by Phoenix, HSM team writer

Seems that Bungie’s Destiny was the talk of the town last month — and it’s easy to see why. That said, the news that cross-platform play won’t be available even within the same family of consoles is disappointing, if to be expected. Players hoping to play Destiny between PS3 and PS4 will find no such satisfaction.

You’re probably thinking: next-gen consoles are too different in terms of graphics to make it work. But the technology isn’t the problem; yes, the next-gen console is running on newer tech then than the previous console, but it’s the simple and unassuming pixel that Bungie cites as the reason they decided to keep the consoles apart, gaming wise. They knew that some players would be hoping to go head to head within the same console family, but because the pixel count would be different they felt it would offer an uneven playing field.

And ya know what? They’re probably right.

I don’t know much about pixel counts and imaging as far as video gaming goes, but I do know about digital imaging in art and pixel sizing  related to visual art. I don’t think it would be much different than it is for photos, though. I know that to render the best quality of photos and hand-created art when uploading images in larger sizes such as painting, sketches, mixed media, these pieces show to their best advantage at a higher steadier rate. Gaming should be much the same.  At 3.3 megapixels, a photo has a pretty good resolution at 8.5 by 11 inches, color enlargement. To have a good quality resolution at a larger size, the pixels of the digital camera or cell phone have to be increased.

This pixel count difference is present in gaming consoles too. The PS3 would have a different pixel count to the PS4; that difference would create a different image quality within gameplay if the two were able to play together. The visual experience would be very noticeable and less spectacular for PS3 users, as would the gameplay itself. Players that say they wouldn’t care…well, they really would care if this caused an advantage for the next-gen console player over the last-gen console.

Bungie was determined that each player should get the best experience from their choice of gaming console. That means players are limited to their individual console ecosystems. And thus they keep the game field even without the debate of advantage or disadvantage hindering the players. So, this September, when you load up Destiny don’t think of how much you would enjoy being able to slaughter a friend who has a different console; think of how much you are enjoying Destiny’s flawless resolution and pixelation as it was meant to be on your console.

Reference: http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/07/21/bungie-explains-why-destiny-doesnt-have-cross-platform-play/

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One Response to “Destiny — the Question of Pixels”

1. Danger_Dad says:

   August 4, 2014 at 8:14 pm

   ;^) This has always been the way, since way back in the days of Pong, and similar. By definition, when hardware developers create a new platform, or a new revision of an existing platform, they add in features that weren’t present in the older fare. And as soon as a software developer creates code that actually uses one of those features, he’s created code that will not run on the earlier hardware, which then becomes that much more obsolete.

   There is no way around it, of course. It’s the trade-off for progress, inevitiable, but wistful just the same.

   :^/ In my home, I have a stack of tubs with my older computer/game consoles in them. If I wished, for nostalgia’s sake, I could dig out my old Commodore Vic 20 and plug in my Gorf cartridge, for example. Its eight-color glory would bring a smile to my face for a while…

   ;^) -but then it’d be time to put it all away again. The future is calling, after all, and I don’t want to miss it.

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