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Resolution doesn't sell games, says Far Cry 4 dev

GavinUK86

GavinUK86

Member
http://www.totalxbox.com/82240/resolution-doesnt-sell-games-says-far-cry-4-dev-1080p-debate-is-a-weird-echo-chamber/

1080p or not 1080p isn't an "interesting question", according to Far Cry 4 creative director Alex Hutchinson, who spoke to OXM at length about the commercial efficacy of rad graphics at a preview event earlier this month.

"It's certainly not something I care about in a game," Hutchinson told me, after confirming a target resolution and frame rate of 1080p and 30 frames a second. "It feels weird to me that people are cool about playing a sort of retro pixel game, and yet the resolution somehow matters. It's like: is it fun, is it interesting, is it new, is it fresh, are there interesting questions?

"With the 4K TVs and things - somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen. I don't know the exact numbers, but it starts to get a little crazy. I'm just in it for the experience, I'll play a SNES game if it's cool."
Click to expand...

"It's a rare question for you to ask now about resolution or something," Hutchinson went on. "It's [only brought up] because of the disparity, the idea that one version is being held back. I don't think that has sold consoles for a while now.

"I think experiences have been selling them, and that's your challenge, if you don't have a new cool experience, or a social experience - like Call of Duty sells consoles, even though art-wise, it's not exactly... like Call of Duty to Crytek's games, one sells a metric s**t-ton and the other doesn't."
Click to expand...
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
Well duh, like he said, the average consumer just doesn't care. I think that's something everyone here can agree on.

If everyone truly cared about resolution and fps, no one would buy a console.
 
S

Somnia

Member
2thepoint said:
It does when the competitor's resolution is lower.
Click to expand...

No it lets people decide which system to get it on, no one is going to go "oh man it's 1080p now I have to buy that game!" when they never had any plans before. It does make for some fun forum posts and drama though.
 
I

Impeccable

Member
It's not necessarily a question of resolution selling your game. It's a question of are you doing the most to provide the best experience to owners of all platforms or are you phoning it in because "it's good enough".

Of course it still doesn't matter to casuals.
 
A

Averon

Member
I hate that these developers want to have it both ways. They want to wow us with the latest graphical features in their games, but they don't want resolution or frame rate to count.

Stop using your game's visuals as a selling piece if you don't want resolution or frame rate to count against it.
 
R

randomengine

Banned
2thepoint said:
It does with hardware when the competitor's console resolution is lower.
Click to expand...

Not true. See the Wii.

The PS4 is not selling because of resolution. The PS4 is selling because of PS Plus and the perception that XBOX was going to screw gamers by not allowing rentals. Higher tech specs was just icing on the cake.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
That's actually the first time in recent weeks someone from Ubisoft has said something smart .. and true.
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
The highest selling games last generation were not even 720p. Contrary to the hardcore belief, the wider audience doesn't care.

#sorrynotsorry
 
pr0cs

pr0cs

Member
I agree with him, if the game is fun I really don't care what resolution it runs at.

That being said though if I have a choice I am going to buy the game on the hardware that runs it the best if I can. Hence why I bought most of my 3rd party games on 360 last gen and why the PS4 is likely the better machine to play on this gen.

Too much is made of resolution though, to deny yourself a chance to play a great game because it's not 1080 is beyond stupid.
 
N

nbnt

is responsible for the well-being of this island.
"With the 4K TVs and things - somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen."

This is amusing. First it was you couldn't see the difference between 720p and 1080p unless you have a 60"+ TV and sit very close to it. But now with 4K, you need sit as far away as you could from the TV to see it.
 
S

SeanTSC

Member
Averon said:
I hate that these developers want to have it both ways. They want to wow us with the latest graphical features in their games, but they don't want resolution or frame rate to count.

Stop using your game's visual as a selling piece if you don't want resolution or frame rate to count against it.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's bullshit. Like Sterling said, they sold us this mentality and now they're having problems dealing with it.
 
J

JayEH

Junior Member
mangochutney said:
Isn't that the guy who said 1080p was "too technical" for him?
Click to expand...

Yep, good to know that your creative director knows the ins and outs of game development.

Averon said:
I hate that these developers want to have it both ways. They want to wow us with the latest graphical features in their games, but they don't want resolution or frame rate to count.

