@MonkeyStew The last graphical/console transition also represent a leap forward in terms of verisimilitude that doesn't seem to be matched by what we've seen so far from the PS4. Sony can give us the numbers to prove that PS4 significantly improves on the 360 / PS3 generation of games, but the finished product looks merely (to me) like a polished version of what we already have.
I'm less interested in the overall graphical prowess of a game--does it have x number of polygons, this or that texture resolution, etc.--than what the hardware and game engine make possible as part of the gaming experience. A close analogy might be seen through the visual updates that heavy modding have made possible for Skyrim. Those YouTube videos of dozens of simultaneous mods display a game of higher visual quality that comes with more demanding requirements for system hardware. The basic structure of the game, however, remains the same.
When I think about what improvements I would want to see to a game like Skyrim, more realistic grass is not at the top of my list. What about a system hardware that enables a continuous open world without demarcations between exterior and interior space? What about improved AI? What about an open world that you could fly a dragon in without big losses to visual quality because of increased draw distance (if you've ever used Skyrim's free camera, you know that the game takes a break from rendering the stuff hidden by big things like the Throat of the World)? Similar things could be said for other open world games, or even less linear games like Mass Effect. Future hardware could conceivably fuel a more textured Mass Effect universe, escaping the feeling of isolated playable spaces existing in a void of mostly imagined intergalactic civilization. Whether or not the game's images begin to approximate realism is less important.
I wonder if they just determined that this would lead to more sales of the game. Is it any more complicated than that? I don't think the people making the marketing decisions about games really care what a gamer's experience is after they purchase the game, so long as they purchase it in the first place.
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