Pixel counters at the ready!  There’s been some debate over the final rendering resolution of Metal Gear Solid 4.  Screenshot pixel counting has been hazy, so the first sign of a possible resolution is found in the launch of the Metal Gear Online Beta.  The Beta has now begun in Europe (yes it’s up, go and play!) and the results are in.

Over at Beyond3d technical forums, resident video game investigator Quaz51 (who also happens to be Eurogamer’s source in their console face-offs), has now proved his suspicions right.  MGO renders natively at 1024by768.

This resolution is not 768p as you might suspect, since 1024by768 is not a 16/9 isomorphic resolution.  Instead, it’s equivalent resolution (contains the same number of pixels) is 1182by665 – or 665p.  It is thus accurate to say MGO renders natively at 665p.

Why this resolution? Rendering at this resolution can aid in post-processing effects, help with tiling through the RSX graphics chip, and also has the advantage of natively supporting 4/3 Standard Definition TV’s.  In addition, MGO has been confirmed to run at 30 frames per second.

There have been many “sub-HD” games this generation, from Halo 3 to Call of Duty 4.  To most the differences will be negligible and won’t detract from the gameplay experience.  Moreover, with MGO offering a higher resolution than the above two games along with 2xAA (gets rid of teh jaggies), you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference.

It’s still uncertain whether this will be the final native resolution of MGS4. For now, go and enjoy the Beta!