** I originally wrote this story in April 2019, yet I found it ironic that we’re seeing this very thing is the focus of the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. **
This is an editorial piece. The views and opinions expressed within this article are those of the author and do not represent the views and opinions of The Outerhaven as an organization.
Now, I know what you’re going to say. That, Keith, we really need that 4K or even 8K resolutions. That 1080p is old news and you picked up a shiny new 4K TV (or monitor) so you can play a game in that sexy high definition glory. I don’t disagree with you. However, do you want to play at 4K and beyond, if your frame rate suffers? Why would you want that? What’s the dang point?
This is why I’m pretty much throwing my arms in the air, loudly asking both Sony and Microsoft to please don’t just focus on the resolution. Now, I’m not opposed to having my eyes having an orgasm and being blown away from some super amazing resolutions. Trust me, I love my 1440p and 4K as much as the other person. My banking account and my wife’s frustration on the amount of money I’m spent on expensive PC tech can attest to that. **Waves to the RTX 2080 Ti**
However, if I’m being completely honest here, I’m frustrated. After the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 Pro, and yes, even the Xbox One X, we’re still not in a place where there’s no compromise. And there’s the keyword, compromise, a word I’ve learned to hate over the past few years when it comes to gaming tech. Why do we need to compromise when we were promised higher frame rates as the future of gaming. Are we there yet?
I don’t want a 1400p game upscaled to 4K. I don’t want a native 4K game running like at 30FPS or below. Hell, I don’t even want a 1080p game running at nothing less than a locked 60FPS. Are these some pretty lofty expectations? Perhaps, but don’t you think that everything we’ve seen with the PS4 and Xbox One, that it’s time we got this?
Sure, there have been several games that have managed to walk that fine line that has been able to give us the holy grail. That being having a locked 60FPS, it looks good and the resolution didn’t suffer. But I’ve always felt that something like that and we except it. Some of us, however, demand more. I don’t want a handful of games being able to provide the ultimate experience – I want all of them to do that. Even the crappy games. Yet, here we are with games that might be better off running at a locked 60FPS, instead of either an uncapped 60FPS or not even hitting that. I’m sorry and I may come off as a snob but I’m a bit tired of that 30FPS (or below) experience.
Now, we find ourselves looking at the opening salvo of the next-generation of consoles. While we know Microsoft is working on Xbox “Anaconda” and Mark Cerny has already dropped the details for the PlayStation 5. With the popular buzzword “4K” being immediately thrown out there and me going “great, are we doing this again?”. C’mon, I can’t be the only one who was thinking this. Why haven’t these companies realized yet that as great as a game looks, if it chugs along with tons of frame rate and frame pacing issues, that gamers are eventually going to get frustrated. We’ve already been there, hell, look at Bloodborne. An amazing looking game, yet it’s crippled by its capped 30 frames per second (or lower at times). Do you really want that with the next-gen consoles?
The take away from my rant isn’t that I hate resolutions and that I don’t want to see it in the future. It’s quite the opposite. I wanna see that sexy 4K or beyond, but I don’t want to see a compromise. I don’t want us to be stuck at a 4K 30FPS future. We’ve seen this already, and I’m sick of it. Literally sick to my stomach that I can’t take it anymore. I want super slick, 60FPS (or higher), or bust. With frame rates so buttery smooth that we’d drop our controllers and become mesmerized by our screens with tears flowing from our eyes. Yes, I want an evolution, and you should you.
As long as Microsoft and Sony can provide developers the hardware that this next-generation is the graphical leap that we wanted since the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360’s had their day in the sun, then great. Then bring it on! But, if that’s out of the realm of possibilities, then I’m fine with 1080p with a locked 60FPS.
What are your thoughts an feelings on this? What are you expecting from the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles? I’d love to know in the comments.
