I agree with the idea behind Cody's argument, but... (Gaming)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, July 02, 2018, 18:57 (2343 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Korny, Monday, July 02, 2018, 19:03

The example he gives is extremely dumb.

Resolution is important, but should not be the priority. But... eh. I think it's hard to explain my position, so I've made a quick video to set the foundation of my perspective:

Okay, so yeah, resolution matters, and 4K is the future. But does it really matter that much in the current generation? Nope, and even less so when you're talking about handhelds.

The biggest priority for developers should be performance. The game needs to run well, impress with the effects second, and look sharp third.

-When your effects impress and you focus on resolution, you end up with something like Destiny 2 on Xbox (and yeeeeees Cheap and Kermit, occasionally in certain spots on PS4, no need to nag), with Slowdown galore. Even on Xbone X "enhanced" games, like Destiny 2 and State of Decay 2, you end up with performance-suffering games, as neither example can run above 30fps, and often, the "enhanced" 4K games struggle to even hit that framerate consistently (Battlegrounds, anyone?).

-When you focus on resolution and performance, you end up with visually limited games, like Sea of Thieves, which has flawless water effects and lighting, and 4k textures... but little else in the way of effects or environmental... life?

-The ideal middle ground for this generation, IMO, is games that favor performance and effects over resolution. You end up with games like Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Hellblade, and Gears 4. All games that perform at their best at 1080p even on Xbone X, and which are renowned as some of the best looking (and performing) games of this generation, whether or not you play them on the "premiere" consoles.

So yeh.

Tl;dr, player choice is the ideal solution (everyone, be more like DE!), but right now, 1080p is the gold standard. 4k is the future, but the race to jump on it comes as a detriment to the player experience.