Previously, Microsoft had a development rule for all Xbox 360 games, multiplatform and exclusive alike, that all games must be a minimum of 1280 x 720 or 720p natively with AA or anti aliasing.

Only one game to my knowledge was given the approval to ignore this rule and that was Halo 3 which ran at 640p natively.

Sony never implemented or enforced this rule so it gave devs a little freedom to either put effort in other areas or just simply cut corners.

My theory is that this is the exact reason that alot of multiplatform titles look better on the 360. I don’t believe that 4 years into this gen that developers still don’t understand the PS3 or that one has a significant gain over the other.

Since the 360 launched in 2005, developers have had to work within a set of guidelines set down by Microsoft. One of those stipulated that games had to be running at a resolution of 1280×720 (720p). Not any more!

Black Rock Studio’s (ATV, Split/Second) David Jefferies has, in his regular column on industry site Develop, revealed that Microsoft recently dropped the requirement, meaning games can – if they want/need to – be released in lower, standard definition resolutions.

Of course, some games on the 360 have already been released in sub-HD resolutions. Halo 3, for example, which Jeffereis says was thanks to Bungie, “who got it waived”.

Wonder how much this decision has to do with recent findings revealing that less than half of Gears of Wars 2’s player base owns a high definition television?