it is, but that only applies in 2d. there isn't any directly comparable equivalent in 3d presently. at least not any that directly avoids quantization
implicit surfaces can adapt to camera position to avoid faceted/linear silhouettes, but resolution scaling isnt an accurate analogy.
texturing is a separate function from model format(polygon, nurbs, bspline patch, metaball, or point cloud). Any model not using octrees will still require a 2d mapping to store arbitrary colors not localized to a vertex. Even ptex still stores color on a uv matrix just with thousands of unjoined edges. as long as it is a 2d format, high res textures will be high res. Octrees can circumvent this limitation but come with their own complications when it comes to workflow.
You don't seem to know enough about 3dCG to be making these arguments.
Subdivision surfaces with adaptive tessellation can achieve the non-faceted/camera-scalable surface representation you are hoping for at reasonable performance costs on current hardware. No one has an engine designed for it yet, but it can be done. Regardless, the underlying base mesh will still be vertex/polygon based.
The main problem delaying implementation is the pipeline operator stack and other game interaction properties(collision/sound event/etc) haven't been worked out beyond some limited technology demonstrations.
Until 95% of all gaming hardware(consoles, pc with discrete graphics, mobile devices) are powerful enough to handle a game using 100% subdivision-surface-with-displacement-mapped ingame assets, no developer will make a complete game that scales to all resolution displays.
The adoption of dx11 will be the metric that signals when the shift to subdiv will occur. But since the next nintendo system is only licensing a 4770 design and the next xbox gpu is unclear, it may not happen until the gen after.
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