No One Really Cares About 1080p, Says Far Cry 4 Dev

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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No One Really Cares About 1080p, Says Far Cry 4 Dev


Far Cry 4 creative director Alex Hutchinson thinks its weird that people can enjoy a retro pixel game, yet complain about resolution in AAA titles.

All of those Official Xbox Magazine [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132275-MGSV-Ground-Zeroes-to-Run-at-1080p-on-PS4-Only-720p-on-Xbox-One], claiming that the reality is that people just don't really care if a game is 1080p or not.

"Five per cent of the audience is online commenting [about resolution], and 95 per cent are just buying them or not buying them," he said. "We create these weird echo chambers for those issues, and sometimes I wonder, I don't think this is real." When asked when he thought players would stop obsessing over graphical fidelity, Hutchinson added "I think they already have secretly."

He went on to say that "It feels weird to me that people are cool about playing a sort of retro pixel game, and yet the resolution [in AAA titles] somehow matters. It's like: is it fun, is it interesting, is it new, is it fresh, are there interesting questions?"

"With the 4K TVs and things - somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen. I don't know the exact numbers, but it starts to get a little crazy. I'm just in it for the experience, I'll play a SNES game if it's cool."

Hutchinson might have a valid point that the people complaining about resolution make up a minority of the gaming population, but he doesn't seem to quite understand how resolution works. For example, those retro indie games that he's talking about, while having quite low quality graphics, still indeed run at 1080p on most systems. Similarly, I'm no scientist, but I don't think that's how 4K TVs work...

Do you agree with Hutchinson? Are 1080p complainers just yelling into an echo chamber? Or is it a legitimate complaint they can have?

Source: Official Xbox Magazine [http://www.totalxbox.com/82240/resolution-doesnt-sell-games-says-far-cry-4-dev-1080p-debate-is-a-weird-echo-chamber/]

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Dark Knifer

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May 12, 2009
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Does he not realize the concept of aesthetic? Retro games like minecraft look great with big pixels because the aesthetic is constructed around them with that in mind, realistic games like what you are making look better with less visible pixels.

Also as steven said, most of them run at 1080p anyway.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

Hella noided
Dec 11, 2009
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Can Ubisoft just...stop talking? About stuff?

This entire year, they've just been digging themselves deeper with every single public statement they've made.

What is this? Is there some sort of gas leak at their offices that causes them to spout crap like this?

(reaction: as I read)

Hey Ubi! I care about games being 1080p because it's not 2007 anymore! Does that mean that I'm not a true scotsman not a real gamer?

Also those statistics. "5%" my ass.

It's also not an obsession you jackass, just admit it that you're making excuses to forgive the fact that you can't pump out the power you promised from next gen consoles.

Also, both Fez and Gunpoint have 1080p support. As does Super Meat Boy. And most indie games that have the 'retro 2D aesthetic'. Yet you don't. You done fucked up(also apples and oranges, many apples and oranges).

And whilst yes, the game itself matters, you are one of the people that put so much focus on graphical fidelity! It's downright psychotic when you see how much Ubisoft out of all people, are pushing the graphical power of next-gen. You made that 'promise', you set those expectations: you can't just weasel out of it or dodge responsibility when you realise you can't deliver on them.
 

Zeriu

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Jun 9, 2011
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I don't think he understands the concept of resolution in general. Resolution != Size of the screen.

"With the 4K TVs and things - somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen."

Has nothing to do with the actual resolution. This guy is clearly talking out of his ass, and is projecting a bad image on his company for doing so. Good job, Ubisoft. Another one for the books.
 

happy_turtle

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Apr 11, 2010
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"With the 4K TVs and things - somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen.
Yeah, this is the point where we can put this down to the fact that a) he's an idiot, and b) he's talking to the official xbox magazine about a game coming out for the xbone and is therefore contractually obliged to make xbox owners feel like "first-class gamers".
 

STENDEC1

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Jul 20, 2012
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Here we go again. Are Ubisoft employees contractually obligated to make themselves look like completely ignorant f*ckwits or something? We just heard one of them say that 30fps is the best frame rate and that you can't really tell the difference from 60fps, and now this guy spouts some bullsh*t about most people not caring about resolution.

Great to see that these idiots think they can tell us what we do and don't like. Must be fantastic to think that they can stick their fingers in their ears and not listen to what their customers actually say and want.
 

CpT_x_Killsteal

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Jun 21, 2012
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Me thinks me smell a 'parity' downgrade for the PC edition.

I'm sure Far Cry 4 would look just as good at 480p than 1080p or 720p. Just like Youtube Videos.

Oh wait.
 

JayRPG

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Oct 25, 2012
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Cool, so the guy literally knows nothing about anything.

"pixel, retro games" still run at 1080p, 1080p is about sharpness, crispness, and let me tell you, as an owner of a UHD/4K TV, the difference between 720p and 1080p is much more noticeable.

Bogos, you are right too, that isn't how 4k TVs work, what he has described is exactly the opposite of when you can notice the difference...

