PS4 And Xbox One: 9 Ways To Improve Every Future Game
7. Tame That Budget
Put a leash on it, bonk its nose whenever it sniffs inefficient rendering, spray lemon juice on superfluous motion capture, just do something to keep that budget in check. Its tearing up all the nice furniture. This has been a growing problem for the industry for years and could easily undermine many an otherwise successful game in the new generation. The power of PS4 and Xbox One and their friendly x86 architecture give developers more ways than ever to bring their vision to life, but if left unchecked that very potential will smother a project. This has never been demonstrated more clearly than with Square Enixs 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. As Kotaku reports, Lara Crofts modern reincarnation caught fire in the retail scene after bathing in industry-wide acclaim and sold a stunning 3.4 million units in its first month. The real surprise? Square Enix was banking on six million and therefore had no choice but to declare the game a financial flop. This points only to reckless, bloated development expenses for which there is no excuse. Tomb Raider fell back in 2013. Who knows how scary the numbers will be for its new-gen sequel if Square Enix cant fix their development philosophy? This is also true for Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, the next Mass Effect and every other game not drawn with an Etch-A-Sketch.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
