I'm gonna take a poke here and see if this is what you mean.
When i first saw PS4 footage of Need for speed rivals i thought something was wrong aswell. Not on the frame rate but something on the textures and polygons looked off. It looked like the polygons were extra thin and the textures dulled. It honestly looked the way games look on PC and not on consoles where everything seems to be strangely shinier. Its almost like if someone were to blow some wind on the game, everything would crumble away like a castle of cards.
The reason why is simple. Its because these new consoles are PC's in a way. And the graphics cards are no longer completely made especially for it.
I think this is what you mean. Games on the Wii U dont have that same problem. I think this is because of the "gloss" effect on all nintendo games. Its what gives it that special atractive look and the sense that things are firmly welded together.
If its not, well... thats how i felt anyways. ^^