Assassin's Creed "Parity": Unity is 900p/30fps on both PS4 & Xbox One

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Voicing their dissastifaction with the situation as the market leader of this generation, pointing at the bad press they got as an example they did a mistake, helping them to find a workaround solution like a post launch patch if the decision is indeed part of a commercial deal (at this point we don't know) and helping them to get the most out of the hardware to simply make the game look and run better than it actually does.
 
What I do know is that console wars have been a thing for decades and parity, while it obviously won't make everyone happy, may be considered the lesser of two evils.

What bugs me about the parity thing, and has from the beginning, is that they aren't just achieving parity.

They are sacrificing one type of parity for a different type of parity. They are sacrificing the parity of "output to power level" ratio. I'm wording that poorly but I hope people get the idea.

Can you imagine the gaf thread if a dev announced that they were locking a PC game so that you'll get an identical experience regardless of how powerful your PC is?
 
1080p... 900p... 720p... 544p.
I'd still probably play this game assuming it reviews in line with the other Assassin's Creed games. I'm invested in the series, some resolution hoop-lah isn't going to sway me.

Quite frankly, even if the game had been 1080p, it'd still have noticible pixel crawl on the PS4, just like Destiny, TLOU, or any of the other PS4 games I've played this year generated out of polygons...

I was going to wait for reviews, but now I kind of want to preorder AC:U... (really.. No playable female character and the bad guys not having French accents are bigger issues...)
 
1080p... 900p... 720p... 544p.
I'd still probably play this game assuming it reviews in line with the other Assassin's Creed games. I'm invested in the series, some resolution hoop-lah isn't going to sway me.

Quite frankly, even if the game had been 1080p, it'd still have noticible pixel crawl on the PS4, just like Destiny, TLOU, or any of the other PS4 games I've played this year generated out of polygons...

I was going to wait for reviews, but now I kind of want to preorder AC:U... (really.. No playable female character and the bad guys not having French accents are bigger issues...)

I love how there are still people who have no idea that this isnt about 1080p,720p or whatever.
 
Out of curiously what would people prefer:

Xbone: 30fps 900 with drops
PS4: 30fps 1080p with drops

or

Xbone 30fps 900 with drops
PS4 30fps 900 rock solid

If thats the case, then come out and say that...not..."to avoid debates n stuff".... Maybe another option to have it 60fps unlocked with drops on PS4...like Tomb Raider: DE. Lets see what ppl choose then too.

During the Xbox/PS2 era, any multiplatform title was essentially guaranteed to run better on the Xbox. This was normal operating procedure; it was usually just a question of how big the performance gap would be between the Xbox and PS2 version of a game, but it was something everyone came to accept and it was usually pointed out in reviews that the Xbox version had superior performance.

The 360 had advantages that the PS3 did not, which I believe included hardware that was easier to work with, better memory arrangement, and faster better GPU. I believe the PS3 had a much better CPU (the Cell Processor), but it was also very difficult to work with for many developers, coupled with the fact that, at the time, Sony's ICE team saw their gains in understanding the architecture as part of a competition with other developers instead of a collaboration. This is why there were quite a few examples of multiplatform games usually performing better on the 360, though sometimes performing better on the PS3: there wasn't a clear winner in terms of hardware power.

In this generation, none of these issues exist. Both consoles are essentially identical, and in the areas where they are not, the PS4 is superior, such as its memory, general GPU speed, ROPS, CPU, etc. This console generation makes the disparity as cut and dry as it has ever been, and it makes no sense whatsoever that this game would achieve parity unless one version is being held back while the other is being brought up.

Firestone isn't the only tire manufacturer. I can buy other companies tires and other companies games to "show them" Yep.

Exactly.

What if Firestone tires helped a Toyota perform better than a Ford or lasted better on Toyota...and Firestone tweaked the tire design so they both ran even, lasted the same...

Even tho the Toyota was capable of better, longer use...."to avoid debates n stuff".....

I love how there are still people who have no idea that this isnt about 1080p,720p or whatever.

I know its amazing...lol. I wonder would they get the picture better if the best football, basketball teams, player were forced to play handicapped, at a disadvantage vs the competition...."to avoid debates n stuff".....

"Hey Step Curry...I know you are a deadly 3 point shooter, but we dont want you shooting any against a weaker team ....

...To avoid debates n stuff....

"Hey Peyton Manning, this team has weak corners....so just do lil throws to the flat, lil 5 yard out routes, nothing deep down field..."

...to avoid debates n stuff.....
 
I love how there are still people who have no idea that this isnt about 1080p,720p or whatever.

