Embrace the games you have available, the next wave of unique triple A titles could be a long way off.

The Xbox One and Playstation 4 are both highly capable consoles. The fanbases surrounding both these consoles are at this point clamoring for new titles.  Big budget titles are lacking, but new unique and creative gaming experiences are being released every week. Indie devs are stepping up their game on consoles this time around.

Triple A titles are at this point lacking for both of them. It would be foolhardy to expect many Triple A developers to take risks developing for these systems. Because for the moment most users either don’t want them or lack a reason to purchase them due to a lack of  new, unique triple A titles. A totally self perpetuating problem, many developers are are simply afraid to abandon the seventh generation. Many gamers refuse to buy a new console to play a game that is cross-generation.

It seems to me that, E3 2014, should have been titled E3 Coming in 2015. Especially when it comes to new big budget next gen exclusives. 2014 is looking like the year of the indie title. At first, I was upset about the dearth of big name titles on PS4. But, it was the continual stream of low cost, quality digital titles that made me appreciate how solid some of these new indie titles are.

There is no question that at this phase of the next generation, we can’t expect to see innovation on the grand scale. Triple A titles, simply cost too much to attempt true innovation without a large enough user base to justify the expense. Simply put, corporate culture in a down economy in a non essential segment, exacerbated by extremely elastic demand. This is leading developers to play it safe. In fact, Sony and Microsoft are fighting tooth and nail to land big name titles for their respective consoles. While established publishers roll out the same IPs or derivative IPs to turn a quick profit.

We have seen year after year, the same franchises, the same titles, the same gameplay, and little else coming out of the major game studios. Simply put, why change up the formula when kids will get their parents to line up and get the newest military based FPS. I don’t know, you think people would get sick of being shown teasers of guns and high res cinder-blocks… but no Call of Duty: Ghosts n’ Goblins will come with a Sir Arthur DLC body armor kit and a bonus spear throwing weapon if you pre-order from Gamestop. But indie devs have been trying all sorts of new and creative things. To a point where maybe it’s going a bit too far with the digital art installations. Let me know when the Kickstarter for Super Andy Warhol World opens. A joke, but really who wouldn’t want to fight an army of soup cans.

Arthouse video game jokes aside, there is something to be said about not fixating on graphics. I mean 1080p 60fps, perfectly trimmed polygons and textures to match are nice. Don’t get me wrong they are very nice. But a shiny coat of paint doesn’t make a Honda Civic a supercar. I say, if you see a game that looks interesting, play it. Who cares about graphics, who cares about your K/D ratio, who cares if you can’t pwn noobz in a single player puzzle platformer.

It basically comes down to this; the eighth  console generation will be very slow to pick up momentum. So play what you have available. Some of these titles are a ton of fun, And crying that the game you bought the console for isn’t out yet is so 2013. Because, the best is yet to come and we as early adopters have to accept the growing pains of these two consoles.

P.S. Please stop squawking about exclusives, most of the stuff that’s playable on these consoles are just PC ports or is cross-gen.

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