4K TVs are better when you are sitting CLOSER to the TV.. not further away, and that is the main complaint about the technology, that a 55" viewed from average distance won't give you any feeling of difference. For me, however, who has a 55" UHD TV in his bedroom, I notice the difference immediately, I sit closer to my TV than an average person would in their lounge room.

1080p is better, in every way, people do care... a game running at the native resolution of the screen (pretty much everybody owns a 1080p/HD TV) is the absolute best option, it gives you the sharpest picture. Running at lower resolutions than native makes things blurry, if resolution didn't matter we could all happily switch to Wii mode on the Wii U (480p) and not want to turn it off immediately for fear of our eyes bleeding.
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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I dont mind much the difference from 1080p to 720p but when only after a year we are already capping at 720p/30fps it does get me bothered.
 

Vausch

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Dec 7, 2009
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I don't care about 1080p because my monitor's resolution is 1920x1200. I care about 1200p, and when I next upgrade I'll likely care about anywhere from 1600 to 2160p.

It's about aesthetics. If it needs to be at a high res to look good and looks worse at a lower res, your argument is invalid.
 

alj

Master of Unlocking
Nov 20, 2009
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What an idiot, i tell you what Alex if resolution does not matter lets pay farcry on an 80 x 80 dot matrix display i am sure it will play just as well and look just as good. If it does not matter about resolution then why go for 720p why not 480p ?

Face it you have pushed peoples exceptions higher than the outdated hardware can handle so you have to lower the resolution to pump out better textures and lighting. How about do don't and just lower the quality of the assets? i would rather have a game with worse lighting that runs at 1080p@60FPS than a game that has loads of post processing and super duper assets but it can barely run at 720p30FPS. But its ok, all the games i play including the ones with retro/simple graphics run just fine at 2560x1440 Thomas was alone love lovely at that resolution and thats a simple 2D game !
 

llamastorm.games

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Apr 10, 2008
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I wish people didnt care that much about resolution. Its becoming a real chore listening to people whine about a feature which has little impact on the game.
 

Coreless

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Aug 19, 2011
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I care about resolution, I care because as of late I literally have a hard time playing console games without getting serious headaches which I think is because of my vision problems. Even with glasses my eyes have a hard time focusing on games with a muddy picture and I think they work ten times harder trying to focus leading me to huge headaches that can become quite painful.

Other then that Its Ubisoft, the amount of ignorance and misinformation that comes from them is pretty much expected from them these days.

Sigmund Av Volsung said:
It's also not an obsession you jackass, just admit it that you're making excuses to forgive the fact that you can't pump out the power you promised from next gen consoles.
And also that ^
 

Hazy992

Why does this place still exist
Aug 1, 2010
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My god, I've never known a publisher have such a terminal case of Foot-In-Mouth Disease before Ubisoft. What the hell has happened to their PR department as of late?

1080p has been a standard resolution for years now, so yes it does matter that games in 2014 still aren't hitting it. Let's just take it to extremes and say people don't care beyond 320x240 as well shall we?

STENDEC1 said:
Great to see that these idiots think they can tell us what we do and don't like. Must be fantastic to think that they can stick their fingers in their ears and not listen to what their customers actually say and want.
Exactly. Apparently Ubisoft know more about our own eyesight than we do ¬_¬
 

Living Contradiction

Clearly obfusticated
Nov 8, 2009
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How does a company worried about being reduced to insignificance make itself seem to be relevant? Why, have it release deliberately inflammatory statements about its customers, of course.

Lump this one with all the others who say "Innovation? Why do we need that? The way we've always done things is just fine. Now buy the latest tech so you can view our most recent offering." I'd yawn if it wasn't so sad.
 

Alexander Kirby

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Mar 29, 2011
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When are they going to admit that the only reason they want their games at 900/30P is because then they can up the graphics so it's noticeably better than the old consoles when someone watches a heavily compressed 360p YouTube video of Pewdiepie on their phone. It's simple economics; that's how the average Joe or Jane is going to judge how far exactly the new consoles have advanced and whether or not it's worth the £400 asking price.
 

Hairless Mammoth

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Jan 23, 2013
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"No one cares about 1080p." Alex, do you hear that frightening metallic sound off in the distance? That's the sound of PC and big screen TV gamers sharpening their knives.

Not only can people care about looks but also the justification for buying a 1080p TV/monitor. They bought a TV with a big number on the box because that's what they wanted. It's a psychological thing to want to have a use for that investment.

1080p is also the standard resolution for TVs larger than 40", and 4k will probably be the standard resolution of 60" or larger TVs in a couple of years and will move to smaller sets with time. When shopping to replace my dad's old, dying DLP, I couldn't even find a larger TV without that "smart" junk added into it, because smart features are the norm for them now. Get with the times and stop pulling excuses and false statistics out of your ass.
 

Xerosch

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Apr 19, 2008
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I'm somewhat divided about the statement.

Personally, I don't care if I get a 720p or 1080p resolution as long as I find that game entertaining and worth my money.

On the other hand... Well, we have a new console generation now that should demonstrate how powerful it is. I think developers can't afford to downplay mayor selling points (so early). They should see this as a challenge and do their effing jobs.