But really I wanted to discuss current gen mentality. Many of my constituents have spoken about how they have plans of getting the latest gaming technology, and some content creators I follow have made videos reviewing their early release copies. I have an issue with the level of drone behavior that people have succumb to in this period of time. I have to get into what I feel is the psychological aspect behind this incessant wave we're witnessing.
When PS4 came out in 2016, I did not immediately jump on it for several reasons. In fact, there was much discussion about it at my job at the time. A coworker who had a PS3 at my job had me over to his house to play some games. He had an extensive library. He was torn with the fact that the next Playstation console would not back that library, and didn't show much of a launch lineup at the time. This was in 2015 or perhaps even 2014. He was nonetheless, saving up and planning on possibly trading in his PS3 to cover the cost, but lamented the huge library that he would lose. I kept asking the question of what the new system offered that made it worth it. He admitted, that he did not quite have that answer.
I myself had a PS3 close to the same time, and I was blown away by the system's library, even with the few games I had. I had Asura's Wrath, Street Fighter x Tekken, Genji, and a couple others. I had plans of getting a few other games. I was blown away by how many insanely good games the system had. And I didn't see much coming from the PS4.
Then when the system dropped in 2016, I had already moved away from that job and lost contact with that friend. I saw some of the systems games, and it was a couple of key things that began to move the needle for me. I looked at some tech videos that analyzed the graphical improvements and how draw distance was improved and textures could be layered and displayed in greater quantity and detail, such as bullet holes in walls. I was not very impressed in all honesty. I waited to see more content. Then I saw the release of Street Fighter 5 and also Metal Gear Solid, which was a sandbox game. I also saw the new Final Fantasy 15. Those game showed me what I wanted to see. The scale of games such as Mass Effect Andromeda, Final Fantasy 15, Metal Gear Solid, and several other sandbox games on the system, completely raised the bar and set a total new standard for open world games.
It was really Street Fighter 5 that made me determined to get the system. As I had been playing SFxTekken and SF4, I noticed the new level of detail and depth in that game. It looked amazing and was fluid. It showed, with those games, including games like No Man's Sky, that the PS4 could do things that weren't done on the previous system. This justified a purchase. I got my system after selling quite a few games and shelling out the money for the accessories and controllers. I also got an arcade stick, as I was heavily into fighters at that point. It took a lot of research and thought, but I did not regret that purchase.
Now, in this generation of updates, we have a PS5 system and a new Xbox, right on the tail of releasing a PS4 Pro and Xbox S, that were supposed to push the detail and content for the new 4K televisions. We are still in the early stages of that, when the jump to next gen occurs. This puzzles me and is a recurring theme. Even when I looked at the schematics and the gameplay of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S systems, I could not for the life of me see any real meaningful upgrade. This is not to mention the fact that you are hedged into needing a 4K television. I've said for quite a while that at a certain point, any visual impairment nullifies visual upgrades and detailing. I have a quality smart TV now, which is 55" and a PS4. Playing Horizon Zero Dawn on that console, I cannot for the life of me, see a gap between that, and some of the games designed for 4K displays.
I've complained about the update culture for quite a while. It has come to the point where every day, either your phone, tablet, PC, gaming console, watch, laptop, or all of them, will freeze to install a mandatory update that chews up memory. When this update is finished, your screen flashes, and you are hard pressed to locate any noticeable update or change. This has gone on now for a few years, and at this point, I'm the only one I know who has a mind to complain. This has crossed over into what appears to be an obsession with changing things constantly at all costs. I feel like this has some underlying reason which I want to lay out here.
I watched a Youtuber who I follow, give the only honest take on current gen gaming that I have seen thus far. He openly stated that he can't really see the difference in new hardware, and advised that purchasers wait to see if something groundbreaking occurs before making the transition. At my job, we have monthly updates to software and systems that we have to constantly endure. We just had an update done for our email server, which is through Outlook, which now requires you to log in twice, with added loading time. This is labeled an upgrade. This same pattern is seen everywhere. In fact, software glitches and crashes that need desperate attention, will always go untouched through the thousands of weekly updates. This has completely warped what the word even means. Even in fashion and music, we see what are called upgrades, when music is stripped down, rushed, or just not musical at all, just in the name of replacing what was there.
To me, this mindset that has settled in people, is the projection of some kind of fear. It's as if people are running from something, be it principles, or just their reflection. They feel that by constantly moving and replacing, it will block out the din of consequence and reason. I would like to sit down and analyze the thoughts and actions of the current gen mind through question and answer. The way they operate allows companies to generally be lazy and release anything. At this point. we do not own our software or hardware, due to publisher policies now allowing constant tweaking. If I buy a system or game, or any device today. It can change through updates to a completely new product over the next year, and I have no choice but to take it, or not purchase the product, and go without completely. This has completely taken over society. And people have accepted it.
What I would like to see, is the emersion of conscious thought again. I would like ownership to become something that exists. But I simply focus on what I can create, since that is the only constant I can control.
