Jimquisition: Children of the Resolution

[Flannel Gary]

I absolutely agree... and we've had that conversation, Jim. I don't understand a bit about resolution or even exceptional 8:3:1:whatever audio perfection. I have no frame of reference for that concern. I dug Minecraft, I like flash games on websites, and even when I played some Battlefield 3, I can't say that the resolution left me feeling like there was anywhere it could go that would make me like the game /better/.

I'm a Content Guy. If the graphics or sound or camera-work or color or whatever SERVE the game's content to an emotionally and personally interesting and engaging level? Then they matter. If they simply make something look nicer, then they're hugely secondary to the content intended to make the connection and enjoyment. If they have no real bearing (one can little discern the graphic upgrade in the middle of the action when paying attention to other elements of play), then they are arbitrary.

 

[Something Amyss]

steam box that is all

Or, you know, you could just go with a real PC and probably get something better for the same price, as the Steam Machine is almost certainly going to be a form of boutique computer.

The Steam Machine offers literally nothing you can't do on a regular PC.

As someone who spends half his gaming time on games that could have been made 7 or 8 years ago I have to say graphics are least important to me. That said I am definitely enjoying the pit the Xbox dug for itself if only because it means I don't feel quite as bad having to play games on my cheap little laptop. Sour grapes for the win.

And honestly, isn't that they best part? Microsoft's been pushing teh graffix like it's the end-all and now can't perform with the big boys. I don't care much about graphics (long as I can reasonably make out what I'm looking at, I'm good), but when you're touting your awesome next gen system and it can't do something the PS3 could, I point and laugh.

Then again, with all the features stripped, that could apply much more broadly.

This does concern me about gaming for the next gen, though. Games will likely be stripped down to accommodate the Xbone's processing issues. That seems to be the more sinister element here: we're already seeing the kind of technical issues that limited us to linear brown corridors for much of last gen. Will devs leave the Xbone in the dust? Well, I honestly would hope so, but I doubt it.

And while people can talk about the PC gaming master race, they will be bawling like children when they find their favourite game is "dumbed down" by the console market. So it's probably foolish for them to laugh.

GLORIOUS PC GAMING MASTER RACE REPORT IN!

Let us overclock our graphics cards and re-bind the controls on our keyboards in a way that makes shooters barely playable while dismissing the ease and comfort of a gamepad in celebration of our innate superiority over the dirty console peasants!

Come now. There is absolutely no benefit to a controller. EVER.

As to minecraft being an example of gameplay over graphics, I tend to competitive games at lower resolutions as to lower the chance of strain on my machine. It doesn't matter how good a game looks if you lost because you skipped a frame.

I don't think that really changes the point, though.

 

[MCerberus]

I've been playing recently:
League
World of Tanks
Pokemon
TF2


Graphics. Wooh. Look at all the care I have.

 

[tzimize]

GLORIOUS PC GAMING MASTER RACE REPORT IN!

Let us overclock our graphics cards and re-bind the controls on our keyboards in a way that makes shooters barely playable while dismissing the ease and comfort of a gamepad in celebration of our innate superiority over the dirty console peasants!

You are clearly doing it wrong. The idea is you rebind the controls in a way that you find comfortable and easily accessible, which, what do you know, just about every PC gamer does. Also, what's this ease crap? How on earth am I supposed to aim when the sticks are horribly imprecise and the auto-aim, sorry, "aim-assist" keeps interfering while I try and line up a shot?

Shooters on consoles....HAHAHAHAHAHAH. *wipes tear*

I really dont understand how anyone who has had a mouse in their hands can play shooters on consoles. Is titanfall console exclusive? The new Halo? In that case I'd rather watch a movie.

 

[hazydawn]

I really enjoyed the humor in this one, though I still don't get the concept of what seems to be random pictures of kids and adults in costumes.

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

GLORIOUS PC GAMING MASTER RACE REPORT IN!

Let us overclock our graphics cards and re-bind the controls on our keyboards in a way that makes shooters barely playable while dismissing the ease and comfort of a gamepad in celebration of our innate superiority over the dirty console peasants!

First of all, you're literally fucking delusional if you think shooters play better with a gamepad.

Secondly, if I actually wanted to use a gamepad on my PC I CAN DO THAT, I have a fucking PS3 controller that I use to play emulated games with, if I wanted to use it for shooters I could.

But I don't since literally every single test has shown that people using Keyboard and mouse always wipe the floor with people using gamepads, even IF the gamepad users have aim-correction.

But it's okay, you can keep spreading your delusional console propaganda, we both know you're never gonna accept facts even when they're plainly and obviously available.

he said "ease and comfort" not superiority, and in that regard, he is absolutely right. i own many PC games, but for action games i break out my Xbox 360 Elite rechargeable game pad. for FPS i use a mouse and key board for FPS games due to having better accuracy.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

Heh...you know I was about to comment on the people who are arguing about framerate and graphics in the industry, but...

CAPTCHA: ding a ling

...it would appear the Captcha very accurately described what I think of the guys in the industry that are doing so. Bravo, Captcha!

Rather excellently put throughout, Jim...especially when you threw in the PC comparisons! In fact, may I say that was a...Sterling effort? *runs like hell before DVS BSTrD kills me for stealing his schtick*

 

[Zacharious-khan]

Or, you know, you could just go with a real PC and probably get something better for the same price, as the Steam Machine is almost certainly going to be a form of boutique computer.

The Steam Machine offers literally nothing you can't do on a regular PC.

no but it makes it easier for the dumb console people to get into the PC Market whose imaginary complexity scares away so many.

Come now. There is absolutely no benefit to a controller. EVER.

