The weeks leading up to a new console release is a weird time. Despite 2020 being a solid, if not wholly remarkable year for the PS4 and Xbox One X, it’s hard to further muster any excitement for the soon-to-be previous console generation.
This happened to me all the time as a kid. The impending release of the next big, new thing was overwhelming. Like a fresh-baked pie sitting on the counter, waiting to cool. All of a sudden nothing sounds appealing besides that one baked good that is forbidden.
And so, we all wait. The forbidden pastries that are the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
There’s irony in saying that I have no excitement for the games already released on the PS4 due to a new console arriving in less than a month. After all, with one of the most shallow launch titles ever seen for a new console I’ll most likely be playing nothing but PS4 games on this new device, now with faster load-times and somewhat shinier graphics. This isn’t to say there aren’t games on the PS5 lineup that I’m looking at with intrigue.
The biggest of them all appears to be Demon’s Souls, the remake of the 2009 Japanese action-adventure game that turned the industry of design on its ear. Finally being remastered and redesigned by the studio responsible for the PS4 Shadow of the Colossus remake, there’s much anticipation. Can a game like Demon’s Souls be brought into the modern age? Should it be? Regardless, it’s practically the game that got me to immediately pre-order the PS5, showcasing the best of my memories in all of its 4K resolution glory.
I realize there's hypocrisy in saying that my most looked forward to game of a new console cycle is a remaster of a ten-year-old game. That said, it’s perfectly emblematic of the state of the video game industry and modern media in general. Disney makes billions of dollars by making sub-par, modern renditions of its classics. Nostalgia-laced shlock like Stranger Things rules the television roost. And worst of all to my late-Millennial senses is the beginning of ‘90s nostalgia rearing its ugly head, wringing my memories for money like a wet rag.
It’s fine. This too shall pass. Regardless, it’s yet another thing that highlights the weakness of this next generation’s launch titles.
I won’t lie: The only other launch title I have a real interest in is the one being packaged for free with every PS5. Astro’s Playroom is a pseudo-sequel to Astro Bot Rescue Mission, the best VR game made to date and one of the hallmark titles of the generation. Ditching the VR for more conventional 3D platforming, Astro Bot potentially stands as a smart move by Sony with its status as a packed-in game.
The free game included with a new console used to be the standard and a fantastic incentive for curious, new buyers. The trend went away in the PS1/N64 era, bringing forth demo discs, but there’s still real value in releasing new hardware and including a fully realized game. I worry that Astro’s Playroom will lose what made it so special by moving past its former PSVR constraints. What made Rescue Mission so wonderful was the way it used forced perspective and platforming in a way that felt truly revelatory. There’s concern that, by removing those tricks, that it will appear as nothing more than yet another mascot platformer attempting to supplant Mario as the flag bearer for the genre.
That’s a lot of pressure for a free video game meant as an amuse-bouche and not the main course. The games will come for both new consoles eventually, there’s no doubt. However, this is the risk one runs when being an early adopter and jumping in feet-first. My wife tells tales of having nothing but Virtua Fighter 5 to play upon the launch of the PlayStation 3. In fairness, she got amazingly good at the long-ignored fighter. So much so that I honestly refuse to play Virtua Fighter with her because I simply cannot defeat her, much to her chagrin. But that’s just what happens when a console’s launch lineup is lacking in diversity.
If this puts you on the fence for immediately getting a PS5 or XBX, then have no fear. I realize that the FOMO involved is somewhat too much to bear, but I promise that the games and good times will come eventually. Until then we all just need to hang in there together. And, most of all: spend the next month attempting to figure out where these gargantuan monoliths of plastic and metal are going to fit in our entertainment centers.
Seriously. I have no clue where I’m putting the PS5. Please send help. And an interior designer.
Contact William Harrison at: DoubleUHarrison@gmail.com or on Twitter @DoubleUHarrison.
First Published October 15, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
