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Batman: Arkham Knight Aiming for identical Res/Framerate Across Xbox One and PS4

Biker19

Banned
Now that is some serious revisionist bullshit there. Microsoft made an announcement that basically fucked over the average consumer for their benefit. They then spread misinformation and straight up lies regarding their hardware. Consumers were irate and Microsoft told them to #dealwithit and buy a 360 if they had an issue with it. It was only after their preorder numbers started to look absolutely atrocious that they altered their policy. To this day the company line is not "sorry, we fucked up" instead it's "well you guys just weren't ready for our brilliant vision of the future so you don't get any of these cool toys that we totally intended to include with it." Their actions, language and messages since have only reaffirmed that they are entirely unapologetic and consistently anti consumer (Indie Parity clause, Tomb Raider "it has a duration," our customers are "first class citizens" ... at the expense of everyone else etc etc). People have every right to be pissed at them for the sort of bullshit they pulled and are, in fact, still pulling.

Just because you have forgiven or overlooked their words, actions and policies does not mean everyone should. Consumer trust has to be earned back. For some it's easier than others. But in no way are those reluctant to trust or support MS being unreasonable.

And this is exactly the issue as to why many people like myself are still upset with Microsoft. See, you get it.
 
No anger here.

I just find it funny that you've been trying to call into question the motives/intent/reasoning of angry PS4 owners, yet when your own motives and reasoning are questioned, you change the subject or jump ship.

Feel free to ask me anything you want in PM since it's really no longer related to the thread.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
People who bought the PS4 do so because they want the "360" of this generation. It's not just about whether or not the game has a higher graphics or whatnot. We don't want a repeat of Skyrim and other blunderous ports we have to deal with last generation. It's why many chose the PS4. The fact it has better hardware makes it the least likely to suffer bad ports.

I can understand choosing the PS4 in order to not deal with unplayable shit-ports like Skyrim, but what you are doing, is shitting on developers, because they want the game to run according to their specs on all platforms and not let one platform left behind like in Skyrim. So if Batman runs equally on both platforms, and it also runs well on both platforms, there is nothing rational to complain about from my perspective. And from what I've played at Gamescom, Batman already was running very well and looked great, so if they manage to polish it even more for both platforms, we will end up with a great looking, great running game (that also seems to shape up to be a great game, too, by the way).

So what I see here is a sort of mean sense of entitlement, where you don't just want developers to not make any shit versions for PS4 like Skyrim was, but to focus on the small extra potential PS4 has to offer over Xbone and intentionally aiming the game at a level Xbox One cannot reach properly. In other words: It reads to me, as if you are not hapy as long as the Xbox One version has not disadvantages, even if the game runs perfectly fine on both consoles, just cause. This, form my perspective, is the absolute worst kind of console warrior behaviour and I just cannot understand that this is tolerated so much. Of course, if the game is done, running perfectly fine on both systems and then there is something they can do to make one version look a bit better without much hassel and without any imposed disadvantages, the developers should apply this, but that need not be the case all the time and it doesn't change that developers should first focus on making it run equally well on all platforms.

I'm sure that if Batman was just releasing on PS4 the same way it will be if it realy has parity with Xbox One, just without an Xbox One version, every PS4 user would be super happy, but just the existence of an equally well made Xbox One version makes you rage (something that never happend, from my perspective, with Xbox 360 users, everything was fine when both versions ran and looked fine). This kind of inverse jealousy is despicable.
 
Soooo.. what about all the things Sony has done that aren't necessarily gamer-centric, or are we just ignoring all of that for right now so we can trash Microsoft?

I just want to make sure what kind of narrative we're going for here.

Well, you see, what they have done has never been on par with this:

Now that is some serious revisionist bullshit there. Microsoft made an announcement that basically fucked over the average consumer for their benefit. They then spread misinformation and straight up lies regarding their hardware. Consumers were irate and Microsoft told them to #dealwithit and buy a 360 if they had an issue with it. It was only after their preorder numbers started to look absolutely atrocious that they altered their policy. To this day the company line is not "sorry, we fucked up" instead it's "well you guys just weren't ready for our brilliant vision of the future so you don't get any of these cool toys that we totally intended to include with it." Their actions, language and messages since have only reaffirmed that they are entirely unapologetic and consistently anti consumer (Indie Parity clause, Tomb Raider "it has a duration," our customers are "first class citizens" ... at the expense of everyone else etc etc). People have every right to be pissed at them for the sort of bullshit they pulled and are, in fact, still pulling.

