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Resolution, graphics and frame rate have all conquered the headlines while actual game
quality has been left behind.
We've come to a level at where gaming outlets spew out frantic headlines based on nothing
more than at what frame rate a game will run at. We've come to a level where 1080p is seemingly
the only AND I mean only way one can enjoy a game, we've come to a level where you would
look at a triple A game and slam it purely for the abysmal rock textures it has. The
sad truth is that, with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One spreading, there is a dying breed
of people who actually care about the quality of a game - and by that I don't mean how aesthetically
pleasing it is. The so-called console war has forged argument over argument with the
core aim of showing the opponent why their console is a pile of junk and the other is
superior.
Of course high resolution textures and the odd lens glare will be pleasing to the eye,
but it certainly doesn't make a good and valuable game.
Developers are sent into a death spiral, where if their title doesn't meet the nurtured requirements
of the suggested player base it will be slammed for a sub-par resolution or a frame rate which
apparently should have died with the previous generation. Gamers are a force to be reckoned
with, unpredictable and rebellious out of control comments can generate a large sinkhole
in which a game will be stuck in purely because of its graphics.
Before know-it-all fanboys came over from their Mum's iPhone, playing Farmville, there
was a particularly smaller focus on frame rate and resolution for websites reporting
news and reviews - yet now the audience wants to know at exactly what frame rate Call of
Duty runs on what console.
Then of course you could ask what happened with the previous generation, since we hadn't
seen this focus before. Well, that's where the next generation or current gen comes in
supposedly. We all want to know which console is superior, let's be honest. It doesn't matter
if you're bias or not if you're a PC gamer or just in it for the fun. While Microsoft
and Sony taunt each other gamers on Reddit, N4G, PC Gamer, GameSpot, IGN, Polygon heck
even the BBC argue (or should I say offend, well even that is an understatement) for their
favoured console. There's just a major flaw that is driving the conversation away from
the norm to hardware stricken debates. The simple lack of any decent games on both the
Xbox and PlayStation leaves people with no other choice but to fall back on resolution
and frame rate to argue why their console is superior and of course people always claim
to know more throwing around complete nonsense and, sorry to say, but ***.
Now of course in a staggering amount of cases, when games sport what someone may call bad
graphics you will most probably end up with a more than terrible game. Yeah, I'm looking
at you WarZ, oh sorry Infestation. So what if they do in fact matter? What if
the next generation has in fact turned around the focus onto something we should've been
looking at well before. Kotaku contested two polls on whether their readers took any notice
of frame rate and resolution with both throwing up the same results - yes. And yet here is
where the indie sector is vital. We don't see tremendous floor textures down to the
dust particles, we don't see a protagonist with each strand of their hair visible - of
course there are indie titles out there which do that, but the vast majority try to be different.
Of course the old favourite Minecraft, Spelunky, Thomas Was Alone, Hotline Miami, Papers Please
all with their own style, unique and succeeding.
Here's the issue, this has fallen into a debate of whether or not 1080p should be the priority
or whether FPS matters to you and not a discussion of whether or not the next generation itself
is responsible for a decline in what games actually deliver.
Sure, we've come to a level where more often that not games will be isolated purely because
of how they look, but does that really affect the overall game quality on the landscape
of gaming? No. If anything the next generation has sparked far more interest in the hardware
and how games function, there may be a decrease in the interest of the overall game quality,
but it hasn't had any genuine impact.