1080p games: Do they matter to you?

3D PS3 games won't run at the resolution, but does anyone care?

Words: on July 20, 2010
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Alright, so obviously having your games displayed in native 1080p doesn't matter like, say, remembering never to cross the streams if you and a friend ever find yourselves firing proton packs. Still, there's a little pixel whore inside all of us who demands attention, wants to be bought nice things and always desires that slightly higher resolution in her games.

She died a little having to play the sub HD Halo 3, Modern Warfare 2 and Alan Wake, then wept for joy when she realised she could play Full Auto 2: Battlelines and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 1080p. But with the news that 3D PS3 games will only be able to run at 720p and below, games outputting at the magic snowboarding number may soon become an endangered species. The question is, do you care?

To help you make an informed decision, here's a brief list of awesome-looking PS3 games that don't support 1080p...

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

God of War III

Killzone 2

Heavy Rain

Pretty, non?

And here's a couple of decidely shit games that do support the uber resolution (click here for the full list)...

Full Auto 2 : Battlelines

Kung Fu-Panda

Please our overlords and share your thoughts on the issue in the comments section below.

July 20, 2010

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47 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
  • FingeredPope

    FingeredPope  - 1 year, 9 months ago  - Report

    Another thing about the difference between 720 and 1080 is that you actually have to be close enough to your screen to notice the subtle differences. I have a 47in TV and for me to notice the difference, I would have to be sitting a measly 6 feet from the screen. And the smaller the screen the closer you have to get.
    Reply
  • Beakman

    Beakman  - 1 year, 9 months ago  - Report

    That list is a load of crap. Neither Ninja Gaiden Sigma nor The Darkness have a 1920x1080 framebuffer. They are upscaled as most of the 360 games. There are some true 1080p games (or even some games that in some parts are 1920x1080 and in graphics-heavy situations are downscaled, like Gran Turismo HD and GT5 demo). The PS3 does not have a specialized upscaling chip as the 360 does, that's why upscaling is more rare among PS3 games but it does happen. Sony lies in the back of its boxes as much as Microsoft. The lack of capability of displaying high resolutions is important since it's an evidence that these console generation is really not that powerful.
    Reply
  • philipshaw

    philipshaw  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    I play my games on a 1080P HDTV and it doesn't bother me one bit when a game is in 720P. Flower was the only game that I have played where 1080P made it the game look slighty better than what it did in 720
    Reply
  • elpurplemonkey

    elpurplemonkey  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    I could care less about 1080p since my HDTV outputs at 720p. In order to actually see a difference with 1080p I would have needed to buy a significantly larger set (currently 32 inches) and that's simply out of my capabilities. So yea, 720p is plenty for me, thanks.

    I'd rather developers focus on having more games running at 60 fps.
    Reply
  • Ravenbom

    Ravenbom  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    I doubt that 1080p will be the game standard for a while. It's not even a broadcast standard yet, it's still 720p and 1080i for almost everything but satellite TV.
    Reply
  • GoateeGuy615

    GoateeGuy615  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    Well, I only have a 32" 720p TV. I see no really big differences between the two. Though with HDMI my TV puts out the full 1080p resolution. Idk, 720p looks great to me, but if my old 360 could support HDMI I'd be using that...it's what I use for the PS3 and my PC.
    Reply
  • Samuel71

    Samuel71  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    1200p is where it's at, aha. And it definitely matters. The image looks so much better the higher the resolution is. I'd rather drop graphics settings and keep a high resolution than vice versa.

    As for 3D: it obviously has a huge performance impact. I'd much rather see something rendered with twice as many pixels size-wise (which 3D essentially has to do) than rendered in 3D.
    Reply
  • BigCNuggit

    BigCNuggit  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    Everybody go get yourself a Sony KDL-55EX500 for about $1500 flat since it's going out of model ;)
    Reply
  • Rowdie

    Rowdie  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    Wait, Kung Fu Panda was shitty on PS3? I thought it was pretty sweet on the 360? Are they different?

    As far as 1080p native. Yeah I want game in that res. That doesn't mean the trade off isn't worth it. It just goes to show how much a new generation of consoles could improve. Sucks bust'n out 5K or so for a sweet 1080p plasma and only getting to really use it with movies.

