The initial PS4 reveal and E3 seem as though they happened a very long time ago and, in gaming, four months is a long time. Games such as Grand Theft Auto V, FIFA 14 and The Last of Us have all proven to be great successes when we know that the next generation of consoles aren’t too far away. Until a few days ago, I was very much looking forward to picking up my pre-ordered PS4 on launch day as I wanted to experience the future of console gaming as quickly as possible. With recent delays as well as several rumours, I have become a little sceptical about the launch games for the PS4.
While Watch Dogs was already being released on several platforms including the PS4 and Xbox One, I had pre-ordered the bundle which featured Watch Dogs. I was waiting to see what this futuristic free-roaming title could offer on the next-gen consoles. Now that it has been delayed because of ‘quality issues’, I think there were several reasons why the game was delayed. It may have been because of all the games which Ubisoft have already released this autumn with Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Rayman, as well as Assassin’s Creed IV due out in two weeks’ time.
Perhaps Ubisoft were a little hesitant due to Grand Theft Auto Online being so popular as it’ll be played for many months to come and will probably be better than Watch Dogs. Anything could have happened in the development of the game but it seems as though we have seen so much marketing from this game that by the time it comes out, the community may become frustrated as it’ll have been almost 2 years since the initial reveal.
I have seen several posts on Twitter and several forums that suggest a large number of gamers who have pre-ordered their PS4 will cancel their pre-order because of Watch Dogs being delayed. I have not heard of anyone saying that they will be cancelling their Xbox One pre-order because Watch Dogs has been delayed. I can see where some people are coming from because of the latest rumour which spread today (Thursday).
There have been a few rumours saying that Drive Club was going to be delayed until spring 2014, much like Watch Dogs. Drive Club was one of the games I was looking to buy upon launch and it is tradition that the new console has at least one exclusive racing launch title. This wasn’t going to be a monumental hit and I think Sony knew this but I see no reason why this game has been delayed other than it isn’t ready. If you are looking for fast-paced racing on PS4, it looks as though it could be Need for Speed: Rivals or nothing. Hopefully the rumour will be false but at the minute it’s up in the air.
The main reason I am a little sceptical is when you compare the launch titles for the PS4 to that of the Xbox One’s. The games exclusively being released on the PS4 don’t interest me. I played Killzone 2 for a few hours and didn’t enjoy it. I enjoy my first-person shooters but the game felt a little jarring and I never went back to play it and will be why I won’t buy Shadow Fall.
For those of you who believe Knack will be a great exclusive, I’m sorry but it won’t. By all means Sony prove me wrong but, I’m finding it hard to find words to describe how I feel about Knack. I just think it will be a huge disappointment when you consider Mark Cerny, who directed the game and featured on games such as God of War III, Uncharted and the Ratchet & Clank series. I have been slated by several Playstation fans who believe that this game will be fantastic but I just can’t see it being like that.
With Microsoft’s E3 conference, the list of launch games which they specified looked promising. With Dead Rising 3 now being added to the list of launch games, the Xbox One exclusive games now seem better than those of the PS4. With Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3 and Ryse which I’ll admit doesn’t look too good but it is still another exclusive.
With two of the three games bound to be on the must-have list to many gamers out there, you simply cannot compare the two, in my opinion. Killzone has seemed to lack that cutting edge which makes Call of Duty, Battlefield and Far Cry stand out first-person shooters. Knack is probably the Playstation’s version of Ryse in that it will probably not meet expectations. Dead Rising 3 does look very fun to play and Forza Motorsport offers the Xbox audience what they want in regards to track racing. The only way the PS4 could compete with that would be if Gran Turismo 6 was released on launch, even if Drive Club proves not to be delayed as well.
Forza is a key Xbox brand and when Forza Motorsport games are released, the Xbox community know that they are getting great quality games. I just don’t feel as though the PS4 exclusives offer me the same quality as Forza Motorsport 5 or Dead Rising 3. The only games that many people will want to play on the PS4 could be the games which are already on current-gen and are on Microsoft consoles.
It’s sad to see that the PS4 launch has taken a bit of a hit by the delay of Watch Dogs and now possibly Drive Club. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about changing my pre-order to an Xbox One but, I believe that the games will come. I owned an Xbox 360 from the start of the current-gen and missed out on many of the PS3 exclusives in the early years of the console cycle. I will eventually buy an Xbox One as well but I can’t help but feel let down by the lack of variety at the start of the PS4. You always think that the console cycles will be a step towards the future but we may not see that for the next 12 months or so.
@SimonMarshall6
*I did write an article last week looking at why I’m buying a console day one. I still stand by that but I think the launch titles for the PS4 could have been a lot better.
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