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'Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart' gets a performance boost on 120Hz displays
You'll get a higher framerate along with 4K ray-traced visuals in fidelity mode.
'Fortnite' is getting improved framerates and resolutions on Switch
The battle royale will take up slightly less storage space too.
NVIDIA's upcoming tool will analyze your VR setup
The setup for your HTC Vive or Oculus Rift VR headset can make the difference between soaring or puking, but how can you tell if it's good? NVIDIA is going to release a new tool called the FCAT VR that will take some of the guesswork out of system testing. It tracks four key metrics that can lead to high latency, stuttering and other issues: frame time, dropped frames, warp misses and synthesized frames.
Microsoft unlocks framerates for smoother gameplay on Windows 10
Microsoft wants folks to believe Windows 10 is a serious gaming platform and has showcased its capabilities with tech demos like its retooling of Forza 6 for powerhouse PCs. Today, they're letting games designed for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) unlock their framerates from the refresh rate of their monitors. This fixes a long-standing complaint from gamers and developers who want to play games at higher framerates on UWP but were prevented from doing so, even for recent releases like Quantum Break.
How 'Halo 5: Guardians' hits 60 fps and stays there
The developers at 343 Industries won't sacrifice Halo 5's aim for a buttery smooth 60 frames per second by adding local co-op (for now), and it turns out that the team isn't married to 1080p resolution if it means a lower frame rate, either. The game's creative lead Josh Holmes writes on Xbox Wire that maintaining that benchmark is the result of tech that allows the game to adjust the resolution on the fly. "This enables us to deploy resources where they have the most impact across a diverse series of experiences throughout the game while delivering the most visually stunning Halo game ever," he says. From the sounds of it, that means when there's less stuff onscreen it'll be in higher detail.
YouTube now supports 60 fps live streaming
YouTube blew more than a few minds last October when it rolled out 60 frame-per-second video playback on the site. Gamers especially flocked to the frame rate as it allowed for jutter-free playback of fast-paced titles like Call of Duty or Titanfall. Today, YouTube announced a new feature that is sure to make gamers even happier: 60 fps live streaming which will allow people to broadcast their online exploits in real-time. The new frame rate is still an early preview, mind you, and will only be available on HTML5-compatible browsers. However, YouTube will encode these streams in both 720p60 and 1080p60 formats as well as automatically knock it down to 30FPS for devices that can't handle full speed.
Advanced Warfare console comparison drops a few frames on PS4
Sledgehammer Games recently confirmed that the Xbox One version of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare automatically scales its resolution up to 1080p on a frame-by-frame basis. By comparison, the PS4 version consistently maintains a high resolution, but performance analysis tests from Digital Foundry show that it comes at a price. In a video (seen after the break) of Advanced Warfare version 1.04 running on both systems, the testers found that the Xbox One version held up at a mostly steady 60fps. As for the PS4 version, it had more frequent dips in frame rate, dropping as low as the mid-40s during some scenes. The tests were primarily focused on the game's campaign; initial looks at Advanced Warfare's multiplayer performance bore similar results, though the Xbox One version did not scale up from its 1360x1080 resolution during multiplayer sessions. [Image: Activision]
Dragon Age: Inquisition 1080p on PS4, 900p on Xbox One
Dragon Age: Inquisition will run at 1080p on PS4 and 900p on Xbox One, BioWare announced in a tweet. The disparity between platforms wasn't a concerted design choice, the message said. "We maximized the current potential of each platform," the tweet said. The capabilities of the PS4 and Xbox One have been under extra scrutiny this week, following comments from Assassin's Creed: Unity developers that "you don't gain much" from maxed-out framerate and resolution. Assassin's Creed: Unity is locked at 900p and 30fps on Xbox One and PS4. Historically, the PS4 has proven to be more consistent than the Xbox One in running games at 1080p and 60fps. PC requirements for Dragon Age: Inquisition are also out today, with a minimum of 4GB RAM and a recommended 8GB RAM, minimum DirectX 10 and recommended DirectX 11, and a necessary 26GB hard drive space. See the full specs below. Dragon Age: Inquisition launches on November 18.
Assassin's Creed devs weigh in on the demands of 60fps
Assassin's Creed: Unity will run at 30fps on PS4 and Xbox One, and Ubisoft isn't interested in pushing that number higher because action-adventure games feel better below 60fps, Creative Director Alex Amancio told Techradar. Amancio said it's the same case with resolution (Unity runs at 900p). "If the game looks gorgeous, who cares about the number?" he asked. Level Design Director Nicolas Guérin shared the sentiment, saying that Ubisoft for a long time wanted to hit 60fps in its games, but "you don't gain that much" from it.