Stop using your game's visual as a selling piece if you don't want resolution or frame rate to count against it.
Click to expand...

Glad someone posted this. The whole, "I'll play a SNES game if it's cool" thing really bugged me. Why not make far cry super low graphics then? If the experience is there then people will play according to him.
 
A

antennaehead

Member
While understandable, the intention to make games or implement features with the sole purpose of selling doesn't "sell game" to me either - quite the opposite.
As for the resolution debate itself - 1080p is certainly quite fresh experience for many games and gamers even with newgen consoles :). Lots of games aren't capable of 1080p, what's not fun or interesting with it?
 
B

Bricky

Member
Of course it doesn't, but that's no excuse to not try and hit 1080p on a current gen console (especially if it's called PS4).

Higher FPS didn't make The Hobbit a better or more popular movie but people still payed more to experience that version.
 
N

NickFire

Member
Bull. Not everyone cares about resolution, but plenty do. And pointing out sales of retro or mobile games is a red herring. People expect a lot more from a $60 game than from FTP or under $5-10.
 
legacyzero

legacyzero

Banned
I dont agree with this. For somebody like me that has trouble with vision, and headaches, It's unreasonable to ask me to tough out blurry image quality smeared with FXAA most of the time.
 
W

Wereroku

Member
piratepwnsninja said:
I would venture to guess that a majority of the mass market doesn't even know what resolution is, so he's not incorrect.
Click to expand...

But they do know if a friend says that one version is better than the other. It doesn't sale the game but it does affect the platform a game is bought on.

NickFire said:
Bull. Not everyone cares about resolution, but plenty do. And pointing out sales of retro or mobile games is a red herring. People expect a lot more from a $60 game than from FTP or under $5-10.
Click to expand...

I see people talking about how good some games look on an ipad versus an iphone all the time. That is resolution differences a lot of times.
 
M

mreddie

Member
tumblr_m3hg2lSQQK1ruisdao1_500.gif


Funny he thinks the public don't care about resolution in games but the public goes out of their way to that big ass 1808p TV. They never get 720p.
 
M

mangochutney

Member
piratepwnsninja said:
I would venture to guess that a majority of the mass market doesn't even know what resolution is, so he's not incorrect.
Click to expand...
I'd say you're right.

I doubt people pick up Skylanders and think 'let me just check if this is 1080p'.

On the flip side, the hardcore do often care. And the hardcore are the early adopters. And the early adopters will go on to inform and influence the mass market, the network effect etc.

Sooo, by proxy, resolution could affect things in a round-a-bout way.
 
B

block tower

Member
i doesn't, all resolution does is flame forum wars over stuff the general consumer doesnt give a shit about. hell, i game on consoles and could care less about the specs. when i sit down to play a game, i just want to have fun. i have enough other things to worry about in my life and i dont plan on adding a video game's resolution.
 
V

Violence Jack

Member
They're mostly right. Most of the gamers I know only care whether or not the game looks fun to play. Good resolution is just an added bonus.
 
spookyfish

spookyfish

Member
"With the 4K TVs and things - somebody was telling me that with a 4K TV, to even see it, your living room has to be big enough to sit like 12 feet from the screen. I don't know the exact numbers, but it starts to get a little crazy. I'm just in it for the experience, I'll play a SNES game if it's cool."
Click to expand...

>sigh<

Not this again.
 
P

piratepwnsninja

Member
Wereroku said:
But they do know if a friend says that one version is better than the other. It doesn't sale the game but it does affect the platform a game is bought on.
Click to expand...

Not disagreeing here. Hell, I still have friends that think that their TV output resolution==the resolution of their games.

"My games are in 4k now!"

*sigh*
 
O

Octavia

Unconfirmed Member
The absolute most it does for sales is gives a general idea of "This console has better graphics." That's it, and sometimes that doesn't even need to be true for it to get regurgitated by the general consumer over and over.

Remember folks, this place is a pretty small niche. The consumers who make up the bulk of sales on popular games don't give a shit about resolution, frame rate, or any technical specs besides "it looks good."
 
B

Beefy

Member
He's talking to a Xbox site which will carry a lot of games that will be lower res then the PS4. Of course he would say resolution doesn't matter. It's the way of staying onside with XboxOne owners so they still buy their games.

PR sells games and we all know Ubi is great at that.... right?
 
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