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Are You Impressed By What You’ve Seen Of PS4 Tech Demos?

Ben-Dutka 26 Comments

Everyone has been arguing about the PlayStation 4 specifications; i.e., what is the PS4 really capable of based on those statistics?

But what about the tech demos we've seen thus far? Activision, Epic Games, Quantic Dream and other studios have produced examples of what we might see in the new generation. Next to actual PS4 gameplay we've seen, these offer our most reliable peeks at the future of interactive entertainment. So have you been impressed by these presentations?

It's actually pretty hard for me to gauge. Thing is, I've reached a point where fancy graphics don't mean anywhere near as much as they used to. They will always play a significant role in this hobby; after all, this is a very visual form of entertainment and very often, superior visuals enhance the overall immersion. There's no denying this. But as I get older, I'm more interested in originality and great storytelling, none of which I can determine in tech demos. I can hope the more artistic and dramatic aspects of the industry progress in the next generation, but there's no way to be sure of that based on a graphics showcase.

On top of which, I'm not sure if I'm merely looking at the expected evolution of video game graphics, which by default isn't exactly mind-blowing. In other words, it's almost as if what I see is what I would've predicted; the tech demos made me go- "Yeah, that seems about right." Better visuals than what we have now, of course, but not to the level of virtual reality or something like that, and I didn't expect such a massive leap, anyway. I guess what I'm really asking is this: Are those tech demos in any way disappointing as they didn't live up to whatever lofty expectations you may have had…?

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I’m Just Gonna Ask: Why Was Square Enix At The Meeting?

Ben-Dutka 41 Comments

We first saw Square Enix's impressive Agni's Philosophy tech demo last June, during E3. Yes, a while ago.

…and Square Enix popped up long enough at the PlayStation Meeting this past week to show us the exact same footage. They also reminded us that a Final Fantasy announcement is coming at this year's E3.

I'm sorry, but someone just has to ask: What the hell were you even doing there, S-E? Why would you show up at the announcement of a new console to display a tech demo just about everyone saw over eight months ago? Just because the PS4 might be capable of producing those visuals? So ? I get the whole "announcement for an announcement" thing – i.e., "stay tuned for something we'll tell you later!" – but that was the wrong venue. You don't step onto that stage unless you've something new to show us. Or at the very least, you have to tell us something new. Anything at all.

As far as we know, "Agni's Philosophy" doesn't mean anything. It's not necessarily a new game; it's merely a tech demo. And the new FF news could just be more blather about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII . Either that, or they'll actually announce Final Fantasy XV at E3, and it'll look like that tech demo and be released for the PS4. That's all very well and good. It still doesn't explain why Square Enix was at that Meeting. I cannot fathom why Sony even let them on the stage. It would be almost understandable if Final Fantasy was still exclusive to PlayStation but of course, that's not true any longer. And there's no chance it'll go back to being exclusive. That won't happen in a million years.

So I guess I just don't get it. Other developers, like Quantic Dream and Capcom, showed off tech demos, too. But they sure as hell didn't show us stuff we'd seen before, and they actually had new information to reveal. Square Enix just looked so pathetically out of place up there. Weird.

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