Performance mode destroyed the point of video game consoles.

One reader is annoyed by the game’s performance mode option, claiming its use undermines the main advantage of owning a console.

Choice is not always a good thing. Not so with technology. A lot of modern marketing and social media is about pretending you can get things the way you want them. You are encouraged to think that the world revolves around you, even if companies know it’s just fake. Of course, as a general concept, choice is what everyone wants. But sometimes lack of choice is actually more convenient.

Lack of choice is, and always has been, the principle behind video game consoles. All consoles are the same everywhere in the world, at least until the last generation. It plays the same game in exactly the same way, and you always know you’re getting the best performance a console, or at least a developer, can offer.

No need to worry about graphics card settings, controller compatibility, or resolutions. It’s the game itself. Buying a PC is an option if you want to spend two hours getting the game working before playing. But for me, the beauty of consoles is that you can just start a game and be instantly in the game without having to think about the hardware for a second. Or at least it used to work that way.

PS4 Pro and Xbox Series X is where it all started. Suddenly, halfway through the generation, we have two new consoles. These promised more power, but were very vague as to what that actually meant. There was a lot of buzz, as if it was the one technical standard that gamers have always wanted.

Suddenly I had to make a choice between resolution and performance before I even started playing the game. I couldn’t have both. The game wasn’t built with one mode in mind to run the best possible on the hardware at hand. Instead, the developers gave up on all optimization attempts and shifted the problem to the player. If the resolution isn’t good enough, it’s your responsibility. If the game doesn’t go smoothly, it’s because you made the wrong choice.

The situation is exacerbated in the new generation, where games are suddenly filled with four or more different modes, primarily 30fps or 60fps frame rates, but also ray tracing and 120fps, which prioritize various conflicting choices. did. Unlike the 4K resolution decision, these differences really matter and should determine if your game looks better or plays better. you can’t have both.

There is rarely a middle ground, it has to be one extreme or the other, and I’m sick of it. You don’t have to make the worst choices before starting the game. I hope games are designed to get the most out of the console, not because it forces you to make hard choices about optimism.

When playing games these days, especially multiplayer games, it’s no longer safe to know that everyone else is playing with the same limits as I am. Multiplayer games are now as easy to play as PC players with very powerful machines, mouse, keyboard and cheats installed.

I’m tired of choosing. In particular, it’s not what I want. I’d like to have the option of not playing with the PC owner or the person using the keyboard, but no… that’s not allowed. If that’s the case, it would be nice to take away the choice of performance mode from everyone. If he wants to tinker with settings all day he buys a PC, and if he wants to play games right away he doesn’t have to constantly worry about choosing the wrong performance mode. But that option no longer exists.

Just imagine how bad it would be with the next gen or even the PS5 Pro alone. I’m here. Worse, I’m not sure Sony and Microsoft even realize that’s the future they’re aiming for, but they’re destroying the console’s overall point and purpose. .

hypo by readers

Reader functionality does not necessarily represent a GameCentral or Metro view.