Why is it the games from the end of a video game console’s lifespan can be superior graphically and performance wise to games from the start of the console generation, even if they can both be run on the exact same hardware?
In: 4
Because by then the developers have had plenty of time to learn how to use that hardware. Developer *skill* increases even as hardware remains unchanged.
As a hardware platform gets older developers learn more and more tricks on how to fully take advantage of it.
At the beginning of the lifecycle they are taking advantage of easier things like the improved CPU and greater storage and RAM compared to previous consoles.
But by the end of the lifecycle they learn how to optimize more complex stuff like the intricacies of the graphics chip and sound.
As more games get made devs play those games and borrow ideas from each other with each iteration getting slightly better.
Why can tables from the end of a carpenters productive life be better than one from the beginning on the same hardwood?
Skill and knowledge of the hardwood and techniques how to use it the best.
Something no-one’s said yet is that games early on in a console’s life are often cross-gen, so they have to be able to run on last gen. We’ve seen a lot of PS5 and Xbox Series X games be essentially nerfed because they had to run on PS4 and Xbox One too. Later on in the gen, they don’t have to.
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