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[Lort]

Since 4tf at 1080 > 12tf at 4k... we should focus our “concern” on the real issue at heart.. the weakest GPU per resolution, the PS5.

The lack of GPU will limit game design for the whole generation ... please discuss.

Wow thats a great point Lort, if that extra tf on Xbox is used for better AI and physics calculations .. that game wont even work on the PS5!

This really sucks for those lockhart buyers who are buying such a great machine. A machine with the highest TF per pixel, the most spare CPU from lowerd LOD requirements and unused SSD bandwith from lower res textures will have to still suffer from PS5s port limitations.

 

[Komatsu]

FLOP comparisons became the new "my little black box is 64-bit and yours is 32-bit" of console war discussions.

Floating Point Operations Per Second is a useful metric but in the end it can tell us very little about a given platform can do.

In short, AMD [RDNA2 architecture] is able to deliver roughly the same performance as the previous generation, with a third fewer cores, less than half the memory bandwidth and using 25% less power. That's a very impressive showing, and while TSMC's 7nm FinFET manufacturing process certainly warrants some of the credit (especially in regards to power), the performance uplift is mostly thanks to the RDNA architecture.

 

[oldergamer]

300 isnt bad. At least from what im hearing that is half.

 

[The Alien]

There was a rumor a few weeks back that Lockhart would be half the price of Series X.

If Series X is $500 and Series S ends up being $250 they are move a shit ton of the S (and get a ton of GamePass subs)

Me?... X gonna give it to me!!! Lol.

 

[jakinov]

I think is not a matter of power or price is more about balance and perceived value.. and in this case the Lockhart will be the wild card as it will be significantly underpowered compared with the two main consoles, sex and ps5.. and although it will be cheaper I think it will not offset the fact that for the buyer it will be perceived as to getting a worst deal against sex and ps5..

We will see how this turn out... as I said I think the main buyer of next gen consoles for the first two years will be informed gamers that know what they are buying and want most value... so for me it will be a battle between sex and ps5.. as I assure you none of them will be more than 500 and possible they can even came lower.. specially ps5 digital.. in this scenario if Lockhart comes at more than 300 it will be dead on arrival..

For a lot of things that you buy, you pay more you get more. Cars, laptops, phones, tablets, etc. People are aware if you pay more you can get something better but because of their current financial situation, how much they want it or pretty much how they value the improvements on the better version, they will pick the one that's right for them. I don't think because there's something better out there they can't afford that it will deter people from buying it at all. A lockhart will seemingly have all the main features of Anaconda. It will have ray-traciing, 3d audio, improved graphics, and fast loading. It won't be able to do 4k or might run at half the frame-rate, but that might not be an issue for people. Because they might still get value from the other things I listed or simply just being able to play the new games at all. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and bunch of other companies have opted to offer downgraded version of their flagship products and the cheaper ones generally sell better.

 

[Nikana]

Wow great info Red Ranger.

Confirms a bunch! Lockhart is real, Lockhart won't hold back more powerful platforms (was always a dumb argument anyway), PS5 is easier to develop for and the XSX is more graphically powerful.

Red Ranger > Green Ranger confirmed as well.

Xaero Gravity

 

[THE DUCK]

Great post, does fact as stated confirm a lot of great things about lockheart.

Sony, sitting at home, reads article, holds meeting......what do we do? This machine is actually decently powerful and could cost us some sales/customers. Suggestions?

Employee suggestion:
"Just get a bunch of trolls together and have them say lockheart makes everything suck and that its weaker than this gen machines, the masses will eat it up and we can use repost it everywhere to make it seem legitimate"

Boss - "done, but dont worry guys, we don't have to do anything, there are people on gaming forums that are so clueless we don't even have to pay them to spread this bs!"

 

[Balducci30]

The hell is anaconda

 

[itsjustJEFF]

IDK but why would it? Based on accounts of the S, it seems to have the same architecture as the Series X. Only difference is much slower GPU and less ram. If they can keep the rest of it at least designed similarly but just slower then the games should scale nicely, especially if designed for the more powerful Series X. Really the thing that could hold things back is the Xbox One X. It is such a different architecture, no SSD, much more bottlenecks. If a game is designed for the Series X, with it's much faster SSD, with very little bottle necks, with all this tech meant for streaming in high-res assets imagine the amount of work that it will take to make it work on a One X. I would imagine the developer would have to almost rethink the game entirely. It might just end up easier to design for the One X and then optimize that game up to the Series X.

