Why didn't they run these types of articles during the previous generation?
I keep seeing this line of thinking trotted out but I don't think you're really think things through.
The lower your resolution, the more those pixels matter. The difference between a 3D game running at 320x240 and 640x480 is much larger, perceptually speaking, than the difference between a 640x480 to 1280x720 title. The gap between 480p to 720p, then, is much larger than the gap from 900p to 1080p.
Also, with last gen games, we often had situations where you'd see double scaling - the game would render at, say, 600p which would be scaled up to 1280x720p and then again, by the TV, to 1080p. 600p on a 1080p display looks a LOT worse than 720p on a 1080p display. The difference between those resolutions is much more pronounced than 900p to 1080p.
You also need to consider that consoles are typically played on a TV. The perception changes dramatically based on screen size + distance. With a TV, most people sit far enough away from the display that differences become less pronounced. When sitting in front of a PC monitor, however, those differences feel much greater. I use a 32" 1440p monitor - 900p looks insanely bad on that display from my seating position but, on my plasma, it can look pretty good.
Now we're dealing with superior AA techniques alongside more pixels in general - the difference is less pronounced. Last generation that gap was much larger.
That's my take on it. The amount of pixels + view distance + display size + display type all determine the outcome.
That said, given the choice, I'd always take native resolution over scaled but dropping resolution to 900p from 1080p is one of the first things I'd do in order to fix performance issues. It's all about compromise in the console space these days.
That makes his selective process even more transparent. This is highly misleading, imo, and tends to create the impression that the Xbox One is inherently better at running games. That is to say that it sacrifices resolution (and some effects leadbetter is obviously not interested in citing) on the altar of smoothness and fluidity.
Such a strange article!
Yeah, I agree with that. It's a weird choice especially bringing FC4 into this.