Can micro-consoles make a comeback? A review of the “Rayman” game on three platforms

Today, PS4 and XBOX ONE dominate the traditional game consoles. With the development of Android platform, the rise of micro consoles equipped with NVIDIA Tegra chips may become a future development direction of game consoles.

Rayman, a popular adventure game from Ubisoft, has been launched in China on PS4 and XBOX ONE. Combined with the Rayman series that appeared on the Android platform before, it undoubtedly provides an opportunity for micro-consoles to compete with traditional game consoles.

Of course, there is still a gap between "Rayman Legends" on the Chinese PS4 and XBOX ONE and "Rayman: Forza Motorsport" on the Android platform. Therefore, in order to prevent hardware performance from becoming a barrier to comparison, the evaluation room chose the most powerful micro console currently equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip.

Both PS4 and XBOX ONE have excellent image processing performance and are almost on par with each other in terms of picture processing. In comparison, the image processing performance of microconsoles equipped with NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip has also surpassed PS3 and XBOX 360, and both can provide native 1080p or resolution close to this standard, greatly improving the fineness of game images.

Although the Chinese version of "Rayman Legends" on PS4 and XBOX ONE has a running resolution of 1080P, the processing of the cutscene CG animation is still a bit rough. However, compared with "Rayman: Forza Horizon" on the Android platform, which does not even have CG animation, it still makes the game appear more complete. What's more, the game is a Chinese version, and the Chinese dubbing of all the cutscenes makes the game more down-to-earth.

In the stage of selecting levels, the elements in traditional consoles are more fancy, and the way of selecting levels by moving characters is also relatively novel and unique. In contrast, Android micro-console adopts the method of selecting levels by map, and the system automatically helps players to move to the next level. Although the form is simple, it is also full of novelty.

After entering the game, the difference between traditional game consoles and micro consoles in terms of pictures and elements is also quite obvious. PS4 and XBOX ONE have done a very good job in refining the details of light and shadow particles. Although the XBOX ONE's picture is more conspicuous than the PS4 in terms of brightness, the two consoles have greatly improved the realism of the game with clear and complex game backgrounds and the actions of game characters. This is different from the micro console that shows overall rendering power. The micro console weakens the conspicuousness of jagged edges and corners in the overall sense, making the overall picture look softer, and the simple game elements are easier for players to accept.

During the game, both traditional game consoles and micro-consoles do a good job in the overall picture connection after the game characters move, but the traditional game console has richer picture elements and the switching between far and near scenes is smooth and natural. The micro-console equipped with NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip displays the game elements in a simple way, and the switching elements between far and near scenes are the same as those of traditional consoles, but it is more lightweight compared to traditional consoles that focus on richness and complexity.

As a concern of players, the smoothness of game operation is also a reflection of the performance of the game console. PS4 and XBOX ONE have a frame rate of more than 60fps in the game, which allows players to maintain a high degree of smooth operation at all times in the game "Rayman Legends", and there will be no frame lag or freeze during the battle and movement. For "Rayman: Race Carnival" running on the Android platform, the micro console equipped with NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip is not inferior to the traditional game console, and the scenes of jumping and high-speed movement at high frame rates also reach a satisfactory level.

In terms of operating details, the controllers provided by the two consoles are different, but this also depends on the player's personal preference. For the familiar controllers with smooth picture quality, of course, the game experience is different. The operation of "Rayman Legends" on PS4 and XBOX ONE is slightly complicated, and the complex operation brings more diverse experience elements. On the other hand, "Rayman: Carnival of Speed" on the Android platform also has operations such as hitting and jumping in the game, but the fast game process makes the operation easier. Even running does not require players to press buttons but is automatically performed by the system, allowing players to relax and entertain themselves lying on the sofa in their living room.

Summarize:

The performance of the micro-console equipped with NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip has surpassed PS3 and XBOX 360. Although it may still rely on future Tegra X1 or better products to match PS4 and XBOX ONE. However, the lack of masterpieces and some high-priced games for PS4 and XBOX ONE in China also limits the super performance of these two traditional game consoles. Therefore, the emergence of micro-consoles also gives players an additional choice to experience games. The "Rayman" provided by Xiaoy Games is also available for free download on the Android game platform. Combined with the low price of the micro-console, the cost performance of this console has also been greatly improved.

Objectively speaking, if developers put more effort into porting Rayman from the console to an Android micro-console equipped with high-performance chips such as NVIDIA Tegra K1, it seems that there will be no problem in running it. In terms of game form, micro-consoles have reached the level of traditional game consoles, but with its huge development potential, I believe that micro-consoles will become a choice for game consoles for players in the near future.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.