 

[Kataploom]

It is funny that there's more power difference between Xbone and XboneX than between XsX and Lockhart.

And even if the games were made for One X first and foremost, they'd still wouldn't be more complex than on Xbone base because in the end the CPU is what determines such complexity, and even more the performance than the GPU most of the time.

People really underestimate how much more power is needed just for a resolution bump, not even counting a 4x pixels plus.

 

[Fortuneelsewhere]

For a lot of things that you buy, you pay more you get more. Cars, laptops, phones, tablets, etc. People are aware if you pay more you can get something better but because of their current financial situation, how much they want it or pretty much how they value the improvements on the better version, they will pick the one that's right for them. I don't think because there's something better out there they can't afford that it will deter people from buying it at all. A lockhart will seemingly have all the main features of Anaconda. It will have ray-traciing, 3d audio, improved graphics, and fast loading. It won't be able to do 4k or might run at half the frame-rate, but that might not be an issue for people. Because they might still get value from the other things I listed or simply just being able to play the new games at all. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and bunch of other companies have opted to offer downgraded version of their flagship products and the cheaper ones generally sell better.

What I’m saying is that there is a sweet price spot for every market.. That’s why consoles can’t go higher than 400/500... if they go higher they will take a huge risk and probably they will fail.. but with this said there is no need also to undercut the price.. consumers are willing to pay the price if they find good value in the proposition.. and as I said before I think the gamers that will jump first buying new gen consoles are willing to pay that bit more to have the bast versions.. the sex or PlayStation.. of course there will always be outliers that will be perfectly find with Lockhart and that is fine but they will not be the main profile population that buy consoles at launch..

Besides your premise is that the Lockhart buyer ( presumably for a relevant cheaper price) will have access to all the benefits of next gen and the only constrain will be lower resolution.. and that for me sounds like what MS want people to believe.. the narrative is out there and some are going with it.. I personally don’t believe that for many reasons I post before..

Anyhow that is what I think.. I’m really curious to see if MS with this tactic of trying to appeal to everybody from the get go will pay off.. I think it will only generate more noise and PR sound bits with no real world gains..

 

[MrMiyagi]

I'm telling yas, we're all getting bamboozled! The Series X isn't MS's next gen console, a 4Tflops Series S with half the memory is. Series X is merely a mid-gen upgrade that they're releasing early. Just like it X1X its designed to play base console (Lockhart) games, just better.

Ps5 will have true next gen games optimized for a single platform with most of their big AAA exclusives probably running in 30fps/1440p. How are those not going to shit all over "Series X optmized" games designed for a 4Tflops Lockhart but running in 4k/60 or even 120fps? Hell, most people can't even tell the difference between 4k and 1080p.

 

[oldergamer]

I'm telling yas, we're all getting bamboozled! The Series X isn't MS's next gen console, a 4Tflops Series S with half the memory is. Series X is merely a mid-gen upgrade that they're releasing early. Just like it X1X its designed to play base console (Lockhart) games, just better.

Ps5 will have true next gen games optimized for a single platform with most of their big AAA exclusives probably running in 30fps/1440p. How are those not going to shit all over "Series X optmized" games designed for a 4Tflops Lockhart but running in 4k/60 or even 120fps? Hell, most people can't even tell the difference between 4k and 1080p.

Your theory makes little sense since ms announced xsx last year and still haven't announced series s.

You haven't been paying attention. Outside of gpu performance the S will have very little differences. The theory this will impact games or even porting to xbone is going to impact xsx titles. When ms shows games that support current and nextgen while still looking more next gen then what sony showed, what will you do?

 

[MrMiyagi]

Your theory makes little sense since ms announced xsx last year and still haven't announced series s.

You haven't been paying attention. Outside of gpu performance the S will have very little differences. The theory this will impact games or even porting to xbone is going to impact xsx titles. When ms shows games that support current and nextgen while still looking more next gen then what sony showed, what will you do?

That's because we're getting bamboozled! It would be embarrassing for MS to announce the successor to the Xone to be a 4Tflops machine, as that would barely sound like an upgrade (even though I know it still is, just not a spectacular one). So instead, they announced their premium Series X model first. Loads of people don't care about 4k/60fps but that is pretty much what the "Optimized Series X" badge stands for. Hell, all MS's been talking about is 4k and 60fps (or even 120fps), like that's the only thing that defines next gen visuals. Just look at the "Optimized for Series X" badge and you tell me what the core difference is between Series X and the Xbox One X?

