Imitation of Life: 60 Frames Per Second and Suspended Disbelief

As we enter a fresh console cycle, wanton joystick measuring in terms of each new machine's technical capabilities is inevitable. Indeed, no early adopter wants to think he or she's backed the wrong horse, and the gaming media is keen to add its own two cents to the debate through exhaustive, detailed comparisons of multi-format releases and flagship exclusives alike in an attempt to vindicate purchasing choices with hard statistics.

As powerful as dedicated gaming hardware has become, the raw grunt that such devices can offer will always be finite, and one of console game development's biggest challenges is striking a balance between visual fidelity and performance, which is usually measured in frames per second, a metric that refers to how often the onscreen image is updated in said time frame. Simply put, this balancing act exists because more complicated scenes are harder to render. The industry seems to have settled on 60 frames per second as the gold standard performance-wise, the prevailing opinion being that achieving such a lofty goal is key to offering the most realistic and immersive experience possible. I'm not sure I agree.

The frame rate arms race is a relatively new phenomena, but its roots can be traced back to mainstream console gaming's opening skirmishes between  Sega and Nintendo in the late 80s and early 90s. Back then, European televisions operated on a 50Hz PAL signal offering a maximum 50 frames per second output, whereas in the US and Japan, where the vast majority of the era's game were developed, the faster 60Hz NTSC standard was used, which offered a maximum of 60 frames per second. Rather than invest time and money optimising titles for what no doubt felt like a strange and distant market, American and Japanese developers would often opt to simply slow their games down to compensate.

Most European gamers wouldn't have known anything was amiss at the time, having never played the original, full speed NTSC versions of their classic favourites. But, when compared side by side retrospectively, a stark difference between regional variations is often apparent, especially if a speed-centric title such as Sonic The Hedgehog is used as a point of comparison.  The non-European iteration features noticeably faster gameplay, while also sporting similarly sped up sound effects and music.  Unsurprisingly, it's considered vastly superior as a consequence, and is the version that Sega uses as the basis for its endless stream of re-releases. There's even a sizable modding scene dedicated to speeding up old PAL consoles to bring them to  par with their American and Japanese counterparts.

A modded Mega Drive, yesterday

Luckily, some might say, the rise of digital media and HD television has effectively killed the old 50Hz standard off. The Dreamcast was the first PAL console to offer gamers the option to use 60Hz output if they had a TV that supported it, and by the time the Xbox 360 and PS3 dropped, 60Hz had become the universal norm.

So in the here and now, with gamers the world over hypothetically able to enjoy a uniform experience, the onus is on developers more than ever to deliver the best performance possible.  Just prior to the release of Watch Dogs, Sony briefly claimed on their website that the PS4 version would run at the coveted 60 frames per second "in a way that only PS4 can provide", before removing any references to performance entirely.  A bold assertion that didn't quite pan out, but clearly one that suggests  Sony believes such things matter enough to gamers to have a tangible effect on their purchasing habits. The industry at large's perception appears to be that when it comes to frames per second, more is always more.

Exhibit A

But I wouldn't say this is always true.  The concept of suspended disbelief refers to the idea that a fictional world, or indeed, fictional representation of the real world, must be consistent and believable for a reader or viewer to accept it.   In gaming terms, the look and feel of a given title is key to achieving this, but to my mind a constant 60 frames per second looks unnaturally smooth - far more so than the real world as the naked eye perceives it - undermining any attempt at realism or immersion, and serving as a constant reminder that I'm looking into the world presented to me as an observer rather than a participant.

Of course, such misgivings aren't unilaterally applicable across the entire gaming spectrum by any means. For one thing, with titles such as Rayman Legends or Super Mario 3D World - the gaming equivalents of Saturday morning cartoons - fun is the modus operandi, not a deep narrative or believable visuals. Also, at the upper echelons of competitive gaming, realism and graphics are considered largely irrelevant. Here, professional or semi-pro gamers are concerned only with the title they've sunk thousands of hours into being an adequate conduit for their skill, something that the more responsive controls offered by higher frame rates factors into heavily. Call of Duty, for example, that's yearly iterations feature heavily on the e-sports circuit, wears its constant 60 frames per second in multiplayer like an enduring badge of honour. In fact, the series' trademark rock-steady high frame rate is a key argument made in favour of it over rival franchise, Battlefield, which generally emphasises scale and elaborate pyrotechnics over fluidity in its consoles versions.

Prettier, but at what cost?

If realism and immersion are the goal, however, a steadier performance target more in line with what we see in the outside world, that also allows for a great deal more visual bells and whistles, may be more appropriate. After all, the point of releasing ever more technically accomplished hardware is to facilitate better and better looking content, and for games purporting to offer any kind of human perspective, better and more realistic are very often one and the same. It may be, though, that all the technical innovations of the future will be for naught unless widely accepted priorities in terms of how best to utilise them change.