As a kind of follow-up to ArsTechnica’s previous round of technical articles on the hardware that powers the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, they decided to step back a bit from the technical details and take a broader look at how the next generation of consoles fit into the home entertainment picture.
A Look Ahead at the Next-Generation Console Wars
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Check out some comments from the vice president of Epic Games:
http://www.n-sider.com/newsview.php?type=story&storyid=1475
In the video, he says something like (and I’m paraphrasing here): Somebody asked me what we had going in our next-gen games besides graphics. And I said, ummmm … the graphics. Because it’s all about the graphics.
Yeah, well … what happens when the graphics get to a point where they’re so life-like, you can’t improve them anymore? Then you and your ilk are going to be dead in teh water because you wouldn’t know a thing about innovative gameplay if it reached out and bit you on the ass.
I look at it this way – if you go with Sony or Microsoft, you’re going to be playing pretty much the same games you’ve been playing for the last 10 years, except this time your’e going to pay $60-$70 for the privilege. I guess that’s ok if you want to play Tony Hawk Vol 17 or Madden 8000, but I’ll have to pass.
When you look at the top-5 bullet-point features for the 360, do you see anything about innovative game play? Hell no, but you’re going to see removable faceplates – something to satisfy generation iPod, who apparently doesn’t know any better than to ask for something other than making them goddamn console look pretty and getting more of the same gameplay all over again.
My bets are on the Revolution. True, it may end up sucking when it’s all said and done with, but at least it’s going to suck trying to do something different. The 360 and PS3 are going to suck right of the gate. Hell, they suck now and they haven’t even been released yet.
Yeah, well … what happens when the graphics get to a point where they’re so life-like, you can’t improve them anymore?
That ain’t likely to happen anytime soon. As it happens, it’s always pretty easy to hit the machine’s limits when doing 3D games. It may happen eventually, but we’ve got a long way to go before we can create life-like dynamic environments that are as large as, say, a small town. (By life-like, I also mean that you can look up any object real close and not see pixelated textures…)
But that’s besides the point. Of course, graphics won’t replace gameplay. The problem is that, even with great gameplay, people still want better graphics all the time.
I look at it this way – if you go with Sony or Microsoft, you’re going to be playing pretty much the same games you’ve been playing for the last 10 years, except this time your’e going to pay $60-$70 for the privilege.
Well, artists sure aren’t going to get paid the same amount when increase in poly count and texture memory means that it takes more hours to make the game. Increase in production value means increase in game budgets.
However, this has little to do with Sony or Microsoft. It’s game publishers you should be venting your frustration at. Also, while it is true that Nintendo does indeed like to take chances, there are innovative and original games being published for the PS2 and (to a lesser extent) the Xbox as well. Look at Katamari D’Amacy, one of the most innovative games in years: it’s a PS2 exclusive.
That said, the reason why you don’t see that many original games is that – unfortunately – people don’t buy them as much as they do the next sports franchise or first-person shooter or GTA installment. Some innovative games do sell, but most don’t (at least not as much). This makes publishers (especially american ones) very wary of innovative titles.
When you look at the top-5 bullet-point features for the 360, do you see anything about innovative game play?
No, and nor should you. Making innovative games isn’t Microsoft’s job, it’s the job of the game developers (and of publishers, in the sense that they must finance those types of games more).
My bets are on the Revolution. True, it may end up sucking when it’s all said and done with, but at least it’s going to suck trying to do something different.
If it’s up sucking then it will suck, and that sucks. Trying new things is important – and I do agree that the revolution controller is intriguing, to say the least – but doing something different just for its own sake is pointless. The fact is that some games are not original, but they are fun to play because they are well-executed. Originality is not a guarantee of fun – and that’s the main goal of a game: fun.
The same is true of other mediums. Most films aren’t terribly original, and some masterpieces are very traditional in their treatment: that’s because originality isn’t the be-all, end-all that some (like you) make it up to be – and this is true from a popular point-of-view as much as from a more “artistic” one.
The 360 and PS3 are going to suck right of the gate. Hell, they suck now and they haven’t even been released yet.
That’s not a rational statement: you haven’t had one and you haven’t seen the games that will be available for it over the course of the next year, so you can’t possibly make that judgement.
They’re just hardware: by itself they can’t suck. It’s the games that’ll make the difference.
