PlayStation 3: Untapped Potential?
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With the PS3's first year beginning to round out, do you think that the full power of the PlayStation 3 has been unlocked?
I just recently purchased a PS3, and I must say that I am very impressed with what is in the $600 package. A package like this seems more fit for $800 or $900 dollar price tag.
Anyway, no PS3 hatin' please. If you don't have an answer to the question, and are just going to post to hate on the PS3, then just don't post.
In my opinion, the PS3's full potential has not been fully unlocked, but it is still great right now.
Quote:In my opinion, the PS3's full potential has not been fully unlocked, but it is still great right now.Sounds rather vague. What portions of the PS3's full potential do you feel remain locked, and what evidence do you have that it's there to be unlocked?
What "potential" are you referring to? Online applications? Six-axis functionality? Uber-leet graphics? Multiple fruit flavors with KICK?
The question seems kinda pointless to me. Of course there's a lot of untapped potential. Like in most other console generations it will take developers up to 4 or more years to use the hardware to its full potential. I'd even say that we often don't see the full potential of consoles, cause the standard console cicle might be too short. The Neo Geo still delivered more and more impressive games, nearly a decade after its release (Garou: MotW surpassed even Street Fighter 3 in some regards).
Quote:Original post by Chris B
The question seems kinda pointless to me. Of course there's a lot of untapped potential. Like in most other console generations it will take developers up to 4 or more years to use the hardware to its full potential. I'd even say that we often don't see the full potential of consoles, cause the standard console cicle might be too short. The Neo Geo still delivered more and more impressive games, nearly a decade after its release (Garou: MotW surpassed even Street Fighter 3 in some regards).
I'll second this. I recently bought an xbox 360, which while obviously not directly relevant to this thread, it is of the same generation. I was immediately struck that while yes, the games are very impressive, I get the strong feeling that they use nowhere near the consoles potential. I suspect it's the same with the ps3. Who knows what we'll see on them in a year or two.
This is pretty much the norm - every new console that comes out has significant differences compared to other consoles. We as developers are constantly having to relearn the "best" ways to do things on each platform.
The PS3 is particularly odd since it's part of the first generation with significant focus on multiple processor cores but decided to go with one general purpose core and a handful of 'compartmentalized' cores which offer plenty of speed but not much memory. The 360 on the other hand only has three cores, but they are all general purpose in that they can all access main memory freely.
Writing multiprocessor code isn't something we've been doing for very long in the games industry. This, combined with the desire to get a game published on as many platforms as possible and the differences in multi-core styles that the PS3 and 360 have makes it hard to exploit each system's full potential.
We'll get there eventually, though.
The PS3 is particularly odd since it's part of the first generation with significant focus on multiple processor cores but decided to go with one general purpose core and a handful of 'compartmentalized' cores which offer plenty of speed but not much memory. The 360 on the other hand only has three cores, but they are all general purpose in that they can all access main memory freely.
Writing multiprocessor code isn't something we've been doing for very long in the games industry. This, combined with the desire to get a game published on as many platforms as possible and the differences in multi-core styles that the PS3 and 360 have makes it hard to exploit each system's full potential.
We'll get there eventually, though.
Quote:Original post by Nypyren
Writing multiprocessor code isn't something we've been doing for very long in the games industry.
Wasn't the Sega Saturn based on multi-processor architecture?
Developers back then complained about how it's difficult to use the full potential of the hardware and the games usually fell short in terms of graphics in comparison to the Playstation.
That could be a whole other principle than what the PS3 utilises of course, I'm not very firm with this technical stuff.
Quote:Original post by Chris BYes, but maybe it was an all around bad design too? Could also be that the developers didn't think much of learning to use the Saturn better because of Sega's trend of ditching consoles early and often.Quote:Original post by NypyrenWasn't the Sega Saturn based on multi-processor architecture?
Writing multiprocessor code isn't something we've been doing for very long in the games industry.
To be honest I don't see a lot of potential in the PS3. As I see it, it's a PS2 on steroids. Now, granted, the PS2 had great games, and I'm sure the PS3 will as well, but...honestly, it's going to be the PS2 with better graphics IMO, or the Xbox360 with slightly better graphics, which isn't worth the cost of the system. On top of that, none of the games I've seen on it so far have very much impressed me. There's always the future, though.
It's true with any console that you don't see it's full potential until towards the end of it's lifetime. Even with a console like the PS2 the most impressive games graphics wise were after the PS3 was already released.
The PS3 and the 360 do have a lot more to offer but it's going to be a while before we see it.
Each new generation of console requires large teams and longer production periods. I'd guess it's going to be at least 2 years before we see a game that truely pushes the PS3 hardware.
The PS3 and the 360 do have a lot more to offer but it's going to be a while before we see it.
Each new generation of console requires large teams and longer production periods. I'd guess it's going to be at least 2 years before we see a game that truely pushes the PS3 hardware.
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