The fact is that neither the PS3, nor the 360 has a particularly large frame buffer. The 360 has 10MB of very fast memory for the frame buffer (with bandwidth 10 times that of the rest of the RAM). The PS3 can reasonably just use 128MB of memory before it leaves too little for the frame buffer.
That's not a lot of memory, when you consider all the graphics the frame buffer has to convert into visual data. If the systems had at least twice as much memory for the frame buffer, 1080p would be a reasonable resolution. As it is, around 720p is best for large scale games, saving 1080p for games with not that much going on.
A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.
Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs
