Here’s Why That Viral Motorcycle Game Footage Looked So Real

A clip of motorcycle racing game Ride 4 running at 60 frames per second and 4K resolution on the PlayStation 5 took the internet by storm back in September, prompting amazement from onlookers that modern video games could appear so photorealistic. I was impressed by the footage myself but couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Fortunately, the experts at Digital Foundry are really good at answering such questions, and they did so in a video uploaded last week. I just watched it myself and felt it was worth sharing.

Before we get into that though, here’s the original video of Ride 4 that racked up nearly 5 million views as of this writing, showcasing a race in overcast, drizzly conditions at the Northern 200 in Northern Ireland:

No question it looks fantastic. To explain the magic behind it, Digital Foundry hones in on several key attributes. The first, as Thomas Morgan notes, is the…