4s: Saturation + sexy Screenshots sell. If you want to be competitive in a saturated market you goto have AAA graphics for promotion. Thus tons of work.
I wonder how much this will last. On the other hand, maybe the point is not selling the game to people who see the ad, but merely to use them to prop up download numbers.
Mainly because, at least for mobile game ads, the quality of the fake gameplay video is technically achievable by my device. But the major problem is that the ads often show a much more fun and interesting game, mechanics and graphics…
Everyone knew the images on the box weren't real, that seems an odd thing to complain about.
The point of the article is to find success at smaller levels before aiming higher.
However, you're right that good-looking screenshots sell, but that's just good art and not exclusively AAA art.