What's irritating me is people who act like we can't have both. Why can't I have a game that graphically is the best we've ever seen and at the same time very fun to play?

Then he gives example of how people play retro games so that means we can't like high end graphics. Sorry but just cause some people play those pixelated games doesn't mean we all do. At the same time just cause we complain about 1080p doesn't mean it's all we care about. The fact is games are fun and have been fun for a long time I can't remember the last time I've had an issue finding fun games to play. So since the gaming industry clearly has it together when it comes to making fun games I worry about other things like wanting better graphics.

I feel 1080p is important, simply because it's a standard. It's like the luxuries we demand in a modern society.

Could you lower the resolution to improve performance? Yes, you could. Could you build a house without windows to make the house cheaper? Yes, you could. Is either a necessary compromise? No, they aren't in my opinion.

1080p televisions became ubiquitous several years ago. I find it disconcerting that brand-new systems in 2013 are struggling to meet that standard set many years before they came out. These consoles could've had very powerful hardware, but both Sony and Microsoft played it way too safe this time around.

Way ahead of you. Wasn't even planning on buying this game.

Pretty much. It doesn't really matter if the difference is 720p vs 1080p, or 1070p vs 1080p. All the average consumer will understand is that A > B. Tell them that frequently enough and it will influence what they buy.

Regardless, it's sad to see how many people allow their opinions to be crushed into black and whites, simply because they feel the need to vilify the opinion that counters their own. It may surprise some people to learn that it's possible to believe resolution is important without believing it's the most important thing in the world. A preference is not an absolute.

Well Hutchinson is an idiot. With VR on the verge of being released graphics are going to be vital, and with major engine devs such as Epic pushing better graphics he is just making more excuses for poor graphics from new consoles.

We haven't reached that time your simply twisting things you've read. When someone wants better graphics or complains about graphics your automatically assuming that it means more then story,gameplay,sound,etc. I can guarantee very few people if any have ever said this.

I don't think that's the case at all, nor do i expect any but a tiny minority believe graphics to be more important than gameplay (though i could believe a larger number favoring it over story and sound, depends on the game style).

It's been the same for decades, and i see no reason it would be any other way. We rarely get the chance to play a game prior to release (with exception to the occasional demo). We get few details on the story, outside of themes and the premise. We only get samples of the music that appear in clips and trailers. So what does that leave us? Graphics and art direction. That's the only thing we ourselves get to truly judge in the months leading up to a games release. Naturally, that becomes the key point of discussion.

Once a game is out, the topic expands to other areas, providing it has other things of merit to provide (outside of intentionally limited topics like "which games looks best?").

Actually, GPU cycles are now as frequent as before, or even slower. If we look at AMD:

• R9 290/290X_ October 2013
• HD 7970_ Jan 2012
• HD 6970_ Dec 2010
• HD 5870_ Sep 2009
• HD 4870_ Sep 2008

As you see, there's usually 12 months between each release, with the 390/390 being actually late (thanks to the 20nm problems). And everybody knows that only a very minority of gamers upgrade their GPU with every new release, most wait a couple of gens or more to make the jump, which is the more sensible think to do.

OT: I have to agree that what matters is the game, not the resolution. But when we are comparing the same game across the various versions of it, resolution and fps are among the things that reviewers and users will look for to see which version is better.

So no, resolution doesn't matter when deciding if a game is fun or boring, good or bad; but it does matter when it comes to decide which version is the best and, if given the option to choose, which version of the game is worth buying.

Aerys 2 hours ago
He is not wrong, there is so much more than just resolution to choose one version or an other, there is framerate, lightning, assets, effects, tearing or not, clipping, additionnal features, ..

i dont see why you cant have those things and 1080p,the powers there on the ps4... everything they're saying now is damage control after they basically admitted they were going with parity.

It's also worth noting that, not only are the cycles slower, but the graphical leap with end generation is also less.

In the past, you could get a card as powerful as the last-gen's flagship, for half the price. Now, you'll be lucky to get a 10% or 20% framerate boost over a card of the same price from a year ago.

It seems like we're reaching a plateau in graphics performance.