What exactly does 'the new age of gaming' mean?

Those old-time stars.

We are in the time of renewal across pop culture. So much is being reused and remade in the image of what we consider to be 'the future', that no one so much as bats an eye anymore when Disney announces another live-action remake, or Capcom revives the Resident Evil movie brand. Perhaps this is because stagnancy is a sign of death, so part of us is glad that things are forever shifting and renewing. And why do I talk about this today? Because I wish to discuss this topic's relation to the coming console generation and what that means for the future of gaming as a whole. Which does inherently mean that everything I discuss will be entirely opinion based; so take with with as many grains of salt you need to make a meal.

Now the gut reaction to such a query would likely be something of the lines of "Why do we have to discuss that, it's obvious what the next console generation means. It's kind of in the name." But that is exactly why I feel it's worth going over because this console generations seems poised to be fundamentally different from those before it. Firstly, in previous generational switches there was usually an inevitable point in which new games would cease coming out on the older gen console and would then be exclusive to the newer console. This would be justified, of course, by the way how all the newer gen titles would lavishly exploit the new graphical heights of the introduced consoles and thus mostly be glorified tech-demos. (Yeah, the game itself could 'feasibly' fit on some of the long-running consoles of the time, but would they be able to render that same number of hair follicles along Nick Ramos' jaw? Thought not.) The big companies would often support and encourage this trend as soon as possible by dropping previous gen support the second the next console came out, cold turkey, and developing all first party titles with the new hotness.

Now, this may still be the stratagem as far as Sony is concerned, they've been deathly quiet of a late, but Microsoft have come forth to assure everyone that this won't be the case for them. I did cover it a few weeks back, but just as a refresher: Microsoft have vowed to maintain first-party game support of the Xbox One for at least 2 years into the Xbox Series X's life cycle, proving that their old console won't immediately become a wasteland. (Of course, that doesn't change the fact that all the cool console exclusive titles are still on PlayStation, but 'baby steps' I guess.) What this does mean, however, is there will be a reduced draw to run to the new console in it's incubation period where it will most certainly be over-priced. Suddenly, such a prospect weakens the step from this generation to the next and makes it a question of whether or not there is need for a new generation right now at all. Sure, all the 'slick new graphics' can only be caught on the 'newest gen' but honestly most people know that graphical fidelity most often means diddly squat in the grand scheme of things. (I''m still unsure if this choice will hurt the Xbox SX's launch or help it.)

Another big change, and the inciting factor for writing this blog, would be the dissolution of the concept of 'exclusivity' regarding these upcoming consoles. (I know this is kind of an expansion upon the previous point but bear with me.) One the biggest reasons for spending the big bucks in order to hop to the next console is the big fear of missing out as well as to save oneself financially folly in the future. That initial FOMO will push people to drop their money on the next new game, which is great for third-party developers as they will usually do their best to support the last gen and current gen markets in the knowledge that those who purchase the weaker version of the game will eventually emigrate to the new console and, (if they liked the game enough) be forced to buy the game again on the fresh hardware. This has been the unspoken way that it has always been for years now for every single developer aside from those who work on the Just Dance games, because those fools haven't touched the base code in so long that the software still gets ported for Nintendo Wii. (Who still buys the bloody Wii version?)

If you spent anytime on gaming Twitter in the past couple of weeks you'll know that a big company recently challenged that practice in a big way. That's right, CD Projekt Red have come out and revealed that for Cyberpunk 2077 they'll be offering upgrades from the Xbox One version of the game to the Xbox Series X version free of charge. "No one should be forced to buy a game twice" they proudly said, (or something to that effect) and that is sure to send quite the message across the industry given the eminence of that company and that particular game. (Afterall, it is destined to be Game of The Year.) There are still some questions that come regarding this magnanimous offer; such as if this is a limited-time deal or if it will be reflected for Sony's consoles, but whatever is decided this does lessen the need to migrate to greener pastures and further blurs the line between this generation and the next.

Then there is the question of when this new Console generation will land, because even that is in flux right now. Yeah we all remember the grand promises that this December will be 'dawn of the new gaming age'. Even if some folk 'like moi' are left feeling a bit disquiet about it approaching so rapidly. (has it already been 8 years? I'm sure it only feels like 7.) Microsoft have been very open about their plans to come in the holiday, whilst Sony may have mentioned it once in the plethora of bite-sized interviews that they do instead of actually attending any events and advertising. (These guys must think they're Rockstar at this point.) But as with many annual staples this in now in flux due to the unexpected rise of relevant factor.

Now I usually like to keep things light and at least mostly planted in the realm of fiction in this blog, but there's no escaping the fact that there is a rather deadly situation bubbling around the world in the Coronavirus or, more specifically, Covid-19. This little virus is poised to jump across the world to America soon, as experts have stated, and that has meant a great stamping down of events that could serve as hubs for spreading such a virus. (Due to the way that they draw in thousands of folk across the room to one sweaty place.) On the global stage this means that things like the Olympics are currently in limbo. (It may even be cancelled this year.) And on the gaming stage this means that Sony have taken this opportunity to preemptively drop out of every gaming event for the next 6 months. (You get the feeling that they've been looking for an excuse for a while, huh?) However, this could have an even more drastic effect on the length of our current console generation.

It's no secret that the majority of cheap labour is done in Asia with a good portion of the tech world being manufactured in China. Well as a consequence of that, Covid-19's appearance has thrown that manufacturing process in jeopardy as no one want to import at the risk of contaminating themselves or their workers with a potentially deadly virus. (Except, I presume, Amazon: who likely care so little about their staff they're probably already advertising replacements for them as they conduct the imports.) This has meant that a lot of the key components that would go into making the new consoles have had to be delayed, and if this outbreak doesn't improve or (god forbid) get's worse, this will push back the next console generation out of 2020. I don't think anyone can really blame the companies if that happen, either. It's certainly better to be safe than sorry. (And now one wants to buy their brand new console only for it to give them the Corona. That beer sucks.)

So with all of these factors that threaten to change the definition of one of gaming's longest held traditions, I poise the question to you; what does 'the new age of gaming' mean? Is it an evolution in the way that we enjoy our favourite pastime, or merely a manufactured event to periodically shove technology forward at the expense of the consumer? And with all these new events and situations that threaten to blur the lines between the current gen and the next, is it even a construct that is worth keeping around in the current age? I know it's rather cheap to just leave you with questions and no answers, but that's all I'm here for, baby!