Oh, I get what it's about: Suspected poisonous consumer practices on Ubisoft's part. I just don't care in this particular instance. Ubisoft has done worse than this, and as a community we still purchased AC 1-4, Rayman, Far Cry 3, Watch Dogs and more.
 
I'd like to think that what were doing here with preorder cancellations and spreading the message is working, I really would. But the cynical part of me tells me it won't, because all it is is down to numbers, and I doubt we have them. The MS DRM backlash worked because the preorders showed it, and then some. That's the only way these massive corps will understand. Just look at how Ubisoft have been conducting themselves, with these repeated unachievable target renders and disingenuous PRs. They're on top of the world right now and can do no wrong.

No matter how good a company state it may seem, there is threshold to be accounted for no matter what the "numbers" indicate. Take destiny for example: $350 million sell through revenue. Fastest selling new IP of all time. Did it impress the shareholders? No. In fact Acti's market value is reflective of the situation.

So how much more on AC, a franchise that is supporting Ubisoft as it's core pillar be any advantageous alienating a part of the consumers perform well in the long run? No other IP holds that kind of market power in Ubisoft, which means if the value of AC diminishes, what exactly is there to keep them afloat? Or worse, backing the other AAA products. These companies need consistent sales. And right now, any form of reduction, no matter how small it may seem is potential disaster in the making


May I remind you that TR needed 4.5 million to break even. And that is within a community of over 150 million console owners. What more of 10% within that total consumer base this gen?
 
I wonder how many more of these controversies it will take before Ubisoft permanently damages its reputation.

I mean it already seems like their games haven't been selling like they used to since AC3.

The word of mouth for that one killed its long term sales when AC2 and after used to be locked in top 10 for months.

Watch Dogs seemed to get a similar reputation and iffy public response and quickly vanished from the charts.


AC: Unity and The Division seem like they need to be very careful about setting expectations and not bullshitting people about what the game actually looks like. (Its already a bit late for that last one)
 
I wonder how many more of these controversies it will take before Ubisoft permanently damages its reputation.

I mean it already seems like their games haven't been selling like they used to since AC3.

The word of mouth for that one killed its long term sales when AC2 and after used to be locked in top 10 for months.

Watch Dogs seemed to get a similar reputation and iffy public response and quickly vanished from the charts.


AC: Unity and The Division seem like they need to be very careful about setting expectations and not bullshitting people about what the game actually looks like. (Its already a bit late for that last one)

The issue with Watch Dogs is that it wasnt very interesting, and the story was shit. I don't think the visuals swayed anyone from buying it except for maybe the crazy, vocal GAF minority.
 
I know its amazing...lol. I wonder would they get the picture better if the best football, basketball teams, player were forced to play handicapped, at a disadvantage vs the competition...."to avoid debates n stuff".....

The NFL does have something like this... It's called a "salary cap", which seeks to prevent one team with deep pockets from buying all the really good players and decimating the league...
Call it a financial handicap.
 
Oh, I get what it's about: Suspected poisonous consumer practices on Ubisoft's part. I just don't care in this particular instance. Ubisoft has done worse than this, and as a community we still purchased AC 1-4, Rayman, Far Cry 3, Watch Dogs and more.
Suspected? They came out and said it! If we keep taking it, they'll keep giving it. At least buy the thing preowned if you must buy it. They have to learn and they will from their sales.
 
Damn, those visuals are really good. I was worried about a downgrade too.

Yeah, the game is really a looker. Animations and everything else looks so much better as well. While Ubisoft is full of shit with their statements and decision to pare one version back, it still looks plenty great to me and I damn sure am not going to deny myself the game.
 
Suspected? They came out and said it! If we keep taking it, they'll keep giving it. At least buy the thing preowned if you must buy it. They have to learn and they will from their sales.

Really? They came out and said MS paid them money to downgrade the PS4 version? I must have missed that news story...

Assuming Unity reviews above an 8, it's getting bought by me digital. Not used.

Looking forward to slaying some French templars in inglorious 900p...
 
Suspected? They came out and said it! If we keep taking it, they'll keep giving it. At least buy the thing preowned if you must buy it. They have to learn and they will from their sales.

Everyone in this thread is insanely delusional if they think this games sales will suffer because it's being "gimped" to 900p on PS4.

Everyone outside the enthusiast bubble (which is most people who buy games) doesn't give a shit, aren't aware, cant tell the difference or some combination of the above.

Is resolution really that big of a whoop? I mean, really. Can't we judge a game based on if its fun or not? Instead of "its missing 180pz omgz".

Sure Ubi shouldn't be holding back the PS4 version, but is this really some *huge* scandal? I'm not convinced.
 
