The question of the day, “Do HD graphics matter to gamers?” If you’re currently rolling with a PS3 or Xbox 360 and you’ve got HDMI and or sweet component cables you’re probably saying, “duh, of course they do.” What about everyone else, those Wii consoles for instance, there are so many of those. What about gamers that do not know what HDMI means?
Let’s face it, an estimated 21-million people are still using over the air TV broadcast signal and a large portion of those think that their TV is high definition because it doesn’t have an analog dial anymore. Recent Nielson ratings are showing most gamers are still pushing PS2 hardware, which isn’t high definition.
In the US, HDTV sales only reach 25-30% of the population. Couple this with the fact that one in five HDTV owners can’t tell the difference between standard definition and high definition content and you’ve got roughly 20% of the population utilizing HD. Looking at the number of gaming consoles out there and the rate of uptake, it’s clear that a large majority of gamers are not using HD resolutions for their gaming needs. (loot-ninja)
We’d like to think 1080p looks much different than 480p but some people don’t seem to notice because, honestly, they just don’t care. We’d also like to think a PlayStation 3 buyer would be aware of the HD content and already have equipment at home to take advantage of the system. Although there are no solid facts to state otherwise, there must be a group of individuals that have purchased a PlayStation 3 and are rolling with SDTV (ghetto).
High definition graphics matter to people who want a true HD experience. Wii gamers don’t care about high definition because they’re focused on the game play environment or are just following the wave of hype and desire to own the infamous white box. The Xbox 360 gamers may go either way, a gamer wants to own the system because they can get a lot of cool new games for it secondary to the HD experience. The hot games just don’t get designed on the Xbox classic or PS2 anymore. We’d presume a PS3 gamer really wants to play a high definition game because the cost of the console is more and you’re getting a Blu-ray player all bundled into one.
HD graphics matter to us, we see the difference, respect the detail and use the HD portion of the console as an excuse for paying so much for the technology. The United States, as a whole, isn’t fully ready or equipped (mentally) for a full HD experience. When will they be prepared to experience high definition at its fullest?
My guess, five years after Nintendo makes the transition to 1080p. Nintendo is capitalizing on the “average Joe” and the average consumer is still catching up on the high definition. Hell, many gamers are still playing the dial-up game!
Maybe we need to start a new government funded orgnization: The No HD Left Behind Act. Everyone should be in HD.
In an interesting interview this week at 1up.com, 
The game industry, like other entertainment avenues, is a risky business in which publishers have to pick titles they “predict” will do well in the market while passing on other “risky” propositions. While a the good ol’ shooter title will break sales records, the market cannot rely on one genre to carry the business especially considering many of these titles are forgotten within two months from launch. Publishers are going to be forced in expanding their reach to “family games” in order to finance new blockbuster titles.
The idea of designing a “family” game isn’t new to our industry, as a matter of fact, it’s one of the oldest cornerstones of video game entertainment. Pong, Centipede, Pac-Man, Space Invaders and many other classic titles were no doubt playable by the entire family, but things have changed. We’ve evolved from hit titles like Donkey Kong to hit titles like Halo. We migrated from 2D gaming to full 3D adventures and pixel graphics to pixel shaders, but where do we go next?
You said: Wii gamers don’t care about high definition because they’re focused on the game play environment or are just following the wave of hype and desire to own the infamous white box.
Who are you to tell me what I care about? You think playing on the Wii means that somehow I’ve compromised my gaming cred and thrown a desire for quality graphics out the window?
Maybe I like a little variety in my life. Or maybe some support from veteran gamers will spur developers to follow in Sega’s footsteps and put some decent content on the little white box.
I own and play all three systems, along with several generations of other systems. And I don’t agree that ‘gamers’ need HD graphics to enjoy a good game.
i agree 100 percent on the issue i kno a lot of people wit 360 and ps3 system and people who dont have a hdtv in they house or just dont have none of them at all but when they come ovr to my house to my 360 they be like wtf where can i get that at or how u get a 360 wit hdmi on it mines doesnt have that at all i just tellem go to walmart or best buy yes fa the record i have a sony 60 1080p full hd with a halo3 edititon xbox and a 1200 watt onkyo 7.1 fa my gaming rig but i gave my ps3 to my brother in 07 they didnt have enough games for me oh and one more thing u can watch blu ray movies on ya 360 ya dig
Totally agree with this post. The truth is, it really doesn’t matter. Many people have come this far without HD and are happy to wait and see, it just isn’t seen as essential.
@bustin98: Who am I? I’m a guy writing an article about why Wii gamers don’t care about HD graphics? Who are you?
Yeah, I own a Wii as well along with a 360. My Wii is on my HD TV as well. Maybe I too bought it for “variety” and all that. When I purchased the Wii, I didn’t care about HD graphics so it wasn’t a big deal that it was 480p.
Does that change anything? No, not really. And, believe it or not “you” wasn’t speaking directly to you. It’s talking about the majority of Wii gamers, the average joe, the bigger pool of Wii owners.
The world doesn’t revolve around you. Believe it or not, I didn’t write the article about you directly. 🙂 I wrote it about the obvious trend in the industry which goes against what most folks would think, that high definition graphics in gaming are all that matters. They’re not, and the Wii provides some proof to that (and so does the fact that less than half the US has high definition to begin with).
It will all catch on eventually. Black & White TV’s existed for a long time after color was in production. TV’s aren’t investments people buy every two to four years like a PC or other gadget.
Whnen I first got the 360, I briefly played on SDTV, and didn’t see any real diff between it and the Xbox 1.
Then I got HDTV, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted transformed itself in HD. My jaw dropped.
I got a Wii, cuz i had been a Nintendo Fanboy since the NES days, and men, i’m not regretting getting that little box. I’m loving it more and more.
On the other hand, i also had a PS3, and i love it also, but the lack of good games, or that the sequels I waited so much for, and hence, bought the console for, aren’t appealing to me as much as I wanted. Also, playing the PS3 on a 21″ SDTV kill most of the text. We can see that most PS3/360 developers hadn’t gave a though about people who can’t afford the TV or don’t want to upgrade just yet to a HDTV and they don’t optimize the text for those resolution, making the text al blurry and hard to read, while on the Wii, you can read most of the text perfectly.
Still, i’m getting a 32″ HDTV LCD soon, just waiting for a loan to be repaid and then i’m getting one, still, the lack of consideration on the side of the developers is quite heartbreaking.
I had a friend who though that the graphics at Home were groundbreaking. I saw em on my SDTV, and on a 42″ HDTV with HDMI at a friend house, and I still can’t get to see those ground breaking graphics he’s talking about, i just see the average PS3 power being used over there