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[Kazuma Kiryu]

I understand but it's something that devs are actually using in PR now. Why? I don't get it at all.

Honestly, if I had to guess, marketing's trying to appease both ps4 and x1 owners.
And I don't know if it's that recent either, last generation you had publishers and developers like bethesda for example, who kept saying until the very last minute how both versions were the same (aka parity) and we ended up with Skyrim situations.

Just a new spin, I'd say

 

[McLovin]

I actually hope they focus on framerate. I tried batman aa on pc and the combat felt so much better at 60fps. Its probably going to be 30 though
Give me a 60fps option on the combat arenas and I'll be happy.

 

[gruenel]

...and this game goes on my "parity" list. Will buy when it hits $20 or less.

No game is getting $60 from me when they admit to this shit. If it doesn't actually happen, I'll reconsider.

Yup, same here.

 

[Noisepurge]

Is it normal to not know what resolution or framerate your game is going to be when it's only 6 months away from gold?

they have a ballpark i'm sure, but i guess the final hard calls on optimization are being made in the final months. Like tweaking PC version settings on your rig to find the perfect sweetspot on effects, resolution and framerate.

 

[Sn4ke_911]

Why was there no parity last gen?

This is just a guess and please correct me if i'm wrong but i think the Xbone can't handle 1080p and so MS pays developers enough for graphics parity.

 

[Khal_B]

Absolutely ridiculous if true.

 

[Summer Haze]

If it's 1080p30, whatever. If it's 900p30, smh.

Resolution isn't the only thing that contributes to graphical parity.

Fuck this party bullshit. I'm sick and tired of devs treating two different consoles as the same. If you can push one further than the other, even slightly, then you should.

 

[JaseMath]

"Aiming for" and "We don't know yet" should be the big takeaways here. What did you people expect them to say? That one version is superior to the other and cannibalize the sales? C'mon, GAF...

 

[Cornbread78]

Fuck this industry, seriously.. Our biggest parity fears are all coming true in year #2?
Seriously, WTF is going on?

Sony 1st party's gonna shine like a mofo going forward. ..

 

[Brutalitops]

GTFO

Boycott if true (boycott meaning buying used copy or lend it from a friend).

Lol.

 

[Stone Ocean]

Some people are reading into this wrong. He's not saying they'll intentionally gimp a version to make them the same, but more the opposite - he's hoping for all versions to be running the game at 1080 for example.

Even if that's what it means, the quote is doing them no favors.

Devs need to just shut up. Stop comparing versions, just promote your game.

"Aiming for" and "We don't know yet" should be the big takeaways here. What did you people expect them to say? That one version is superior to the other and cannibalize the sales? C'mon, GAF...

Say nothing.

 

[Tobor]

I know this pisses GAF off, but had they come out and said "Yeah, PS4 is going to be better", they alienate everyone on the Xbox side of things. You can't say something like that six months in advance.

Regardless of what happens, I bet the PS4 version will be slightly superior, whether it be slightly better textures or less frequent framerate drops.

"Every version will take advantage of each platforms strengths to the fullest."

Done. Perfect PR that offends no one.

 

[Percy]

Game was probably always going to be 1080p/30fps on PS4 anyways, it's just a matter of whether Xbox One can somehow manage that as well really. It's hardly as "suspect" as the AC Unity case tbh... well... not until they announce the PS4 version is sub-1080p anyways lol.

 

[gogogow]

I purchased a GTX970 some weeks ago. I'll play all multiplatform games on the PC. Some games are still preferred on consoles, like COD, because of active players, but other than that, it's going to be PC only for multiplatform games.

 

[Amir0x]

Some people are reading into this wrong. He's not saying they'll intentionally gimp a version to make them the same, but more the opposite - he's hoping for all versions to be running the game at 1080 for example.

You may be right, and I'm pretty sure the game there's a good chance it won't actually end in parity despite whatever they "desire." But the issue here is that words matter. Parity literally means the state of being equal. The second you use that word to describe a game between Xbox One and PS4, the ruse is revealed. Because there should never ever be a case where parity is achieved between the systems, PS4 has too many technical advantages. So, in order to "aim for parity" you have to assume you'd limit one system to appease fans of the other. The problem then is they are misusing language.

If they say "I want them both to be 1080p/30fps", then the question becomes: OK, so what else is better on PS4? Because if both XBO and PS4 are doing that framerate and resolution, that still means there should be more power left over on PS4 to do more. Better AA, some sort of extra effects, whatever... but the language of "parity" should never even be hinted at.

