The leap from one console to the next used to be so pronounced that it was impossible to ignore. It only took a glance to see the world (or dimension) of difference between SNES games and Nintendo 64 games, and understand exactly what the new system was offering. I’m cherry-picking that specific generation as the greatest gap in power we will likely ever experience, but I believe that the leaps in power throughout the entire video game console generation timeline spoke for themselves right up until the Xbox 360 and PS3 era. It isn’t that technical advancements have leveled off after that, but the edges are blending together more with each generation.
As we approach our fifth year with the PS5, and rumors continue to swirl about the PS6, I don’t believe Sony can rely on a marginally more powerful box being enough to justify whatever price it demands next time around.
Diminishing returns
It’s no surprise that the main selling point for new hardware is its technical capabilities. It is easy to show off shinier graphics, bigger worlds, and more realistic physics to a mass audience. We all knew we had to get that PS1 or N64 to experience that level of 3D graphics, or get a PS3 or Xbox 360 to experience full HD games. I’d argue that the last time the general consumer saw a noticeable gap between one generation and the next was going from the PS3 to PS4. I’m not embarrassed to admit that even I could be fooled if someone told me some PS4 games were actually on PS5 or vice versa.
Check out this screenshot of Uncharted 4 — a game released almost 10 years ago — and tell me this couldn’t pass for a PS5 game.
If you were to analyze and pick apart this game compared to a PS5 game, yes, I’m certain the PS5 game would come out on top. But more detailed shadows or faster rendering times don’t necessarily make a game more fun to play. I’m also confident that every boost in power is a godsend to developers working to squeeze every bit of juice out of the hardware. Even in this regard we are starting to see developers praising the efficiency of new hardware above any graphical leap. Kojima Productions’ chief technical officer Akio Sakamoto commented on the transition from PS4 to PS5 for Death Stranding 2 to Edge Magazine saying, “The most obvious improvement from a technological point of view is the reduction in loading times, but to be honest, the difference between the two hardware systems isn’t so great,” he says. “It’s more a case that on PS5 there are more efficient ways of arriving at similar goals.”
I won’t deny how important it is to make the creation of games as frictionless as possible for the developers, but the fact is that those are diminishing returns for a large group of players. All we care about is whether or not we feel justified investing in the box we spend our hard-earned cash on.
The trend of introducing Pro models doesn’t help the issue as they further blur the lines between proper generations. The PS5 Pro reveal is a prime example, where the differences had to be zoomed in on to be conveyed. We’re breaching the level of what the average consumer can even understand as an improvement. Ray-tracing isn’t exactly common parlance, and I doubt most people could tell you what a teraflop is. Compounding it all is the fact that many, if not most, people don’t own the types of displays that can even show it off to experience that difference.
I’m not saying that we should be content with where graphics are today. Someone at every stage of gaming has proclaimed that “graphics can never get any better than this,” and has been proven wrong each time. PlayStation absolutely needs to make the PS6 as powerful as it can, but it can’t rely on that as its main selling point like past generations. Sony could get away with it with the PS5 Pro, but the general public isn’t going to be impressed if they can’t see a difference between a PS5 and PS6 game side-by-side without a magnifying glass. To be fair, the PS5’s SSD was another touted upgrade over the PS4. Outside of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, however, this hasn’t amounted to doing much that couldn’t be done previously except for loading games a little faster.
So, where does that leave the PS6 and other future consoles? Convenience has to be where PlayStation pivots next now that any technical advancement will only appeal to developers and the most hardcore fans. It has already started this process with a tempered PC release cadence that doesn’t infringe on the core console sales, as well as by adding cloud functionality to the PS Portal without the need for a PS5. The rumors of a dedicated handheld is another necessary gamble to meet players where they are. Like it or not, we’re living in a world of instant gratification and PlayStation has to remove as many barriers as possible between its players and its games.
Whatever the PS6 ends up looking like, it’s the games that have to be at the heart of it. Introducing new experiences, new ways to play, and the freedom to play however we want will matter far more than throwing around terms like PSSR, terraflops, and CPU clock speeds. Most of all, I want the PS6 to give me what I don’t know I want yet.
