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[Havoc2049]

COVID is the main culprit. Modern game development, the rise off MMO/GAS games that last for years and mid gen console refreshes also play a part. And for people who say it's always like this at the beginning of a new gen, it's especially bad this go around.

I'm an Xbox gamer and on the Xbox side, 343 screwed Microsoft and gamers over by dropping the ball hardcore. Even with long development cycles, Halo Infinite should have easily been a launch title.

The OG Xbox had Halo, Project Gotham Racing, Dead or Alive 3 and Oddworld at launch and by this time, the plethora of Sega titles and the second wave of Microsoft Game Studios titles had already started to show up. The Xbox 360 had Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Project Gotham Racing 3, Condemned, Ridge Racer 6, Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 at launch. Xbox One had Forza 5, Ryse, Killer Instinct and Dead Rising 3 at launch.

Microsoft should have delayed the release of Gears of War Tactics and had it as a launch title. They should of been more on top of the shit show going on over at 343 and made sure Halo Infinite would have been ready. They also should have poured more staff and money into Grounded and had that ready as a launch title as well (it's a really fun game, but still in preview/beta).

Not that any of it would have mattered, because then COVID rears its ugly head again and even with a killer launch line up, Microsoft wouldn't be able to sell any more consoles than they are now because of the chip shortage and manufacturing delays.

 

[Tmack]

COVID & cross gen. Not sure it is much different than last gen.

Cyberpunk debacle also made some studios postpone launchs.

 

[Fbh]

As with every new gen, it's not the job of third parties to sell next gen consoles. Look at 2014, there was no COVID or anything as big on a global scale, and yet the vast majority of big third party games were cross gen too.

Sony and Microsoft need to put in the extra effort and invest in exclusives games, marketing, putting enough consoles out there to actually meet demand, etc.
Once more consoles are out there and more people start making the jump to next gen devs and publishers will inevitably start making more next gen only games.

 

[Rudius]

PS5 had Demon's Souls and Astro's Playroom, soon Returnal and Ratchet, not to mention cross gen games that benefit from PS5 next gen features (SSD, Dualsense, ray tracing), like Miles Morales, Sackboy and Destruction All Stars. It is Xbox that is lacking; they only had The Medium, which is not very good.

 

[22•22]

PS5 had Demon's Souls and Astro's Playroom, soon Returnal and Ratchet, not to mention cross gen games that benefit from PS5 next gen features (SSD, Dualsense, ray tracing), like Miles Morales, Sackboy and Destruction All Stars. It is Xbox that is lacking; they only had The Medium, which is not very good.

Fuck! I'm convinced. Brb. Ordering PS5 stat!!!! I was so so conflicted but now I've seen the light

 

[Rudius]

Last generation for Playstation was basically the Order, Resogun, KZ:SF, TLoU Remaster, Infamous Second Son, Knack and Driveclub in the first year. Or am I missing something?

This generation is off to a very good start for the launch year. If Returnal is the sleeper hit it now seems to become and if Sony publishes one more solid AAA first party before Q4, this launch year is quite a lot better than last I think.

The Order was released in 2015. Driveclub released in the end on 2014, but it was so incomplete you could consider it a 2015 game as well.

 

[Memorabilia]

Both consoles were arguably released a year too soon. I'm glad they were as I've had a lot of fun on both, but the lack of first party heavy hitters on both new consoles seems like they both jumped the gun.

That said, Game Pass has made the Series X and S get a lot of play in our household. Our PS4 Pro and PS5 consoles are for now mostly used to uprez PS4 games.

 

[WakeTheWolf]

What did you expect? PS5 and XSX are nowhere to be found, no one will make a game just for what, 1MLN userbase? That's a commercial suicide, until the production ramps up and more people switch to newer hardware cross-gen titles is all we're gonna get, which doesn't mean the games can't be good. I'm actually afraid that once PS4/XB1 become abandoned 60FPS will be gone forever as well other than the usual suspects like CoD, Fifa etc.

Not even that but most consoles are being held by scalpers

 

[Shelookdlvl18]

PS5 had Demon's Souls and Astro's Playroom, soon Returnal and Ratchet, not to mention cross gen games that benefit from PS5 next gen features (SSD, Dualsense, ray tracing), like Miles Morales, Sackboy and Destruction All Stars. It is Xbox that is lacking; they only had The Medium, which is not very good.

That really only furthers the question instead of answering it.

For all the fanboy hoopla, Demons Souls is a decade old remake, while Astros Playroom is nothing more than a tech demo for the dual sense. Even Miles Morales was an expansion likely meant for the PS4. Sony simply killed two birds with one stone by holding it hostage on the PS5. It would create incentive to get one, while allowing them to charge twice as much for it.

Don't get me wrong, Sony has absolutely done a better job of filling out their portfolio for this gen compared to MS. No doubt about it. But almost all of what has released for the PS5 appears more like filler content, until the big hitters arrive. We know that MS had planned on having Halo Infinite at launch which would've provided the Series console with its early showcase exclusive. But even had it released on time, they'd still be short compared to this time last gen.

I don't... I'm not claiming to have any answers, but by the looks of things so far, it appears both consoles are really lacking in current gen content. Sony just did a better job covering the gap with filler than MS did.

 

[Rudius]

That really only furthers the question instead of answering it.

For all the fanboy hoopla, Demons Souls is a decade old remake, while Astros Playroom is nothing more than a tech demo for the dual sense. Even Miles Morales was an expansion likely meant for the PS4. Sony simply killed two birds with one stone by holding it hostage on the PS5. It would create incentive to get one, while allowing them to charge twice as much for it.

Don't get me wrong, Sony has absolutely done a better job of filling out their portfolio for this gen compared to MS. No doubt about it. But almost all of what has released for the PS5 appears more like filler content, until the big hitters arrive. We know that MS had planned on having Halo Infinite at launch which would've provided the Series console with its early showcase exclusive. But even had it released on time, they'd still be short compared to this time last gen.

I don't... I'm not claiming to have any answers, but by the looks of things so far, it appears both consoles are really lacking in current gen content. Sony just did a better job covering the gap with filler than MS did.

It took me 10 hours to platnum Astro's, I was satisfied with it's duration. Demon's Souls I played for over 50 hours, never played it on PS3, so to me it was a new game. Haven't played Miles yet, but with ray tracing at 60fps it will look next gen compared to the PS4 version.

That is not the best launch lineup of all time (maybe the Snes was), but I did not regret getting a PS5 in December.

 

[Shelookdlvl18]

It took me 10 hours to platnum Astro's, I was satisfied with it's duration. Demon's Souls I played for over 50 hours, never played it on PS3, so to me it was a new game. Haven't played Miles yet, but with ray tracing at 60fps it will look next gen compared to the PS4 version.

That is not the best launch lineup of all time (maybe the Snes was), but I did not regret getting a PS5 in December.

I didn't say you couldn't enjoy them. It's just simply what they are.

Compared to last gen both consoles are lacking at this point.