Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End had a fantastic reveal at E3 earlier this month, but once again it started some controversy over Sony stating that the game would run at 1080p resolution, and they were targeting 60 fps. As great as the trailer looked, that uncertainty unsettled some, as we’ve been seeing many games lately that are showcasing serious performance issues in this generation of consoles.
With recent titles like Watch Dogs bringing heavy criticism to the capabilities of eight generation consoles, does this battle over resolution reflect on a broader issue both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will have to face?
Unfortunately, the answer to that may be “yes.” After both the press conferences from Microsoft and Sony were held at E3, the web was buzzing with reveals and updates from both. However, there was deeper speculation in the days after the hype wore down. People analyzed where they were headed and what it said about the current state of console gaming, and of course, resolution was front and center. When I watched those press conferences, there’s one phrase I kept hearing over and over again like a broken record: “1080p, 60 fps.” Both companies couldn’t get enough of touting their own resolutions and frame rates. Not that they’re really anything to brag about.
Now we’ve heard this before with many titles on the 8th-gen consoles, of course. If the Watch Dogs resolution controversy in particular taught us anything, it’s that the performance of the newest iteration of consoles isn’t where it needs to be. At least not as far as meeting expectations about resolution is concerned. Frankly, they’re under-performing less than a year after release, and that doesn’t bode well for the future. They came out relatively under-powered, but for a good reason- Sony and Microsoft wanted the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to be affordable, and at a price point not far off from their predecessors at launch.
With a $399 price tag to play with, they had to keep the processor, video card, etc where they stand right now, which is a place where running 1080p can become an issue, and maintaining that resolution usually means a sub-par frame rate. To see that this resolution issue is what the two titans are battling over right now isn’t the best sign for things to come.
Now I’m not someone who really cares all that much about resolution, but the fact that running 1080p on current-gen consoles is an issue at all is a serious problem. It’s 2014, and while we have things like 4k, fighting over the almost obsolete 1080p is worrisome to say the least. The specs were crimped to reach that $400 mark (Which the Xbox One is also at with their new Kinect-less model), and it’s affordable, but maybe not as cost-efficient as you think. For $100-200 more you could put together a decent gaming PC and get much higher performance, along with an actual computer and not just a gaming console.
Games are cheaper too, and with events like the upcoming Steam Summer Sale, a consumer could even make up some of the additional cost. That’s a lot higher performance for a minuscule price difference. All of these factors are putting PC gaming on the rise, while more and more people begin to question the efficiency of console gaming.
I deeply enjoy consoles and want to see them thrive, but I’m not sure if they can balance on the line between too expensive and not powerful enough. This generation is already released, and there’s nothing to be done there, but can future generations bring the performance people want for a price that consumers will be willing to spend? Or will the eight generation being lackluster push consoles into near-extinction as PC gaming catches on more and more?
Only time will tell, and I sincerely hope they can find a way to compete with the cost-efficient performance PC is delivering, but if 8th-gen is any indication, Sony and Microsoft might have a massive challenge on the road ahead.