A
AirRaid
http://tinyurl.com/f8pqn
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PS3 Hardware issues: Teething troubles or a deeper problem?
Well it's no secret that the PS3 was going to be hard to program what
with Hideo Kojima making comments like the PS3 could be described as a
meal you would have on very special occasions whereas the Xbox 360 is
likened to a meal you would have more often. Take that as you will but
analogies aside, what is clear is that developers are going to need to
work that little bit harder to get the most, performance wise out of
the system. However with the multitude of technical issues that arises
when programming new hardware and ultimately making a saleable product,
are Sony's problems with its new hardware going to prove too much for
developers and ultimately consumers especially if development incurs
additional costs which translate to more expensive games?
Looking at the potential problems with the PS3 it is clear to see that
longer development times could pose a massive problem for Sony
especially in regards to third party developers. Unlike Microsoft with
its XNA tools, what support can Sony give to its developers especially
when we are receiving reports such as the general processing of the
multiple processors are a pain to work with and that Sony engineers are
having problems fixing graphical and slow down issues with the system?
So, what are the issues some developers are having with the hardware?
Well reports have been abound that the PS3 is having problems with
slowdown with this being linked to the number of objects and effects
being displayed at any given time. With next generation graphical
effects and techniques such as HDR lighting, HD resolutions, shadows,
antialiasing, parallax mapping, and even normal mapping which thus far
have posed no problems for the Xbox 360 the PS3 seems to be having many
issues with these. Coding these effects into games is what is expected
from developers to be incorporated within next generation titles and
the assumption is made that the PS3 will be able to handle these
effectively; however reports surfacing and received by us are
indicating that the PS3 suffers immeasurable slowdown and unsteady
frame rates which are not a result of poor coding but in fact the fault
of the PS3 architecture and Nvidia graphics processor.
It's widely reported amongst those who have had hands on experience
with both the Xbox 360 and PS3 that the Xbox 360's graphics processing
ability is superior to that of the PS3 and it appears that there may be
some issues here. Some have gone as far as estimating that the PS3's
graphics processing ability is about 75-85% of the Xbo 360's. However
the validity of the claims is questionable since there are simply too
many variables to consider. On the surface it would look like ATI's
Unified Shader Architecture which is used in the Xbox 360 is paying
dividends and allowing developers to get the required results from the
system.
Looking at programming for the PS3 and on the general processing side
of things it has the multiple processors which according to a few
reports are a pain to work with in general. On paper the PS3 has a
massive amount of power available, but in reality this is proving
difficult to hook into and a lot of the raw power is simply unusable.
As always it's clear that once developers become more accustomed to
using the PS3 and the development tools/profilers improve then better
results will be accomplished. However the same can be said for those
developers working with the Xbox 360. It's a learning process which
hasn't been aided by the fact that many development teams received
their PS3 final dev kits late and doesn't bode well especially when
big name companies are also reported to be having the same problems
with the PS3 with Sony engineers being unable to resolve the extensive
list of the problems developers are experiencing. We are now hearing
insider reports which go as far as claiming that a tried and proven
game engine and graphical techniques used within a game currently
available for the Xbox 360 is unable to sustain performance on the PS3.
Sony's E3 press conference had an air of confidence about it and
whilst its conference was perhaps on the corporate side it's clear
that on the surface at least Sony is proud and very pleased with the
PS3. However the underlying reported problems don't necessarily mean
that as some gaming forum posters would put is "Sony is doomed" but
more what are the implications of such issues for the gamer? Well
already gamers are divided over the forced inclusion of the PS3 Blu Ray
player and of course the inflated price point of the system. Ultimately
if developers are having issues with the system then this in turn could
present unexpected game delays, potentially buggy products and the more
obvious longer development times.
Another thing that wasn't clear after E3 this year was that of the
price of the games. Could this area be where the programming problems
have the most direct impact in relation to the consumer? Well the jury
is still out but I suspect that with the Blu Ray disks in combination
with increased developer times or more importantly increased developer
costs could well mean PS3 games being more expensive than their Xbox
360 counterparts. I guess this would hit home more if say multi-format
games (which have also been reported as being an issue, programming
wise due to both systems very different architecture) are released with
no graphical/game play differences whatsoever other than the increased
price for the PS3 version. November is fast approaching and so I guess
now it's up to Sony in the limited time available to iron out these
issues, otherwise potentially games are going to be hit with long
delays and gamers are going to think even harder about whether they
should buy a PS3 or not rather than simply rushing out to buy one based
on the name alone.
............................................................................................................................
and merk bliggy cries to his mamma, screaming "but it's not true, it's
not true".
