1080p Debate Is A "Weird Echo Chamber," Far Cry Dev Says

Far Cry 4 creative director Alex Hutchinson is not interested what a game's resolution is--1080p or otherwise--so long as what he's playing is fun and feels new. Fresh and unique experiences sell games, not necessarily 1080p resolution, he says in a new interview with Total Xbox.

[vishmarx]

you know its funny how not a single person at ubisoft cares about performance( which is evident btw) and really wants to stay away from the fuss but end up causing the most outrage through their weekly bs statements

" Fresh and unique experiences sell games, not necessarily 1080p resolution"

too bad youre not great at that either.
most previews of fc4 make it look like fc 3.5(even though im still getting it , it seems true),
and then theres assassins creed number 9 ,in less than 9 years.
as fresh and unique as the cod of action games

blood dragon is the best thing ubisoft has made since warrior within.and its sad that nothing but dlc while prince of persia is dead

[Lulz_Boat]

1080p SHOULD improve the experiences.... unless choppy framerate is the result.

[BitbyDeath]

Wii U can do fun games at 1080p, why should Xbox struggle?

[GameNameFame]

What do you lose for having 1080P.

Also, better hardware dont just mean more resolution,

It means crap ton more.

[LamerTamer]

@edonus

Resolution does make a difference for some. It just looks better. It matches the native res of the TV 1:1 so it looks sharper with less aliasing, pixel crawl and fuzziness from an upscale filter that is not needed at 1080p.

I notice a difference and Watchdogs at 900p was noticeably more jaggie than a game at 1080p.

Is 1080p the end al be all that makes bad games good? No. Is it something that makes good games look better? Yes.

[Genuine-User]

I disagree with your last point
Splinter cell blacklist, Rayman Origins/Legends and Child of light were really good games in my opinion

[nicksetzer1]

It really amazes me how defensive and on the ropes people get when people say resolution is not that big of a deal. (Hint: it isn't) Suddenly ubisoft is now incompetant and makes terrible games, rather than people just admitting 1080p vs 1080p upscaled from 900p is not that huge a difference. There are SOOO many other components to
1. Image quality as a whole. (Aliasing, textures, lighting, shading, etc)
2. The rest of a game as a whole (AI, scale, story, etc)

Reminds of last gen when all the devs "were just lazy" and made terrible games if they weren't equal on a certain platform.

People need to really get over themselves, as long as a game looks good (which does not require 1080p to happen) and is fun who freaking cares? I will take a game that catered to making sure it is as in depth as possible,at the cost of 1080p, any day. Especially, over a dev who puts out a turd of a game in 1080p.

[Xb1ps4]

It amazes me as we'll... The only thing that can ruin a game IMO is the fps, i dont want no screen tearing like in titanfall or jittering..

[user5669510]

I agree with , but they do make average games. That's why I pass on most of them. I wouldn't say theyre incompetent because the was working with nvidia in the last couple of years implementing their new gfx features in a ton of their games. Even with the locked features of pc version of watch dogs they are good devs on Ubisoft. It's just they need to move on. Last Ubisoft game I brought before watch dogs was assassin creed 2. I heard their small devs are great but the ones putting out constant rehashes is killing me.

But most publishers are like this because even when the devs and fans are tired and know its suffering because its being milked dumb people keep buying it. This is where steam sales shine at. If hardly no one buys ac like 9 but buys it when its like 30 and below, what do that tell devs. Your rehashes is priced too high do something new already. This is getting old.

[MAULxx]

I'll be hoping for a Far Cry 4 Blood Dragon.

[lifeisgamesok]

Gameplay, art direction, creative vision, innovation, fun factor are way more important than resolution

Some devs are making mediocre games this gen just to checkmark that 1080p box

It's terrible

[ThatOneGuyThere]

"Some devs are making mediocre games this gen just to checkmark that 1080p box " is there ANY indication that this statement is true? Why would someone sacrifice fun for 1080? Is it more fun to play a game in 900p? Explain your logic. Please.

[CYCLEGAMER]

@thatoneguyther
This is one of my biggest fears with this generation. I don't know if any devs have actually done this for sure, but I can see it happening, and here is why.

