With the launch of the PlayStation 4, we can start welcoming in a new generation and standard of video gaming. We’re promised stronger graphics, deeper levels of content, hardware that can serve a multitude of purposes outside of just gaming itself, and much more.

With the launch of the Xbox One, we can continue our celebration of the new generation of video game consoles. Straight out of the box, the Xbox One wants to be your all-in-one home entertainment system, and with its various integration features for cable, streaming video, and more, it succeeds much better than the PS4 at launch.

When “Injustice: Gods Among Us” made its debut earlier this year on consoles, it showed that Netherrealm Studios could do more than churn out “Mortal Kombat” sequels — while at the same time justifying the DC Comics legacy in its own right.

Recent editions have proven that quality is fleeting in the franchise’s single-player campaigns. Where we gamers end up (correctly) focusing our attention is in the online competitive modes, where EA seems to be devoting its efforts. I long for a military shooter that sucks you into a tightly woven narrative with complex players, but that just isn’t what “Battlefield 4” sells. It sells controlled mayhem.

Keeping the tradition of “Assassin’s Creed,” the story is split between the future and the past. After (spoiler) Desmond dies in the future at the conclusion of “AC III,” his consciousness goes to a cloud-computing system owned by Abstergo, the corporate front for the Templars.

After two massively successful Batman games bearing the “Arkham” name, the very title “Origins” indicates a look at how we came to know Batman’s relationship with Arkham Prison and its inhabitants of dastardly criminals.

Left unimpressed by the recent “Armored Core” games, I was prepared to ditch the series altogether and focus on other genres. Then I watched “Pacific Rim” and fell back in love with humans commanding giant machines of worldly destruction.

I relished the game and its blend of character study and plot — even when those elements had holes a truck could drive through. Thankfully, Cage returns with an entirely new story in “Beyond: Two Souls.”

The folks at 2K continue to tweak and alter the gameplay to create as lifelike an experience as possible. In this edition, the game goes all-in on the dual-stick dribbling and movement it flirted with last year.

Most of the dramatic improvements to “FIFA” occurred in the 2012 edition, from the 360-degree ball-handling to improved body positioning and tackling. “FIFA 14” doesn’t rest necessarily on those laurels, instead taking a more measured approach to refine and improve what already stands out as stellar.