Despite the supposed graphical leap forwards with this latest generation, the industry seems to be stuck in the past. For every release which actually achieves 60 frames-per-second there are a dozen which fail to meet this standard, and lately this has reached the point of embarrassment. A multitude of games are now released at a far lower quality than advertised, and consoles seem unable to progress beyond the standards set over a decade ago. While the graphical fidelity of the games themselves have greatly improved (save for texture quality, which is so often lagging behind) resolution and frames-per-second are an entirely different matter. Watch Dogs saw an uproar over the fact that, despite prior demo footage, it would be running at 900p and 30 FPS and others such as Infamous: Second Son even saw downgrades following their launch. This is a criticism universally levelled at every console on the market at the moment and represents a growing problem. As a result of this consoles are now being seen by many as a dying breed, unable to keep up with technology and holding the industry back. While the Playstation 4 might be outdoing its competitors, it is still woefully behind PCs and needs to make full use of its hardware. While having 1080p and 60 frames-per-second standard for new triple-A titles would not solve every problem, it would shorten the ever-growing gap between consoles and PCs. It would be something to actually allow some tech savvy customers to consider the machine as a viable option rather than an overpriced toy at best. Did we fail to miss a potential great which failed to meet audience expectations? Please leave your own suggestions and thoughts in the comments below.
A gamer who has played everything from Daikatana to Dwarf Fortress. An obsessive film fanatic valuing everything from The Third Man to Flash Gordon. An addict to tabletop titles, comics and the classics of science fiction, whatever media they are a part of.
