Why I'm Not Excited About Next Gen

Ok, so we're all excited about the upcoming next generation of consoles right?  The Xbox One just came out recently and we're all getting geared up for new games on new hardware.  Everything is fresh, bright, and right in the world.  So before you all start rage quitting this discussion before it even begins let me preface this: it's probably not what you think, these systems are great, and just hold out until the end before you start commenting.  Got it?  Thanks.  Here we go.

So new consoles.  Gotta love em right?  And the xbox one and PS4 are some of the most powerful home consoles yet (shut up PC master race we all know how much you love your uber computers but that's not what we're talking about here).  With this new hardware we can push to new heights of what we can do with gaming.  Developers can do things that we never even dreamed possible with games before because the hardware can handle whatever we throw at it.  So....why don't they?

So far with the launch games I've heard about (throw some examples at me to prove me wrong please if I am, I'd like my excitement levels raised again) have just been the same old bleugh with prettier graphics.  Assassin's Creed 4 is just more of the same Assassin's Creed stuff, battlefield and Call of Duty never change so that's no different, and other things like Killzone or upcoming things like Titanfall just feel like more of the same things that I've seen time and time again.  Where's my innovation?  Where's the jaw dropping mind blowing things that we couldn't even imagine before now?

This is my issue: it feels like developers now a days seem to feel like why innovate on something when the same old tried and true formula works already and we can just make it prettier?  Granted I am generalizing a bit but it still feels like this.  I've seen more innovation from indie developers and they're not even working with half the power that AAA developers have.

Here's a perfect poster child for my gripes: mario.  Now granted, mario has been doing a lot of the same thing for years and years and years now.  Some might say that this invalidates my point.  But let's turn back the clock a bit.  Let's go back to the launch of the gamecube.  You know what was an early launch title for gamecube?  Super Mario Sunshine.  That game was brilliant.  It added a slew of new mechanics to the 3D mario formula that was in place from Super Mario 64 by adding the FLUDD.  On top of that we had Yoshis, and a beautiful tropical island to explore and play around in.  And that was two generations ago!  Then came the wii.  Early title for that console?  Super Mario Galaxy.  That game added a whole new dimension to the 3D mario series with the whole crazy gravity mechanics.  Just that little innovation radically changed the whole game!  Now we get to Wii U.  First big standout 3D mario game?  Mario 3D land.  With the wii and gamecube we had limited hardware and the developers were able to blow our minds with creative and brilliant innovations on the formula, so surely with this bigger better stronger hardware we will get something we could never have even dreamed of right?  So what do you have for us Nintendo?
"We're going to give you the ability to choose between four different characters like you were able to in Super Mario World 2!  Only now its in 3D!"
"Ok, that's pretty cool I guess even if it's rehashing an idea you've already done, what else?"
"Well, uh, you can turn into a cat now?  And you can split into two characters in a few stages?"
"Cool cool, and?"
"That's it."
See my point?  They've got all this potential to work with and all we get is an old idea brought back and a couple new power ups.  Don't get me wrong, Super Mario 3D land is a great game, but what happened to those brilliant levels of innovation we had a generation or two ago?

Granted I may be being too harsh.  There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon for us.  Two standout examples I would like to point out are Watch Dogs and The Division.  Let's start with Watch Dogs.  The "hack anything" mechanic is exactly what we need in this upcoming generation.  Such a simple idea turned what could have been a simple and forgettable action game into a brilliant foray into the next generation.  This one little innovation gives you an expansive toolbox constantly at your disposal giving you an incredible amount of options to approach any given situation.  Then we have The Division.  This is great twist on the MMO formula that we are so used to nowadays.  Mixing rpg like elements into a apocalyptic near future militaristic setting with PvE and random PvP is a refreshing change to both genres.

To wrap up, we need to encourage this kind of innovation.  While these other games may be fun, they don't push the industry forward to new and greater things that we are capable of as a medium.  We have the technology, let's put it to good use.

As always, leave comments about games I could review or other topics I could talk about.  Thanks for reading and supporting me!

Gamer Out