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Originally posted by: nemo_83
I personally like the latest rumor that says Nintendo really is going to offer an optional successor to the VB that works with all REV games to create 3D graphics, but is not required.
That's gotta be the worst idea ever. Doing that is far more foolish than not supporting HD.
According to
this article America has about 260 million television sets. Now Microsoft says in that article that the adoption of high definition in the gaming consoles will "propel the growth of HDTVs" or some bullshit like that. According to a recent GameFAQs
poll (skewed I know,) more than 20% of American Playstation 2 owners own more than two consoles, as in they own two (or more) PS2s. And when you factor in non gamers who never touch their systems the USA probably only has 20 million active Sony gamers, if that. We'll be generous and say that all 10 million Xbox owners are active too and only own one system because it
never breaks down. So now, with their new systems, assuming they all rush out and buy at launch, that'll be 30 million gamers ready for HD. And let's go totally insane and say that every single one of these brainless gits goes out and spends thousands of dollars on a brand new HDTV, complete with 7.1 surround sound they're told is vital. So now 30 million of the 260 million TV sets are replaced with HD ones. Look that's nothing. Game consoles aren't this massive mainstream thing Microsoft thinks they are, they wont run the entire home like Sony hopes, face it, we're still niche and consoles won't make an iota of difference to the television market. Microsoft won't be bringing the high definition era upon us.
Besides, this is America, a lazy country swimming in money to spend on AV equipment since they are scared of international travel. The rest of the world is streaks behind.
Penny Arcade have had a long running
feature written by a guest, helping people setup the ultimate in home cinema. There are 18 articles written over the course of 3 years. That might give you some indication as to the complexity of these setups. In his most recent
article he brought up a very good point. HDTVs will ruin online console gaming. In some imaginary world where 1080p won't hamper the framerate, say if games look like they do now just so they are playable at such extremes, people with HDTVs can have up to ten times the detail we do, plus the added viewing area of widescreen. We are talking about being legitimately head shot before you can see more than 2 pixels of your assailant.
Nintendo doesn't want that. Reggie said at E3 that they wanted their online service to be a dickhead free environment. For a competitive level ground online, we cannot have HD support.
Here's another thing. Video games look and play better at lower resolutions. If you have it, play Pokémon Stadium on N64. The Pokémon in that game look quite remarkable. Pikachu looks round because the game was so blurry and low res that we can't see the edges of the polygons. We can't see the faults and it looks really good. The same applies now. The jagged environments of Metroid Prime and Halo would look far worse if we could see their faults from a distance. Further more, all those 2 million pixels on your TV go to waste if the texture artists can't match it for close ups.
Besides haven't we spent the last 5 years slowly upgrading our home entertainment in small increments. DVD players, more than 2 speakers. How will the masses like upgrading all their equipment
again? You know HDTVs need HD Dvd players which can play newer, higher capacity discs to even be utilised. It's ridiculous. Analogue transmission will not end in 2008 as much as they claim it will. No one will be ready.
I'll say it now. HD gaming will be something to worry about when we're all playing our Playstation 4s and Nintendo Fist Machines. I'm glad Nintendo have chosen to not take part in this irrelevant sideshow, like some kind of pissing contest. Talk to me again in 2010.
Topic: No Hi-def resolution, Nintendo's cost benefit analysis (Read 75978 times)