Sony and its fanboys (not sony fans) have changed the conversation from actual games, to resolution. When its so bad that "gaming journalist" aren't asking devs about whats in their game but want to talk about resolution instead, it becomes a problem.

Nowadays if a game isn't 1080p native, it receives bad press especially when its an xbox one game. Companies make these games for money...and if their game not being 1080p native means bad press which could equal less money, I can see sacrifices in actual graphics, features and textures, being made in order to get 1080p on the label.

This annoys me because the majority of people cannot see the difference, Killzone, and Ryse have proven this. If people could reeeaaally tell. Digital Foundry wouldn't exist because there would be no need for them.

[gamer9]

Lets rephrase then: Some mediocre games have gotten a pass by a subset of the community because they are in 1080p. And the really obvious one is that some good/great games have gotten torn down before they are even released because they did not hit 1080p. Is it possible that developers are spending extra effort to hit 1080p, effort that could be dedicated elsewhere? Is it possible that developers strip out a bit of detail to hit 1080p, detail that could help make the game more immersive? Sure these are possible.

[starchild]

It probably doesn't affect gameplay as much, but what I do know is that pushing developers to make every game on consoles hit 1080p means graphics can't be pushed as hard in other areas. There is ALWAYS an inescapable trade off on consoles.

I disagree with the people that act like resolution should always be the priority. I want developers to be free to push graphics, AI, scale and gameplay mechanics even if it means targeting a lower resolution.

That said, I don't agree with those that say that resolution isn't important or that you can't even see the difference. I can easily see and appreciate the difference, but it's not what I consider to be most important.

[hello12]

1080p is better than 900p or 720p lets be honest, but games need to be good foremost.

I'll take a 900p game thats good and leave the game at 1080p and bad. Its similar thing really i leave a 900p game thats bad and take a 1080p game that good. Good games is were its at for me.

Too many gamers are hung up on 1080p been everything.

[MRMagoo123]

Some devs are making mediocre 900p games too see Ryse for example, the res is not the issue its the foundations of the game that cause it to suck.

[starchild]

Yeah, but if they would have pushed for 1080p it wouldn't have made it a better looking game. It would have been the same game with inferior graphics, but crisper resolution.

Part of the reason Ryse is so amazing-looking is because they didn't constrain themselves by an arbitrary adherence to 1080p. They made smart decisions about where to spend the rendering budget.

[LamerTamer]

I doubt devs make crap games just to do 1080p. That just sounds dumb. Devs are making crap games because they were trying to rush something out to have something soon to sell in the new consoles life. It takes a long time for those other things you mention and if every game was a fantastic work of art we would probably have like 5 games right now.

Infamous for example was decent but was short. They needed an exclusive game or everyone would moan about "no games". So they released what they had when they did which was "good" rather than wait until 2015 and have something great.

1080p had no effect on gameplay (other than improving it as you can see distant details better and not be blobs) it is just something the game can render (or can't). Making Infamous or DriveFlub 900p wouldn't suddenly make it GOTY. You can have great games that are 1080p and garbage at 792p.

[TheBrownBandito]

"1080p had no effect on gameplay (other than improving it as you can see distant details better and not be blobs)"

I'm not sure this is what you meant to say, but it is actually the whole point.

That crisp draw distance is what made Infamous so good to play, seeing enemies on the rooftops in the distance, not simply relying on the map and then getting seen first. I'm pretty sure the imminent GTAV for next gen will prove to be much more immersive too.

TLOU re mastered categorically proves that you can have 1080p without sacrificing textures and graphical tricks with hair etc.

I wonder how many people who make comments such as "the graphics have been downgraded on release" were actually watching demos on their mobile phones/tablets.

Then when it finally hits their big screen....

[Torque_CS_Lewith]

It's cool Ubisoft. Concentrate on making gameplay and content king. Recent games have shown us that a half baked turd in 1080p is just a shiny half baked turd...we want full-baked
baked turds!

No wait!!

Yes I am looking at you
.
.
.
Destiny.