 

[gruenel]

Honestly, if I had to guess, marketing's trying to appease both ps4 and x1 owners.

Appease to PS4 owners by basically saying their version is gimped?

 

[Blobbers]

Why would Rocksteady specifically aim for parity?
We know Ubisoft did it to avoid debates and stuff. Has RS given a reason?

 

[driver116]

My PS4's cooling fan is going to be silent playing this game.

 

[SPEA]

 

[Summer Haze]

"Every version will take advantage of each platforms strengths to the fullest."

Done. Perfect PR that offends no one.

This is all I want to hear from developers.

 

[TheHater]

Judging by how the trend is going you'll probably be saving a ton of money.

That more money for my house funds

 

[T.O.P]

Ok, so Unity and Arkham Knight will both be bought used. This shit is starting to get ridiculous. How much money is MS paying these companies to ensure a parity clause? It makes it even worse for me when this parity shit wasn't happening last generation for the PS3.

AssCreed i could even understand the clain, but Sony has a deal on Batman, how would MS be responsible here?

 

[Kyoufu]

I know this pisses GAF off, but had they come out and said "Yeah, PS4 is going to be better", they alienate everyone on the Xbox side of things. You can't say something like that six months in advance.

Regardless of what happens, I bet the PS4 version will be slightly superior, whether it be slightly better textures or less frequent framerate drops.

Instead they're alienating the PS4 side, who will be their main users.

For PR sake, just say " We are pushing each platform to the best of our ability." and boom, everyone's happy.

 

[ZeroX03]

SO, really .. why was this not a thing last generation??

I do not understand why the sudden change of heart on this . Is this loyalty of developers to Microsoft because it is American? Or perhaps actually somesort of effect from last gen efforts?

It just amazes me this is not all of a sudden important...

How often did devs admit prior to release that one platform was getting a shittier version than the other? Wait and see.

Spoiler

I'll buy this no matter what, it's Arkham and Rocksteady I'm not impartial

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Welp, just like AC: Unity I'll wait and buy it used. I was planning to wait for the GOTY edition anyway.

 

[d1rtn4p]

This is so Summer 2014 I've moved on to PC-only already.

 

[DrkSage]

Even if that's what it means, the quote is doing them no favors.

Devs need to just shut up. Stop comparing versions, just promote your game.

Say nothing.

Exactly. If you got nothing nice to say, don't say nothing at all.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Xbone is like an anchor weighing everything down.

 

[CitizenCope]

This fucking blows. Why did I make the switch if everything is going to look the same on both of these consoles?
Mongo angry!!!

 

[Jacob4815]

Poor choice of words.

Rocksteady fix your statement, you are better than Ubilol.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Its frustrating that developers had no issue releasing the lesser version on the PS3 version of a game, but want parity for Xbox One/PS4.

In the case of the PS3 it was at least somewhat rational given the difficulty of taking advantage of all the Cell's special sauce.

But in the case of the PS4....I just don't get it.

 

[Harmen]

Honestly, if I had to guess, marketing's trying to appease both ps4 and x1 owners.
And I don't know if it's that recent either, last generation you had publishers and developers like bethesda for example, who kept saying until the very last minute how both versions were the same (aka parity) and we ended up with Skyrim situations.

Just a new spin, I'd say

Which is ridiculous as they indirectly say they do not use the most popular platform to it's full potential. With previous generations, when buying the PS2 or PS3 (and 1 pretty often too) you could be sure to not have the best versions in most cases. It is odd why this suddenly changed for a lot of developers at the same time.

Edit: I missed the Skyrim stuff back then (but was that not more a problem for long term playing? It was a mess when your file became big. Don't the versions look and play alike initially?).

 

[Amir0x]

How often did devs admit prior to release that one platform was getting a shittier version than the other? Wait and see.

Spoiler

I'll buy this no matter what, it's Arkham and Rocksteady I'm not impartial

Happens all the time.

Just recently:

Confirmed: #DAI resolution is 1080p on PS4, and 900p on Xbox One. We maximized the current potential of each platform.

Link

This was from EA's official Dragon Age twitter, they were diggin' at Ubisoft for their ridiculous "parity to avoid debate" nonsense. Guess what? I'm buying Dragon Age now on day one.

Gamers really should demand more from the companies in this industry. It's ridiculous at this point.

