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Ben’s Week In Review: February 1

After shoveling eight tons of snow, I just can't believe we're in line for more. 🙁

So, the difference between 1080p and 900p is…?

Another week, another confirmation of a PlayStation 4 version of a multiplatform game outperforming the Xbox One version.

In this case, the "outperforming" is in regards to the maximum resolution for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , which was revealed to be 1080p on PS4 and 900p on Xbox One . But here's my question: Does anyone really care that much? A lot of PS4 games seem to hit the 1080p HD max while the Xbox One counterparts don't reach as high, which is great for the PlayStation brand. At the same time, I wonder if the majority of gamers even notice or care. I mean, if you told an Xbox One owner that their copy of Wild Hunt ran at a lower resolution than the PS4 version, would they be all upset? Or would they say they wouldn't be able to notice the graphical difference, anyway? Isn't frame rate much more important? And both versions run at 30 frames per second, so…

For me, I only care about a game performing as it should, regardless of stats. I imagine that if most gamers are being truthful, they'd say the same thing. After all, when you sit down to play, the pretty pictures mean nothing if you're not enjoying yourself and the game isn't functioning properly. Therefore, 1080p vs. 900p seems to be almost trivial, right? Then again, you've got a contingent of tech geeks out there who claim otherwise, saying there's a definite difference and they will always notice. Well, whatever.

Square Enix makes another faux pas

It's not that they don't know how to produce great games. The Square Enix name is on plenty of fantastic titles ( Tomb Raider , Deus Ex: Human Revolution , Sleeping Dogs , etc.), although it's worth noting that they didn't develop these titles. What's always mind-boggling is their complete disconnect with gamers. It's like they're operating on another planet.

So, they tease this hot new PlayStation 4 exclusive known as "Project CODE Z" and all indications are that it could be a really great JRPG (what was once Squaresoft's forte, of course). Then, as it turns out, the game is just a new Spelunker entry . Now, the quality of the project in question is not the point. Maybe it'll be great, I don't know. The point is, you don't tease such a title with a freakin' countdown. You just don't. You look absolutely ridiculous when you keep offering these dramatic countdowns for little downloadable games that, while potentially promising, are hardly worth such a melodramatic lead-up. It's like Square Enix has no clue what consumers actually care about.

It's just comical and a little depressing.

Personal gaming update

If you've never played the classic original before, you owe it to yourself to check out Grim Fandango Remastered . In some ways, it doesn't withstand the test of time and unfortunately, that lagging is noticeable. But for the most part, it's a wonderful adventure classic that reminds one of a time when some video games were not only cerebral, but also charming, witty, lighthearted, and just plain amusing from front to back. I'm also playing Dying Light ; apologies on the lateness of the review but there's a lot to this game and I want to experience as much of it as I can. If you're wondering, I do stand by my initial impressions but I obviously intend to build on those in the review.

Not long now before The Order: 1886 is here. 🙂

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newchef
newchef
9 years ago

im liking Dying Light but i feel like its starting to drag, the story feels like it ran its course and yet it says im only 48% done. Now im not sure if thats total completion, with collectibles and side missions or if its the actual story, either way its to the point that i feel like im done without actually being done.

Temjin001
Temjin001
9 years ago

It's usually 1,440,000 pixels vs 2,093,600 pixels when it comes to 900p vs 1080p. That's about a 22% pixel throughput advantage PS4-side. The significance of this varies on the individual and the hardware setup and positioning. 900p looks fine to me from my couch, but up close on say a computer monitor? It's much more noticeable. It's an appreciable difference but I don't think it's a big deal. I imagine most pixel whores and image quality freaks are already PC gaming in 4K anyway, where 1080p is already considered inferior.

PGU: I finished off TLoU Left Behind. While the ending was already foretold from the main game it was interesting seeing the events leading up to it.
I was real deadly at the end there with my bow. head shots on clickers isn't always easy but it's satisfying when you nail 'em.

I tried Infamous: First Light some more. I collected all of the power up orbs right away and had fun with that but then I moved onto the story. Well. I think this aspect sorta sucks. The game play feels like stuff I've been doing from 15 years ago in GTA3. It's the epitome of tired open world design. Go from location to location while the vast majority of the narrative is told through face boxes at the corner of the screen where mission play boils down to routes and basic objectives cobbled together on a one sized fits all map that has little to no tailoring to the experience, lending itself to gameplay that never feels totally adhered to the story it's telling. It's cheap and quick by today's standards and leaves me unimpressed.
I'm ready to place it on the backburner and go play some Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. The possibility of the sequel has me excited and I want to get the game checked off of my backlog.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/31/2015 10:46:58 PM

AcHiLLiA
AcHiLLiA
9 years ago

Your right u can have all the pixels in the world but it depends on the size of ur tv and ur seated comfort zone.

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
9 years ago

Next thing you know, SE will teasing another game and BAM!
It's FFIX for the PS4 with nothing new.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
9 years ago

Raven's Cry was due to release January 30th, I waited all week and at the 11th hour it was delayed until March 24th for consoles.

