The Problem with Current-Gen Consoles

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Originally uploaded by Davers!

So as most of you know, until recently, I've not owned a 360 or a PS3. I've owned a Wii, and I owned a GameCube, PS2, and Xbox.

I've heard the hype about the 360 and PS3. The 360 would play games in 720p or 1080i, and now with the Elite and HDMI, 1080p. The PS3, however, can play any game in 1080p since launch. Or at least that's the impression I had.

So I got this nice new 360 (well, not new, but you know) and hooked up the component cables. I'm aware that component cables carry a maximum resolution of 1080i, and my TV supports 1080p. I picked up some games - Halo 3, Gears of War, GTA IV. Gears of War says it supports 720p and 1080i on the back of the case (it came out before the Elite 360), and the other 2 say that they support 720p and 1080p. So I played GTA IV for a while but wasn't super happy with the quality of the component cables. So I dropped $90 on the HDMI conversion kit and cable. Guarantees 1080p. Great. So I set it all up and turned it on. Great. The dashboard looks astounding in 1080p - much cleaner and clearer, and brighter.

Then I loaded up GTA IV. First thing I noticed was that it too was brighter and cleaner - no blurs. But it looked kind of blocky for 1080p. I checked my TV, and it said in fact it was a 1080p signal, so I figured I just was expecting too much from 1080p, or sitting too close.

I got to thinking about how the games are able to run at the same speed at different resolutions, so I figured that they either had a speed limiter for lower resolutions OR it just always rendered the max resolution and scales it down if you select a lower res.

Ends up it's the latter- sort of. Any given 360 game is rendered at one resolution only, and is scaled to the chosen resolution. Problem is, there are only TWO GAMES WHOSE NATIVE RESOLUTION IS 1080P. ALL OTHER 360 GAMES ARE RENDERED AT A LOWER RESOLUTION AND ARE STRETCHED TO FIT THE RESOLUTION YOU SPECIFY. WTF!! For example, Halo 3 is actually rendered at 640p. SIX HUNDRED FORTY PEE. That's like 1100x640. That's sickeningly small for a game which is ADVERTISED ON THE BOX AS 1080p. MOST 360 games, however, are rendered at 720p. For example, GTA IV. So what do you get with a 1080i or 1080p signal on a 360? You get a pretty dashboard, and a stretched 720p or 640p image.

If they advertise 1080p (1920x1080) on a game that is actually 1100x640, they might as well say it supports 2160p. Cause hey, I can take that 640p signal and stretch it to 2160p. Another crappy thing about this upscaling is that in GTAIV at least, there is no anti-aliasing, which can result in flickering and just a crappy picture overall.

The PS3 is better in some ways, worse in others. On the good side, PS3 games are advertised right. If a game is SCALED UP TO 1080p, it says so on the box. If it's NATIVE RESOLUTION is 1080p, it says so. No BS like from Microsoft. Also, unlike the 2 games on the 360 that support 1080p, there are 15 on the PS3. The downside? All of the other games on the PS3 that aren't 1080p native are rendered at 640p, lower than the standard of 720p on the 360.

So if you think that the HD-gaming revolution is now, you're sadly mistaken. The only console not bullshitting anyone is the Wii. EVERY GAME on the Wii is playable in fullscreen or widescreen, 480i or 480p. No scaling, no BS. It's sad that even if you have the *smaller* HD resolution of 720p on your TV, you still get a stretched picture on most PS3 games. Sad, sad, sad. At least on my PC, I pick a resolution and I get it.


The real HD-gaming revolution will take place only when games are natively rendered at the maximum HD resolution (1920x1080) and are scaled DOWN if need be. It just makes sense. Hello PS4 and Xbox 3.