First off, grrrr, I hate these type of threads. Even if someone is not a fan boy some times they come off to be. (Just a general comment about a lot of the posts)
”
When you look at the top-5 bullet-point features for the 360, do you see anything about innovative game play?
No, and nor should you. Making innovative games isn’t Microsoft’s job, it’s the job of the game developers (and of publishers, in the sense that they must finance those types of games more).
”
I think you may be missing something. True it’s the developers that should be creative not the console makers.
But the system makers should care about giving the developers the opertunities to inovate. Hell they should care about innovation because in the end that will sell your system.
A lot of people say the last consoles did not inovate in any way. They simply increased the power. I am not sure I fully agree. In a way the increase in power allowed for more interactive games. GTA was a console seller for sony. It could only happen on some powerfull hardware.
Now these new systems I believe are not that way. They are not powerfull in a general way. They simply make good graphics. I believe the visuals are good enough and the AI/Physics needs to be tackled. This is what Microsoft and Sony are not doing. Is the big N? I have no clue yet.
I think you may be missing something. True it’s the developers that should be creative not the console makers.
But the system makers should care about giving the developers the opertunities to inovate. Hell they should care about innovation because in the end that will sell your system.
Not necessarily, and in a way it pains me to say so. In this respect the game industry isn’t as mature as, say, the film industry.
Anyway, Nintendo has tradionally been the trailblazer for hardware innovation. However, they seemed stuck on younger demographics, while studies show that more and more gamers are in their 20s and 30s. It remains to be seen if the Revolution controller will indeed be a revolution, or if it will go the way of the gimmick. Personally I find it very interesting, but we’ll see. The EyeToy seemed very promising a year and a half ago, but now it’s kind of fizzled out a little.
Now these new systems I believe are not that way. They are not powerfull in a general way. They simply make good graphics. I believe the visuals are good enough and the AI/Physics needs to be tackled. This is what Microsoft and Sony are not doing.
I disagree, at least as far as the PS3 is concerned. I think we’ll be able to do some pretty interesting physics stuff with the Cell processor. As far as AI goes, that’s not really hardware dependent – it just requires good AI design. That’s not a trivial thing, by the way… 🙂
I am in no way saying that Nintendo’s approach will be the right one. But I do believe the idea of move options is the correct path.
Personally I never found the EyeToy promising. Also it should be noted that things like are not in the system. They must be bought externally. So developers are much less keen on the idea of using them. Sadly I think that is a major issue with Nintendo’s idea of different attachments.
I do believe is partly AI dependent. The type of code that is generated for AI will probably not run optimaly on the CELL. Sure AI is in the hands of the developer but they will be limited on how complex it can be because of how many execution cycles they are willing to spend on it. The same goes for physics.
Now if developers will sacrafise graphics for AI/physics/gameplay is another issue. But making the developer worry so much about that is a system designer issue.
Sure AI is in the hands of the developer but they will be limited on how complex it can be because of how many execution cycles they are willing to spend on it. The same goes for physics.
Ultimately that depends on the type of game you’re making, but AI is rarely the biggest hit on CPU. Of course, if you have 100 highly advanced AIs running at the same time you’ll feel it (on the current consoles at least) however you rarely need to be running that many AIs at once. I don’t know enough about Cell programming to know how efficient AIs will be on the architecture, however I truly believe that developers do have the necessary tools to make good AIs – just not the expertise.
As far as physics go, I’m pretty sure the Cell will be able to help. Anyway, it should be an interesting battle this time around, with MS going first (something which hurt Sega the last time around).
Not necessarily, and in a way it pains me to say so. In this respect the game industry isn’t as mature as, say, the film industry.
Then that proves that maturity doesn’t necessary bring good quality. The best cinema (at least in america) was made in the ’70s. Nowadays we get mostly crap from this art, and maybe 1 or 2 great masterpieces a year.
I disagree: there’s great movies and crap being made in any era, and I don’t believe the ratio is any different now than it was in the 70s – but that’s a matter for another debate! 🙂
The fact is that it is still easier to do experimental/auteur cinema than it is to experiment in the game industry (to my experience).
“I think you may be missing something. True it’s the developers that should be creative not the console makers.
But the system makers should care about giving the developers the opertunities to inovate. Hell they should care about innovation because in the end that will sell your system.”
I would have thought that by expending so much time and resource developing and equipping XNA for the use of the devs, this would give them the chance to innovate. When devs are not struggling to get the hardware to do the basics they can spend more time and money developing what should come next.