    And when we start talking 3d tvs we're really going to need those next gen consoles.
    Reply
  • azimech49

    azimech49  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    i care not at all. i used to play games at 640*480 a few years ago, and it was a good time! they were good games! there wasn't antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, and this battle about 1080p res... pc gamers had resolutions up to 2560*1600, before consoles could reach 720p, and anyway its overrated.

    if you ACTUALLY LIKE games, you would prefer "low" res and quality against high res and flawed games.

    the only bad thing i could see from all this, is that for lcds that are native 1080p, with a 720p signal, would rescale to fit the whole screen, and this would blur the image a little, would be better to play at a native 720p lcd tv.
    Reply
  • sleepy92ismypsn

    sleepy92ismypsn  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    I own 25 PS3 games and the only one with 1080p gameplay is Red Faction: Guerrilla. I just wish the AAA titles would come standard with 1080p graphics. It pisses me off when it a game says it supports 1080p on the back of the game box but isn't really in 1080p at all. Why would 1080p games become extinct can't they include a 720p 3d version along with a 1080p 2d version?
    Reply
  • 510BrotherPanda

    510BrotherPanda  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    Like George Walter said a while back, I'm never going to care what resolution TV is until it's as good and clear as the real stuff I regularly see with my EYES. Stick me in a room with a SD TV like Matt's and a SNES and Yoshi's Island and I'll be aces.
    Reply
  • lilspooky

    lilspooky  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    There arnt many 1080p games on console that i care about. PC though! i am all over it!
    Reply
  • NotBraze

    NotBraze  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    The thing about full HD (1080p) that I think a lot of people aren't understanding is that it doesn't make graphics better. A game with crap graphics is going to look like crap no matter what resolution it's displayed at, and a game with good graphics is going to look impressive whether it's at 1080p or not. The difference, though, is the quality and the clarity of the image. 1080p is the most pristine your image can get, it's the highest resolution so you're getting the maximum level of detail.

    One thing to remember though, is that the impact of the resolution changes depending on the size of your TV. If you have a 40" HDTV, the visible difference between 1080 and 720 are going to be very minor, but if you have a larger display, or a projection system the difference is going to be much more noticeable.

    In the end though, I think the issue we're discussing in the article just comes down to preference. There will be a more obvious difference between 3D and non-3D than there will between 1080p and 720p. However, if you don't care for 3D you're probably going to want the extra resolution for your games. At this point, however, I see it as a non-issue; a good number of games only put out 720p anyway so 3D isn't really going to change much.
    Reply
  • TheWebSwinger

    TheWebSwinger  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    Ooh I thought you meant 3D as in polygons, but now I suppose you mean 3D as in glasses?
    Reply
  • Weirdjedi

    Weirdjedi  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    More and more my friends tell me how they can't stand anything less than the top of the line graphics. They refuse to go to theaters when "the sound system has static sometimes and the screen can been grainy." They will only see movies at the IMAX, they will browse the net for the official video in 1080 HD (even if it means downloading it), and they can't stand watching "normal" tv when they have HD channels. Some refuse to play the Wii just for those reasons.

    Seriously, I still watch movies on VHS. I stream videos at 360p. As long as the content is good, I don't care how I get it.
    Reply
  • kompressorlogik

    kompressorlogik  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    @FriendlyFire: Since most LCD and other display technologies that are out now don't refresh in an interlaced format (since there's nothing to actually "scan", which is only a CRT thing), all program material is essentially presented in progressive format. All display devices that are able to display interlaced material must have a de-interlacing process built into them. Almost all TVs have this, but they vary in quality. Beyond that, there are several high end devices (such as the DVDO Edge from Anchor Bay) that can do all video processing (de-interlacing, scaling, etc.) with very high quality. What I'm saying is that all material, interlaced or progressive, is displayed progressively on most current displays anyway. The big difference for interlaced material is in the ability of whatever device is doing the de-interlacing.
    Reply
  • Turboash

    Turboash  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    1080p vs. 720p matters this much: *fart sound*
    Reply
  • bhamjustin

    bhamjustin  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    I feel it does make a difference. I have a DLP in the basement that runs 1080i and an LCD that handles full 1080p. Believe me, there is a difference. Games look a little more clear & sharp in 1080p which makes me want to replace the DLP. That 'desire' to have 1080p on my main tv is why it matters.
    Reply
  • Wolverine08

    Wolverine08  - 1 year, 10 months ago  - Report

    Anyone notice all the good looking non 1080p games are PS3 exclusive?
    (HELL YEAH)

    Kung Fu Panda wasn't that bad was it?
    Reply
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