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I get the impression (albeit as somebody with nothing to do with the industry) that studios aren't very excited about another generation of hardware because it

I get the impression (albeit as somebody with nothing to do with the industry) that studios aren't very excited about another generation of hardware because it already takes a huge amount of resources to make a current-generation blockbuster, and profit is not alway guaranteed. The demo is completely amazing and I loved it, but if it "took about three months for 12 programmers and artists to build" this 2 minute scene, surely this is beyond the limit of what a studio will undertake for a full length production? Or am I underestimating the horsepower of the studios today?

gamble 16y ago
It's safe to say that there's little appetite for a new console generation right now. As in the movie industry, the middle ground in the games industry has been disappearing. Your best shot at turning a profit is either to make small bets on mobile/indie games, or go full-bore for a AAA title with a budget in the double or triple digit millions. Indies don't need another generation of consoles; AAA developers don't want to rebuild all the tech they created for the 360/PS3. The assumption at the start of the current generation was that if you invested in your tech fairly early on, you'd be able to get a trilogy out of it before the subsequent generation of consoles made the tech obsolete. (This is why so many 360/PS3 IPs were structured as trilogies) Now that it's obvious the current consoles aren't going away anytime soon, developers are looking to amortize their tech over a few more titles before the hardware changes again.
- cageface 16y ago
  I'd like to see the current crop of consoles in a smaller, cooler, quieter form factor.
- shasta 16y ago
  But of course there is someone ready for the next generation of technology: Epic, the ones selling it.
Tycho 16y ago
I think the best way to make sense of that stat is to compare how long previous tech demos took to produce. Anyone got the data? (like the Rage demo perhaps)

gamble 16y ago

It's safe to say that there's little appetite for a new console generation right now. As in the movie industry, the middle ground in the games industry has been disappearing. Your best shot at turning a profit is either to make small bets on mobile/indie games, or go full-bore for a AAA title with a budget in the double or triple digit millions. Indies don't need another generation of consoles; AAA developers don't want to rebuild all the tech they created for the 360/PS3. The assumption at the start of the current generation was that if you invested in your tech fairly early on, you'd be able to get a trilogy out of it before the subsequent generation of consoles made the tech obsolete. (This is why so many 360/PS3 IPs were structured as trilogies) Now that it's obvious the current consoles aren't going away anytime soon, developers are looking to amortize their tech over a few more titles before the hardware changes again.

cageface 16y ago
I'd like to see the current crop of consoles in a smaller, cooler, quieter form factor.
shasta 16y ago
But of course there is someone ready for the next generation of technology: Epic, the ones selling it.

Tycho 16y ago

I think the best way to make sense of that stat is to compare how long previous tech demos took to produce. Anyone got the data? (like the Rage demo perhaps)