They gave me a Steam key for PC but hell I don't have a PC that can play games so it's no good to me. Piss. Me. Off.

Feels like it's been a million years since there was a game that was so good I couldn't put it down, or couldn't wait to get home and play it. That's what I need right now. Another funeral over the weekend, I'm tired of death.

xenris
xenris
9 years ago

Do you want to give me the Steam key!!!

I was actually going to bring up Ravens Cry to you. I have heard the game has a ton of potential but the launch on the PC was really rough.

Hopefully everything gets ironed out for the console release, it looks like a super sick pirate game.

Beamboom
Beamboom
9 years ago

If I were you I'd consider cancelling that pre-order. I don't usually put much trust in user reviews but the message on the Steam user reviews are really quite clear: Steer clear, it's got major issues.
Wait for a price drop. I bet that happen before we reach the peak of summer.

Beamboom
Beamboom
9 years ago

I think upscaled 1080p can look smashing.
And it typically gives a high, rock steady frame rate and great visuals with a hint softer image than the crispness of full 1080 rendering.
I'd much rather have that than half the frame rate and full 1080p. Easily.


Last edited by Beamboom on 2/1/2015 2:10:16 PM

Axe99
Axe99
9 years ago

In terms of the resolution thing, I've got some background in photography and have an eye for that kind of thing (I can tell the difference between 300 and 600 dpi, for example – 1080p on a decent sized screen is less than 100dpi, and even from standard viewing distances has issues that a trained eye can spot).

It also means I'm familiar with upscaled vs native information, and can tell the difference pretty easily. Upscaling beats no scaling of course, but you just don't get the same results upscaling as you do from something natively rendered.

That said, I've spent hours working on upscaling photos to certain sizes to get them 'just so', and have an eye for these things. It's not something everyone would notice, and while it makes a difference (gaming is a visual hobby – more visual detail makes for more information makes for more stuff to work with when making decisions or appreciating artwork) the 900p to 1080p difference isn't 'omg, I'd never play it at 900p', but it's not nothing either.

Beamboom
Beamboom
9 years ago

… but it also means a higher and more steady frame rate, and can even mean more visual effects: Saved computing power from not having to render higher resolutions gives more to spend on other things.
And I think that this tradeoff – if at first a tradeoff has to be made – is usually worth it.

Rachet_JC_FTW
Rachet_JC_FTW
9 years ago

yeah i'd agree with you on the res and fps thing for the witcher i think its like you i got the better version but i don't think we will end up worrying about it all that much or noticing so again there ur right ben

and btw i feel sorry for you guys with the snow with it being summer down under a bit of rain is all i'v had to worry about

and on the SE game annoncement that was quite pittiful and i can imagine that people were laughing quite are or trying not to cos i was laughing watching the tralier and i don' think thats what people at SE were going for

again i'll try to get round to grim some time. but atm i've been playing a bit for lego movie on the vita and then a bit of ridge racer on the psp while i was out for the weekend with the family

happy gaming

Jawknee
Jawknee
9 years ago

1080p is great but I'd rather have a steady 60fps frame rate. Even if that meant downscaling to 720p to 900p or whatever. Though we were promised 1080p/60fps experiances on the PS4. Wonder if that was false just like their PS3 remote play via Vita promise. So far only MGS5 Ground Zeroes has managed to hit that consistent mark. I know other games like KZSF and inFamous SS aimed for that but it's hardly steady or consistent.

I don't really know why Squanix is even discussed anymore. Hasn't all that could be said about them been said? They suck. They're a stupid company who holds ownership of some of the best franchises yet they do nothing with them. Instead they waste their effort on crappy western games and over hyped announcements for games we already played or don't care much about. I'll play FFXV and I would love another Dissidia, perhaps on the PS4 if not the Vita but I'm not expecting much or to be blown away by FFXV or that a new Dissidia will be made.

Downloaded Resident Evil ReRemake. Haha I miss games like this. This truly was the glory days of Crapcom. It's one of those rare games that keeps me saying "ehh, maybe just a few more minutes" which turns into hours. Was expecting a little better convention but it's still pretty good. Better than the RE4 PS3 redo. That redo barly looked better than the Wii version.

Oh and by the way, PSN is down again. I kept trying to load RE HD but it kept crashing with error CE-34878-0 until I turned the network connection off in the PS4 settings. Sony needs to fix this. Seems whenever the system tries and fails to connect to the network while loading a game it causes the crash.


Last edited by Jawknee on 2/1/2015 8:32:48 PM

Jawknee
Jawknee
9 years ago

Convention should be *conversion.

Oxvial
Oxvial
9 years ago

1080p and 900p It was never much of a game changer, but well a few years ago when there was minor things on multis in the 360XPs3 fanboys of X-Box loved to make a big deal and brag about it, now that things changed they just shut up and enjoy their games.

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