The new dashboard on the 360 seems pretty innovative to me too; you can barely do an Alt-Tab in Windows when playing games without them dying or becoming unresponsive half the time. Abstracting most of the common Live and system functionality into a layer that is persistent, even when playing games or watching DVDs, is something that just hasn’t really been done to this level before, especially with consoles.
I agree there are some features that will save time.
My issue is that the base of the systems hardware is focused on graphics. I would rather see a more general system that allows developers to go in different directions.
Also a devkit could be great a getting cookie cutter games out and suck at allowing a dev to create something truly creative. Now I am not saying any of the dev kits are this way! I have never used on personally. I am just saying it could be this way.
Word. Although the greatest graphics an artist can do is not reality but art. The game should always be of such substance it could entertain without graphics so between the two gameplay is of far more importance.
This is how technobabble works. First you regular processors and give them ‘funky’ names or acronymns. Then you can make bold claims of floating point and pixels. Underneath it all is still a REGULAR processor. Thats right ! A regular pc like processor.
But guess what! People have been fooled. The psuedo-techo crowd which think they know but really don’t are gushing to everyone about how incredible the processors are . Even some of the true CS majors are fooled.
But behind the scenes the chip designers and upper management people are smiling with glee ; reading messageboards about a SUPERPOWERFUL processor that will conquer the the world of electronics .
In reality could probably make a better,faster console by yourself by just joining two ‘good’ graphic cards together with a good processor for game logic.
In reality could probably make a better,faster console by yourself by just joining two ‘good’ graphic cards together with a good processor for game logic.
Perhaps, but it’d cost you more, and you’d only be able to play PC games… 🙂
Seriously, I don’t understand why people are so jaded. Sure, it’s wont be the second coming, they’re just slightly more powerful consoles. So what? If you’re not interested, just don’t buy one. I don’t like the hype any more than you do (hype killed the Dreamcast which was a damn good console with some great games), but I’ve come to accept it as part of the game industry.
That said, the Cell processor sure is an interesting challenge to develop for.
Also, many posters don’t seem to grasp that the next consoles are really Sony and MS’s bid to grab the Media Center crown…just imagine a TiVO-like add-on (possibly with MythTH) for the PS3.
There’s billions at stake here, with Sony and Microsoft’s involved – you’ve got to expect some hype! 🙂
“hype killed the Dreamcast which was a damn good console with some great games”
The person speaks the truth.
(hype killed the Dreamcast which was a damn good console with some great games),
I guess it all depend on your point of view. As much as I agree the hardware itself was really great, the whole game library, except few rares occurences, was garbage. I only remember enjoying Soul Calibur & Crazy Taxi. That’s pretty much it.
As much as I agree the hardware itself was really great, the whole game library, except few rares occurences, was garbage.
I respectfully disagree. Of course, it’s not as extensive a library as it could have been, but there was a lot of high quality games for the console, which – it should be noted – was the first to offer online play (albeit narrowband for most).
I only remember enjoying Soul Calibur & Crazy Taxi. That’s pretty much it.
Among the great Dreamcast games, in addition to those you’ve already named:
– Resident Evil: Code Veronica
– Rayman 2
– Space Channel 5
– Phantasy Star Online
– Shenmue (not fun until the end but an important game in what it tried to do)
– Samba de Amigo
– Grandia II
– Skies of Arcadia (still one of the most beautiful RPGs in my own taste)
– Quake III
– Tony Hawk (the first one!)
– UFC Ultimage Fighting Championship
I’m sure I’m forgetting some…
-Jet grind radio
-Test Drive Le Mans
-Test Drive V Rally
-Sega Sports NBA 2k, and 2k3
-Sega Sports NFL 2k, and 2k3
To name a few more of my favs.
Ah! How could I forget Jet Grind Radio! One of the most innovative games to come out during that period.
– Virtua On: Oratorio Tagram: very hard game but rewarding
– F355 Challenge: rewarding is the ability to enhance your driving skill
– Sega GT: although not really a Gran Turismo, the ability to build your own car is the reason I prefer it over Gran Turismo
– Chu Chu Rocket: online gaming is a blast
– Shenmue series: the ability to continue the story with stored item from Shenmue Yokosuka is the reason I prefer the Dreamcast version over Xbox even though the latter is enhanced graphically.
– D2: one of the most underated game. Really scary, great audo and visual effects and challenging gameplay.
