While this question may be somewhat silly on the surface but to be honest, I have a good point.
When a new generation of consoles launches, in this case the PS4 and Xbox One withing one week of each other, we get hyped. We get overly excited and wrapped up in the drama that is a Next-Gen Console War in the making.
Messages boards are lighting up neoGAF was brought to its knees a couple of times because of used games DRM, a 100 Dollar price difference and more. New consoles often come with lack luster launch line ups because of the small install base and short lead time for developers. This year developers battled a 150 Million consoles base between PS3 and Xbox 360 that commanded multi-platform and multi-generational games which leaves Assassin’s Creed IV or Call of Duty Ghosts a better version on Xbox One and PS4 but not truly a Next-Gen game.
But we do get console exclusives like Forza 5, Knack, Dead Rising 3 or Killzone Shadow Fall but the latter three released to some mixed reviews across the games media outlets. Does it matter that Knack scored a 56 Metacritic at Launch or that Dead Rising 3 released to Mixed Reviews ranging from 60 to 100?
The answer is no.
We are so excited and clamoring for new hardware that we are willing to excuse low review scores or Next-Gen games that are maybe only visual upgrades of their PS3 and Xbox 360 brothers and sisters.
We are happy to play new, pretty games on a consoles that launches fast, loads up our games and streams to the world with the push of a button. The PS4 released to much fanfare last Friday and I have been loving every minute of it. Popping in Resogun and Contrast has been as fun and refreshing as playing 64 player matches of Battlefield 4 or loading the PS Store faster than I could have imagined on a over capacity PS3.
We may not be playing launch games that are perfect 100s on Metacrtic or playing new IP but we have time for that in the coming years. These first few days, weeks and months are about embracing the new generation and getting excited for games that are coming up on the horizon, I am looking at you Titanfall, inFamous Second Son, Watch Dogs and Destiny.
Developers are just starting to scratch the surface of what can be done on these incredible machines. Going into the store, plopping down 400 or 500 bucks sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but the fact that we will play these ever evolving consoles for the next 5 years or more is what makes the investment worth it.
After all we are gamers and we are here to celebrate a new generation and be part of the first wave of games and experience the evolution of these boxes over the coming years.
