After an extended and busy 12 months, 2024 is formally within the books. Gamers have just a few weeks to relaxation earlier than the online game launch calendar picks up in February with a barrage of main releases. That’s an issue for subsequent month, although. Till then, we’ve nonetheless bought a while to replicate on what was a rollercoaster yr for the gaming trade, filled with shock hits, whole flops, and stunning no reveals.
On the middle of all that was the three pillars of mainstream gaming: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Whereas their energy could also be waning within the age of moveable PCs just like the Steam Deck, these platform holders are nonetheless the watercooler dialog starters whose each transfer generates buzz. This yr, all three firms discovered themselves in a wierd spot. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X hit the awkward midpoint of their lifespans, whereas the Nintendo Change was left to tread water after its a lot anticipated successor was pushed out of 2024. All three must get artistic in the event that they had been going to finish the yr robust.
The excellent news is that every one three pulled that job off, even when nobody excelled. Every firm had an asterisk on its report that created an uneven yr irrespective of which console you performed on. Persevering with final yr’s custom, we’re as soon as once more closing out the yr by handing out closing grades to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. All three handed, however they’ll all want to check more durable in the event that they’re going to turn out to be A college students in 2025.
PlayStation
If I had been a tricky grader, I’d have good motive to flunk the PS5 this yr. Sony’s yr was filled with flops and disappointments that made its 2024 look dire in a vacuum. Its largest hardship got here within the type of Concord, a recreation that was meant to usher in PlayStation’s reside service future. As an alternative, it was a direct failure that was taken offline in weeks and the studio behind it was shuttered. That one expensive catastrophe could have put years of planning in jeopardy, single-handedly altering what PlayStation’s future will appear to be.
That unhealthy information was coupled by some comfortable letdowns. The a lot anticipated PS5 Pro lastly launched this yr, however with underwhelming specs contemplating its eye-popping price ticket. That made the system a gradual starter, one which raised questions on how a lot incremental energy is basically essential in a console. It didn’t assist that the system’s AI upscaling instrument, PSSR, was a bit buggy at launch, too. Elsewhere on the {hardware} entrance, Sony appeared to all however abandon its VR ambitions, providing little or no software program help for PlayStation VR2 (it’s largest improve this yr was PC help). At instances, it felt like Sony’s {hardware} enterprise had hit a brick wall.
If I had been solely taking a look at these lowlights, although, it could be a reductive view of what was a robust yr for PlayStation total. Sony’s wins didn’t come from puffed up first-party exclusives like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, however by way of surprising surprises that helped develop the system to new audiences. The crown jewel of the crop was Astro Bot, which discovered Sony as soon as once more making the form of all-ages platformer that helped construct the unique PlayStation. Helldivers 2 emerged as a reside service success story that counter-balanced Harmony‘s failure. Even Stellar Blade landed as a pleasing shock, permitting a Korean developer to search out worldwide success.
In between these peaks, we bought a handful of third-party exclusives that gave the PS5 the most effective recreation lineup of any console this yr. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth delivered the reward that Last Fantasy XVI couldn’t fairly obtain in 2023, whereas Bloober Staff’s Silent Hill 2 pulled off the unimaginable job of remaking the most effective video games of all time in a satisfying method. These highs had been sufficient to spherical out an uneven yr the place Sony leaned closely on pointless double dips like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. It might have been the PS5’s greatest and worst yr in a single.
Grade: B
Xbox
For the reason that launch of the Xbox Collection X in 2020, it was clear that Microsoft’s console was going to have an uncommon lifespan. Microsoft made it clear early on that it wasn’t essentially attempting to pump out killer apps a lot because it was attempting to make Recreation Move a way of life subscription service that each gamer wanted. 2024 would take that experiment to some really unpredictable locations that left Xbox followers with whiplash; we seemingly alternated between horrible information and nice video games each month.