– Sonic Adventure: try to play it on a PC monitor with VGA port, you will never come back to the normal TV screen.
– What I missed with this current generation on sport games (NFL, NBA, MLB and hockey) is the ability to secretly choose the tactics, the ability to play mini games then exporting the items to the games.
I think DC still has potential left much like developers pushed the Playstation 2 despite its awful specs. Its awesome visual quality was the best.
Nobody mentions Rez? I’m shocked and disappointed.
Seaman!
Where the hell is Bangai-O, Virtua Tennis, Headhunter and Chuchu Rocket in that list?
… Safe to say it was more than a “few” good titles out for the DC.
lol…guys, I said my list incomplete, give me a break! 🙂
“Nobody mentions Rez? I’m shocked and disappointed.”
It surely did a lot for the lone ladies in the PS2’s special japanese edition…
…Oh! and was pretty interesting with it’s gameplay style! ;]
many fun games …
http://dreamcast.ign.com/index/choice.html?ordering.order=desc&orde…
the dreamcast is my all-time-favorite
soul calibur
grandia 2 (only grandia 1 has a better OST than this)
metropolis street racer
jet set radio
sonic adventure
VIRTUA TENNIS!!!! i never thought that playing tennis on a console would be pure fun o_O
chuchu rocket
schenmue
skies of arcadia
headhunter
floigan brothers
crazy taxi
f355 challange
…
man, did I spend a lot of money i this console @_@
PS:
the first console to offer online-gaming was the megadrive (genesis)
A lot of it is technobable and it most certainly isn’t the second coming…
That said, from a purely architectual stand point, IBM’s cell processor and its 7 SPEs are pretty cool
I was fortunate enough to attend a talk by one of the compiler designers for the cell chip. After all those years of the same architechures getting bumped up in speed, it is nice to seem something more unique.
While I agree with the author that we need something new and now. I don’t think the problem is on the hardware right now but more on what the companies produce. Which can be resumed as “Too much FPS” and this for any system out there.
Well the hardware is part of the problem. It’s the hardware that is designed around graphics, not gameplay. Everyone is thinking of these systems as a general increase in power. That is not the case, they are focusing the increase on graphics power. Not things that involve gameplay such as AI and physics. In that sense they are saying lets get more FPS that look pretty.
An increase in power is somehting that is needed for better AI. That, and a good developer. The hardware has almsost nothing to do with how good an AI is, unless the AI itself is limited by the processing power of the system, which it’s generally not. It has to do with how good the developers are.
Read up on the architecture of the Xenon and Cell. They will perform poorly on AI and physics. So yes, AI will be limited because the developer will have to work harder to make the performance hit acceptable.
You need to remember these processors are not your every day general processor. The choices made when designing them allow performance increase in one area but will hurt others.
Read up on the architecture of the Xenon and Cell. They will perform poorly on AI and physics.
Actually, most of what I’ve read on the Cell indicates that its architecture will be pretty good for physics simulation (which is not considered “general computing”).
Of course we still have to wait another 6 months (at least) before finding out…
“Actually, most of what I’ve read on the Cell indicates that its architecture will be pretty good for physics simulation (which is not considered “general computing”). ”
Could you give me some links to that? All tech articals I have read have said otherwise.
“Of course we still have to wait another 6 months (at least) before finding out…”
Very true. When did the PS2 developers start complaining about the PS2 and it’s dev kit? I figure we will hear about any issue in the same time frame.
Could you give me some links to that? All tech articals I have read have said otherwise.
I didn’t keep the links, but if you Google “Cell processor” with “physics” you should get something.
Did you have any links to technical articles stating that Cell will suck at physics simulation? From what I understand, those kind of formulas are well-suited to being treated in parrallel.
Very true. When did the PS2 developers start complaining about the PS2 and it’s dev kit? I figure we will hear about any issue in the same time frame.
Heh. Developers complain all the time…but actually, it really is the engine devs that will complain, as they’re the ones who will have to get down and dirty with the hardware. Things aren’t going to be that different for game devs, designers and artists.
Yes, I’ve heard that actual CPU performance will be quite dismal when compared to the actual specs of the CPUs (both Cell and the IBM tripple core), but the fact still remains that there is significantly more power in there than a the PIII currently in the Xbox (and certainly a LOT more powerful than the PS2).
That being said, good AI has been developed in the past on slower hardware. I say again, actual CPU power has little to do with how good the AI can be. It has more to do with how well the developers code it it.