Just because you have forgiven or overlooked their words, actions and policies does not mean everyone should. Consumer trust has to be earned back. For some it's easier than others. But in no way are those reluctant to trust or support MS being unreasonable.



When a company tries to fuck you over you better believe people will "get mad" and we will stay mad for as long as we damn well choose. Personally I choose to be angry until they stop treating me, as a consumer, like an idiot who can't see through their bullshit. Until they convince me they are trustworthy they don't get my trust back.

And even if they were on par with that... why is MS forgiven and backed already by the media less than 12 months in, and Sony were stamped on and the PS3 kicked to bits until Uncharted 2 dropped in late 2009 and people finally snapped out of it and thought, "Holy shit, you know, the PS3 has some amazing games and Sony's really worked their guts out to get it in tip top shape."
 

leadbelly

Banned
This is what confuses me the most. Microsoft makes announcement, consumers hate it. So Microsoft changes it before it ever comes to pass.

I get being mad about being screwed. I don't get being mad about not being screwed.

I fail to see what is so confusing about it.

First of all, I don't think it is the main reason why the Xbox One is now trailing behind, there are a number of reasons that contribute to that. It probably doesn't matter all that much now, in terms of the impact it has had. However, the fact that they reversed their decision doesn't change the fact that they were going to screw consumers over. Much in the same way someone attempting to rob your car and has a change of mind after being spotted, doesn't change the fact they were going to rob your car.

Not only did Microsoft attempt to do this, they were also trying to do it in a stealthy manner. Mattrick was asked explicitly about this after the Microsoft press conference and he gave a hugely misleading answer.
 
Already planned on buying PC version but this makes it even easier. I don't get why there is such an uproar...I mean yeah it sucks they are neutering the PS4 version to keep parity, but if you want the best graphics so badly you would get the PC version anyway, right?
 

GamerJM

Banned
It's very difficult to access a person's intentions on the web especially are a heated discussion. We always have to assume the input is always at the contending side of the argument. Allow me to elaborate what the real focus on this side of the debate:

Again, the PC is irrelevant to this discussion; 1080p/60fps is irrelevant to this discussion. These aren't debating points in this topic.

This is about an intended parity clause and how to deal with the reaction. People who bought the PS4 do so because they want the "360" of this generation. It's not just about whether or not the game has a higher graphics or whatnot. We don't want a repeat of Skyrim and other blunderous ports we have to deal with last generation. It's why many chose the PS4. The fact it has better hardware makes it the least likely to suffer bad ports.

So when companies try to instill this mentality that both consoles are "equal" in terms of power it is both insulting to our intelligence and imposing a forced consumer's remorse just fucking because.

Why is this so hard to understand?

The reason why we are up in arms about this is because developers aren't showing the same respect to the PS4 consumers they were given to the 360 last generation. Whenever developers like Ubisoft tries to enforce "parity" it not only tells how much they side on one particular system, they openly berate a user-base for choosing a system they're not willing to attune to. It only highlights where their loyalties like, as if they wanted to whittle down the potential of the PS4 so the X1 could catch up. They have no fucking business participating in the politics between companies especially if one-side hasn't offered any benefits to them. We want parity issue to end, plain and simple.

If people bought the X1, then that's their problem, they've accessed the pros and cons of both systems and decided that their system was of better value. But now it's appropriate to pull down the other system's advantage because their console is incapable to meet the hardware requirements?

I don't know which is more astounding: The fact that these companies are one-sided or the people openly supporting such notion. It doesn't support competition, it's hurting and deliberately shorthanding potential so that consumers will be forced to select a single console rather than assess the qualities of both. The discussion isn't just about the game itself but also WHAT consoles consumers will buy. We're talking about sabotaging competition to compromise consumer's value. Nothing else. No PC, no 1080P/60fps.