[ThatOneGuyThere]

Why can't it be both? Why can't we demand new experiences in 1080? Are you meaning to suggest that a game's resolution defines its ability to be fun? Only games at a low resolution are fun? Or somehow, when developing a game, you either sprinkle in fun, or sprinkle in resolution? Not both? I wonder when people will just realize that 1 system has a lot more graphical abilities than the other ones(40% on the GPU), and that if they make a cross-platform game, it SHOULD run better on one of them? Don't PC fans get upset when their games are limited because of "console peasants"? Why should PS4 users take the shaft and like it too?

[Team_Litt]

It can be both. But the focus should be gameplay and content first and then get the game to the best possible resolution.
Nobody is saying they have to make the games 900p, but if something NEEDS to be sacrificed (when you are dealing with limited resources) then concessions must be made and gameplay/content should never be it if there is an alternative.

All we are saying is if making a game 900p instead of 1080p means more time and resources making the game play great and it be filled to the brim then go ahead Ubisoft.

For all those who would rather not sacrifice those wonderful pixels then games like DriveClub with its lack of content and junky AI are right up your alley. Enjoy.

[gangsta_red]

How are those 1080p games working out for you so far? Everyone keeps talking about parity is killing their system but so far dang near every game in 1080p has been mediocre. Destiny, Driveclub, Killzone, most people say Infamous SS is no where near as great as it's previous titles.

So what we are seeing is beautiful mediocrity in glorious 1080p.

And yet you guys are more concerned about how the Xbox One will effect your multiplat games when even your own exclusives aren't living up to your hype. So who do we blame for that?

Why accept one shaft but then be mad at the other? One shaft feels better? It's all fake concern as most pretend it matters for the sake of waving their favorite console banner in this console battlefield.

[Spotie]

Because any time anyone says anything about graphics, it means that's the only thing they care about./s

[starchild]

Yes, games should look or run better on more powerful hardware. But resolution is just one element out of many that can be improved with more powerful graphics hardware.

I don't understand this obsession with resolution and the attitude that extra graphics performance must always be spent on resolution above all other aspects of the game.

I guess a number like that is just easier for fanboys to argue about.

[yarbie1000]

Gameplay > Story > FPS > Graphics > Resolution

In that order for me

[Forn]

Could be more categories in there, like substance or artistic style, etc.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

But there is no reason why a game can't have all of them.

[MRMagoo123]

exactly, some of the guys in here seem to think a game can only be good if its not 1080p yet there are a few games on Xbone that arent close to 1080p and still suck, Like I said above 900p didnt make Ryse a good game, lowering it to 720p wouldnt have made it less boring.

If you start with a crap game lowering the res wont help.

[Torque_CS_Lewith]

There is plenty of reason. Most of them have to do with limitations in resources and time and also your specific vision for your game.

Lets not be silly children here. We all know that consoles have limitations to their capabilities. If a dev wants to achieve a certain level of content and gameplay but cannot do so without sacrificing resolution then it is his/her prerogative how he/she proceeds.

Yes, lowering a game's resolution does not automatically make the game great, that's just moronic. Conversely, making a game devoid in character and content because you spent your resources and time putting 1080p before all else is how husk-like games like DriveClub are born. More time could have been spent either upping the frame rate or adding more content into DC but they chose the visuals over all else approach and it was to their detriment in the end.

Reducing a game's resolution may not be a magical elixir for a bad game but IF doing so CAN IMPROVE the overall experience then what the heck are we b****in' about?

Some guys here seem to think that a game is automatically great if it is 1080p yet DC, Destiny, Knack and others are all 1080p and still suck.
If you start with a game devoid of content, making it 1080p just means the lack in content is just easier to see. (Cause its in HD)

[gamer9]

I don't think people are disagreeing that you can have it all. And when you do have it all it's a truly great game. The point is that there are more articles about resolution than gameplay. We are spreading the wrong message as gamers. Games are getting hyped due to resolution without knowing how it plays, and games are getting "pre-order cancelled" because they failed to hit 1080p. Some people are making resolution the #1 reason for buying or not buying a game, its very obvious on this site.

[SpiralTear]

Look, I honestly don't care if it's 1080p, 900p, 30fps, 60fps...I don't care. What I DO care about is how that fact is announced. If you honestly can't make the game a certain resolution or frame rate, just say that you can't do it. Don't make the stupid parity argument or "cinematic" excuse. Just tell us the truth.

