Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MFST) has been behind the eight ball in the next gen console battle for quite some time. The origins of this can certainly be traced back to before the release of its own Xbox One and the Playstation 4; they’ve essentially been playing catch-up ever since, making a series of staggering marketing errors when the console was originally unveiled.
Microsoft playing catch-up
Since then, the Playstation 4 has consistently outsold the Xbox One all over the world, as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MFST) has felt something of a backlash from gamers for some of their initial proposals. Already the price of the Xbox One has been cut in an attempt to cut the sales gap with Sony’s console, and although Microsoft is publicly putting the usual PR spin on the way that the Xbox One has been performing, the reality is that Sony is dominating this generation thus far.
However, one area in which Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MFST) can be commended is with regard to the titles that they’ve got to market. The Xbox One launch line-up was probably better than the PS4, and much is expected of the hotly anticipated Titanfall, which will release tomorrow in North America, and a couple of days later in most other territories, as an Xbox exclusive.
It seems though that Titanfall is to be plagued by another criticism that Microsoft has had to fend off with regard to the Xbox One. The Playstation 4 clearly delivers the more powerful gaming package, and though Microsoft has dismissed the difference between the two and developers are capable of producing similar standard products for both consoles, there is still no denying that Sony’s machine has higher capabilities.
This is reflected in the fact that it’s been reported today that Titanfall will be yet another Xbox One title that won’t ship in 1080p resolution. It has been confirmed by the developers of the title that Titanfall will launch in 792p, although Respawn Entertainment is apparently intending to patch the game up to a higher resolution once it has been released.
There is a lot of debate regarding this issue, with various claims being thrown around about the practical effects of high and low framerate and resolutions. It is often asserted, for example, that there is little difference between playing a game in 720p and 1080p on a high-definition television, but from my experience I would have to emphatically disagree.
Full HD yet to come to fruition
What is certain is that console gamers, and the wider general public, would surely be expecting media to be rendered in 1080p by now. It’s roughly ten years since HD became a mainstream technology, with television manufacturers of the time encouraging us to rush out and buy ‘full HD’ sets. Yet a decade on, 1080p resolution is still not standard. You have to wonder why Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MFST) bothered to include 4K capabilities with this console; there doesn’t seem to be the remotest chance that it will deliver such a resolution, it can’t even handle full HD at the moment.
Regardless of the debate on what practical difference such screen resolutions make, the continual inability of the Xbox One to deliver 1080p gaming, something that was pretty much the norm with the PS3, does not reflect well on Microsoft’s new console. The company itself can dismiss such concerns, but the gaming community has voted with its feet, and is not likely to change its mind based on the evidence we’ve seen from this console generation thus far.
