. In 8 years time when PS5 and Xbox Two come out they will be underwhelming and the PS4 etc will have been the best consoles ever.

[Stoppokingme]

The start might have been underwhelming but the best is yet to come:

Arkham Knight
Witcher 3
Just Cause 3
Battlefront (and other star wars titles)
Mass Effect 4
Gears of War 4
Halo 5
Fallout 4 (fingers crossed)
Deus Ex universe
Uncharted 4
Mad Max
Zelda U
Rare's reboot (Conker or Banjo, both would be good)
and many more...

There are still plenty of games to get excited about.

[satyadev]

Gamers on our way

[Solid_Penguin-64]

1. MGSVs not out
2. Batmans not out
3. Battlefronts not out
4. Uncharteds not out
5. Mass Effects not out

There we go, sorted ;)

[Baka-akaB]

Those articles are stupid they project bias and bad expectations as some kind of fact and truth .

Most gens dont give you in the first 2 years titles like the upcoming Bloodborne , Batman , Witcher 3 , Mortal Kombat X .

Nor past titles like Forza 5 , Horizon , Driveclub (yes despite the launch disaster and issues) , Sunset Overdrive , Infanmous 2 etc , and an already solid base of multiplatform crossgen titles . For what i care about the most , beyond rpgs , a wealth of fighting games already with DOA , Guilty Gear , Blazblue , Street Fighter etc already or soon .

Even the first year , the only way to have nothing to play , would be by punishing yourself by depriving you of anything not exclusive ... or because of some restrictive taste when it comes to genre or franchises

[barbarapeva]

Well, i've been amazed by both the Xbox and PS4

[PsBoxGamer]

Not me.

[Realplaya]

This Gen for the most part is built on hype. So if you didn't do the proper research and you bought your system based off of the hype then that's why your unhappy. If you were smart enough to look beneath the surface of the hype then you haven't bought a system on the promise of good software. I find it funny how gamer's bitch and complain about review scores and their game system of choice getting bashed. If you want to know how awesome a game is wait 2 months lets see if that game get sold strait up with no free anything. Wait a month or two and lets see if the game gets no price reduction and sell millions of units.

[sovkhan]

Not at all, very happy with my ps4...

And it will only get better!!!

[MultiConsoleGamer]

This generation has been terrible for everyone except Wii U owners. People who say otherwise are just lying to themselves. The PS4 and the Xbox One are completely underwhelming, full of broken unfinished games and lackluster exclusives. If you own all the hardware you know that I'm right.

It seems PC is the way to gen. I also hope the micro console, Steambox, and streaming game future takes off as I have become totally sick of console gamers, their pathetically insecure obsession with sales, and their fundamentally hateful nature. I also laugh at their squabbles about power, frame rates and resolutions when their weak game boxes can't even hold a candle to a mid grade PC.

[Primorandomguy]

I can kinda see the point this person tries to make. 2014 was a disappointment game wise. Even though there were some good ones. Both PSN and XBL have went down more than they should have, especially PSN. Also game launch issues have been a huge issue as well on PS4 and Xbox One games. Also both consoles launched unfinished feature wise. But thankfully, especially with monthly xbox one updates that's getting better.

[ThePresentIsAgift]

Some of my favourite games this generation are launch titles, personally I'm chuffed. I think things have been shaping up nicely with extensive support for each system.

I mean honestly, compare perfect dark zero to bf4, or ridge racers 6 to Forza 5. What more of a leap could anyone ask for?