Here's my problem with one of your arguments: People who bought the PS4 expecting the "360" of this generation did so based on assumptions. They were never outright promised a console that would literally be the 360 of this generation. It's just something they assumed; something that was implied by a lot of the coverage the console got but never outright stated. You say "If people bought the X1, that's their problem". Well, if you bought a PS4 assuming that it would have better multiplats without factoring in the odds that some bullshit like this could happen, then that's your problem. If anything I'd say this is why is sucks to be an early adapter.

Also, I'd say that if a game like Skyrim PS3 comes along and it has Skyrim PS3-tier performance across both consoles due to parity bullshit, then I'd say it would make sense to boycott that specific game, because that level of technical performance is unacceptably bad and directly affects the actual quality of the game.

Now, despite these feelings I have I actually think I see where you're coming from now. You're right, sabotaging the competition is a pretty shitty thing to do. I'm still not personally boycotting it just because I don't see a lot of motivation for me to personally boycott something when it doesn't directly affect the product I'm getting, and while this is a bad business practice it's ultimately not something that bothers me as much as it does others, but yeah, this is pretty bad on the part of Ubisoft and Warner Bros. I don't think it's really because Ubisoft or Warner Bros. are inherently biased to one company, I'm guessing this is just the result of some moneyhat garbage on the part of Microsoft. But they're still partially at fault for buying into it and it's still really scummy of Microsoft to do.
 
Already planned on buying PC version but this makes it even easier. I don't get why there is such an uproar...I mean yeah it sucks they are neutering the PS4 version to keep parity, but if you want the best graphics so badly you would get the PC version anyway, right?

That get a PC argument is rubbish. We the best possible version on PS4.
 
Already planned on buying PC version but this makes it even easier. I don't get why there is such an uproar...I mean yeah it sucks they are neutering the PS4 version to keep parity, but if you want the best graphics so badly you would get the PC version anyway, right?

I'm a console gamer. I don't want to game on PC. Which is my prerogative.

As such, it's my right to expect developers to give me the best possible version of their game. Obviously, they don't owe me this. But, if they want me to put money toward their title, they really should consider it.

Fucking-over half your console audience to please the other half is just sad. It'd be like if a music company released all their CDs with pops and scratches dubbed into the music in an effort to reach "parity" with people who still listen to records.
 

StuBurns

Banned
Already planned on buying PC version but this makes it even easier. I don't get why there is such an uproar...I mean yeah it sucks they are neutering the PS4 version to keep parity, but if you want the best graphics so badly you would get the PC version anyway, right?
That's not the point.

Let's put it this way, if you swapped out a 7790 for a 7870, and your games looked the same, would you be satisfied?
 

-MD-

Member
fibQs9C.png


stumped.gif
 
I'm a console gamer. I don't want to game on PC. Which is my prerogative.

As such, it's my right to expect developers to give me the best possible version of their game. Obviously, they don't owe me this. But, if they want me to put money toward their title, they really should consider it.

Fucking-over half your console audience to please the other half is just sad. It'd be like if a music company released all their CDs with pops and scratches dubbed into the music in an effort to reach "parity" with people who still listen to records.

Your music analogy falls down because vinyl is has a better audio quality than CD. It's more akin to using a wall of sound CD master as your vinyl master.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
I feel prouder and prouder of neogaf every day.

I hope this thread reaches 10,000.

Fuck you rocksteady! I hope the game is great and you enjoy all the money you get when I buy it used for my ps4. You want to fuck over the consumer, I'll gladly make sure if I decide to play your game it will be without giving you a dime.
 
Shit, well I'm not not going to buy it, it's Batman!

But still, I don't really see why this forced parity is a thing. Is it really MS? I mean, I don't think the general consumer really cares do they?
 

Jonm1010

Banned
I'm a console gamer. I don't want to game on PC. Which is my prerogative.

As such, it's my right to expect developers to give me the best possible version of their game. Obviously, they don't owe me this. But, if they want me to put money toward their title, they really should consider it.

