Microsoft on 1080p/60fps -- "These little things get way overblown"

The real differences between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games are "pretty minor," so making a point to get worked up over benchmarks like 1080p and 60fps isn't worth it, Xbox director of product planning Albert Penello has said.

"Look, I've had a lot of time to think about this and I believe in what I said. I believe that the differences [between the PS4 and Xbox One] is not that great," Penello said during the latest Gamertagradio podcast. "And I know what is going behind the scenes and I have access to more information about some of this...than a lot of people. Sometimes I think people tend to neglect the points that are in my favor and they like to highlight the points that tell me that I am wrong. Right now, I still think Ryse is still the best looking game on any platform. Period. End of story."

Square Enix revealed earlier this week that the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition will run at 60fps on PS4, while the Xbox One frame rate remains a mystery. Penello said it could be true that Tomb Raider runs at 30fps on Xbox One, but pointed out that the Xbox One is just a couple months old and experiences are only going to get better with time.

"I think if you look at the titles that we launched that were multiplatform titles, the bulk of them were the same [resolution and frame rate]," Penello said. "I think there were 12 titles released on both platforms [PS4 and Xbox One], and all but three of them had basically the same performance on both boxes. Everybody wants to focus on...there's a frame rate thing going on with Tomb Raider, there is a resolution thing going on and OK, there's a lot of reasons why that could be true but we are weeks in, we just shipped, it's a long generation."

"I think people who bought an Xbox One are going to be in for an awesome generation of games that are only going to get better," he added. "And an awesome generation of experiences. I think these little things get way overblown versus like the quality of the games and the real differences in the two experiences which are pretty minor."

Penello was joined by Xbox chief of staff Aaron Greenberg on the podcast, who offered a unique analogy for the differences between the Xbox One and PS4 with respect to the ongoing 1080p/60fps debate.

"At the end of the day, it's like we're the movie theater that has all the blockbuster movies and has the most screens," Greenberg said. "And then somebody has figured out that there's also another movie theater that has less screens but like if you look at this one movie sometimes it looks better on their screen. And on our movie theater, sure, sometimes some of our movies look better. You know what, I think the games on PS4 look fantastic. I play them, I enjoy them. I think they've done a great job with their device. I think it's great for the industry that they've had success. At the end of the day, if I have to pick one box, I'm going to pick ours. I work here. I root for the home team. I'm very biased. I feel like if you're going to buy one box, you should buy the Xbox One because it does deliver an all-in-one experience. It does have the best exclusives. It does have the best-looking games."

Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida told GameSpot last year that native 1080p allows you to be a "better gamer."

"I don't think any team is just fixated on 1080p; it's just one of the options...but [1080p] games allow you to be more precise and a better gamer. That's clearly the benefit," he said at the time.