The “IBM triple core” IS the Cell, and the power that is available is probably the best on the market at this time, and there is still future potential with the same chip.
Where do you people come from ?
This has been discussed all over the interet for a LONG time.
The IBM triple core is NOT the cell. That was/is the xenon cpu.
my bad, I’m a dumbass
Come dude! Think about it…
Microsoft is not that innovative, and it requires more
effort and money to start something from scratch.
(Its about selling online services and playing games…
Of course, MS will use some subscription service.
Money! Money! Money!).
Its about releasing your product ahead of your
competitor, use your market machine, etc, etc.
(The usual tactics).
Sony is more about cutting edge, no matter the cost.
(Push current technology to its utter limit…Pray it
doesn’t go wrong or customers will still buy it).
IBM is just cheering that virtually all the consoles
will have processors made by them!
(they also have Cell blade servers…Running Linux,
of course!)
I would not say the CPU performance will be dismal, it will just be dismal at things they are not designed to do. In this case, things such as AI.
Also I have always kind of liked the EE of the PS2. Not sure why, I was just always found of it. It was more the lack of a real GPU that killed it IMO.
“That being said, good AI has been developed in the past on slower hardware. I say again, actual CPU power has little to do with how good the AI can be. It has more to do with how well the developers code it it.”
Sure good AI had been done on slower hardware. But I cannot believe the CPU power has little to do with how good it can be. AI is very CPU intensive. The more complex your AI gets the more CPU intensive it gets.
Sure the quality is dependent on the algorithms but can your extremly complex algorithm be computed fast enough for gameplay? What if you have a realy good AI for battlefield bots. But once you get 30 of them on there (the graphics can support it) can the left over cpu power handle it?
In such a case, then the game developer would be expected to downgrade the graphics a bit in order to achieve better gameplay. Not saying that is how it happens, but that is what should happen.
It’s all up to the developer as to how to utilize the system.
I think the author drew some fair conclusions from the evidence he cited. However, especially on the Sony side, i think he left some big things out.
#1: In recent months, Sony has shown a bit of a loosening when it comes to support of other formats. PSP can play MP3’s for instance, while most if not all previous Sony products were atrac only. Also, while MS Duo will clearly be the keystone format for PS3 and PSP going forward, PS3 will be able to read Compact Flash and SD cards. In what function remains to be seen.
#2: The author completely neglected the PSP as it relates to Sony’s future stategy. PSM magazine reported that PSP and PS3 will communicate in many interesting ways. One of which will be streaming video from the PS3 to the PSP over the internet. PSP recently recieved an update which turns PSP into a LocationFree client. I believe PS3 will make use of this functionality, and may even be a full-fledged LocationFree base station.
#3: Though the author makes a good point about Sony’s PC interactivity, PS3 is expected to stream media from PC networks. And it won’t require you to be running Media Center Edition to do so.
The author also forgot to mention Sony’s approach to DRM – Install virus like DRM systems without their users knowledge.
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-…
That’s Sony Music, not Sony Computer Entertainment. They are part of the same corporation but are distinct entities.
I remember reading that the XBox360 also uses an IBM processor, I think with 3 cores or something. But Technical details don’t matter. Maybe it’s a Xenon maybe it’s a Cell… it could be a StrongARM for all I care. As long as the games are good and playable, and the controller is comfortable after 2 hours+ of play.
That’s the nice thing about consoles for me, that makes them preferable to PCs for gaming. You don’t have to worry about what’s in the box or how it works. You just put the game in and play.
people complain about innovation in gaming, and then have a dreamcast “good games” list that misses most of the interesting titles on the system
what about space channel 5? where is mr driller? games like rez and ikaruga came out for DC before their ps2 ports… games like Garou Mark of the Wolves, Last Blade 2, and Twinkle Star Sprites were finally available on console for those who didn’t have a Neo Geo (in TSS’s case, the many who do not have saturns). dreamcast and the naomi arcade board in particular carried the flag for shooters (border down, psyvariar, gigawing, mars matrix, etc) in an age where their challenging gameplay was no longer welcomed
people hold up the dreamcast for interesting titles, and then list mainstream titles that have received endless sequels
people cry and cry about innovation, and you don’t see them listing umihara kawase shin or sillouhette mirage on their list of playstation 1 favorites; you don’t see vib ribbon fans, or crowds of parappa/um jammer lammy players, or tripuz for that matter… final fantasy 7 fans as far as the eye can see
innovation in gaming has always been there, the sad fact is that seldom do any innovative games get any press… finally, saying something like “look at ico” or “look at KD”, they’re out on PS2, is akin to saying “look at the innovative PC games, they’re all written for windows”
Sony lost the plot, just look at the freak monstrosity that is the PS3. When the PS1 came out it was a new era of gaming and it delivered without fail – the focus was on developers seeing what they could push the very limited hardware to do, before publishers told you what game you will make.