I mean, I have a great PC that could run Unity at 60fps if they had the option. But, I can't really support a game/company that admits to doing stuff like this. Principle and all. Plenty of other games out there that can get my money without me having to be disrespected as a consumer :P

Yep, exactly how I feel. My gaming dollar is my vote that I use to support the companies / ideas / games that I like, enjoy, and agree with. It's my strongest voice that I have in this industry. And yeah there are so many other games out there today and my backlog is so great that I can easily handle skipping a few "great" games simply because I don't agree with the politics or decisions behind them. As a consumer I have that choice. Just like as a developer they had a choice too. I simply happen to disagree very strongly with their choice.
 
I wonder how many more of these controversies it will take before Ubisoft permanently damages its reputation.

I mean it already seems like their games haven't been selling like they used to since AC3.

The word of mouth for that one killed its long term sales when AC2 and after used to be locked in top 10 for months.

Watch Dogs seemed to get a similar reputation and iffy public response and quickly vanished from the charts.


AC: Unity and The Division seem like they need to be very careful about setting expectations and not bullshitting people about what the game actually looks like. (Its already a bit late for that last one)

AC: Unity really did not need more bad press or word of mouth. The media was already flaying Ubisoft for their asinine response to the female protagonist stuff. Ubisoft's PR is just really god awful lately and they can't seem to get a handle on it at all.

I hope that the people who really are pissed off about their bad excuses do put their money where their mouth is and not continue to support them. I'm a big AC fan, but unless something changes between now and release I won't be putting a pre-order with Best Buy in. There's plenty of games coming out between this month and next month that I had planned to buy already and can play instead and something would have to be shelved anyways.

I also bought the AC3 and AC4 Collector's Editions. I definitely won't be doing that this time regardless.
 
My guess is that while the resolution and framerate are the same on both platform the performances and effect will be better on the PS4 version.
 
Quite frankly, even if the game had been 1080p, it'd still have noticible pixel crawl on the PS4, just like Destiny, TLOU, or any of the other PS4 games I've played this year generated out of polygons...

WTF are you talking about? Nevermind, you are just spewing shit.
 
Everyone in this thread is insanely delusional if they think this games sales will suffer because it's being "gimped" to 900p on PS4.

Everyone outside the enthusiast bubble (which is most people who buy games) doesn't give a shit, aren't aware, cant tell the difference or some combination of the above.

But this argument goes both ways.

If only the the enthusiasts care about and/or notice the difference between 900p and 1080p, why bother enforcing console parity in the first place?
"Everyone outside the enthusiast bubble doesn't give a shit, aren't aware, cant tell the difference or some combination of the above", and as such, sales on the weaker platform will surely not suffer any significant losses as a result?
 
But we don't really know when or even if consumers get the most for their money. Do you know for sure that you got the most for your money with Shadows of Mordor? Do you know if the developers took advantage of 70%, 80% or 100% of your system's capabilities? You don't, but through the comparison with the Xbox version you are creating a mental construct that makes you think all is well because the other version runs worse.

We don't know for sure. But when you have a developer openly saying that they're making them the same because they don't want "debates and stuff", then you certainly know what's going on.
 
Was listening to Podcast Beyond and had to turn it off. Ryan Mccaffery was on and he used the example of Ryse being 900p on Xbox one and that looking gorgeous so no one should complain or worry about resolution...
 
I think this is the most succinct and accurate explanation as to why forced parity is such an abhorrent practice. It is anti-competitive to an extreme, and it artificially props up the XO while disparaging the PS4.
Say what, now? I'm not sure people understand how capitalism works. Parity is the result of competition, not its antithesis.

Ubisoft isn't competing with Sony or MS. They're competing with other big publishers (EA, Activision, etc.). Going with a lowest-common denominator hardware spec keeps costs as low as possible, which makes Ubisoft even more competitive with their competitors. And if parity also means selling more copies of AC on Xbone than they would have otherwise, then that also gives Ubi an additional competitive advantage by boosting their presence (and profits) on a slightly less-popular platform. Ubi wins.

They don't care about Sony vs. MS. They care about Ubi vs. EA and Ubi vs. Activision.
 
^^
Wow. Well said, man. And agreed.

I love how respecting yourself as a consumer has become a negative, attracting comments like you think you're curing cancer. Or simply being called a hater or fanboy. Then there's the "go buy a PC if it's that important to you then" guys and the "all this because they reached parity? Smh" people. But don't worry, they get the concern. They understand the issue at hand.

