Last week, Microsoft, for the first time, showed off new games for their upcoming console, the Xbox One Series X. The tech giant hyped up the event for a crowd eager to see just what next-generation games will look like.
Graphics are often the top concern whenever a new console comes around. Unfortunately, the Xbox showcase was underwhelming. It didn’t show a lot of real in-game footage, and the little that we saw didn’t look too wildly different from what’s on offer today. Gaming news site IGN published an article called “You May Need to Lower Your Expectations For Next-Gen Graphics.”
It’s partly true. Video game graphics are not immune to the law of diminishing returns. Whereas the difference between the visuals produced by the original PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 was truly of night-and-day proportions, succeeding consoles have seen smaller leaps. (Still leaps, though noticeably less with each succeeding generation.)
After the Xbox Series X showcase, it felt like next-gen graphical improvements would feel like a tiny hop. That is until Epic Games showed off the newest version of its video game engine, Unreal Engine 5. They released a video, late Wednesday night, May 13, featuring a demo that showed off amazing new lighting, more accurate interaction between the character and the environment, and sharp-down-to-the-tiniest-particle graphical fidelity. (READ: Xbox Series X features, specs revealed)
Image from Epic Games/Unreal Engine 5 tech demo
The technical names for these features are too much for me to type from memory. But if you would like to geek out, warm your tongue up for these: “Nanite virtualized micropolygon geometry,” “Lumen global illumination solution,” and “Quixel Megascans library,” which promises to give game makers the ability to put film-quality visual assets in games. (READ: 'Assassin's Creed' stars as Xbox teases new games)
If you were one of those who got disproportionately excited for all the hype that surrounded the PlayStation 2’s “Emotion Engine” back in the 2000s, you understand that these terms hold a certain power over us. In the next few months, we’ll be going, “Damn, that Nanite virtualized micropolygon geometry looks good, and that Lumen makes it even better,” vaguely knowing what the hell we’re talking about. I’m excited. (READ: Sony reveals PlayStation 5 DualSense controller)
The Unreal Engine 5 will be seen in both competing next-gen consoles, the aforementioned Series X and the PlayStation 5. But, strangely, Epic Games specifically mentioned: “To support vastly larger and more detailed scenes than previous generations, PlayStation 5 provides a dramatic increase in storage bandwidth.” Despite the Series X having more raw purported horsepower, will the 5’s focus on ultra-fast memory prove more game-changing?
We’re excited to see these kinds of debates soon – almost all of which, funnily, will end up with a guy screaming in an online forum: “PC MASTER RACE.”
Saving up for the next-gen,
Gelo
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