So let's take a look at some launch titles across PS1 -> PS2 -> PS3 -> PS4, and see what differences are immediately apparent. I'll just go with fighters and racers here as those are both 3D and available in all launches:
I dunno how this is even up for discussion. PS1 --> PS2 easily. Big chunky polygons to "realistic" graphics. Every console leap since follows the law of diminishing returns: realistic graphics that now look slightly more realistic.
I think you might want Virtua Fighter 5 there. I'm not sure which screenie you posted. But I think that makes an excellent point. I think about games like Dead or Alive 3, which still look fantastic, where the PS3/360 gives a really nice and noticeable bump, but not as much as the chunky polygons of PS1/N64 to PS2/GC/XBOX.
Really it's hard to choose between PS1 -> PS2 and PS2 -> PS3 for me. The jump from PS1 to PS2 was probably more significant for me because the graphical upgrade was pretty amazing going from playing stuff like FFVII and Spyro on the PS1 to suddenly playing FFX on PS2 just blew my mind. On the other hand the jump from PS2 to PS3 really altered the way I played because online became so much more accessible and really opened me up to a lot of experiences that I hadn't really had at the point outside of PC gaming.
BoneSnapDeez wrote:I dunno how this is even up for discussion. PS1 --> PS2 easily. Big chunky polygons to "realistic" graphics. Every console leap since follows the law of diminishing returns: realistic graphics that now look slightly more realistic.
PS1 --> PS2 was significant in many ways, but simply getting perspective correction, subpixel rasterization, an actual functioning Z-buffer... was huge.
Kuruwin wrote:i got my first console which was the original XBOX so i didn't really get to experience the leaps the sameway like the others did
I think this is a big part of your bias. If you'd experienced the transition from PS1 to PS2 during the time when it happened, I believe you'd think differently.
I tend to think of them all as about equally significant, and the PS1-->PS2, for me, closely matches the significance of PS3-->PS4 as both are going from a simple version of graphics that are then perfected and refined in the subsequent console. Likewise, the jump from SD to HD and from mostly-offline to mostly-online from the PS2-->PS3 was huge.
I also think each did a good job of producing a library that met the needs of gamers of its era and helped significantly to define the "state of the medium" during each iteration of the PlayStation platform, so in that sense they are also a "draw" for me. So, I picked "equal advancement" and, if forced to choose one, would have picked PS2-->PS3
They're all great. I think I hadn't considered the underlying AI development processes of later consoles. And the implementation of PSN and the PS Store were huge in building a great console. The Dualshock 4 is great too!
Well I went in blind with PS1 -> PS2 and I guess that's the current majority.
I standby my post in the other thread that some early gen PS3/360 stuff looks like dooky, with Dead Rising as my punching bag example. When I played Silent Hill 4 (late PS2) a few years ago it blew my face off, technically and visually... that game looks better than a lot of PS3/360 games. But they were taxing out the PS2 by that point and Team Silent were arguably ahead of their time, and handled the artistic and intricate placement of lightning and camera angles masterfully.
Overall though, yeah the PS1 to PS2 is a significant jump.
What the PS3/360 did was bring in aliasing and better lightning, bump maps, realistic animations, etc. It was a huge jump and when you got to the end of the gen with stuff like Last of Us or Dead Space 3, hot diggity.
I would say the PS4/Xbone jump was another big one, but we're already in the established realistic zone and so... yeah. I don't know, nothing to really breakdown much. Things look sharper and better.
Soon we will hit the uncanny valley.
I know this is talking about the PS eras specifically, but the jump from 16bit to 3D will always be the most critical and crucial jump in gaming history, probably until VR becomes something else entirely.
Art design has far outshined technical power for years though, mainly with some of Nintendo's offerings like Xenoblade or their Mario and Zelda stuff. I think devs have been forced to realize this lately, because otherwise they probably need a few billion bucks to make anything to fit that AAA realistic model.
Graphics still wow me and are cool and all, but I'm personally waiting for AI to make a dramatic change and jump someday. Seriously this stuff hasn't improved much at all in a decade a half now. Half-Life 2, FEAR, Halo, for FPS examples, are still some of the best examples of excellent enemy AI... and nothing has really advanced since then. Hopefully someday.