 

[John254]

That's because we're getting bamboozled! It would be embarrassing for MS to announce the successor to the Xone to be a 4Tflops machine, as that would barely sound like an upgrade (even though I know it still is, just not a spectacular one). So instead, they announced their premium Series X model first. Loads of people don't care about 4k/60fps but that is pretty much what the "Optimized Series X" badge stands for. Hell, all MS's been talking about is 4k and 60fps (or even 120fps), like that's the only thing that defines next gen visuals. Just look at the "Optimized for Series X" badge and you tell me what the core difference is between Series X and the Xbox One X?

Sure. That's why Microsoft announced specs of Series X before Sony announced specs for PS5

 

[The Hamburglar]

According to this thread ps5 is now holding back Lockhart

 

[nikolino840]

Dosen't matter how many tf but how you maximize

 

[MrMiyagi]

Sure. That's why Microsoft announced specs of Series X before Sony announced specs for PS5

Well yeah, like I said it would have been embarrassing to announce a 4Tflops Lockhart as the official successor to the Xone. So instead, they announced the successor to the Xbox One X first. Hell, they're even calling Lockhart the Series S as in Xbox One S.
This way no one can blame MS for releasing a weak sauce next gen console. They already said they don't really care which Xbox you buy, as long as you play their games on GP or through Xcloud. Its also why we're only hearing Phil Spencer talk about 4k/120fps like its the only thing that defines next gen visuals, even though most people can't tell the difference between 1080p and 4k...

I'm willing to bet my entire Pokemon collection that you'll need to watch the July event in 4k and 120fps to see a clear difference between Halo Infinite running on a Xbone and the Series X.

 

[oldergamer]

That's because we're getting bamboozled! It would be embarrassing for MS to announce the successor to the Xone to be a 4Tflops machine, as that would barely sound like an upgrade (even though I know it still is, just not a spectacular one). So instead, they announced their premium Series X model first. Loads of people don't care about 4k/60fps but that is pretty much what the "Optimized Series X" badge stands for. Hell, all MS's been talking about is 4k and 60fps (or even 120fps), like that's the only thing that defines next gen visuals. Just look at the "Optimized for Series X" badge and you tell me what the core difference is between Series X and the Xbox One X?

No offense, but that is a pretty dumb theory. Xsx came first and lockhart came after. I dont know why you think there is something fishy here or perhaps you would rather have sony compete with the less powered console. Reality is they look like they out maneuvered sony in a few ways and it could really impact things going forward.

 

[BabyfaceRe]

Great to see this type of post from someone in the know. Vast majority of people are utterly clueless on how games are actually made(sadly a lot of journalists also seem to come under this category) and just spout thier opinion.

 

[Nickolaidas]

Good news. I didn't want next-gen games to suffer because of the Series S.

 

[Three]

I'm telling yas, we're all getting bamboozled! The Series X isn't MS's next gen console, a 4Tflops Series S with half the memory is. Series X is merely a mid-gen upgrade that they're releasing early. Just like it X1X its designed to play base console (Lockhart) games, just better.

Ps5 will have true next gen games optimized for a single platform with most of their big AAA exclusives probably running in 30fps/1440p. How are those not going to shit all over "Series X optmized" games designed for a 4Tflops Lockhart but running in 4k/60 or even 120fps? Hell, most people can't even tell the difference between 4k and 1080p.

This is also the reason they sent out Anaconda dev kits and not Lockhart ones. They wanted the devs to create for Anaconda and port down without a lot of work but this won't keep up. They are sending out the lockhart dev kits, sales for lockhart will pick up (more than series X in the long term) and that's what most devs will develop for.

 

[Metnut]

If a 4 TF machine can do everything the Series X can do but only in 1080p, then the TF difference between PS5 and Series X is even less significant than I thought.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Sony made the right move focusing on things other than maxing out TF.

 

[Nikana]

If a 4 TF machine can do everything the Series X can do but only in 1080p, then the TF difference between PS5 and Series X is even less significant than I thought.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Sony made the right move focusing on things other than maxing out TF.

Just depends what your goals are as a console maker. Neither strategy is "right"

 

[oldergamer]

If a 4 TF machine can do everything the Series X can do but only in 1080p, then the TF difference between PS5 and Series X is even less significant than I thought.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Sony made the right move focusing on things other than maxing out TF.