YouTube to introduce support for 60 frames per second
YouTube videos rendered in 48 and 60 frames per second are to finally become a reality in the coming months. Following a year in which 1080p and 60fps have become increasingly familiar bedfellows for the video game industry, YouTube promoted its higher framerates with new videos of Battlefield: Hardline and Titanfall. Among other features coming to the video site including fan-submitted translations and tagged shout-outs to collaborators, the one to keep an eye on is Fan Funding. Essentially an online tip jar, this allows viewers to donate to content creators direct through YouTube. For now, only "a handful of creators" are testing the feature out. Head below the break for the Battlefield: Hardline and Titanfall vids in full 60fps glory.
Relax, Alien: Isolation is 1080p on PS4 and Xbox One
Alien: Isolation runs at 1080p on both Xbox One and PS4, and in terms of framerate it's roughly the same across both platforms, Creative Assembly Lead Game Designer Gary Napper tells OXM. "When I think about working on the game, it's almost platform agnostic because I only think about the differences between platforms and the different mechanics we can use, like the light on the PS4 pad and the stuff with Kinect 2.0," Napper says. "So I think with framerate it's pretty comparable. There's no noticeable drop or change in graphics between them. Obviously there are a lot more options to tweak and scale up on the PC." So, when we're waking up the neighbors with screams of terror in the middle of the night, we'll tell them it's all Napper's fault. And if 1080p weren't horrifying enough, there's a demo of Alien: Isolation on Oculus Rift. We'd note if that were in 1080p, too, but we couldn't keep our eyes open long enough to tell. Alien: Isolation is due out on Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4 and PC late this year. [Image: Sega]
Watch Dogs won't hit 1080p on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both plenty powerful, but so far, many third-party games have ended up running better on Sony's console. That trend apparently continues later this month with Ubisoft's upcoming cyberpunk hackathon, Watch Dogs. The PS4 may have the upper hand in terms of native resolution as Joystiq noticed, but the game will run at 30fps (the gold standard for open-world games) on both platforms and neither will sport 1080p natively according to publisher Ubisoft. This is contrary to what a PlayStation.com listing said before it vanished over the weekend. The adventures of Aiden Pearce will run at 900p for Sony fans, while Xbox One owners will see 792p on their flat-screens. Because both consoles will upscale the game and output it to your display's native resolution, it's a difference you might only notice if both versions are running side-by-side. If you'll remember, Assassin's Creed 4 shipped on the PS4 at 900p as well, and received an update to hit full HD after the game launched -- we'll be watching to see if that happens here, too.
Watch Dogs no longer listed as 1080p, 60fps on PS4
Sony's Watch Dogs product page no longer lists 1080p or 60fps as part of the game's selling points. This weekend, the PlayStation site listed Watch Dogs for PS4 as follows: "Hack everything as you make your way through Chicago's underground as you experience Watch Dogs in a way that only PS4 can provide, at 60 Frames Per Second in 1080p." Now, the final prepositional phrase of that description is gone. There's no word on why the specs were extinguished, especially since the wider internet already caught wind of them. Maybe Sony's site was hacked by a savvy Chicagoan techno-wizard with a baseball cap and a smartphone. Maybe. Ubisoft hasn't provided any other targets for Watch Dogs' resolution and framerate on PS4 (or Xbox One). Watch Dogs is due out on May 27 for PC, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3. [Image: Ubisoft]
Next-gen Tomb Raider framerate differs, Microsoft defends Xbox One
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition has gone digging in the not-so-ancient ruins of next-gen gaming consoles and come back with a shiny debate over framerate differences. While the PlayStation 4 version of the game has been confirmed to run at 60 frames per second, the Xbox One version's framerate is, as of writing, unconfirmed. A Square Enix rep weighed in on the issue to VideoGamer.com, stating that, "Delivering the core Tomb Raider gameplay at native 1080p and running at 30fps was always our primary goal given the type of experience Tomb Raider is and the exploration we want players to do. Anything beyond 30fps for this version is gravy." Microsoft Senior Director of Product Management Albert Penello told Gamertag Radio that the differences between the two versions were minor, and defended the Xbox One version by reminding listeners that we've only just begun the new generation of consoles. "Everybody wants to focus on, you know, there's a framerate thing going on in Tomb Raider, there is a resolution thing going on and okay, there's a lot of reasons why that could be true, but we're weeks in. We just shipped, it's a long generation."
World of Warcraft's evolving engine
Some people say that World of Warcraft's visuals are outdated. The game's graphics haven't been updated since launch, they say. In terms of some older art assets, I would agree, but the overall picture is a different story. The system requirements when WoW launched were a meager 800MHz CPU with 256MB RAM and a 32MB graphics card. Today, the bare minimum requirements are a dual core CPU with 2GB of RAM and a 256MB graphics card. Mists of Pandaria requires an expensive computer to run smoothly at the highest possible graphic settings, and yet it will still run on hardware from 8 years ago. Do you know of many other games with a spread like that?
