: Consider that the Genesis had split screen gaming at 60fps in 1992 with the
: release of Sonic 2. That system had a 7.6 mhz processor and 64KB of RAM.
: There is zero reason Halo 5 could not have done splitscreen. 343 simply
: had to lower the graphical fidelity, or simulation complexity to do so.
: They chose not to do this. Their hands were not tied.

A side-scrolling 2D sprite-based game from the early 90s is not the same as a first-person 3D polygon-based game from 2015. Most games over the past 10 years have played perfectly fine at 30fps, including every Halo game up to Halo 4, and nobody has yet to make the case that 60fps is objectively better for most games or for Halo specifically. And no, I'm not talking about simple visual differences. I could tell the difference between 30 and 60 the first time I played CoD2 on the 360 over a decade ago, and I didn't much care for it. I'm talking about actual measurable improvements in player performance. If most players performed the same at 60fps as they did at 30fps, then where's the justification for 60fps being prioritized over everything else when that higher framerate comes at a pretty significant cost?

Also, let's be honest. Halo 5's graphical fidelity isn't anywhere close to pushing any boundaries. For an 8th-gen exclusive it looks more like a remaster of a 7th-gen game, and even then it still cuts a lot of corners, with sloppy shadowing in many places and some glaring texture LoD-ing. As current-gen games go, Halo 5 isn't the prettiest thing around, and I personally think the new graphics for H2A's campaign look better.

Honestly, since Halo played fine at 30fps and there was no need to bump it to 60, 343i should have instead focused on improving the visuals and certain gameplay aspects. Instead they jumped on that 60fps bandwagon as many console gamers and devs are starting to get a massive hard-on for higher framerates. I find it ironic that so many gamers have complained about the current generation not resulting in pretty enough graphics but then turn around and act like the sole job of these new systems is to give us a 60fps framerate, even though higher framerates often come at a cost. It's hardly the only irony that modern gamers have provided, either (e.g., turn-based RPGs are lambasted as archaic these days, often by the same people who put 16-bit turn-based classics like Chrono Trigger among the best RPGs ever). But in general, I think most games this gen should have targeted 1080p60 except for fast-paced/twitchy shooters like CoD, fighting games, and possibly also platformers. Not every game needs 60fps. Most don't. Halo certainly didn't.