Fairness in Next Gen Game Reviews.

[The Daisy]

Nintendo's decision not to support HDTV resolutions on the Revolution got me to thinking about something.

 

The fact that next-gen games could look very different depending on what TV you're watching them on.

 

How can the graphics for a game be truely and accurately reviewed unless you evaluate them on both SD and HDTV's?

 

For example, if a site reviews a game for the PS3 on an HDTV... how does this help someone who wants to know what the game would look like for the 80-some percent of people who don't have HDTV's?

 

With this current generation of games, it was something nice to mention if for example True Crime for the Xbox had a 720P mode... but it wasn't a big part of the review.

 

Now, Microsoft has said that every game made for the 360 must support 720P or higher. Add this to Widescreen support and you can see that people gaming on an HDTV will be seeing a different game than a person playing games at 480i on a 27" TV.

 

I say this because one of my closest friends, who is probably a bigger gamer than I am and can't wait for the 360, has a 32" SDTV... and plays all of his games through his S-Video connection.

 

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but do you think that reviewers will actually talk about the differences that are seen in next-gen games when playing them on an SDTV versus an HDTV?

 

Glen

[JFo]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but do you think that reviewers will actually talk about the differences that are seen in next-gen games when playing them on an SDTV versus an HDTV?

 

For the most part, no. I think it will be similar to how games that offer a 480p mode or 16:9 option are treated. The reviewer may mention the fact that the game supports these modes, but we won't hear about how adding an HD mode improves on the graphics for a game over a standard definition mode.

 

I say that with one major exception: We may hear about it if playing the game in HD affects the frame rate. Currently, playing a title in 480p instead of 480i does not affect this -- at least not in any game I'm aware of. Of course in that instance, you're not necessarily changing the resolution of the image at all, just the way it's displayed on the TV. Obviously upping the resolution to HD levels could affect frame rate a great deal. Whether or not that will be an issue with the next generation is something we'll have to wait and see on.