*spawn* resolution patch conspiracies

[Shortbread]

Not saying it will increase, but Titanfall devs said they may increase resolution in a patch after release.

The same thing kind of happened to Trials Fusion (day one X1 patch 800P>900P) and several PS4 games recieved day one resolution increasing patches.

So if resolution can be increased even after release, it's hardly too late 6 months from release.

I believe those “Day One” patches are aftermarket tactics ...allowing the unpatched game to serve certain parity clauses, and stopping the media (review sites) from beheading one game over the other. That’s why I’m glad Eurogamer/Digital Foundry, either waits for the patch or does a revised visit a day later.

I find it hard to believe that within a week’s period, they can achieve 900p/1080p ...yet could not do it all year (or two) during the game development.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

You realize that console games have an extra long period of quality assurance by the HW vendor and then distribution overhead (especially with AAA titles expected to sell millions of units on launch week), and the release code has to be locked well before that?

It gives the devs at least 2+ months to work on the first day patch, quite a lot more than a week.

 

[Shortbread]

You realize that console games have an extra long period of quality assurance by the HW vendor and then distribution overhead (especially with AAA titles expected to sell millions of units on launch week), and the release code has to be locked well before that?

It gives the devs at least 2+ months to work on the first day patch, quite a lot more than a week.

So the notion of having parity (resolution wise) for review sites, is just wishful thinking? Not a tactic driven by certain developers on making sure their sales aren’t one sided… meaning one game isn’t getting ridicule for having poor performance/resolution.

If the answer is yes, then I learned something new today.

 

[iroboto]

So the notion of having parity (resolution wise) for review sites, is just wishful thinking? Not a tactic driven by certain developers on making sure their sales aren’t one sided… meaning one game isn’t getting ridicule for having poor performance/resolution.

If the answer is yes, then I learned something new today.

While I'm not sure about the business implications of websites but I can personally attest to the long cert times even for small arcade titles (closer to 3-4 weeks). Missing a punctuation in the menu, copyright symbol, poor translations for different regions required the entire process to go through again. My publisher assisted with initial cert, but anything they missed when it go to Sony they would highlight and the whole process had to be restarted.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Certification is only part of the delay, then a retail game also has to go through replication, packaging, distribution, on a worldwide scale. As far as I know arcade titles are usually download only, so they can skip this phase completely.

 

[shredenvain]

The almost common day one patch this gen sure is nice compared to how things worked last gen.
Does anyone remember the awful frame rate in Quake 4 on the X360?
That is one game that needed a patch yet never received it.

 

[Shortbread]

Can someone give me some legit reason "why" game parity clauses should even exist? And do you feel these clauses benefit gamers or businesses? Just wondering...


FYI: For those who don't know, parity clauses do exists. Just google it...

 

[function]

The only game parity clauses I'm aware of covered content and features, and not frame rates or resolution. It's clear that that this generation the PS4 is free to pull ahead if publishers let the developer do this.

Frame rates are covered by TRCs. Resolution is a free for all now, which is a good thing,

 

[Davros]

TRC's ?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

TRC's ?

Technical Requirement Checklists. The lists of minimum requirements that Sony and Microsoft (and presumably Nintendo) require software to reach/exceed before they'll green light it's publication.

 

[Jedi2016]

Why does this "parity" thing keep coming up? None of the games involved ever had parity to begin with, even before the patches came into play.

 

[BRiT]

Why does this "parity" thing keep coming up? None of the games involved ever had parity to begin with, even before the patches came into play.

Forum warriors want to believe.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Parity could have been more important in the previous generation, where some games might have been held back because of contracts... We'll probably never know for certain though.

 

[shredenvain]

They only parity clause I know of is the one for indys and smaller publishers on the Xbox 360 and One.
It doesnt require matching res or framerates to the PS counterpart. It requires that the games release the same time on the Xbox as the Ps. It also requires equal content. One game the 360 missed out on because of this is Oddworld Stranger's Wrath Hd. I think the real reason alot of devs hate the parity thing because Ms has been know to give certain games a pass, They say they are playing favorites