Fucking-over half your console audience to please the other half is just sad. It'd be like if a music company released all their CDs with pops and scratches dubbed into the music in an effort to reach "parity" with people who still listen to records.

Half? Last I checked the PS4 has done quite a bit better then just splitting the difference between themselves and microsoft. As far as I'm concerned Rocksteady is literally saying fuck you to a majority of their base consumers.
 
Your music analogy falls down because vinyl is has a better audio quality than CD. It's more akin to using a wall of sound CD master as your vinyl master.

I knew I'd get one of these.

Look, I'm not an audiophile. I'm just making a point :p

Plus it's late and I've been up for nearly 24 hours and I'm trying not to fall asleep in the back of an ambulance. That was the best I could come up with.
 

vesvci

Banned
I was looking forward to this game, and as a dual-console owner (XB1 and PS4), this whole parity thing is plain crap.

If they are limiting one platform so it doesn't outshine the other, that's just plain shitty. I'll get this games used or when it dips below $20.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
Shit, well I'm not not going to buy it, it's Batman!

But still, I don't really see why this forced parity is a thing. Is it really MS? I mean, I don't think the general consumer really cares do they?
Buy it used then. Dollars and large scale diminishing public perception are the only form of protest a company is going to listen to.

If you don't agree with this practice but want the game. Buy it used.

Parity hurts profits, that's the only way they will get the message.
 
Half? Last I checked the PS4 has done quite a bit better then just splitting the difference between themselves and microsoft. As far as I'm concerned Rocksteady is literally saying fuck you to a majority of their base consumers.

I was being generous and not trying to split hairs, but yes, obviously they're fucking over more of us to please a minority of gamers.

I can't wait for the "WiiU-Parity Downgrade Forced DLC Pack" we'll all be getting in a few months.
 
I feel prouder and prouder of neogaf every day.

I hope this thread reaches 10,000.

Fuck you rocksteady! I hope the game is great and you enjoy all the money you get when I buy it used for my ps4. You want to fuck over the consumer, I'll gladly make sure if I decide to play your game it will be without giving you a dime.

If parity actually happens for this game, what makes you think it was Rocksteady's decision?
 

Hindle

Banned
RockSteady have a marketing deal with Sony lol, there is no way they're a part of some conspiracy to bring down the PS4. The same applies to the media, due to them getting lots of traffic from PS4 users.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
If parity actually happens for this game, what makes you think it was Rocksteady's decision?
I don't care who's decision it was. Either way I will not financially support a company that deliberately gimps a version of their game in order to achieve some forced parity.

If rocksteady's hands are tied behind their back on this it is an unfortunate causality of a larger issue that needs to have a strong line in the sand drawn.
 
RockSteady have a marketing deal with Sony lol, there is no way they're a part of some conspiracy to bring down the PS4. The same applies to the media, due to them getting lots of traffic from PS4 users.

I agree they're not likely to be part of some grand payoff conspiracy.

But if they're actually aiming for parity between two consoles, when one is clearly more powerful/capable, they've definitely got their priorities wrong.
 
Interesting considering Batman was one of the games that Sony seemed to be pushing or even co-marketing.

Maybe Ubisoft's claim that the CPU was the real bottleneck across both platforms wasn't that far off from the truth. We could be seeing more parity in the future if true.

I find it surprising that facing the obvious backlash Ubisoft faced that a company would actually be willing to utter the word parity

I think you gravely overestimate the amount of backlash that announcement actually generated outside the confines of communities like Neogaf.
 

Hindle

Banned
I agree they're not likely to be part of some grand payoff conspiracy.

But if they're actually aiming for parity between two consoles, when one is clearly more powerful/capable, they've definitely got their priorities wrong.

Theyre just doing what's best for them as a developer, that's it.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Already planned on buying PC version but this makes it even easier. I don't get why there is such an uproar...I mean yeah it sucks they are neutering the PS4 version to keep parity, but if you want the best graphics so badly you would get the PC version anyway, right?

No. "It just works." has strong appeal. None of the other people I know who buy AAA stuff would even consider switching to PC because of the technical hurdles. Most of them can easily tell the difference between 900p and 1080p.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
Theyre just doing what's best for them as a developer, that's it.
Listen man(or ma'am?) t's like talking to that assassin creed fanboy. The facts will be revealed in the footage.

