Over the past year or so, there has been heavy speculation on the release of the next generation of console gaming. With headlines in the gaming world claiming to have the secrets behind Microsoft’s Xbox 720 and Sony’s Playstation 4, it almost seems inevitable that either company has a little something up their sleeve. As the days encroach on the E3 2012 trade show, gamers are hopeful that each company will unveil their next foray into console gaming, despite the constant denial of frequent rumors. Even if this unlikely event were to occur, though, David Cage, founder of development company Quantic Dream, feels they would be entirely too premature.
In an interview with the European video game development magazine and website, Develop, Cage admitted that, while typically labeled as being too big to fit into consoles, his ideas are not limited by the technology of the current generation. After attesting to feeling that the Playstation 3’s technology could effectively last for another five years, Cage states, “I think the main challenges are on the creative side than on the technical side.”
Having headlined the 2005 cult classic Indigo Prophecy, Cage earned his ability to down talk the need for new, fancy technology following the success of the content driven adventure title. Relying on quick time events and a heavy story, Indigo Prophecy achieved success without having to fall back on graphic-heavy environments and scenarios. In fact, even for a Playstation 2 / Xbox title, Indigo Prophecy was not a pretty game to play.
There is also something to be said for the technology that these companies have released, but did very little with. In 2010, the gaming industry welcomed the Playstation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect, two motion adaptors for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively. Since their launch nearly 2 years ago, these attachments have done nothing but act as add-on gimmicks to titles like Mass Effect 3 and Killzone 3; and as each motion-based game is released, the sad truth is that these technologies will never reach their full potential.
So, is Cage right? Do developers rely too heavily on technology when putting their ideas into motion? Recently, it seems all the big releases have been focused on fitting as much as possible on screen while experiencing the lowest slow down rate. Games like Dead Rising 2 boast the ability to fill the screen with thousands of zombies which, in the long run, really only causes many to stray from the actual meat of the game. With Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy, there was little else to do save for push through the interactive story, a concept that newer technology will only push to the background.
Cage threw in one anecdote that many developers should start to consider, lest we continue on assuming technology is key to a successful title: “The limitation is much more about the ideas we have. When you look at the past, you realized that the technology evolved must faster than the concepts we rely on.”
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