....................................................................................................
PS3 Hardware issues: Teething troubles or a deeper problem?
Well it's no secret that the PS3 was going to be hard to program what
with Hideo Kojima making comments like the PS3 could be described as a
meal you would have on very special occasions whereas the Xbox 360 is
likened to a meal you would have more often. Take that as you will but
analogies aside, what is clear is that developers are going to need to
work that little bit harder to get the most, performance wise out of
the system. However with the multitude of technical issues that arises
when programming new hardware and ultimately making a saleable product,
are Sony's problems with its new hardware going to prove too much for
developers and ultimately consumers especially if development incurs
additional costs which translate to more expensive games?
Looking at the potential problems with the PS3 it is clear to see that
longer development times could pose a massive problem for Sony
especially in regards to third party developers. Unlike Microsoft with
its XNA tools, what support can Sony give to its developers especially
when we are receiving reports such as the general processing of the
multiple processors are a pain to work with and that Sony engineers are
having problems fixing graphical and slow down issues with the system?
So, what are the issues some developers are having with the hardware?
Well reports have been abound that the PS3 is having problems with
slowdown with this being linked to the number of objects and effects
being displayed at any given time. With next generation graphical
effects and techniques such as HDR lighting, HD resolutions, shadows,
antialiasing, parallax mapping, and even normal mapping which thus far
have posed no problems for the Xbox 360 the PS3 seems to be having many
issues with these. Coding these effects into games is what is expected
from developers to be incorporated within next generation titles and
the assumption is made that the PS3 will be able to handle these
effectively; however reports surfacing and received by us are
indicating that the PS3 suffers immeasurable slowdown and unsteady
frame rates which are not a result of poor coding but in fact the fault
of the PS3 architecture and Nvidia graphics processor.
It's widely reported amongst those who have had hands on experience
with both the Xbox 360 and PS3 that the Xbox 360's graphics processing
ability is superior to that of the PS3 and it appears that there may be
some issues here. Some have gone as far as estimating that the PS3's
graphics processing ability is about 75-85% of the Xbo 360's. However
the validity of the claims is questionable since there are simply too
many variables to consider. On the surface it would look like ATI's
Unified Shader Architecture which is used in the Xbox 360 is paying
dividends and allowing developers to get the required results from the
system.
Looking at programming for the PS3 and on the general processing side
of things it has the multiple processors which according to a few
reports are a pain to work with in general. On paper the PS3 has a
massive amount of power available, but in reality this is proving
difficult to hook into and a lot of the raw power is simply unusable.
As always it's clear that once developers become more accustomed to
using the PS3 and the development tools/profilers improve then better
results will be accomplished. However the same can be said for those
developers working with the Xbox 360. It's a learning process which
hasn't been aided by the fact that many development teams received
their PS3 final dev kits late and doesn't bode well especially when
big name companies are also reported to be having the same problems
with the PS3 with Sony engineers being unable to resolve the extensive
list of the problems developers are experiencing. We are now hearing
insider reports which go as far as claiming that a tried and proven
game engine and graphical techniques used within a game currently
available for the Xbox 360 is unable to sustain performance on the PS3.
Sony's E3 press conference had an air of confidence about it and
whilst its conference was perhaps on the corporate side it's clear
that on the surface at least Sony is proud and very pleased with the
PS3. However the underlying reported problems don't necessarily mean
that as some gaming forum posters would put is "Sony is doomed" but
more what are the implications of such issues for the gamer? Well
already gamers are divided over the forced inclusion of the PS3 Blu Ray
player and of course the inflated price point of the system. Ultimately
if developers are having issues with the system then this in turn could
present unexpected game delays, potentially buggy products and the more
obvious longer development times.
Another thing that wasn't clear after E3 this year was that of the
price of the games. Could this area be where the programming problems
have the most direct impact in relation to the consumer? Well the jury
is still out but I suspect that with the Blu Ray disks in combination
with increased developer times or more importantly increased developer
costs could well mean PS3 games being more expensive than their Xbox
360 counterparts. I guess this would hit home more if say multi-format
games (which have also been reported as being an issue, programming
wise due to both systems very different architecture) are released with
no graphical/game play differences whatsoever other than the increased
price for the PS3 version. November is fast approaching and so I guess
now it's up to Sony in the limited time available to iron out these
issues, otherwise potentially games are going to be hit with long
delays and gamers are going to think even harder about whether they
should buy a PS3 or not rather than simply rushing out to buy one based
on the name alone.
............................................................................................................................
and merk bliggy cries to his mamma, screaming "but it's not true, it's
not true".