Be honest and try again next time instead of hyping everything up sky high, then making excuses as you crash back down to earth.

[Pandamobile]

Telling the truth in the games industry is a huge no-no.

[ThinkThink]

The fact that it even needs to be announced is what's sad and to be fair, it's not often the publisher/developer is running the hype train. That's the media.

[BX81]

Agreed. I don't care either as long as the gameplay is smooth, the story is fun and it doesn't look like minecraft (lol). I also agree with the devs shouldn't open up and say it will be this or that unless they're 100%.

[solar]

Sony and MS did the same by telling us how "powerful" next gen consoles were to get them into consumers hands. i knew it was a bill of goods, but the majority wouldnt believe the techies who screamed from the rooftops this is a .5 jump in generation.

i know the PS4 and XB1 are no where near as powerful as my PC, but i dont proclaim they are as powerful. they are what they are. i accept it, dont know why fanboys have to pretend they are.

[ManiacMansion]

Share play is gonna be 720p but here nobody cares at all.

There is already aan excuse... its FREE! So if you play a whole game for free than its ok to have 720p but if you need to pay 60 bucks for a great game in 900p its not ok../fanboy logic

[ThatOneGuyThere]

Your fanboyism has stripped you of all logic.

[MRMagoo123]

wtf does the res of a game being streamed have to do with anything here at all? you xbone fannies are just getting worse every week.

[Yaay4me]

What the? Really? Shareplay is FREE. You get to try the game, and play with your friends. How are you comparing these things??

[1stPersonHuman]

1080p should not be an issue for console gamers. New consoles are not focused on having the best specs out there, they are intended to be a cheaper alternative to a high-end gaming pc

[Destiny1080]

1080p is all that matters

[corroios]

Almost all gamers have 1080p TVs and the games in 2014/15 should be 1080p and not 900, 800 or 720p.

If last gen a game would run just at 440p or 480p what would all gamers say? It doesnt matter? That a huge fat lie.

A game can be very cool at 720p or 900p but for me is just a cross gen game. This generation is about 1080p in the rez department.

[1stPersonHuman]

I must disagree, as the new hardware is not always capable of pushing the vision of developers and maintaining 1080p. I can guarantee that a majority of gamers do not know the difference, let alone care. I am not saying that 1080p is not an issue, gamers should demand the best from their games, but sometimes resources can be applied in better ways that a resolution upgrade

[TheBrownBandito]

"I can guarantee that a majority of gamers do not know the difference"

How?

[1stPersonHuman]

@TheBrownBandito
Simply talking to most of my gamer friends, who generally don't care about graphics and just like playing games

[PaleMoonDeath]

Weird echo chamber huh, No.

I bought a PS4 bearing in mind the machine I bought will give me what I paid for, knowing the competitions hardware wasn't as powerful I knew a few games on PS4 would have superior frame rate or resolution, I was fine with that because I did my research before buying the machine.

But scaling down my version of a video-game (Assassins Creed..) to stop arguements not only makes more arguements, but puts people like me in a very awkward position, feel slightly buggered out of my cash because of company choices like that, regardless I hope this is a very rare case that won't occur again, casuals won't care, but I sure as hell do.

[Software_Lover]

What if the resolution was the same and you had better textures, aa, and lighting?

Would you still feel shafted? More goes into a game than resolution, I think that is what most people are trying to say.

[PaleMoonDeath]

Better textures and such would be fantastic and would certainly take the edge off, but knowing my machine is capable of more than what the competition is capable of I want to see that difference, I want to be justified everytime I boot up a multiplatform game.

Y'know what I mean?

[LamerTamer]

If that was true then I would need to see them to make that decision. Watchdogs was 900p on PS4 and had better lighting and AO than the 792p xbox 1 version but still the aliasing was apparent at the lower res. But when textures, AA and lighting are identical on both and both run at 900p and 30 FPS then there is the problem as parity is the obvious reason.

[Gwiz]

Just two words, Blood Dragon.. make the sequel separate from the main game,while Blood Dragon is a main course to me.

