Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games, recently gave his opinion on Microsoft’s move to include HDMI in the Xbox 360. In a discussion with Stephen Tolito, Rein said that Microsoft has slipped up on this issue.
Rein commented, "I think Microsoft made a mistake when they tied Xbox 360 so much into HDTV. What they should have done — it’s complicated jargon, but they should have talked about high-definition visuals and high-definition TVs as separate things. Yes, the high-definition TV will improve the look of the high-definition visuals, but you still get much higher-definition visuals on Xbox 360 than you do on Xbox or PS2 [on a standard TV]. Much higher."
He continued by going into nerd-speak by saying, "In actual fact, the apparent resolution goes way up on an SD TV because what is ultimately happening is the picture is being down-sampled."
So perhaps the hype about HDMI and HDTV graphics isn’t as important as we all thought; or at least, this is what Mark Rein believes. But in the meantime, those who continue to use standard television sets for gaming can rest assured that they don’t necessarily have to upgrade just yet to enjoy the benefits of better graphics.
