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Metal Gear V Proves Looks Aren’t Everything

Metal Gear V Proves Looks Aren’t Everything

We’ve entered a generation where people have started getting technical about games. How much content is included isn’t enough. They want to know if it supports 1080p and offers 60fps. You know, “important” stuff. The question is, does 1080p resolution really make a difference to the ordinary gamer? Or are people getting worked up over something they don’t understand simply because one number seems lower than another?

Take Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain as an example. The title is coming to the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC on September 1. Everyone’s trying to determine which version of the game could be “best.” In these discussions, it keeps coming up that the Xbox One version of Metal Gear Solid V only displays in 900p, while it hits 1080p on the PS4. Some try to use this to say it could be better on one console than the other.

The thing is, whether 1080p resolution matters or not comes down to your HDTV. People only start to notice visible differences in display as the size of the TV increases. So, someone wouldn’t really notice the difference between 900p and 1080p unless they’re 10 feet or more away from their TV and it’s over 50″ in size diagonally, though some with exceptional eyesight might start seeing a difference at 8 feet with 40″ HDTVs. Think about the HDTV you have in your house, if you own one. How big is it? Mine’s only 32″ and people tend to be around six feet away from it, so I never notice a visible difference. Metal Gear Solid V ‘s resolution issue isn’t one for someone like me.

We also have to wonder how many of these people who claim 1080p resolution matters really take advantage of it. Steam released its July 2015 hardware and software survey data. PC users usually aren’t. On a computer, a 1920×1080 resolution is 1080p, and only 34.72% of the people who reported to Valve used it. It is the most popular of resolutions total, but that it only represents a third still says two thirds of people don’t care about seeing their PC games in 1080p (Only 0.07% of those people choose a 4k display, if you were curious).

Metal Gear V Proves Looks Aren’t Everything

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a beautiful game. It’s something that becomes more obvious with each screenshot and trailer Konami releases. But, that doesn’t mean we need to start fighting about where it’s going to look better or worse. It’s the sort of title that will look good on any system, and getting into debates about whether 900p or 1080p resolution will be the deciding factor isn’t going to be a breaking point for most people excited to play the game.

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