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Guest Article: The Full Sync Network

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For today’s article, and for the first time in a long time, I have a guest blogger on to express his opinions on the current landscape of gaming and his predictions on where it may go amidst the newly ushered in ninth generation of the medium. Josh Maddox of the FULL SYNC Network and I had recently been in contact in regards to the subject and offered to have his say on the blog on the new generation of gaming as well on the most recent releases, including Monster Hunter Rise, Resident Evil: The Village and others. established in 2016, the FULL SYNC Network is a collaboration of gamers around the world specializing in news, reviews, and previews of upcoming games, as well as streaming on their YouTube and Twitch channels of games, hardware reviews, and instruction videos. So without further ado, here’s what Josh Maddox had to say about the future of gaming and the ninth generation:

 

Despite the latest generation of consoles and graphics cards launching last year, many people are still playing on old hardware due to stock issues. We all thought that may ease up as we entered 2021 but the scalping game is still strong and thousands continue to struggle to get anything. Some have succeeded, myself included with my PS5. But others still check Discord for stock alerts every day then rush over to get into queues for the stock they keep missing out on.

But let’s not dwell on it too much, easy to say since I got what I wanted, and let’s take a look at the future of gaming instead.

 

Consoles

Less than six months after the PS5 launched, Sony is already looking at upgrading the storage on their consoles and making it more accessible for those that already bagged one to do it as well. I mean, I love my PS5 but there is nowhere near enough storage on it, with less than a terabyte to spare and a chunk of that is for the firmware. But I think this is a record of how quickly a manufacturer has decided to upgrade their console following release.

Xbox hasn’t announced plans yet, but don’t be surprised to see the usual slimline versions coming out in a few year’s time. Hopefully, by then they’ll actually have stock.

I guess, the console everyone is hoping for though is an upgraded Nintendo Switch. Whilst we all love the Switch, it is extremely underutilized. I mean Nintendo is great for innovation and creativity, and they have excellent first-party titles. But what they ooze in that, they lack in a common-sense almost, never truly fulfilling potential. I mean, look at the Switch, so versatile. Can be played docked and handheld. It’s a purpose-built gaming tablet essentially, that is able to be docked and played on the TV.

However, you can’t get Netflix, no internet browser, low internal storage too. I mean, it has the technology in there of an old SmartPhone, newer ones are arguably more powerful than it. And smartphones do everything in life. So the potential is there for the Switch to do the same. Yet Nintendo seems insistent on just doing what they want to do. Which is admirable, but also incredibly stupid. Question is, would an improved Switch have better functionality? Who knows.

 

PC

When it comes to PC, the future is a strange one. VR was supposed to be the future of PC gaming, but it still hasn’t hit the heights it was expected to. But sales figures for the Oculus Quest 2 look good, and with it being wireless and suitable for smaller spaces, it is likely we may soon see the rise so many predicted. 

In terms of hardware, the newest graphics cards are all released, but as with the latest PlayStation and Xbox releases, there is hardly any stock. Scalpers have been buying it all up, and many who have got the latest GPUs have been using them for mining cryptocurrencies since Bitcoin decided to explode to over $50,000 earlier this year. Which leaves many gamers in a tough position.

Now, they could upgrade to the last-gen cards, because they’re still capable of things like 4K and decent frame rates in games. But the problem is, with the shortage, the costs of older models have skyrocketed. I bought my RX 570 4GB for £80 over a year ago, and I’ve seen the same model going for £140 nearly double what I paid. And now many of the last generation cards are even selling at higher than the retail price of new cards. But, because no one can get them, people are paying stupid money. We don’t actually know when this madness will end.

 

Games

Who doesn’t love games right? But there are always so many titles to choose from, it can be tough to decide on what to get if you’re on a budget. And with so many games coming out this year, I thought I’d just write a quick list about some upcoming titles we’re excited to see.

  • Outriders – Developed by People Can Fly and published by Square Enix, Outriders is a third-person RPG adventure due to release April 2021.
  • Guilty Gear – A fighting game from Bandai Namco that is very anime-based in style. This was also due out in April 2021 but has since been pushed back to solve issues that cropped up in the latest beta tests.
  • Resident Evil Village – Due out in May, the latest installment to the Resident Evil series looks to be one of the most intriguing and detailed yet. A must-have for horror game fans.
  • Monster Hunter Rise – Following the release of the Monster Hunter movie, the newest addition to the popular game series launches later this month.
  • Back 4 Blood – Back 4 Blood is an upcoming multiplayer survival horror game developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It has major Left4Dead feels to it, and had incredible feedback after the latest beta tests. This one is due out a little later this year in June.

But it’s not entirely new games that are coming out. There are a whole bunch of remakes and remasters too. Two of the most popular people are looking forward to our Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Oddworld: Soulstorm, which is a reimagining of the classic Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus. Still, I seem to be waiting on a remake of my beloved childhood title Croc. I was hoping with the reintroduction of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro that this would follow behind shortly after, but alas, nothing so far.

 

What are your thoughts?

There you have it, our thoughts on the future of gaming this year. But what do you guys think? Will we see a “Switch Pro” in 2021? Will stock of new consoles and graphics cards ever become more accessible? Is there a game you think we should be checking out not on our list? Or maybe you agree we need a Croc remake and want to start a petition with us? Whatever your thoughts, let us know what you think in the comments below or over on our social media channels.

 

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Josh for taking the time out to contribute to the blog in what is truly a fascinating read about the possibilities and the limitations that very well come with the advent of the ninth generation of gaming. If you’d like the check out the various different platforms FULL SYNC operates out of, all links are below:

Main Site – https://fullsync.co.uk/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/fullsyncnetwork

Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/fullsyncgaming

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvrGKhe7y4gTmgD2pxxBsAA

Twitter – https://twitter.com/fullsyncnetwork

Gamer’s Apparel – https://gamersapparel.co.uk/store/fullsync

Be sure to check out their stuff, but in the meantime, I hope you guys enjoyed reading what Josh had to say, and if the opportunity comes about for me to work with FULL SYNC again, it will be up on my social media pages too.

Game on,

Scouse Gamer 88