Everytime in history people have been presented with an underpowered computer, it has always bred innovation and creativity unmatched. Consider the C64 and PS1, the two most pushed bits of hardware ever produced. To cram QuakeII into 33MHz and 2MB RAM at 512×256 is nothing but incredible.
I think the factor most people in this discussion have neglected is backwards compatibility.
Each successive generation of the PlayStation is backwards compatible with the previous one. XBox 360 doesn’t have that feature, I don’t think the Nintendo box does either.
I think that feature is what will continue to drive people towards the PS series. People have a set of favorite games, and while they may want to play new games, they don’t want to lose their investment in their existing library.
The PS2 being able to play PS1 games was huge because the PS2 didn’t launch with that many impressive titles.
I loathe Sony for a lot of reasons, but I have to agree that the backwards compatible bit is a great feature.
I wish more companies would follow. I’m not sure what MS could have done since the 360 is a PPC and the original was an x86, but I suspect they could have done something…
Seems that contrary to what was said at E3 PS3 will not be fully backwards compatible. Even games like Tekken 5 won’t work on PS3.
http://www.ps3today.com/Blogs/News/hqs/blr_831.aspx
It’s the same list as with the new Silver Slimline PStwo. However from what i’ve read Tekken 5 works… just the Tekken 3 arcade game extra doesnt. But such incompatiblities are no diffirent than the PSX->PS2 jump. There were about 50 games that had problems or didnt run at all.
WTH? The Nintendo is going to be the most backwards compatbile console of them all. You don’t know much about the console of you didn’t know that. The Revolution will even be able to download all Nintendo titles from the NES to the N64. And the console itself supports Gamecube games right out of the box.
On top of what others have said, Microsoft also stated that they would have backwards compatability.
The Xbox 360 is only backwards compatible in the form of software emulation for select titles.
I don’t follow the site that did this write up, but if it’s accuracy as anywhere near the technical specs in this article, I’m glad I don’t. The 360 uses a Cell chip made by IBM, NOT a Xenon.
que question to you troll is: why do you speak when you dont know?
cell was R&D’ed by Sony and IBM, period.
do you really think that MS would be able to use it know? after all the money sony has spent?
Xenon was R&D’ed by MS and IBM, period.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2005/10/ibm_describes_x.html
just read.
What are you talking about? Have you read any of the spec sheets on the processors? Inside the cell there is a single xenon core. The 360 has three of these xenon cores.
What are you talking about? Have you read any of the spec sheets on the processors? Inside the cell there is a single xenon core. The 360 has three of these xenon cores.
You’re an idiot – the basic processor core in these chips is called the PPE (POWER Processing Element). This is a 64bit PowerPC designed to do in-order instruction execution at a high clock rate. The Xenon CPU in the XBox 360 has three PPE’s. The Cell has one PPE along with 7 SPEs (Synergistic Processing Elements).
You REALLY need to go read the available documentation. Start at IBM’s Cell webpage:
http://www.research.ibm.com/cell/cell_chip.html
Use the links in the frame on the left.
hahaha. Now guy, idiot, I think that’s a bit harsh. In my rush to post I simply put xenon instead of PPE. Was my statement wrong, sure, but it was simply a brain fart.
As for me needing to REALLY read that, I already have.
I will say my post seems even more wrong because I was telling someone to read docs and I flop some MAJOR terms. No excuse really, I just messed up.
Although I am kind of surprised that you didn’t pickup on the fact that I simply put xenon instead of PPE.
Although I am kind of surprised that you didn’t pickup on the fact that I simply put xenon instead of PPE.
Yeah – sorry about that. Looks like I’m an idiot too.
hehe.
I guess that you guys don’t actualy see the good thing about PS3. Ken said that will run GNU/Linux on it. That is a really great thing.
Most of the APIs used are open and that can very much help games go into GNU/Linux.