Zone of the Enders HD Collection compared to source material
New comparison videos appear to show incongruities between Zone of the Enders HD Collection and its source games, Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders 2: The 2nd Runner, as well as disparities between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the HD collection.The most important issue, according to Enders fans that have contacted us, is that both games in ZOEHDC move more slowly than the original PS2 versions. The comparison video seen here shows that mechs, lasers and melee attacks all lack the amped-up pace of the original, as though the game were being played in slightly-slow-motion.Other concerns have been raised over framerate inconsistencies between the 360 and PS3 versions of ZOEHDC, with video comparisons supposedly showing that the 360 version runs at a higher, more consistent average framerate than its PS3 sister. Regardless, neither version consistently runs at the 60-frames-per-second figure stated by the collection's official UK website, rather the majority of the game operates between 30 and 40 FPS.Unfortunately, this isn't the first time such reports have come in regarding an HD rerelease of a Konami classic: Silent Hill HD Collection had its fair share of framerate issues, so much so that a patch was pushed for the PS3 version and Xbox 360 owners were given the option to exchange the game entirely. We've reached out to Konami for a statement and will update with any new information we receive.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
NHK 8K Super Hi-Vision camera captures native 120Hz footage, we go eyes-on at IBC (video)
We've seen plenty of 4K cameras, and we've even heard a whisper or two about 8K, but the quality of a viewing experience isn't tied only to resolution -- frame rate also comes into play, especially with fast-moving subjects. NHK's prototype Super Hi-Vision camera doubles the capture rate from the standard 60Hz to a much speedier 120Hz, yielding sharper motion. While the difference isn't noticeable with static or slow-moving scenes, it certainly comes into play when filming rapid-motion sporting events or panning the camera. The Japan Broadcasting Corporation's latest model was on hand at IBC in Amsterdam, and the advantages of a 120Hz cam were immediately crystal clear. Filming a rotating image that paired ordinary objects and cityscapes with letters and numbers, you could see the difference instantly, with the 120Hz image on the right side yielding far shaper details, while the left side was often a blurry mess. There's no software smoothing on hand here -- because the higher frequency comes directly from the source, it appears perfectly natural, and much more pleasant. We captured a video demonstrating the expo floor rig, but because our camera doesn't sport the same spec, you won't notice a difference in the hands-on clip after the break. You can see the difference in our stills gallery below, however, and you can take us on our word -- the improvement is quite dramatic.%Gallery-164700%
Peter Jackson unfazed by 'Hobbit' footage pushback, but will stick to 24 fps for trailers
Calm down, cinema-goers. It just takes time to "settle in" to the strange new ultra-realistic world of high frame-rates, according to Peter Jackson, who's been responding to audience's rather strong panning of 48fps rough cuts from his upcoming 3D epic, Hobbit. Viewers' main beefs were the surprising appearance of the higher cadence footage, which almost looked like it was shot on video, as well as blemishes on actors and sets which were all-too-visible without the crutch of motion blur. But Jackson insists that the footage lacked special effects and color correction, and that the showing was perhaps too short to judge the frame-rate -- which is why he also says there'll be no 48 fps trailer. He even adds that he's now "very aware of the strobing, the flicker and the artifacts" when he's watching regular 24fps cinema -- so the real struggle for audiences might not be adjusting to the new way, but going back to the old.
PSA: Real LCD HDTV refresh rates are getting harder to find behind marketing fluff
Electronics makers love a spec they can get behind and make the center point of their marketing efforts -- no matter how useless it is as a comparison. The undisputed be all arms race HDTV metric for the past few years, LCD refresh rates, has recently become even muddier according to HD Guru. Terms like Clear Motion Rate (Samsung) and Scenes Per Second (Vizio) are meant to confuse the customer while resembling the somewhat useful (and, as of late, unmentioned on the box) refresh rate. Our advice? Ignore this spec completely and instead find a TV that can accurately display your favorite content at its native frame rate (24, 30 or 60) -- leave all that soap-opera looking frame interpolation technology to the modern day twelve o'clock flasher.
BioWare responds to The Old Republic performance issues
Many Star Wars: The Old Republic players have raised complaints on the official forums about the game's technical performance. A disconcertingly large number of users report poor framerates despite lowering the game's graphic settings or running the game on a high-end PC. BioWare, however, is not convinced that there's anything wrong with the game, and instead the company asserts that users' lame rigs must be to blame. OK, not really. But game director James Ohlen told Eurogamer that "most players aren't really having performance concerns" and chalks the reported performance issues up to low-end hardware. He goes on to add that "[the team] knows that it's important that there is a smaller group of people usually with lower end machines that are having problems in some areas. And one of the most important things for [the team is] to grow [its] service is to continue to bring in more players, including those players who only have low-end machines." In light of this, the studio has a team of developers who are devoted to fixing performance-inhibiting bugs, so if all goes well, we poor low-end-rig-users will be able to play the game comfortably soon enough.