That was the narrative though, that TF no longer mattered. a 4TF console in lockhart would outperform a 6TF Xbox one X.

I still don't buy the TF not mattering argument. Specifically when its talking about chips using the same architecture. It was a convenient excuse to explain power differences. There are more features to the consoles that TF don't explain however. Not to mention efficiencies that don't factor into that performance metric.

 

[ResilientBanana]

That means they are going to use that huge power gap for scalable effects and resolution bumps? GPU is just for graphics apparently? Maybe thats why Sony is investing in some Playstation Ai. GPU can be used to give enemies deep learning of your attacks. Its a bummer, if the extra power is just used on frames and resolution bumps. Oh wells at least we got a SSD. Only thing that thats selling me to next gen right now.

Don’t give yourself false hope. Both systems have AI and Machine Learning. But amazing AI in games is never going to happen. They’ll be too hard.

 

[FStubbs]

FLOP comparisons became the new "my little black box is 64-bit and yours is 32-bit" of console war discussions.

Floating Point Operations Per Second is a useful metric but in the end it can tell us very little about a given platform can do.

Sony and Microsoft are both using x86 AMD GPU/CPU solutions so I think we're comparing apples to apples here.

 

[01011001]

FLOP comparisons became the new "my little black box is 64-bit and yours is 32-bit" of console war discussions.

Floating Point Operations Per Second is a useful metric but in the end it can tell us very little about a given platform can do.

it is extremely helpful for comparing 2 chips using the exact same architecture.

the performance scales almost perfectly with the TFLOP difference in these cases.

look at comparisons between PC graphics cards of the same architecture, the performance difference is almost always exactly how you'd expect by just looking at the TFLOP numbers.

a 4TF RDNA card usually reaches exactly 50% of the performance of an 8TF RDNA card when running the same game at the same settings.

so let's say the 8TF RDNA card plays a game at exactly 1440p60fps. you can realistically expect the 4TF RDNA card to run it at 1440p30fps at the same settings (if we assume the card doesn't also have a way lower VRAM bandwidth that would make it harder to reach high resolutions)

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

If a 4 TF machine can do everything the Series X can do but only in 1080p, then the TF difference between PS5 and Series X is even less significant than I thought.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Sony made the right move focusing on things other than maxing out TF.

You do realize MS could've gone with variable frequency too and pushed over 13 TF, right? So them basically saying they prioritized other things and felt 12 was a good number should indicate they haven't been pursuing brute strength.

They just happened to have a higher Tf performance target while also focusing on many other aspects of their design ,more or less like Sony. I don't know why some of you keep looking at this as an either/or. Both companies could've pursued a very balanced design yet one also ending up with more TF.

 

[geordiemp]

Oh Dear where to start.
The dev comments are for Borderlands 3, a cell shaded game that is last gen and made for Jaguar and HDD access - it wont have huge textures or any harsh requirements.

A last gen cell shaded game that should be a cakewalk for all next gen console,s still does not tell you that much.

Even though Valhalla is cross gen, that will be a more interesting comparison, but we need a next gen only title really to make any conculsions, something like Medium or hellblade maybe on XSX side, Ratchet or HZD2 on Ps5 side..

 

[Nikana]

Oh Dear where to start.
The dev comments are for Borderlands 3, a cell shaded game that is last gen and made for Jaguar and HDD access - it wont have huge textures or any harsh requirements.

A last gen cell shaded game that should be a cakewalk for all next gen console,s still does not tell you that much.

Even though Valhalla is cross gen, that will be a more interesting comparison, but we need a next gen only title really to make any conculsions, something like Medium or hellblade maybe on XSX side, Ratchet or HZD2 on Ps5 side..

I puked from how dizzy this comment made me.

 

[geordiemp]

I puked from how dizzy this comment made me.

Interesting, are you hung over lol ?

Whats complicated about what I said ?

Do you think Borderlands 3 would be a taxing game to uprate for next gen ?

 

[MrMiyagi]

No offense, but that is a pretty dumb theory. Xsx came first and lockhart came after. I dont know why you think there is something fishy here or perhaps you would rather have sony compete with the less powered console. Reality is they look like they out maneuvered sony in a few ways and it could really impact things going forward.