The unhealthy facet was very unhealthy. Xbox kicked the yr off with mass layoffs, which shut down each Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks. The latter was extremely puzzling contemplating that the studio had developed maybe the Collection X’s greatest unique, Hello-Fi Rush, only one yr prior. Later within the yr, Microsoft rolled out a convoluted Recreation Move worth hike that turned the “greatest deal in gaming” into a dear proposition. It didn’t assist that a number of the service’s largest video games didn’t precisely pan out as anticipated. Each Stalker 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 had been buggy messes at launch, whereas Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Starfield: Shattered House landed as underwhelming releases.
It was a continuing PR disaster for Xbox in 2024, even when it wasn’t warranted. Xbox’s choice to launch sure exclusives on competing platforms ought to have been a trigger for celebration as Microsoft eroded the annoying exclusivity wall that divides consoles. As an alternative, the transfer fueled console conflict outrage. Related, Xbox made nice strides to make its recreation extra accessible than ever, bringing Recreation Move to gadgets like Amazon Fireplace Stick. That too was criticized because of the corporate’s “This is an Xbox” advert marketing campaign, which implied that any system that would run its video games was basically an Xbox. That transfer rubbed console purists the fallacious means, however I see the underlying message as a constructive step ahead for video video games.
Whereas it wasn’t an enormous yr for exclusives, Xbox delivered the place it mattered. It ended the yr robust with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, two of the best-received video games of this Xbox technology. In path to these tentpole launch, we bought a gentle stream of “day one” third-party releases that also offered the service’s worth. Dungeons of Hinterberg and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess are each sleeper hits that ended up on Digital Tendencies best 10 games of 2024 listing. With that in thoughts, I’m prepared to let Xbox out of 2024 with a superbly good, if unremarkable grade. I count on to see some huge enchancment in 2025, although.
Grade: B-
Nintendo
After receiving a coveted A grade in final yr’s report, Nintendo had an enormous job forward of it — and it appeared like it could haven’t any drawback delivering. In spite of everything, 2024 was absolutely going to be the yr we lastly bought the Nintendo Switch 2, bringing a bevy of heavy hitting exclusives like Mario Kart 9 or Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Nicely … that didn’t occur. After all of the anticipation, Nintendo’s new console was a complete no present. Nintendo would acknowledge its existence after years of hypothesis, nevertheless it stopped in need of truly exhibiting it off or asserting a lot as a spec. That left Nintendo in a bizarre spot when it got here to software program. It was clear that the corporate’s most celebrated builders had been quietly engaged on new video games for the platform, leaving the B-squad to fill out the Change’s closing full yr. To Nintendo’s credit score, it delivered not less than one unique a month from January to December, however the truly lineup was eclectic.
Only a few Change exclusives launched in 2024 had been must-own library additions. The closest ones had been Super Mario Party Jamboree and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, however nothing rose to the extent of Tremendous Mario Odyssey or Fireplace Emblem: Three Homes. As an alternative, we bought a buffet of area of interest video games and odd remakes. It’s not that video games like Mario vs. Donkey Kong or Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition weren’t welcome on Change; it’s simply that these had been the console’s main video games moderately than quirky filler. These video games didn’t at all times ship both, as video games like Endless Ocean: Luminous and Princess Peach: Showtime! felt extra like underdeveloped experiments than the form of polished video games we’ve come to count on within the Change’s lifespan.
Even when it was an underwhelming yr total, the experimental nature of Change’s yr often led to the form of highlights that may solely occur when a writer isn’t being valuable. Emio — The Smiling Man is a unbelievable revival of Famicom Detective Membership that I don’t suppose we’d ever get outdoors of a yr like this. Splatoon 3‘s underappreciated Side Order DLC is a real hidden gem, and I can’t complain a few full remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The peaks weren’t precisely excessive, however that is the form of unusual yr that I think about I’ll look again on with nostalgia in just a few years when Nintendo is again in its regular rotation of predictable hits.
Grade: C+
