Let me remind everyone of something:
During the lead-up to the PlayStation 4 launch, one of the new system's biggest selling points was its accessible architecture.
Sony said making a console that was easier for developers to understand right out of the gate was a top priority. That's why they sought feedback from most of the industry's top teams and the result was - supposedly - a console that could produce fantastic software almost immediately. This would be in stark contrast to each of the past three PlayStation generations, when gamers had to wait several years for designers to really get a good grasp on the difficult new system.
And yet, here we sit at the end of 2014, reflecting on a lot of games that were technically unimpressive or even downright disappointing. Now, there could be lots of reasons for this, but I'm going to ask the question that involves the elephant in the room: Is the PS4 really that easy to develop for? Sure, we're seeing more multiplatform titles with slightly better numbers (in terms of max resolution and frames per second) on Sony's machine, but that's hardly enough. The bottom line is we've seen plenty of games that needed more time to cook, and could be indicative of development teams that are still trying to figure out a new console.
It really seems like any other PlayStation generation, in truth. Actually, the PS2 generation was much better because its first full year (2001) will be remembered as one of the greatest years in the industry's history, while in stark contrast, 2014 might go down as one of the most disappointing years ever.
During the lead-up to the PlayStation 4 launch, one of the new system's biggest selling points was its accessible architecture.
Sony said making a console that was easier for developers to understand right out of the gate was a top priority. That's why they sought feedback from most of the industry's top teams and the result was - supposedly - a console that could produce fantastic software almost immediately. This would be in stark contrast to each of the past three PlayStation generations, when gamers had to wait several years for designers to really get a good grasp on the difficult new system.
And yet, here we sit at the end of 2014, reflecting on a lot of games that were technically unimpressive or even downright disappointing. Now, there could be lots of reasons for this, but I'm going to ask the question that involves the elephant in the room: Is the PS4 really that easy to develop for? Sure, we're seeing more multiplatform titles with slightly better numbers (in terms of max resolution and frames per second) on Sony's machine, but that's hardly enough. The bottom line is we've seen plenty of games that needed more time to cook, and could be indicative of development teams that are still trying to figure out a new console.
It really seems like any other PlayStation generation, in truth. Actually, the PS2 generation was much better because its first full year (2001) will be remembered as one of the greatest years in the industry's history, while in stark contrast, 2014 might go down as one of the most disappointing years ever.

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