The ps4 has a better gpu, better ram, is easier to develop for and negligibly equal CPU. If ANY graphically powerful game comes out where the differences between it and it's Xbox counterpart is nearly toe to toe, something is fishy.
 
Buy it used then. Dollars and large scale diminishing public perception are the only form of protest a company is going to listen to.

PC gamer. While I'd dislike parity bullshit because of the precedent it sets it's not something I'd put too much action into especially considering I've been hyped for Batman since it was announced. Sorry.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
PC gamer. While I'd dislike parity bullshit because of the precedent it sets it's not something I'd put too much action into especially considering I've been hyped for Batman since it was announced. Sorry.
And this attitude is why we have ever increasing micro-transactions, DRM, horse armor, paywalls, day one DLC, always online games, on-disc DLC, games broken at launch, and now parity.

When consumers ignore the stalking horses, the stalking horses become the new norm.
 

cripterion

Member
Why is this thread 23 pages? Why is parity such a god damn big deal to some of you?

Because they own a PS4 and they want to feel like premium users. And "any" dev that doesn't reach the potential of this fabulous machine will be labeled as lazy or shit.

Yet some of these premium users are the same who bought Knack, Destiny and will buy Bloodborne.
 
Isn't it a bit early to flip out about this? I mean the guy is just saying he wants there to be graphics parity. I take this to mean that he wants them both to be 1080p/60fps, but he isn't saying there is going to be identical resolution and framerate.

That said, the advice in this thread to buy used is what I'll be doing if they do end up gimping the PS4 version. If they hit 1080/60 in both games I'll be surprised and impressed.
 

cripterion

Member
Isn't it a bit early to flip out about this? I mean the guy is just saying he wants there to be graphics parity. I take this to mean that he wants them both to be 1080p/60fps, but he isn't saying there is going to be identical resolution and framerate.

That said, the advice in this thread to buy used is what I'll be doing if they do end up gimping the PS4 version. If they hit 1080/60 in both games I'll be surprised and impressed.

Pray tell why a dev would "gimp" his own game, especially the version that is most likely to sell the most and on the platform they seem to have a partnership with? Or are you part of the crowd that thinks Microsoft has a hold on all the gaming industry and is working in the shadows, plotting and coercing devs to take a shit on Sony platforms?
 

psn

Member
And this attitude is why we have ever increasing micro-transactions, DRM, horse armor, paywalls, day one DLC, always online games, on-disc DLC, games broken at launch, and now parity.

When consumers ignore the stalking horses, the stalking horses become the new norm.
So true. I canceled my pre-order for AC:parity and I won't buy this if true.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
Because they own a PS4 and they want to feel like premium users. And "any" dev that doesn't reach the potential of this fabulous machine will be labeled as lazy or shit.

Yet some of these premium users are the same who bought Knack, Destiny and will buy Bloodborne.

I hope someone stabs the high horse you are riding on.

It's a pretty easy concept to grasp.

If a company optimizes a game to the full potential of one system and then deliberately holds the game back on a more powerful system, that company is making the cognizant decision to deliver a compromised product and is willingly applying a different standard of development to one system compared to the other. While asking the owners of the more powerful machine to pay the same price for a product that was intentionally developed to a lower standard.

Now like I said I will hold my final judgement until footage and impressions are released, but for a system that has a notably better gpu, ram, easier development and basically an equal CPU - parity should not happen if a game is equally optimized for each console.
 
Here's my problem with one of your arguments: People who bought the PS4 expecting the "360" of this generation did so based on assumptions. They were never outright promised a console that would literally be the 360 of this generation. It's just something they assumed; something that was implied by a lot of the coverage the console got but never outright stated. You say "If people bought the X1, that's their problem". Well, if you bought a PS4 assuming that it would have better multiplats without factoring in the odds that some bullshit like this could happen, then that's your problem. If anything I'd say this is why is sucks to be an early adapter.