[Tsar4ever01]

Anybody notice that the guy said they're targeting 1080p for both systems then he goes on about it's all about gameplay and experiences, but he says 1080p and 900p so one console version gonna be 1080p and the other isn't. That's what this article hints at to me.

[southernbanana]

I game on a 60" Panasonic Plasma and I cannot tell what games are and are not 1080p on both my PS4 and Xbox One. I guess if you like bragging rights it is ok, but in the end that is all it is to me....

[Gamer777]

The whole 1080p obsession and resolutiongate are two over blown issues. If the resolution of game wasn't being advertised at every corner the gaming media would cover more important topics. A little over a year ago there were alot more articles about gameplay and innovation.

[Yaay4me]

I find that better esolution does add to the experience, so stop coming up with excuses and say it like it is. You couldnt achieve 1080. Which is fine as long as the sacrifice was worth it. Having said that, if the game ends up being another parity behind the scenes contract, then you can count me out as a customer.

[Yetter]

Criticize if you'd like, but what he said was very honest and holds a lot of truth. The resolution debate happens online but not in the real world

[corroios]

Rez is the most easiest way to see wich is the most powerfull console. Thats why. Im not talking about indie games running at 1080p.

[VealParmHero]

I agree with the points made here. The end result is often going to be a game that looks quite similar on 2 platforms, with the resolution being used as more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It's not that I don't see why people want to play the better version of the same game if possible, but are you really suggesting that someone change their entire preference of console simply to enjoy things like sharper powerlines in the background of an image, or slightly better shadows that are visible when you zoom in on them and don't move????

Exclusives are gonna look great on each console, and you won't really have a comparison to make anyway. Multiplatform games will mostly just run in different resolutions. That's it.

If we were talking strictly about PC games, then yes, absolutely resolution would matter. Why pay the same money for weaker hardware?? But for the consoles, there is more to the discussion. With a console, you are basically paying for the convenience and for the "ecosystem". I started with Xbox one and basically ended up with a PS4 only a few months later. I rushed out and got one because I actually let all this resolution stuff get to my head. Meanwhile, I play almost every multiplatform game on my X1. This is because I simply prefer the whole experience over the ps4, and it was the same thing last gen.

I was gonna get ps4 eventually either way, because it is great and I wouldn't wanna miss all of their great exclusives. But my point is, this resolution/horsepower pissing contest is just taking over and its simply not the best way to choose a console if you can only have one.

Now if you prefer PS4 for other reasons besides the power, well then yes, the extra resolution etc. is just a really nice bonus. And please don't get me wrong, I like graphics as much as the next guy. But games look great on both consoles, and at the end of the day, I'm not gonna use a controller, interface, service etc. that I like less than another, simply to tell myself "hey, this is in 1080p". I'll admit, any comparisons I have done so far have not shown much of a difference to me. It's not like they aren't there, I just do not find them all that profound. I am just trying to be objective and weigh in on the issue. At the end of the day these are of course only my opinions anyway.

Also, I do believe that the PS4 will have some pretty awesome things going on thanks to the added power, when it comes to exclusives. But I think both consoles will. I just kind of learned the hard way that most of this resolution stuff is just numbers for the most part.

[Scatpants]

Im over it. At this point I dont care what the resolution is. If its fun I will play it.

[quenomamen]

I smell another 900p X1 version. Hey Dev question for you, if resolution is a non issue then why release a PC version that is only limited by your video card ? Why not lock it in at 900p across all platforms ? Do we need a FC4 1900 X 1089 @ 90 FPS ? Not if its about the gameplay right ? Oooh that's right cuz if you did the PC version would sit on shelves. Anybody making a top tier game these days is in the the resolution race, they just don't want to admit for fear of losing X1 sales.

[MasterCornholio]

Take full advantage of each systems strength and deliver the best possible experience on each one of them.

If a game runs well in 1080P on the PS4 with a good framerate I'm all for it. However if the game runs choppy then the developers need to reduce the graphics to improve the FPS.

What I don't want to see is developers not taking advantage of the PS4s hardware for the sake of parity.

By parity I mean dragging down the PS4 version to a weaker systems level not the other way around.