Have you ever tried to play Symphony of the Night on a keyboard? shit be wack yo. Actually a lot of those old platformers are annoying as hell to play on not a gamepad.

 

[Rad Party God]

Hmmm... Titanfall looks like it could be a lot of fun...

*ahem* Well said Jim, yeah, let people keep bitching about resolutions, just like they were 20 years ago, bitchin' about how the Genesis had a higher resolution than the SNES, or that the SNES had a better sound chip than the Genesis*.

That discussion was retarded 20 years ago and it's still retarded today.

[small]Little disclaimer: I don't give a shit about wich one is objectively "better", both systems had awesome games. Also the SNES was better. That's a fact.[/small]

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Yeah 1080p would be nice, especially when gaming on a massive tv. But still its not like the games look like an unplayable mess due to them being 780p. Its all about the games, a crappy game is still crap regardless of frame rate and resolution. Its why i enjoy playing vanilla Morrowind more on the Xbox than i did Skyrim on the 360.

But again, once people start playing and enjoying the new batch of next gen games, then more will be made of them than how they look.

 

[GoaThief]

Children of the Resolution

Is 720p really as good as 1080p? Jimquisition argues that you can't fool the children of the resolution. Also, this whole controversy is really quite funny, when you consider the ironic bit.

Watch Video

Love the title, we need more lyrics/quotations. Here's my submission;

Spoiler

The Resolution Will Not Be Televised

But I don't since literally every single test has shown that people using Keyboard and mouse always wipe the floor with people using gamepads, even IF the gamepad users have aim-correction.

Whilst I think the attitude expressed in the original post that kicked all this off was a little combative, what you're saying isn't necessarily true either.

Spoiler: Screenies

 

[anthony87]

My thoughts on the whole thing can be surmised like this:

"Resouwha? Is that a game there? Cool, givvus a go!".

I know some people get stiffys for higher and higher resolutions but personally I don't give a shit as long as I have something to play.

 

[Reyold]

Why would we do that? We can use a gamepad.

Oh, do you mean shooters?

With a gamepad?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No, hold on, lemme catch my breath.

AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Are gamepads for shooters THAT bad?

N-not that I used one for Half-life 2 or anything. Just... curious. Yeah.

OT: Never really got the graphics obsession some people have. Good graphics are nice and all, but the game's staying power usually comes from the most important part: the actual gameplay.

It helps that many of my favorite games are on older systems, like Umihara Kawase and Pikmin 2

 

[Ben Waalkes]

As to minecraft being an example of gameplay over graphics, I tend to competitive games at lower resolutions as to lower the chance of strain on my machine. It doesn't matter how good a game looks if you lost because you skipped a frame.

I don't think that really changes the point, though.

My intent was to add further examples.

 

[BrownGaijin]

You know, there's a very good chance that I'm thinking about possibly considering that Jim is saying that the PC platform has a solid foundation for providing entertainment than the consoles.

Join the PC master race. We have cookies.

 

[Andy Shandy]

First of all, mandatory T.Rex


Anyway, yeah, the whole "resolution-gate" was particularly laughable. I buy consoles for the games (particularly exclusives) they have, not the resolution they output at. If I did it for the graphics, I'd be buying a PC, as you pointed out. And anyway, I think, if the PS4 was 720p as well, no-one would have gave a shit. It's just a stick for fanboys to beat each other with.

Honestly, I'd happily stick with the graphics we're getting now, if it meant the next-gen allowed us to have more in other areas.

 

[RJ 17]

Was that Titan Fall that was taking up the majority of the gameplay video segments of this episode? If so.......wow, gotta say that looks like it could be a lot of fun....

OT: I've always thought that "recent" progress with gaming technology has sacrifice story and gameplay for good graphics and aesthetics. That's one of the reasons I gave up on the Final Fantasy series after FF10. FF's 1-6 didn't have amazing 3D graphics to dazzle and entrance, so they had to build those games off of good story and gameplay. And now look where they're at: games that play themselves and games that are basically just a long walk down a straight - but beautifully rendered - corridor.

And now they're getting booooo'd because their graphics apparently aren't good enough. Way to piss away all your money by hyping up what would lead to your own downfall.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

Is titanfall console exclusive?

I think it's getting a PC release. But Destiny (Bungie's new effort) will NOT be coming to PC. Because reasons. Something along the lines of "We're already making it for 4 systems, so fuck you guys"
Kinda funny, because, and I'm no expert, I imagine that making a game for PC involves making it compatible with many hardware configurations of an x86-64 platform. Fun fact: PS4 and XBone are specific hardware configurations of x86-64 platforms.
So as long as there isn't something that I've misunderstood, you could make the game for PC, then port to PS4/Xbone relatively simply. Perhaps it gets more complicated when you factor in Operating Systems, but I'm not too sure.
The most complicated game I ever made was in a web browser.

 

[Stabby Joe]

Love the subtle PC points...

...no, subtle is not the word, elephant in the room in fact within this whole "controversy" and for that sir I salute you as always Mr Sterling.

 

[orangeapples]

When I saw some forums exploding about 720p vs 1080p vs 900p because then people started arguing that 900p 60FPS is better than 1080p 30FPS I just had to say, "Hey guys, you know, 1440p at 120FPS is pretty awesome, so let me know when you get there. Then we can talk."

I'll admit there are some games better suited for a controller than kb/m, but it seems like none of the console users know that we can plug a controller into a UBS port and it works fine. Heck, the 360's "best controller ever made in the history of the world" controller works NATIVELY on PC. Many games turn into the 360 version with better framerates and resolutions when you plug in a controller.