Predict: The Next Generation Console Tech
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Here's an interesting article over at Kotaku that echos ideas that I think Microsoft might try(or hope to try) to replicate on their next system:
http://kotaku.com/5171659/british-firm-pioneers-play-before-you-finish-downloading-technology
Seems like a perfect evolution of what they already doing. This already happens with video purchases since you can play it as soon as enough of the video has been downloaded. Haven't read their patent so I'm not exactly sure if MS could do this without licensing it first. Either way it's something I think that will be helpful next gen.
Tommy McClain
http://kotaku.com/5171659/british-firm-pioneers-play-before-you-finish-downloading-technology
Seems like a perfect evolution of what they already doing. This already happens with video purchases since you can play it as soon as enough of the video has been downloaded. Haven't read their patent so I'm not exactly sure if MS could do this without licensing it first. Either way it's something I think that will be helpful next gen.
Tommy McClain
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Isn't this, what Steam is already doing to a degree anyways? The article mentions Steam, but doesn't mention the "play when ready" button.
Halo 2 on PC had also the functionality (like Fallout 3 on PS3) to install while you are playing. I found this (especially Fallout 3) to be quite good, because it lets you play faster, and if you decide to delete the data, you don't need to reinstall it, wasting time.
The validity of a patent is not determined by it's issuance but by a Texas court ...
How trivial is it to start playing with just the code and data necessary for the starting UI and first level and download the rest during play?
The program code of a game is usually very small compared to the assets (graphics, sound). So you just need to pack the assets according to the order in which they are accessed. Easiest way would be to transfer a level at a time. Actually I would say that would be quite trivial to implement.
PSTwo CD spins at 24x (or maybe 36x, I forget) and as I said in another post - vibrations are enough to shake an entire desk(so you can imagine the noise). It wasn't nearly as bad with original PS2, I suppose the added bulk helped to keep machine steady when drive spinned up.function said:
Yea that could work - as long as it was mandated by the platform holder.Dargakis said:
One of game-industry greats, used that quote to describe his first impression of moving to MS. The comment was all the more interesting considering he spent quite a bit of time at EA before that.
He graciously allowed me to use it as signature :smile:
Not really, aparentely they said it will be power efficient, which is good for a console...
its getting frustrating waiting for concrete performance and hardware stats for larrabee.
I bet they wont show much at E3 either. I bet we will have to wait for Intel Developer Forum sep 2009.
(1 - 2 quarters before launch early 2010)
Judging by this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuZQpWo9Qhs
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh2q_p6hQEo&feature=related
we are going to be in for some amazing stuff in 2010 !
I bet they wont show much at E3 either. I bet we will have to wait for Intel Developer Forum sep 2009.
(1 - 2 quarters before launch early 2010)
Judging by this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuZQpWo9Qhs
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh2q_p6hQEo&feature=related
we are going to be in for some amazing stuff in 2010 !
Those are some fantastic demos!
We have that already. Killzone2 has turbulentic wind effects which affect dust/smoke clouds.
Why not go with a smaller process but later generation PPC CPU on the Wii, like a dual core G5 at let's say, 45 nm? Give it a capable GPU in the Radeon 4650 class, and you'd have a nice system to play around with. Idk how Gamecube and Wii game graphics emulation will play out but much of the code will be cross compatible right?
We have that already. Killzone2 has turbulentic wind effects which affect dust/smoke clouds.
Is just an animation/extremly simple wind effects that affects low amount of particles as also seen in other games, heck even 5 year old ones. Only game taking a further step ahead is Clear Sky with it's volume physics based smoke/some PhysX HW games like Cryostasis (with patch). But those techdemos shows wind/smoke simulation with physics far beyond any game with astronomical differences!
The 970MP@45nm would be about as big as the hollywood (still to much heat?) and woud beat XeCPU in many many cases (just like the 4670). No reason to not play any of todays game at 720p.
About emulation, it made news not long ago.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/nintendo-wii-hd-emulator-gamecube,news-3725.html
What they've done in killzone2 was pretty impressive actually, the smoke and other particle effects affected by the wind moved realistically, coupled with motionblur, it really adds atmosphere to the game, especially counting in a whole lot of other things happening on screen. I love blow up those yellow barrels just to see the effect. Also weren't the particles in Killzone2 volumetric as well?
Is there actually much chance that any console will cost more than $300 next time? We seem to be hitting a point of diminishing returns beyond that, and I can't see much need for pushing boundaries. Is that a fair observation or are them some other factors which need to be considered?
Blow, how much do you think the consoles will cost next time round? What kind of budgets are we looking at?
Blow, how much do you think the consoles will cost next time round? What kind of budgets are we looking at?
Not sure I agree with that. If you can get to sub $300 and even $200 quickly enough, launching higher and getting more profit from early adopters makes sense. Thus target a $300 console, build it accordingly, and sell it for $400 at launch, dropping to $300 when you've exhausted that price bracket. I think this gen shows there are enough buyers at the top-end to warrant milking them where possible. The thing that is to be avoided is building hardware around a $400+ pricepoint and being unable to drop below that.
Well it sure looks good but it still is a quite simple effect that is present in other games of other games, some doing it much better. Though neither one does even a fraction of what is shown in those techdemos, not even a battle in Crysis with it's massive amount of particles/PP.
Interesting perspective, the only real difference between us may be that I was still considering the loss lead strategy whilst yours involved consoles being sold at a positive margin. The real question is demand. Can a $400 console offer enough of an improvement to the experience as to be worth a premium price over the current generation consoles? Also does setting a premium price work even short term for these machines when they share many characteristics of fax machines and social networking accounts where market penetration acts to increase the value and selling power for the service provider. (Rhetorically)
I wonder if the lesson from the current generation hardware going forward is to satisfy the needs of the mainstream audiences first and let people who want or need more satisfy themselves. Essentially following the whole idea of the Wii or Xbox Arcade in giving people the basics and if they want more they likely know how to sort themselves out anyway. We're the audience who knows what they are doing, and if people don't know they understand to ask someone like us.
When many of the Pros/Cons of different approaches to console development are raised, one recurring con to many of the different business/technology decisions is the razor/blade model of the current console philosophy of loss leading both production and retail. I guess this relates back to your original point really in how the consoles are limited in what they can do and be and how they operate by this model. Take for instance the idea of downloading games, it doesn't help your cause with retailers by attacking their sole profit motive for selling your console.
I like the idea of console manufacturers having options. Moving away from the Razor/Blade model gives us that. In a way, the most appealing hardware design for a console for me is one with no HDD, only flash, a single CPU/GPU hybrid and no optical drive. An absolute paragon of simplicity, and yet maybe there is some soundness in that design as people purchase the experience, not the cost of manufacturing the console + 10% like with the Xbox 360 and PS3.
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