If people feel the practice of forcing parity for political reasons as admitted by the dev does not bother them, then they can simply continue to purchase the titles. Those who are bothered by it however have a right to take that money elsewhere. They have a right to express the practice is worrisome as a consumer.

We all have other stresses in our lives, and we turn to gaming to get away. Guess what, the people curing cancer, and visiting at nursing homes, and raising children into good, self-respecting adults need downtime too. Don't we have a vested interest in keeping our hide-away as pure as possible before it's completely compromised?

I know businesses are probably more slimy than not. There's no escaping it or dealing with them. However if you outwardly tell me you're being foul, then I'm not dealing with you. It's on me to protect myself, because obviously reading this thread others aren't going to do it for me. They'll sit on their hands, belittle others, tell us to chill or accept it, and won't realize the effect of their non-action until it's too late. All the while forgetting that it's us whiners who supposedly think we're curing cancer that spread the word and crippled MS' preorder numbers and DRM schemes. I wouldn't doubt us whiners helped keep Sony honest as well. In fact I believe one of those Sony guys said our whining "passion" helped them decide not to go the drm route when everyone and their mothers were Sony Too-ing and expected them to follow MS.

I understand it may not be an important issue for some. But to pop in and downplay others' concern, when it won't hurt them and will actually help them in the end, is baffling to me.



That's his point ;)

Now enter this generation, and devs are locking specs to "avoid all the debates and stuff."

Agreed with most of this. Gaf has a surprising amount of people who jump to the defense of every company and try to shout down anyone suggesting customers shouldn't be treated like shit. I'm not entitled for expecting something when a company promises me they will provide a product or service in exchange for my money. Thats being a reasonable, intelligent consumer.
 
Since these big publishers seem to value their Metacritic scores so much, I wonder what would happen if a fair number of review sites pledged to subtract 5 points if they see any forced parity?
 
Since these big publishers seem to value their Metacritic scores so much, I wonder what would happen if a fair number of review sites pledged to subtract 5 points if they see any forced parity?

Then publishers would simply stop publicly admitting that they forced parity.
Honestly, I'm surprised it has even happened once in the first place.
 
Yeah the visuals are good especially considering the amount of NPC's and geometry the game has, However I will be surprised if this segment from the retail version will be like for like with the same E3 showing. Judging by more recent actual gamplay footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izoa3d3rMYs
Just pointing out that the link I posted is of the build that journalists did previews for. It was also the first time we've seen it running on xb1. And remember that the e3 demo was created specifically for e3, like AC3's demo.
 
and helping them to get the most out of the hardware to simply make the game look and run better than it actually does.

When MS did this with Blizzard to get Diablo 3 to 1080p/60fps instead of 900p/60fps the majority of Gaf suggested strong arm tactics and forcing developers to change their vision of a game was wrong...but you are suggesting Sony do the same thing in this case and that it is a good thing to get the most out of the hardware.

How is that any different than what MS did with Blizzard? Diablo 3's marketing was primarily PS4 branded. I wonder if Sony does do this will Gaf applaud the move knowingly that a lot on Gaf blasted MS for doing it with Blizzard?
 
Say what, now? I'm not sure people understand how capitalism works. Parity is the result of competition, not its antithesis.

Ubisoft isn't competing with Sony or MS. They're competing with other big publishers (EA, Activision, etc.). Going with a lowest-common denominator hardware spec keeps costs as low as possible, which makes Ubisoft even more competitive with their competitors. And if parity also means selling more copies of AC on Xbone than they would have otherwise, then that also gives Ubi an additional competitive advantage by boosting their presence (and profits) on a slightly less-popular platform. Ubi wins.

They don't care about Sony vs. MS. They care about Ubi vs. EA and Ubi vs. Activision.

Sound logic here. I wonder why Ubi didn't follow it with Watch Dogs and make every version of it fall in line with the Wii U's specs? It would have kept costs low and boosted their presence (and profits) on a slightly less popular platform.
 
Sure it was a problem last gen, most third party games on PS3 ran worse than their Xbox versions.

I wonder why Ubisoft couldn't offload some of that crowd AI to Azure? Seems like this situation was made for that type of thing.
You misunderstand me. Last generation it wasn't a problem to develop PS3 and 360 games to the best of the developers ability with the 360 version coming out on top due to the ease of development. We didn't have developers last generation go "Hey Whoa, let's lock both games to same spec to avoid debates".
Digital Foundry and other gaming press also didn't sugar coat their analysis either and usually MS would make sure you knew where was the best place to play.
What has changed now?
Why this parity? When there is a gulf in performance?
 
WTF are you talking about? Nevermind, you are just spewing shit.

