That E3 2014 trailer of No Man's Sky isn't super scandalous in my opinion. Every part of it is an element present in the final game, just crammed closer together for the sake of making a better 3-minute trailer... and, crucially, running in what was obviously a far better-looking and more technically-demanding build which they probably couldn't get to work on PS4 and had to scale down quite a bit.
The foliage density took a big hit, stuff like physics on trees and asteroid debris took a big hit... but, in that trailer you can still see elements of the trademark "dithering pop-in" that is present in the final game, which suggests it is in-engine, and indicative of what the game was capable of looking like at one point.
(Ironically, the biggest problems with the game actually come from elements that aren't shown in the trailer at all - such as the incredibly limited range of buildings, quests, enemies, and alien interactions.)
They definitely should have done more to manage expectations; I think for as much as hardcore industry news followers might understand by now that games inevitably change in development, messaging toward the general public should probably make that more clear as a matter of course.
Calling something "target gameplay" or a "target build" might be a step in the right direction overall, but in this case Sean Murray probably should have just said a year ago that the game wasn't going to look as good as it did in that trailer.
I have way more sympathy for a 15-person team being in this situation than I did for Watch Dogs, that's for sure.
I am... intrigued. It sounds like they're approaching this idea in a pretty careful and reasonable way... so far.
I wouldn't worry too much about the original PS4 getting crappy/compromised versions of games, really, considering that between OG PS4 and Xbox One, the majority of the market is still going to playing the games at base-level for the foreseeable future.
But hey, even if this only means I'll be playing roughly the same-looking games as I'm already playing with 60 fps instead of 30, that sounds pretty great to me.
I agree once again with everyone saying the reason consoles do so well is simplicity and ease of use. But I think it needs to be even further emphasized.
For most of the mainstream market, it's not merely a matter of simplicity being a "+1" on the pros and cons list between consoles and PCs; it is literally the determining factor: "the one that can play the games with my friends most quickly/simply/easily is the one that I want."
Framerate? Don't care. Resolution? Sit too far from the TV to even notice. Super cheap Steam sales? I only buy three games a year, who gives a shit.
These are not necessarily my feelings, per se, but they are the feelings of many, many people who go for the more straightforward choice, period - and they will continue to do so, no matter how many times we have "in the bubble" press folks predicting the death of consoles "no, seriously for real this time," despite record sales, because unless PCs can become cheaper and more straightforward than consoles, they won't win over that huge crowd. And they can't do that without losing the things that make them PCs.
Live and let live, guys. We have different sets of priorities. It'll be okay.
I still play Destiny a couple times a week and I am okay with this news.
I mean, if it's gonna be a full-on sequel, I want it to really feel like one.
On a slightly different note, I've never understood the way this game's "legs" are judged like an MMO when it isn't actually following that business model. If the numbers go down for a few months, then go back up when a new thing comes out, that is literally the way the game expects to make money - not some big worrying trend. A lot of people have gotten a lot of hours out of their 60-240 bucks over the past two and a half years!
They might have ground half those hours out in a state of numb half-interest while watching Quick Looks on a second screen, but that's still a pretty good value, technically!
I'm assuming Palmer is paying for this with a million dollars he found in his couch cushions or something, right? Because if that's the case, go for it
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