520°

Why the return of 30fps console games is inevitable

Future games will be more ambitious - and they can't all run at 60fps.

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eurogamer.net
XbladeTeddy546d ago

This is certainly going to be a contentious issue. While I love the smoothness of 60 I've still been enjoying games at 40 (which is suprisingly smooth) and recently played and enjoyed Metro: Exodus at 30 on my Steam Deck. I know this sounds like blasphemy to say it but if it's not a competitive shooter not being played at 60+ isn't as bad as it sounds.

Cue the hate lol.

EvertonFC546d ago (Edited 546d ago )

I don't even look if a game is 30 or 60 FPS, I just play the games lol.
I play on resolution settings on ps5 over performance so I'm assuming I still play @30fps and my experiences with returnal, rachet, sackboy, HFW, gt7 etc have been awesome.
I'm sure some gamers go into playing games over analyzing things rather than just enjoying the games?

darthv72546d ago

Since im getting older, I know my eyes arent as good as they used to be. So why waste the quality mode... i choose performance now where available.

Bathory666546d ago

It’s about quality n performance. Your probably using a really cheap tv. There’s a difference in competitive gaming fighters shooters where 60-120fps make or break the game. Seeing what your playing, those games are not high responsive framerate games. No one’s using VRR for sackboy. Get real.

Master-Tonberry546d ago

No hate, but you have managed to dodge around the main issue somewhat.

40 as you say is a vast improvement over 30fps and is a reasonable compromise, and 30fps on the SteamDeck is indeed a decent experience but that's due almost entirely to the small screen.
The main problem is 30fps on a large screen which is for many (including myself) an unpleasant experience.

ABizzel1546d ago (Edited 546d ago )

One correction the screen size has less to do with it, but display type / software / refresh rate can. While 30fps isn't ideal it doesn't fell bad as long as a game has a locked 30fps, proper frame pacing, well-managed latency, a proper sense of speed, and good motion blur.

The issues happen when more than one of these isn't right, and something just feels noticeably off.

Constantly dropping frames causes frame time spikes, screen-tearing, and stutter.
Bad frame pacing causes random stutters (Souls Games)
Bad latency makes controls feel sluggish and unresponsive
A bad sense of speed makes a game look off, and the 30fps is more noticeable
And bad motion blur or a lack thereof makes animation and motion more choppy

The introduction of 40fps modes is going to be a well-welcomed improvement for AAA games, that just can't stick to 60fps.

abstractel546d ago

I love the 45fps mode in Horizon, perfect compromise to me, but how many people own a display that supports VRR? If you game on a monitor y]ou're fine, but a lot of TVs don't support VRR so developers have to take that into consideration.

I've had this discussion with co-workers in development and hardcore gamer friends, and opinions vary. Part of the problem is that because we've been cross-gen for two years we're used to the 60fps option. Are gamers going to be willing to go back to 30fps? I hope so personally (for the right games) but we'll see.

R&C is one of the few PS5 exclusives and it looked next-gen/new-gen, and they were able to put in a 60fps mode. Insomniac also stated that it was just the tip of the iceberg of what the PS5 can handle from their point of view so we'll see as soon as we get some Spider-man 2 and Wolverine footage... Epic is also working hard on upgrading FSR and other systems to get 60fps running on PS5 and Xbox Series X (not likely for Series S though) so we'll see.

Eonjay546d ago

Nearly all of the games released this gen have supported 60 FPS. I really don't see why it needs to be contentious. Also this article states that a return to 30 is inevitable... But even now we are seeing devs moves on to 40 FPS when possible. What is inevitable are more devs going the WWS route and give 30, 40, 60 and 120 modes with VRR to boot the problem at the offset is building all of those modes into 3 different next gen platforms. That gotta be a lot of work.

Neonridr546d ago

problem is as games get more ambitious, the hardware can't quite keep up. Sure they are doing a good job now but how many true next gen games have we had? We are still living in a cross generation world right now where games are being designed for the lesser systems.

Neonridr546d ago

playing at 30 is tolerable, however once you start consistently playing at 60+ it's hard to go back. I have the luxury of having a pretty beefy PC along with my consoles, so it's sad being able to play games there at 4k/60+ fps only to have to possibly come back to 30fps on my console. That being said, I understand the price I paid for my PC so it's understandable that consoles can't deliver that same level all the time.

-T9X-69-546d ago

While the first half is true, that doesn't excuse poor optimization and lack of fidelity/performance options. Sure my PS5 can't touch my PC in terms of power and performance. However, those options have been industry standard for next-gen.....errr current-gen. They can absolutely offer native/checkerboard 4K @ 30, or 2K @ 60. The same way we can alter our PC settings to match our hardware, the devs can do the same thing prior to shipping a product. Most importantly, optimize those settings for a locked 30 and at the very least, variable 60.

Maybe a few years down the road, that 2K 60 might be harder to achieve without implementation of things like checkerboard 2K. At least the option would be there though. There just haven't been a lot of true "next-gen" games to even start with the "consoles aren't powerful enough".

