If I am being totally sincere I discovered 2023 a largely uninspiring 12 months on the entire. Innovation was in brief provide, with the anticipated and the iterative making up nearly all of the 12 months’s {hardware} releases. That is to not say we did not get some actually good tech launched over the previous 12 months—the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and 7840U had been two of the most effective examples when it comes to pure silicon—however they had been primarily simply extrapolations on present know-how.
However we need to see 2024 actually shifting the sport on, each when it comes to tech that is truly attainable but in addition {hardware} that is doing one thing new and progressive inside the subject of PC gaming gear.
Will we lastly see the long-awaited look of multi compute die chiplet GPUs? Will we see silicon photonics reaching a practical launch window? Will Intel launch 13 totally different nodes and architectures? Will anyone launch a graphics card that may fairly be given a evaluate rating of above 90%? Will we discover the right gaming monitor? Will gaming laptops lastly truly be capable to play video games away from a plug socket?
What follows completely aren’t predictions. Primarily based on the previous 12 months that may possible be a fairly miserable learn. So what I’ve tasked the PC Gamer {hardware} staff with doing is to go looking their souls for what, in some legendary ideally suited world, they wish to see occurring within the interest in 2024.
Jeremy Laird
What I need to see: A person eat his personal head. Failing that, would not or not it’s good to have some sensibly priced graphics playing cards? Nearly each different part class has just about normalised in value phrases. However not GPUs.
Will Nvidia’s upcoming Tremendous sequence of RTX 40 GPUs change that? I doubt it. However I can nonetheless hope. That mentioned, the rumours counsel AMD is not bothering with high-end variants for its next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs. So possibly, simply possibly, AMD goes to reboot the thought of a graphics card that gives actual worth for cash. Would not that be refreshing?
Andy Edser
What I need to see: For those who ask me, and let’s face it, you type of did, I reckon issues have turn out to be far too secure and smart within the PC {hardware} area. When was the final time you noticed a producer do one thing actually wild, one thing totally different, one thing that made you increase your eyebrows and announce “does that actually work?”
Okay, truthful sufficient, it isn’t extraordinary. However past some dodgy renders and ill-advised conceptual buzz-speak, it is normally nothing greater than a flash within the pan. I reckon it is excessive time we noticed some peripherals specifically get the wild and wacky therapy, however in an sincere to goodness try to shake up the area. The Xbox Sequence X controller is all nicely and good, however I would like one thing with levers and switches and toggles and a change product of jelly. I would like flight sticks which can be straight out of a sci-fi film. Deliver on the odd, the weird, the simply would possibly work. However this is the essential level: Truly make it, y’know, work. And never for hundreds of greenbacks and the rights to my first-born little one. Please and thankyou. Love and stuff. Me.
Nick Evanson
What I need to see: Naturally, I might prefer to see the identical as everybody else: Cheaper {hardware} that is quick, secure, and full of options that can guarantee it is going to stay related for years to come back. However I do know what I’ll see and it is actually simply going to be extra of the identical. Distributors will announce a raft of recent fashions at the beginning of the 12 months, all which is able to solely be marginally higher than what they launched in 2023.
However what I might actually prefer to see is a real integration of AI, to do issues which can be correctly helpful. Overlook about predicting what meals I’ll need to purchase subsequent Tuesday, give me {hardware} that may work out upfront the way it’s going for use, so efficiency is on faucet when actually wanted and turned down to avoid wasting energy, when it isn’t. Who would desire a 300W CPU or GPU, if the identical duties may very well be achieved with half the quantity of vitality?
Dave James
What I need to see: Like Nick, I need to see synthetic intelligence utilized in extra helpful methods, and what extra helpful method may there be than to make all of your video games look superior? I do know we sort of have already got that with the likes of DLSS making low res sport inputs look virtually native (and in some instances higher) and are available mixed with a commensurate efficiency increase in addition, however the place is my photorealism? The place is my uncanny valley?
Video games have nonetheless not hit that faintly awkward level but. They nonetheless fairly clearly appear to be video games for probably the most half. I would like somebody to start out utilizing AI picture technology on the fly to reinforce what sport characters truly appear to be; begin giving me some sorta-photorealism. It does not should cease at characters, both. I have been enjoying footie video games, like Professional Evo and FIFA since I used to be smol and there’s such a wealth of footage and high-res imagery on the market that certainly you possibly can practice a mannequin to reinforce the following EA FC sport to really appear to be you are watching it reside on the TV.
TV’s have been including additional texture information to reside photographs for an age now, so it is about time video games began doing that, too.
After which, what about some precise in-game AI? What about AI as a dungeon grasp for that Larian Star Wars sport that now has to occur? What about pure language and the power to speak to individuals in a sport world in a method that goes past simply the few scripted responses a developer has been capable of enter in for some facet character? I do not need to exchange nice sport writing, however I would like my gameworlds to turn out to be deeper, the place every NPC can maintain a dialog and possibly, simply possibly even evolve right into a quest giver.
Jacob Ridley
What I need to see: Like my expensive colleagues, I too dream of cheaper graphics playing cards, genuinely respectable AI implementations, and one thing enjoyable for the entire household—or no matter Andy mentioned. Although earlier than we get to strange creations or AI fashions that make video games sparkle, I merely ask for for secure PC video games at launch. Or at the least principally secure.
We have had the most effective and the worst of PC efficiency this 12 months. The Final of Us Half 1 was prime among the many worst offenders, with a few of the funniest bugs I’ve ever seen. It was tragic, after all, to have a Sony sport from a serious studio lastly come to PC and it to be such a multitude, however at the least there was a silver lining in Joel’s huge eyebrows.
Cities: Skylines 2 additionally made waves within the incorrect method when it launched with critical calls for on our gaming silicon, even high-end PCs struggled to run it at instances. You could possibly additionally count on stuttering in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, which nonetheless has combined evaluations on Steam resulting from its shaky efficiency. Even again in February this 12 months, Wes was writing about how PC players are fed up with sub-par efficiency. That article was later up to date in Could, however the argument nonetheless holds water immediately.
At instances I have been questioning whether or not it is price giving freshly-launched video games a large berth till they’ve a pair months’ price of patches underneath their belt.
However we have additionally had some unimaginable video games arrive with nary a serious challenge in sight. Baldur’s Gate 3, our sport of the 12 months and nearly everybody else’s, had some very slight jank for the primary week nevertheless it was totally playable and ran nicely on loads of {hardware}. Alan Wake 2 additionally launched with shocking scalability contemplating it is one of many prettiest video games I’ve laid my eyes on.
Mainly, it may be achieved, and it might be good to not have to worry about efficiency for every new sport launch out of the gate subsequent 12 months.
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