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The Next-Gen Wins…FATALITY

The Next-Gen Wins…FATALITY

Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment has officially put the finishing move on Mortal Kombat X for both last-gen HD consoles – Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The flagship fighting game that made its debut on the arcade in 1992 was scheduled to release alongside the next-gen consoles back in April. However, that never happened and the game continued to be delayed, two separate times in fact. The publisher cited quality issues as the reason for canceling the much anticipated title on the last-gen consoles. However, one cannot help but wonder if the decision to abolish the title was really a lapse in quality or the first definitive sign in the demise of the last-gen consoles, as we know them.

It’s difficult the think that the love has finally run out for the two gaming systems that paved the way for the future, but this isn’t something that should come as a total shock to gamers. Aside from the fact that Sony announced back in 2006 that it would support the PS3 for a total of ten years, along with Microsoft’s similar announcement back in 2013, several cross-generational series have already left the old consoles behind in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate , Fallout 4 , Watch Dogs 2 , and Final Fantasy XV . Still not convinced? Sony’s track record, for instance, has been very predicable when it comes to phasing out the previous generation’s consoles with an average of six years between new system launches and an average of 11 years between game release cycles. Microsoft falls in line with a similar product mentality.

Yes, you could argue that a few big titles are slated to hit the last-gen consoles in the coming months like NHL 16 , NBA 2K16 , and Call of Duty Black Ops 3 . However, these games have already been developed and come with a massive following. Publishers of longstanding franchises have nothing to lose when launching games cross-gen because they are almost guaranteed to hit their budget marks with the current-gen consoles regardless – the last gen sales are simply icing on the cake. Throw in the fact that publishers are taking advantage of an entirely new market created through the inexpensive hardware that comes along with an outdated console, hence the continued releasing of third party games, and you’ve got yourself an old fashioned roundup. Don’t expect these kinds of cross-gen releases to stick around long after this year’s holiday season, though.

The Next-Gen Wins…FATALITY

Yes, the mainstream gaming industry is ultimately a business when you wipe away the shiny coating. Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment proved that Sony’s first party publishers making the permanent jump to the next-gen consoles was not an anomaly. Third parties are joining in now, too. For some, the sad realization that the last-gen consoles have ultimately come to the end of their product lifecycle will set in. For others, this can only mean a future of better games and a more concentrated effort by developers and publishers to produce titles that absolutely blow our minds in every capacity. Either way you slice it, the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One are here to stay, and they’ve finally grabbed the limelight from their predecessors.

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