WB trying to justify their lack of options for Gotham Knight is just laughable. Oh it's CPU limiting due to the huge open world with un-tethered co-op. Yet even with a 3080+i7 10700k, I can't get a solid 60FPS on ANY settings even in SP, let alone co-op. I truly feel sorry for anyone who was really looking forward to this game and got it on consoles. As gamers, we've been fed (mostly 3rd party) unoptimized shovelware for far too long. Cross gen titles being canceled and moving to current gen only and still running like garbage is just unacceptable.

andy85546d ago

You're right. Before I would have turned my nose up at 40 but it's very playable and the exact middle point between 30 and 60 fps. If they do start to push the consoles hard I'd hope the 30 fps ones do have a 40 fps mode. Although I'd hope they just have a lower res option at 60 instead

seanpitt23546d ago

That’s why ps5 pro next year will give the extra power for 60fps

Neonridr546d ago

could you imagine if they tried to pull that? People can't even get a PS5 and then along comes a Pro model, lol

andy85546d ago

It wouldn't surprise me to be honest. But bringing out pro model would free up the regular PS5 for others. Although by the time that would be out there will be no stock issues anyway.

shinoff2183546d ago

I agree xbladeteddy.

I think 30 is fine. 60 is nice and I wont complain I also wont complain about 30. To much stock gets put into frames per second I swear

zeuanimals546d ago

Smooth frame pacing is the most important thing and plenty of devs keep missing this mark.

BioShockGX545d ago

Just because your standards are low doesn't mean everyone is. Give me 60fps or no buy.

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Fritzwochel546d ago

Devs get lazier and lazier when it comes to optimisations.. Except for a wee few Switch devs.

SeTTriP546d ago

Has nothing to do with laziness and everything resolution.

Devs want they're games to be showed of and console are not p.c as it can't brute force results.

onisama546d ago (Edited 546d ago )

some are lazy like WB with gotham knights but game like plague tales is too beautiful and graphically demanding and in the future games will be more demanding its always been like this...last gen games started with 1080p game release and ended with 720p and 900p upscaled to 1080p
or was that xbox360/ps3? i dont remember time pass fast

EvertonFC546d ago

It certainly wasn't last gen lol although I think some Xbox one games were 900p twds the end ?

StarkR3ality546d ago

@everton

Both consoles dropped below 1080p, became more prevelant as the gen went on and DRS was introduced in more games to avoid frame drops. Pretty sure some (mainly on Xbox but PS4 too) dropped to 720p, that's why most last gen games look like you're staring through plastic film on a large 4K display.

CantThinkOfAUsername546d ago

Gamers get stupider and stupider when it comes to game development.. Except for a wee few who follow devs.

The3faces546d ago

I know I'm in the minority but I prefer 30fps with all the graphical bells and whistles.

MrNinosan546d ago

Same, always go for Fidelity before Performance, mainly because my TV is so huge that I want to get the best pixelcounts as possible.

obidanshinobi546d ago

A lot of 30fps games look worse the bigger screen you have though.
Horizon FW for example is awful at 30fps on a 50" TV, yet smooth as butter at 60fps.

CS7546d ago

I played Horizon at 30 fps on a 55” TV and loved every second

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gold_drake546d ago

i honestly just want a game that works without any major bugs.

CS7546d ago

Me too. Regardless of the FPS i stop noticing it after 5-10 minutes of play. Whereas, bad graphics or resolution I notice it the entire time.

Eidolon546d ago

Depends, idk if it's my C7 OLED, or bad optimizations/frame-pacing but some games just don't look good at 30fps. Spiderman: MM played GREAT at 30fps(at least I think it wasn't 40fps, never changed a thing since I got it pre-40fps patch, C7 doesn't have VRR), and actually Rift Apart was more noticeable at 30fps than MM. Dying Light 2 was unplayable af to me at 30fps, and so was HFW and Ghost Wire Tokyo. Demon's Souls was pretty good at 30fps for sure. Few other games I can't think of right now. But really depends on the game, and not necessarily First-person or third-person.

BioShockGX545d ago

Comments like yours is why devs will keep making 30fps games

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angelsx546d ago

I'm not buying any 30fps games for ps5 xbox x any more.

MrVux000546d ago

As always vote with your wallet. That is the best way to push a standards in the industry.

shinoff2183546d ago

You probably gonna miss out on some great games guy

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CS7546d ago

Plagues Tale looks so good and its from a small developer.

Better than alot of those cross gen games from much bigger studios.

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dazzysima546d ago

No excuse for this. There's no reason why there can't be a 1080p or 1440p option without the likes of RT so a 60fps target can be hit.

lucian229546d ago

Who wants to play 1080p? Lmao I rather 4k and beauty than 60fps any day.

I always choose graphics over frame rate

MrVux000546d ago (Edited 546d ago )

I'd rather take a supersampled 1080p with 60 FPS rather than checkerboard 4K with 30 FPS.

Also ''who wants to play 1080p?''

You do realize majority of people play on 1080p-1440p monitors/TVs?

Yui_Suzumiya546d ago (Edited 546d ago )

I play mostly in 720p though, lol .. Still getting used to 1080p.

BlaqMagiq1546d ago

I will never choose graphics over frame rate. Graphics do not affect gameplay, frame rate does.

Give me silky smooth 60fps over overrated 4K any day.

SurgicalMenace546d ago

As do I, fidelity is paramount. All these people sounding off about fps are only doing so because it's become a topic of discussion, recently.

thecodingart546d ago

Honestly, I’m confounded on people who still want < 4k resolution for 60fps…

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Profchaos546d ago

Why not give people options.
With the rise of vrr a 40 fps game for some means it's not really 40 more like 80

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120°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein8h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno4h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k43h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson2h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu3h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson2h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

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60°

The Best PS5 Headset In 2024

Gamespot: The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P is still our favorite PS5 headset, but there are several great alternatives to choose from in 2024.

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gamespot.com