Oh, and for the physics, Sony and MS signed an agreement that they will be using the Ageia SDK (and maybe their physics chip?).
Sure it’ll run GNU/Linux. Just like the PS2 does. Just like toasters run NetBSD.
Someone porting GNU/Linux to the PS2 has nothing to do with games being written for GNU/Linux.
Actually, it looks as if Linux on the PS3 will be bigger than the Sony PS2 Linux kit…I believe it may be part of Sony’s “Media Center” plans. After all, if they want to challenge microsoft for the Home Entertainment crown, it only makes sense.
The fact that the SCE CEO specifically mentioned it should not be brush aside so casually…
The functionality of Ageia sdk will be 100% implemented in software.
If you look at the launch line up for XBox360 then you’ll probably get an enormous sense of deja vu.
Xbox launched in the UK (please note, so I’m going from memory here) with the following games,
Halo, Project Gotham, Dead or Alive 3, Amped, Test Drive
XBox360 launches with these games,
Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham 3, Dead or Alive 4, Amped 3, Test Drive Unlimited
No wonder people are saying the gaming industry is going to implode and there is a lack of innovation. Not only this but Microsoft are continuing to shove Halo down people’s throats as if there is no tomorrow. With regard to PS3, MS said they would launch Halo 3 on the same day and there is now even a SPARTAN playable in Dead or Alive 4. I would not be in a least surprised to discover a Warthog drivable in Project Gotham 3, such is their seeming lack of originality.
I await the PS3 with hopes that there will be more games like God of War, ICO and Shadow of the Collosus to restore my faith in gaming.
Consoles seem to go down the crapper ever since it focused on being like PC gaming. PC Gaming is what it is, and Consoles will not dethrone it in that category. Online FPS is for PC not consoles.
Right now the epitome of Consoles is being just like the PC and it has broke from its root of being a relaxing sociable and even physical (moving around and intimidating those next to you) experience.
I honestly think the revolution might bring consoles back. And though the other 2 consoles may have a higher market share, customers are only ultimately getting a dumb down PC experience.
Not to burst your bubble, but console gaming is in much better shape than PC gaming, by a longshot. More major games are published for consoles than for PCs, a greater variety of genres are available for consoles than for PCs, and even traditional PC turfs like online FPS have begun to be targeted by consoles as well.
If it wasn’t for a few core companies such as Id, Bioware, Blizzard, Valve and Microsoft, there would practically be no PC game industry to talk about.
Right now the epitome of Consoles is being just like the PC and it has broke from its root of being a relaxing sociable and even physical (moving around and intimidating those next to you) experience.
I disagree. Obviously you haven’t played DDR or EyeToy games…of good old fight games, for that matter! Playing Soul Calibur II with my roommate is very physical!
I also disagree that Xbox and PS2 customers are getting a “dumbed down” PC experience: lots of games are available for consoles that aren’t available on PCs. Just this week, I played We Love Katamari, Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus and SSX On Tour. None of these games are available for PC (AFAIK).
gameplay, but honestly, what’s left to innovate besides graphics before we get into the realm of virtual reality. Let’s face it, pretty much everything you can do with 2D has been done. Seems to be a lot of people hailing Katamaran Damacy though for the life of me I don’t see what’s so impressive about illustrating the snowball effect. Let’s face it, there only so much you can do with a video game which is why until virtual reality gets here, no FPS will really be able match something like paintball. Because you’ll still be sitting on your lazy ass in your computer chair stuffing your face with twinkies and moving a mouse around rather than actually being out there in the woods running and shooting.
Granted stories in RPGs can be good or bad, the graphics made more realistic, and the overall experience more intense, but that’s the basically the extent of the improvements to be made. But what a difference between an old game like Pole Position and Burnout:Revenge.
More importantly, todays’ gamers simply need to recognize how spoiled they are, how we’ve had it so good for so long that now for many, nothing will ever be good enough again.
Seems to be a lot of people hailing Katamaran Damacy though for the life of me I don’t see what’s so impressive about illustrating the snowball effect.
It’s not just the snowball effect, it’s the fact that you gradually get bigger, and can thus roll bigger objects, and that the scale changes within the span of a single round. The first time I started rolling cars and houses I completely flipped. Also the visual style is very bold.
Of course, it’s not a “revolution”, but innovation doesn’t mean that things are entirely new. Often it means that small things are done better.
