Dangerous Golf Dev Speculates on PS5, Xbox Two
By Jasmine Henry 26 January 2016
While the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are less than three years old, one Dangerous Golf developer has already begun speculating on the PS5 and the Xbox Two.
Last month, Three Fields Entertainment (a team of ex-Criterion, ex-Disney, and ex-Ubisoft developers) announced Dangerous Golf. Combining destructive gameplay and property damage with (what’s possibly) the world’s most peaceful sport, a big part of the game will be its physics as players create mayhem for points. As such, Three Fields kicked off development by talking about video game physics both past and present but what may come as a surprise is that the developer even considered the future, including the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Two.
In an interview with EDGE, Paul Ross, the CTO and director of Three Fields Entertainment explains that the developer asked “what does a PlayStation 5 game look like? What does an Xbox Two game look like? And how can we start to build for that future now?” Ross also explained that physics engines “haven’t changed” since he worked on Dreamcast title TrickStyle and that “simulating physics at a molecular level” has been “a really hard problem to solve for quite a while”.
Moreover, Ross notes that although “we’ve seen some fidelity put into the worlds” with the PS4, with the PS5, players will see “more dynamic worlds, far more interactive worlds that are more believable in the way they behave”. It’s unclear whether Ross also thinks that the Xbox Two will up the dynamic ante but game graphics are already one major reason why people buy PS4s over Xbox Ones, so it seems highly likely that Microsoft will double down on visuals with its next console.
Another thing that console makers will need to address is PC gaming. While both current gen consoles have some cross-platform play with PCs and the Xbox One even runs Windows 10, many (including Crytek CEO Cervat Yerli) agree that consoles will struggle to overtake PCs in power. This poses some problems as less powerful tech may result in more PC gamers (and less people buying those new consoles) and it will also be difficult for multi-platform developers to make games that perform equally on all systems.
As for when gamers can expect the PS5 and the Xbox One, Ross didn’t speculate on that during the interview. However, it seems that Microsoft is thinking about the future already with Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently confirming that gamers will see another Xbox console from Microsoft, while former Xbox VP Phil Harrison said that “eight years is actually the right time” when it comes to a console life cycle.
Sony, on the other hand, may be hoping for a longer cycle. The PS4 has been selling at a phenomenal rate, most recently shifting over 5 million units during the holiday season, totaling almost 36 million units altogether. A shorter cycle means that Sony may lose the momentum it has gained with its current gen console so gamers will have to wait and see how the company proceeds.
What do you hope to see from the PS5 and the Xbox Two? Is it too soon to think about the next generation of consoles? Leave a comment and let us know.
Source: VideoGamer