 

[Summer Haze]

 

[Skyzard]

They better damn well mean they're aiming to bring the Xone version to the level of the PS4 one, not the PS4 one down.

Sigh, it's so fucked that the second possibility is even a realistic concern. This industry sometimes, man.

You're hoping devs have access to magic?

 

[Grady]

900p on both consoles. You'll see.

 

[LordBaztion]

This is bullshit, it can't be the "Ultimate Batman Simulator" with the Batmobile shooting rockets to grunts.

 

[BLUElightCory]

"Priority check"? People have different priorities. It's a fucking videogame, I'm sure the people that actually do boycott it will survive.

I'm just saying that if people are going to pass on a great gaming experience (or maybe just just refuse to support a studio who had given us some amazing games) because the PS4 version isn't significantly better then they probably have their priorities as a gamer out of whack. If graphics are someone's top priority they should probably be on PC anyway, which is sure to be the best version in terms of IQ.

 

[Hoho for breakfast]

I'll be aiming for a cheap used copy. Thanks for saving me some cash Rockparity.

Pretty fucking annoying that 2 of my most hyped games now (this and Tomb Raider) I'm going to have to wait to play because I'm simply not going to give these idiots money with these practices.

 

[Thrax]

Jesus, no gives a fuck except PS4 fanbois who can only afford one console or PC elitists. 99% of the world doesn't care and couldn't tell the difference unless they were running next to each other on the exact same screens. Even then, the general gaming population is simply not visually savvy enough to see the difference.

#firstworldfuckingproblems

I'm just saying that if people are going to pass on a great gaming experience because the PS4 version isn't significantly better then they probably have their priorities as a gamer out of whack. If graphics are someone's top priority they should probably be on PC anyway.

THIS.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I don't get why this I controversial. Lots of devs aim for 1080p on Xbox One, not all of them get there. Just as many devs aim for 30 or 60 fps and don't quite reach it.

 

[BBboy20]

We're aiming for parity across all platforms. Whatever it is, it's going to be awesome.

....these are the same people who made Asylum and City, right?

 

[Mushroomer25]

So, since Arkham is receiving co-marketing dollars from Sony - does this kill the hypothesis that Microsoft was behind Unity's parity statement?

Or at least convince people that companies come to this decision for reasons other than conspiracy?

But honestly, it's an offhand comment from a developer, six months away from launch. People really need to stop taking this stuff as gospel.

 

[brandonh83]

Xbone is like an anchor weighing everything down.

Is it though? Unless Microsoft is pulling some strings, it's the developer/company choice is it not?

 

[shandy706]

I love how people have fits over this. A lot of posts make me chuckle.

You would think that when there is "parity" people would realize it's most like NO attempt to make one version worse in any way.

These companies are probably targeting a certain res and framerate. That res and framerate is most likely easier on the PS4 vs the X1.

How many times does this have to be repeated?

Say the goal is 1080p/30 with 2xMSAA and VSync enabled. Lets say they end up with a PS4 version that runs 40-50fps @ those settings and and X1 build that runs at 30-40fps.

They want a solid performance, without big fluctuations, so they lock/cap both @30fps.

There, now you have "parity", although in the end...with the same res, you most likely have a lot more headroom on the PS4. Stop getting so hurt by the word "parity".

 

[ambar_hitman]

Just fuck off Rocksteady. I will buy it used.

 

[Amir0x]

Jesus, no gives a fuck except PS4 fanbois who can only afford one console or PC elitists. 99% of the world doesn't care and couldn't tell the difference unless they were running next to each other on the exact same screens. Even then, the general gaming population is simply not visually savvy enough to see the difference.

#firstworldfuckingproblems

This is such a well thought out post. This thread surely would be worse without such shitposting!

 

[adamsapple]

Why was there no parity last gen?

I'm going to assume you're talking about the Arkham games on PS3/360 here .. if so, then those games are some of the closest multiplatform releases of the last gen, with only minor differences.

i-e the Arkham series has always had a very close parity in all the games so far, so people blowing their lids off here is weird.

 

[mp1990]

Just remember how Watchdogs / Unity looked at their reveals.

A vertical slice running on a high end PC will not be remotley representative of the console version.

Even you have a point,i think RS is very different from Ubi,they won't make B:AK look like a launch PS3 game,like Ubi made with Watchdogs.I can see why people rage with this parity thing,but i won't skip a game i really want because it isn't 1080p/60fps.

 

[Steroyd]

As long as parity means 1080p...

If they're both 900p well ha ha HA...