I have become annoyed recently at the trend of big devs/publishers to be slimy and manipulative in their reasoning as to why a game runs at a certain resolution or framerate. They think that it would be better to lie to the uninformed and ignorant rather than just tell the truth with regards to their game not being able to hit 60fps due to their high graphical benchmark and hardware constraints.

I would have no problem with devs telling the truth: "our game runs at 1080p30 because it's all we could get from the hardware or we decided graphics were more important". Problems arise, however when they decide to justify it with some flat-out bullshit about 30fps being a "design decision" or being more "cinematic" and worst of all drawing comparisons between the way a game engine works and the way capturing film works. They are not comparable, they are different mediums. When you watch a film at 24fps it is "cinematic" because all films follow that standard and we don't have any interaction with the screen. When you notice motion blur in a film it is because there are only 24 frames to make a second of movement so objects "flutter" more like a flip book and our brains fill in the missing movement. Games are running off engines that display everything in real-time, but you cant expect the average Joe to know. Not only does lying cause an internet shit-storm that would probably reach those who wouldn't have known or cared otherwise if they had just shut up, but it also strengthens a feeling of distrust or hate for said company.

Something Ubisoft have been great at recently is building distrust and hate particularly in the PC space. Why is this on a fundamental level? Is the company so big it cant function without messing up? Are they too money hungry to implement female character models and animations or code properly for each individual platform? Most quizzically, how could they possibly believe that saying they "decided to lock them [PS4 and Xbox One version of Assassins Creed Unity] at the same specs to avoid all the debates and stuff" would avoid arguments? But allow me to shift the blame a little as Ubisoft isn't the only culprit, Need for Speed: Rivals was locked to 30 on PC and The Evil Within has been confirmed to be locked at 30 on PC.

What angers me the most is when the more powerful platforms' version of the game is hampered by the weakest link in the chain. Just because the Xbox One version of Game X cant handle 1080p60 that shouldn't mean that the PS4 version and especially the PC version should be held back! A locked 30fps framerate on a PC game if hard to fathom in the year 2014 to be honest, and few devs have legitimate excuses. Some who would have excuses include Obsidian's South Park: The Stick of Truth as its design suits a low framerate and the moment to moment interactivity doesn't require smooth movement. Games that have their physics or speed tied to a framerate also deserve to laughed out of the room, it's 2014 and we have higher standards.

I vehemently disagree with the point of view that graphical fidelity should trump framerate in most cases on a console platform and in nearly all cases on PC. If the game requires ANY kind of precision movement then it would definitively be improved with a higher framerate. Would you rather have complete agency and accuracy when you're playing a shooter? Or would you like a few more lines of pixels and a larger draw distance. Remember everyone, these are GAMES, they're meant to be PLAYED. They're being treated by big devs as art installations or advertisements for the hardware of the console system, but I believe that this attitude is a detriment to the gamers, to the customers, to the players.

The exception of course are games like point n' clicks or games with specific situations like South Park: The Stick of Truth, or even late generation games striving for more detail over fps. Even so I often think it would have been a cool, pipe-dream (and obviously impossible) idea for Sony or Microsoft to have imposed a 60fps minimum for all games on their platforms. Ok, if not then at least a trade-off whereby the user gets more control (like on PC) over graphical options so I choose for myself. Although I don't see that happening.

Overall I'm just fed up with the lies, misinformation, sliminess and gamer-unfriendly nature of big game development in recent years. I think performance is something that big publishers and developers should generally be prioritized over lines of resolution, along with more customer transparency, and let's not even start talking about FOV sliders!

Relevant Videos:

TotalBiscuit: The Great Framerate Non-Debate

TotalBiscuit: Let's not play Need for Speed: Rivals

Jimquisition: A Sad History of PC Failures