Also, I'd say that if a game like Skyrim PS3 comes along and it has Skyrim PS3-tier performance across both consoles due to parity bullshit, then I'd say it would make sense to boycott that specific game, because that level of technical performance is unacceptably bad and directly affects the actual quality of the game.

Now, despite these feelings I have I actually think I see where you're coming from now. You're right, sabotaging the competition is a pretty shitty thing to do. I'm still not personally boycotting it just because I don't see a lot of motivation for me to personally boycott something when it doesn't directly affect the product I'm getting, and while this is a bad business practice it's ultimately not something that bothers me as much as it does others, but yeah, this is pretty bad on the part of Ubisoft and Warner Bros. I don't think it's really because Ubisoft or Warner Bros. are inherently biased to one company, I'm guessing this is just the result of some moneyhat garbage on the part of Microsoft. But they're still partially at fault for buying into it and it's still really scummy of Microsoft to do.

No, it isn't. You must need a history revision of you managed to concoct a scenario like that. The PS4 was designed based on developers input ; this included the now famous 8 GB GDDR5 RAM to offset the advantage X1 had.

It was tailored to suit the issues developed had for the PS3 and even more. This isn't something we consumers cocked up for the sake of the argument. We had a pre-conference based around it. Numerous developers actually CALLED upon it. They are the ones who set up this expectations. Never mind the amount of anonymous devs covered by Koaku, IGN and further leaks by CBOAT. The groundwork has been laid out.

Consumers didn't buy the console in a vacuum. All the negativity from the PS3 has been entirely dismissed with clear assurance from developers that the move was a right one for SONY. Why would developers suddenly support MS all of a sudden? You as a consumer should call foul play regardless of you own a PS4 or not because it paves the way for something worse than your typical fanboy wars.

Competition is supposed to be encouraged not related. No one company should hold a compete monopoly on this industry especially one who can pay their way into success. It affects our hobby in the long term. Batman AK is not the Holy Grail of video games so we can definitely live with boycotting such product.

If you want to support them then by all means go. Just remember these companies owe nothing for you. All you're doing is giving a few pass for questionable consumer ethics. But if that's they you want it to be than vote with your wallet. However, don't try to feign neutrality when it's clear your bias is heavily against the consumer. No, not PS4 consumers, consumers in general.

EDIT: I misquoted Yoshi as I thought they were the from the same person (responding through iPhone)
 

Fletcher

Member
Wait this game is more than six months away?! Man. I thought it was coming out in February for some reason. Total bummer. Can't wait to play it.
 

Mastperf

Member
Because they own a PS4 and they want to feel like premium users. And "any" dev that doesn't reach the potential of this fabulous machine will be labeled as lazy or shit.

Yet some of these premium users are the same who bought Knack, Destiny and will buy Bloodborne.
Bloodborne?
 

RexNovis

Banned
Because they own a PS4 and they want to feel like premium users. And "any" dev that doesn't reach the potential of this fabulous machine will be labeled as lazy or shit.

Yet some of these premium users are the same who bought Knack, Destiny and will buy Bloodborne.

What exactly does intent to purchase Bloodborne, Destiny and Knack have anything to do with being irate about forced parity?

Oh and by the way "premium users" is cute and all but I think it was actually Phil Spencer who defended the Indie Parity clause by saying he wants Xbox buyers to feel like "First Class Citizens" you know at the expense of developers and everyone else.

For the record, this thread is long because people are angry about the potential of receiving a product that defies historic precedent by potentially seeking parity across platforms with a significant gap in graphical power available. But I think you already knew that.
 

Renekton

Member
It's a pretty easy concept to grasp.

If a company optimizes a game to the full potential of one system and then deliberately holds the game back on a more powerful system, that company is making the cognizant decision to deliver a compromised product and is willingly applying a different standard of development to one system compared to the other. While asking the owners of the more powerful machine to pay the same price for a product that was intentionally developed to a lower standard.
Just take the package as it is, in a vacuum ignore everything else, and decide whether it is something you want to play at the price you are willing to pay. It's simpler that way because you blackbox the entire development process and only evaluate if end product fits your consumer needs. A little knowledge with limited context is far more dangerous than pure ignorance.
 
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