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Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

bloomberg.com

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Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#21

Post by lowbloodsugar »

wetbaby wrote: post #8

I really wish developers on consoles would just accept what kind of performance consoles really offer. There isn't a single reason a game should be 30fps these days if that game tests your motor skills in any way. If you can't hit a locked 60fps target, you need to reassess your visuals. Hearing that 2/3 PS users are switching to 60fps, away from a default of 30fps is really interesting. You can have the best screens…

You have to have the best screenshots for the press, but most players want to play in 60fps or better. Games have for some time now been offering two graphics modes so that the press gets pretty images and players get fps.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#22

Post by iforgotpassword »

spondylosaurus wrote: post #3

A few things: - It seems like Sony chose to showcase "improvements" in games that already look pretty good, but there are other games for whom the improvement will be pretty dramatic (I've heard FFVII Remake cited as one). There may be an element there of Sony not wanting to put the worst offenders on blast by showing side-by-side of how shitty the game currently looks versus how nice it'll look on the Pro, which is…

I think there is something like consistency to the look of a game. A game can be 20 years old and clearly be less detailed in every measurable way compared to a modern title, but still look good. Because there is nothing that makes you think "well they tried here, but it just doesn't look good". Or on the contrary, like when programmable shades were new and fancy, some games had super awesome effects in some spots that looked out of place because they seemed to have been added last minute.

Some games really made the best out of what was possible when they were made, the designers seemed to have gone back and forth until everything came together nicely. These titles are timeless.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#23

Post by Waterluvian »

al_borland wrote: post #16
Waterluvian wrote: post #6

The thing I loved about the PS5, above all else, is that basically every game has a “performance mode” aka 60fps. I appreciate there are lots of people out there who don’t care about 30fps, but the ps5 generation gave us the choice. Furthermore, almost all the games I played on PS5 were PS4 games that now ran butter smooth.

I'm all for user choice, but at the same time, the reason I opt for a console is to not think about that kind of thing. I expect the developers made the game with the hardware in mind and optimized it to run well with the graphics provided. The idea of a graphics vs performance mode feels like they needed to push the PS5 too hard to make the graphics good enough to justify a new console, but realistically, the hardwa…

It’s just a single switch. You don’t have to get into all kinds of graphics settings.

They always carefully decide on defaults too, so you can simply pretend those options don’t exist.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#24

Post by adamc »

umutisik wrote: post #10

- If you just run the previous generation of games on the newer graphics, it's only a tiny bit better. But games designed for this generation will have more of a difference. Ultimately, it's all about giving the creators more freedom in making the game. Amazing games have been made with much less capability than today. - You're going to get another big jump in graphics and immersiveness once the current neural render…

Maybe so. But the part of the article I resonated with is that it just doesn't matter. I don't care. I buy games for gameplay, and better graphics -- which once opened up kinds of gameplay -- just doesn't matter anymore.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#25

Post by adamc »

proc0 wrote: post #15
dzonga wrote: post #9

or maybe innovation in gameplay has stopped. hence why the same franchises rule. something to appreciate about Nintendo, they don't focus on graphics but gameplay through level design, game mechanics etc. well written stories such as the last of us are good too.

Games are being held back by cultural stigma. At its core it's a new artistic medium, just like moving pictures (film) was back in the early 20th century. Imagination is the only limit here, but society at large still thinks "video games" are for kids. Perhaps if it was called interactive entertainment or something like that, people would be more likely to get into it.

No, that isn't the problem. My 70 year old brother plays video games.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#27

Post by Uvix »

al_borland wrote: post #16
Waterluvian wrote: post #6

The thing I loved about the PS5, above all else, is that basically every game has a “performance mode” aka 60fps. I appreciate there are lots of people out there who don’t care about 30fps, but the ps5 generation gave us the choice. Furthermore, almost all the games I played on PS5 were PS4 games that now ran butter smooth.

I'm all for user choice, but at the same time, the reason I opt for a console is to not think about that kind of thing. I expect the developers made the game with the hardware in mind and optimized it to run well with the graphics provided. The idea of a graphics vs performance mode feels like they needed to push the PS5 too hard to make the graphics good enough to justify a new console, but realistically, the hardwa…

If games only shipped with one mode, it would be graphics mode. The performance modes are there to cater to users who prefer a different tradeoff (i.e. to get PS4-level graphics in exchange for a higher framerate), not because the graphics modes aren't good enough.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#28

Post by jayd16 »

dzonga wrote: post #9

or maybe innovation in gameplay has stopped. hence why the same franchises rule. something to appreciate about Nintendo, they don't focus on graphics but gameplay through level design, game mechanics etc. well written stories such as the last of us are good too.

Its a hardware event and they talked about hardware with screenshots from games you're familiar with.

The alternatives are to dead-reckon the fidelity of new games you've never seen, fake some downgraded comparisons that haven't shipped for those games or talk about gameplay that should be identical on the existing PS5.

I guess they could have thrown in some irrelevant sizzle but wouldn't it just overshadow the hardware?

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#29

Post by WillPostForFood »

Tade0 wrote: post #4
talldayo wrote: post #2

Say what you will, but this is why Cloud Gaming will make sense eventually. Upgrade cycles have to make you want new games - you can't advertise the same experiences with a "now in 4K/8K" label on it. On top of that, console gamers already pay for online service access and many subscribe to PlayStation+/Xbox Game Pass. They're effectively getting the worst of both worlds - paying SaaS prices for an experience they do…

All the Stadia users who I spoke with were generally happy with the service while it lasted. Their main concern - latency - turned out to be a non-issue. To me there's a great niche for it to be explored: cheat prevention in e-sports. Of course aimhacks will always be a thing, but the top players were always indistinguishable from cheaters in this regard.

Yes. stadia basically worked well and latency wasn't an issue. But if you care about image quality (artifacts, colors, etc) it was only OK. I found it pretty distracting, moreso for faster paced (lots of motion on the screen) games.

Re: Playstation 5 Pro Shows the Futility of the Video-Game Graphics Race

#30

Post by jebarker »

talldayo wrote: post #7
spondylosaurus wrote: post #3

A few things: - It seems like Sony chose to showcase "improvements" in games that already look pretty good, but there are other games for whom the improvement will be pretty dramatic (I've heard FFVII Remake cited as one). There may be an element there of Sony not wanting to put the worst offenders on blast by showing side-by-side of how shitty the game currently looks versus how nice it'll look on the Pro, which is…

MGSV is just a good looking game. It's one of those Yoshi's Island titles that will look good whether it's the day of release or 50 years into the future. Characters are well-designed, setpieces are pulpy and full of cold war personality, and the cinematics are all handled with that loving Kojima madness players have craved since MGS1. It really feels like a game that cost 80 million dollars to make, even though the…

> People gotta make games, again

PC seems to be where more gameplay innovation occurs because the barrier to entry is much lower. I'd love to see Playstation make console development more accessible for a wider range of developers.

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