It makes perfect sense to me. Think about it, the XoneX is about 4 times more powerful than the Xone. But did games on the XoneX really looked that much better and showed a massive jump in visual fidelity compared to the Xone versions? Of course not, all games were designed to look and play identical across both consoles. So in the end what could developers really do with 4 times the gpu power? Absolutely nothing, besides just unlocking framerate and a bump in resolution. It's the exact same thing we're seeing now with the Series X and the Series S.

Only thing is that it's not going to work once we're midway into next gen and developers start testing the limits of Series X. Then we'll probably see more and more games running in 30fps/1440p, which would look like a giant smear on your tv if they have to be scaled down to 540p on Lockhart.

 

[Nikana]

Interesting, are you hung over lol ?

Whats complicated about what I said ?

Do you think Borderlands 3 would be a taxing game to uprate for next gen ?

 

[Nikana]

It makes perfect sense to me. Think about it, the XoneX is about 4 times more powerful than the Xone. But did games on the XoneX really looked that much better and showed a massive jump in visual fidelity compared to the Xone versions? Of course not, all games were designed to look and play identical across both consoles. So in the end what could developers really do with 4 times the gpu power? Absolutely nothing, besides just unlocking framerate and a bump in resolution. It's the exact same thing we're seeing now with the Series X and the Series S.

Only thing is that it's not going to work once we're midway into next gen and developers start testing the limits of Series X. Then we'll probably see more and more games running in 30fps/1440p, which would look like a giant smear on your tv if they have to be scaled down to 540p on Lockhart.

It's almost like the technical aspects of the machine are relient on the architecture overall ability of the chipset and not floating points.

 

[geordiemp]

You obviously have no intention what so ever of countering my points or engaging as you clearly have nothing to say......so whatever.

 

[Nikana]

You obviously have no intention what so ever of countering my points or engaging as you clearly have nothing to say......so whatever.

 

[geordiemp]

OK, I will use simpler bullets

Borderlands 3

• Last gen game for Jaguar and HDD
• Cell shaded graphics
• Does not push anything technically demanding grahically or IO requirements

Should I use capitals if it helps you read them, maybe a bigger font ?

I dont expect a reply, because you cant, so go find another GIF.

 

[Nikana]

Can you actually reply to my initial post if you disagree and stop being a fool

The only fool here is the one that took one line of an entire post and turned it into narrative that somehow discredits the entirety of the rest of the information.

So kindly stop with the name calling.

 

[geordiemp]

The only fool here is the one that took one line of an entire post and turned it into narrative that some discredits the entirety of the rest of the information.

So kindly stop with the name calling.

What I said does not discredit the information presented in this thread, my comments puts the information in Context, the information says how well consoles will run a last gen cell shaded game - it is what it is.

That does not imply the same logic and expectations can be applied to games written for zen2 with high detailed assets being constantly streamed, and you know it.

 

[Deleted member 775630]

OK, I will use simpler bullets

Borderlands 3

• Last gen game for Jaguar and HDD
• Cell shaded graphics
• Does not push anything technically demanding grahically or IO requirements

Should I use capitals if it helps you read them, maybe a bigger font ?

I dont expect a reply, because you cant, so go find another GIF.

The person he knows is a developer. It doesn't matter for which game, really. That person is a developer that knows how the industry works, so if that person says:

It is indeed the same CPU and SSD and getting up and running on this device was super easy compared to Anaconda running in the Lockhart profile. We have been able to do the work we want on Anaconda and get it running on Lockhart with not a ton of work but it has required a bit more time to make sure the code runs on both machines in the same fashion. Its not something we are really worried about anymore. As the generation goes on I feel like this will be the approach for many studios. You start on Anaconda and then optimize for Lockhart. There is nothing the Lockhart can't do that the Anaconda can.

Why are you questioning them purely because they are making a cross-gen game? Do you think they don't know their job and don't understand anything about I/O or ray tracing?

 

[geordiemp]

The person he knows is a developer. It doesn't matter for which game, really. That person is a developer that knows how the industry works, so if that person says:



Why are you questioning them purely because they are making a cross-gen game? Do you think they don't know their job and don't understand anything about I/O or ray tracing?

Its a valid post and good points from the studio doing the port, just putting the performance expectation into context, we dont know the differentials for more taxing next gen games. Nothing more, nothing less.

Read into the above how you want.

 

[Deleted member 775630]

Its a valid post and good points from the studio doing the port, just putting the performance expectation into context, we dont know the differentials for more taxing next gen games. Nothing more, nothing less.

