My background is in telecommunications (the technical side of video production), so I know that 30fps is (or was?) considered the standard for a lot of video. TV and movies don’t seem choppy when I watch them, so why does doubling the frame rate seem to matter so much when it comes to games? Reviewers mention it constantly, and I don’t understand why.
You can achieve the appearance of motion at lower frame rates, but when things are moving quickly the distance they move between frames can get quite high. You can cover this up with motion blur effects but it’s just not quite the same, and not so easy a process as when you are capturing real video.
Think of the difference between when a camera does a fast pan and when you turn your head quickly. I think if you really focus in on what you are seeing you will be able to notice some difference.
There is also a bit of that audiophile effect where lo-fi is good enough until you have got used to something better.