Pixel crawl... Pixel shimmer...some names I associate with the effect when you pan a camera in a 3D game generated out of polygons, flat surfaces, lines, or edges displayed at an angle not horizontal or vertical have a tendency to "shimmer" or "crawl" as the camera pans.

Go fire up Destiny and head to the Tower and pan the camera around while paying close attention to the non-horizontal/vertical lines in the background. It's literally in every game... Higher resolution and AA just makes it less noticeable, but it's still there.
 
Agreed with most of this. Gaf has a surprising amount of people who jump to the defense of every company and try to shout down anyone suggesting customers shouldn't be treated like shit. I'm not entitled for expecting something when a company promises me they will provide a product or service in exchange for my money. Thats being a reasonable, intelligent consumer.

Absolutely.

However, consumers are generally pretty passive. People would rather grab immediacy than wait out higher quality.
 
When MS did this with Blizzard to get Diablo 3 to 1080p/60fps instead of 900p/60fps the majority of Gaf suggested strong arm tactics and forcing developers to change their vision of a game was wrong...but you are suggesting Sony do the same thing in this case and that it is a good thing to get the most out of the hardware.

How is that any different than what MS did with Blizzard? Diablo 3's marketing was primarily PS4 branded. I wonder if Sony does do this will Gaf applaud the move knowingly that a lot on Gaf blasted MS for doing it with Blizzard?
The case with Microsoft and Blizzard was more complicated than that. I believe there were some graphical trade offs and shortcomings to get the game to hit 1080P compared to the PS4 version.
 
I love how respecting yourself as a consumer has become a negative, attracting comments like you think you're curing cancer. Or simply being called a hater or fanboy. Then there's the "go buy a PC if it's that important to you then" guys and the "all this because they reached parity? Smh" people. But don't worry, they get the concern. They understand the issue at hand.

This really reminds me of last year when a lot of the X1 DRM defenders just said "suck it up, that's how it's gonna be".
I mean, I'm not gonna make a petition or go on twitter to rally with everyone else, but to sit back and mock everyone else who wants to take a stand against something is really something else, as quite a few have done in this thread.
 
When MS did this with Blizzard to get Diablo 3 to 1080p/60fps instead of 900p/60fps the majority of Gaf suggested strong arm tactics and forcing developers to change their vision of a game was wrong...but you are suggesting Sony do the same thing in this case and that it is a good thing to get the most out of the hardware.

How is that any different than what MS did with Blizzard? Diablo 3's marketing was primarily PS4 branded. I wonder if Sony does do this will Gaf applaud the move knowingly that a lot on Gaf blasted MS for doing it with Blizzard?

That case is about graphical trade offs to meet parity. This case is not about a trade off at all. A unecessary limitation is being imposed on PS4 for the sake of parity.

Unity on PS4 can probably run at 60fps with no other adjustments besides removing the fps cap.
 
Just pointing out that the link I posted is of the build that journalists did previews for. It was also the first time we've seen it running on xb1. And remember that the e3 demo was created specifically for e3, like AC3's demo.

Yeah beside being really scripted, I think the consoles version will lack some of the fog effects, reflective puddles on the streets, reflective windows on the streets, the crowds will be less detailed, with less varied animations and waving less flags and stuff,more aliasing (I know its poor quality youtube video, but even then you can see how things like hair have less aliasing then more recent demo's), also the lighting seems better, people have said its probably a different time of the but even still in the E3 demo surfaces look more reflective of light.

I hope Iam wrong but ubisoft have done this for a while now, even the more recent X1 footage of the division looks not as good as the debut gameplay.I will be interesting to see a comparison video from the same segment of the game from the retail version, when the game releases.
 
Pixel crawl... Pixel shimmer...some names I associate with the effect when you pan a camera in a 3D game generated out of polygons, flat surfaces, lines, or edges displayed at an angle not horizontal or vertical have a tendency to "shimmer" or "crawl" as the camera pans.

Go fire up Destiny and head to the Tower and pan the camera around while paying close attention to the non-horizontal/vertical lines in the background. It's literally in every game... Higher resolution and AA just makes it less noticeable, but it's still there.

That's aliasing. It is what happens when you undersample a digital image (or any signal). Are you suggesting Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem only applies to the PS4 and PS4 games?
 
That case is about graphical trade offs to meet parity. This case is not about a trade off at all. A unecessary limitation is being imposed on PS4 for the sake of parity.

Unity on PS4 can probably run at 60fps with no other adjustments besides removing the fps cap.

That last bit is a stretch. I think it's very difficult to get an open world game at 60fps just because of the sheer amount of stuff going on while still maintain acceptable graphic levels.
 
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