Personally, I think “innovation” is probably one of the most abused words I’m hearing these days. I’m personally in favor of banning it altogether…
Let’s face it, pretty much everything you can do with 2D has been done.
There’s plenty left to be done. Look what Nintendo’s done with 2D games over the course of the last five years (heck, just the last year) when everyone else claimed 2D gaming was dead.
Granted stories in RPGs can be good or bad,
Or they could actually make them more like RPGs — it seems Enix has been content with what they did with Dragon Quest 1 in 1988 and everyone else has just aped it (adding in useless fluff) instead of actually grabbing more from the actual source (real RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, and the like). Because that’s all the unwashed masses ask for — more of the same.
But what a difference between an old game like Pole Position and Burnout:Revenge.
Not enough to redeem the industry. There’s plenty of room for innovation. If the creators of Pitfall or Adventure or even Super Mario 64 had just sat on their respective rear ends and said “all the types of games that could possibly exist have already been created”, we’d be much poorer for it today. Yet none of these games seemed obvious at the time.
And you don’t have to come up with a whole new genre to be creative — witness Resident Evil, which took the classic adventure game to new heights, and then again with Resident Evil 4, or Metroid Prime, which has some of the trappings of a First-Person Shooter but most definately is not.
“There’s plenty left to be done. Look what Nintendo’s done with 2D games over the course of the last five years (heck, just the last year) when everyone else claimed 2D gaming was dead.”
Still waiting for an example there. Always some people deifying NEC and for what? Because they proved they could rehash Mario and Yoshi innumerable times. Nintendo hasn’t done anything but improve on earlier ideas like all the console makers have.
“Not enough to redeem the industry.”
Not enough?? Burnout: Revenge is the most intense game I’ve ever seen. A three hour session of that game and you’re needing a tranquilizer.
“If the creators of Pitfall or Adventure or even Super Mario 64 had just sat on their respective rear ends and said “all the types of games that could possibly exist have already been created”, we’d be much poorer for it today. Yet none of these games seemed obvious at the time. ”
That’s funny because I had an Atari 2600 back in the day, and I never considered Pitfal innovating, just that annoying game where you had to time your jumps perfectly or die. But it really just emphasizes that when all they had to do was make a better game than pong, it was not big deal. Basically, game designers had it easy back then. Videogames have always had movies and books to get their ideas from, and they’ve milked it appopriately.
“Because that’s all the unwashed masses ask for — more of the same.”
Knights of the Old Republic was game of the year. A very ambitious undertaking by Bioware. Let’s face it. D&D was passe in the 80s, just that there’s alot of teenager and pre-teenagers who don’t know it.
Still waiting for an example there.
WarioWare, Yoshi Touch & Go, Electroplankton, etc.
Knights of the Old Republic was game of the year… D&D was passe in the 80s
You do realize that KotOR runs on an extremely cut-down, limited version of the D&D (d20) ruleset, right?
The one thing that killed the Dreamcast was Microsort…
MS was working with Sega providing the modefied WindowsCE that powerd it… wile Microshaft gather what they came for… Stabing Sega before the first year of the Dreamcast… Microshaft hiped their console about one an a half years before releasing the XBlock… 1 GHz prosesor they said… 128 MB they said… Sega lost lots of developers after of that…
Sega did many mistakes before… and when they were about to prosper… they made their last mistake… play with the devil, Microsoft…
Why would one of your parners make their own when they are supose to be working with you…
Microsoft took out one competitor before even realeasing their first console… Many companies have been stabed by MS… few even know about…
If there is one thing that killed the Dreamcast it was microsoft and the XBox hipe… not the Dreamcast hipe…
-iMoron
I disagree. It was the PS2 hype that killed the Dreamcast, not the Xbox. I remember that period quite well.
I’m the first to criticize Microsoft for its underhanded tactics, but here they’re not really to blame. It really was the PS2 hype that hurt the Dreamcast. MS tried its own hype against the PS2, but it didn’t quite work out, as the PS2 is the clear market leader.
I was put off the Dreamcast when it was released due to all the negativity about it in the multi-format magazines. But I picked one up second hand for next to nothing a while back and I can see it was a fantastic console with a lot of great games. Not as many as were available for more successful consoles, but enough to provide a massive amount of entertainment. I bet 3DO and Jaguar owners would have killed to have had 10% of the games released for the DC.
Bangai-O was worth the cost of the Dreamcast on its own, that game was had more playability than 20 average PS2 games put together, pure genius.