Read into the above how you want.

True, but if the developer with experience thinks it will be OK, I think it's weird that you try to discredit his opinion purely based on the current game he is working on. Not only that, at the same time you believe that Microsoft purposefully would release a weaker console that would hold back their premium console for some more sales. That the XSX is basically purely created for marketing reasons.

 

[Nikana]

What I said does not discredit the information presented in this thread, my comments puts the information in Context, the information says how well consoles will run a last gen cell shaded game - it is what it is.

That does not imply the same logic and expectations can be applied to games written for zen2 with high detailed assets being constantly streamed, and you know it.

 

[geordiemp]

So Nothing but GIfs ...Thanks for the stimulating conversation.

My Ps4 played borderlands 3 at mostly 60fps and 1800p, its not taxing is it,.

 

[eastwood333]

Well yeah, like I said it would have been embarrassing to announce a 4Tflops Lockhart as the official successor to the Xone. So instead, they announced the successor to the Xbox One X first. Hell, they're even calling Lockhart the Series S as in Xbox One S.
This way no one can blame MS for releasing a weak sauce next gen console. They already said they don't really care which Xbox you buy, as long as you play their games on GP or through Xcloud. Its also why we're only hearing Phil Spencer talk about 4k/120fps like its the only thing that defines next gen visuals, even though most people can't tell the difference between 1080p and 4k...

I'm willing to bet my entire Pokemon collection that you'll need to watch the July event in 4k and 120fps to see a clear difference between Halo Infinite running on a Xbone and the Series X.

Well you're right if there is Ray Tracing involved. Other than that, XSX version will have other bells n whistles beside higher resolution and framerates. It should have more detail(grass, shadows,), better draw distances, perhaps more AI/enemies on screen etc...

Halo Infinite on XSX is going to be a looker.

 

[MrMiyagi]

Well you're right if there is Ray Tracing involved. Other than that, XSX version will have other bells n whistles beside higher resolution and framerates. It should have more detail(grass, shadows,), better draw distances, perhaps more AI/enemies on screen etc...

Halo Infinite on XSX is going to be a looker.

I don't know man. Did we ever see better ai, more enemies on screen on Xbox One X or a pc in ultra settings? If there are graphical upgrades they'll likely be only superficial as the core game experience is designed with parity in mind. I'm sure it will be looker, though, with amazing art style. However, I'm also sure the pc version will require very modest hardware to be visually on par with the Series x version (minus the 120fps and 4k, of course) and that the Xbox version isn't going to look all that much different.

That'll be the big difference between the AAA ps5 exclusives. I mean if Horizon Zero West would get a pc version, the minimum requirements would probably be something like a RTX2070 Super or higher and a NVME SSD.

 

[Yams]

That'll be the big difference between the AAA ps5 exclusives. I mean if Horizon Zero West would get a pc version, the minimum requirements would probably be something like a RTX2070 Super or higher and a NVME SSD.

This just isn't true. Horizon Zero West is running in 4K. A significantly less powerful GPU would be required to run it at 1080P, assuming the CPU and SSD were the same. You know, like we're seeing with Lockhart.

 

[sendit]

And it's already been explained to you, several times, how those "gameplay" features and mechanics can either be scaled down, or removed for the lower-end platform. You're just choosing to ignore that but that is on you.

Too many enemies on-screen? Just reduce the enemy count. AI logic too complex? Just scale it back through profiles that change depending on what platform the game is running on. If anything, financial investment will be a much bigger deciding factor on what game features are adopted in the first place (and their degree of complexity) than scalability being hindered by any particular factor.

With AAA games in particular generally getting more homogenized in game mechanics, it should be obvious that corporate risk aversion is the biggest thing getting in the way of the gameplay innovations you're hinting to, not GPUs of different power levels (wherein the programming logic for those hypothetical gameplay features can be scaled up and down depending on system capabilities).

Scaling compromises game design and artistic vision. Take for example the recent Cyberpunk trailer and compare it to what we saw 2 years ago. NPC count was considerable scaled and the world just looked empty.

 

[MrMiyagi]

This just isn't true. Horizon Zero West is running in 4K. A significantly less powerful GPU would be required to run it at 1080P, assuming the CPU and SSD were the same. You know, like we're seeing with Lockhart.

True, but we don't really know in what resolution the final game will run like. GG doesn't seem like a developer to waste valuable resources on native 4k and it could be using checkerboard rendering for all we know.