Have the Consoles "Topped" out?

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

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Recently, we have been seeing many PC ports which run very well.

Is this because developers are now making an effort or just that current gen consoles are now equal to/Lesser than a current mid range PC?

Obviously, I do not mean raw processing power but in simply how the PC can handle such ports.
 
the consoles have lost their edge as hardware prices have fallen over the years, i bought a 7800gt graphics card few years ago to play cod 2, cost me over £200 and i couldnt come close to how the 360 version looked and performed, so i think we have much more powerful machines now while the games have stayed the same in terms of resources they need
 
"Ports" are not as big a problem these days with API convergence especially with DirectX. Add that to the fact that your average gamer PC is probably a fair bit more powerful than a 360 or PS3 graphics wise and it's easy to see why games are coming across a lot easier these days.
 
didnt EA announce the 360 was maxed out recently...

I thought the ps3 still had some legs as programmers are STILL learning how to use the crazy 7 core dealy
 
They topped out almost after release... Look at how the likes of Oblivion looks and crucially runs on the 360, then compare it to the PC version, the 360 doesn't even come close.
 
No they will keep finding new ways to push consoles as they have another 3 years minimum shelf life. 360 will see more benefits than PS3 as it has easier architecture to master & more useable Vram so devs can find shortcuts quicker and its DX9 so the PC will benefit from these techniques. PS3 is currently all down to Sony devs sharing tricks to use the Cell (current one is use the Cell to do GFX rendering instead of using the GPU-thats how Killzone 2 was possible).

Its a bit confusing as many PC ports for a while have been attrocious as no money has been spent to optimise, most have been straight 360 code translations via XNA with little to no optimisation giving shoddy FPS results. Now I think developers are starting to find shortcuts in this process so newer PC ports are getting better all the time.

Capcom in particular are a long way ahead of most other PC developers as their MT Framework engine is very powerful and designed to work on as many CPU & GPU cores as you can throw at it. Their upcoming PC titles: Resident Evil5, Dead Rising2, Lost Planet 2 should all be very multi-core friendly and run at high FPS. Currently you can buy Lost Planet Extreme Colonies edition which does support all the CPU + GPU cores and offers up to 80% higher FPS with Core I7 (as well as cross platform play VS X360 players via GFWL).

Then their publisher only games like: Bionic Commando & Dark Void use other game engines as Capcom are only the publisher so you need to be more wary of those as GRIN (BC developer did not put much effort into the port and its supposed to be a major dark ages step backwards offering little to no PC gfx setting tweaks). Dark Void may be ok though (delayed another 6 months anyway on all platforms).

Ubisoft will also offer a decent Assassins Creed2 port as their ANVIL game engine is multi-core friendly.

Rocksteady have done an incredible job on the upcoming UT3 engined Batman:AA
 
Yeah Capcom is definately one of the few developers these days that managed to push out decent PC ports of their own in-house developed games i.e. Lost Planet, Devil May Cry 4 and Street Fighter IV. Resident Evil 5 looks to go the same route after seeing how well the benchmark tool works, and which no doubt will be in the final game, as the previous games I mentioned also came with one.

Many other developers should just follow suit. Or maybe Capcom should just license their MT Framework engine.
 
AWPC said:
PS3 is currently all down to Sony devs sharing tricks to use the Cell (current one is use the Cell to do GFX rendering instead of using the GPU-thats how Killzone 2 was possible).
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thats been the trick since day 1, its been a long time now since the multiplat games only used the ps3's main cpu and ignored the spu's.

i would say that the ps3 has more to get out of it then the 360, as the 360's more conventional hardware would be easier tapped.
 
Well, ports from console to PC and their quality have ALWAYS been about developers taking shortcuts and about how much time the respective developer spends optimizing the code to take advantage of the PC platforms hardware, not the PC being able to handle them. Sure, at launch the consoles match up well, but usually within literally days, there is a PC chip or GPU released that crushes that.

Whether there is a lot of untapped resources on the respective console versions remains to be seen, though I'm sure that great games will continue to release on them and the bang for the buck they provide is excellent. I'm pretty sure any "wow" factor is spent and now will just be small refinements on this generation.

However, in the case of one game I have been watching, the hybrid FPS/RPG "Borderlands", the company president of Gearbox doesn't mince words about PC and console differences. Sure, he still has to be somewhat politically correct and say that he might like to sit on his couch as they want to sell console versions, but graphically when you use terms like "obliterate", that is pretty clear from where I sit:

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175460

That is not a difference that is going to be "tweaked" out by launch time as so many console fanboys like to say when early versions of multiplatform titles are shown.:D
 
sixty said:
They topped out almost after release... Look at how the likes of Oblivion looks and crucially runs on the 360, then compare it to the PC version, the 360 doesn't even come close.
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+1

Even when the xbox360/PS3 were released they didn't even have the power to run hardly any games at 1080p

only 720p (1280x720) or lower :p
 
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chaparral said:
+1

Even when the xbox360/PS3 were released they didn't even have the power to run hardly any games at 1080p

only 720p (1280x720) or lower :p
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Quite a lot of their games aren't even 1280x720, which is funny as both MS and Sony were saying they are THE ONE AND TRUE HD CONSOLE. Cue loads of sub-720p games. The major games, like Metal Gear Solid, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 (and eventually, Modern Warfare 2) are 640p and even lower!
 
KNiVES said:
Quite a lot of their games aren't even 1280x720, which is funny as both MS and Sony were saying they are THE ONE AND TRUE HD CONSOLE. Cue loads of sub-720p games. The major games, like Metal Gear Solid, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 (and eventually, Modern Warfare 2) are 640p and even lower!
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I agree, maybe when the next lot come out.

it is 2010 next year, I would like new consoles but due to lots of things it will be 2011 or even 12. :(

in 2 years time PCs will be even more amazing but witch consoles getting more like PCs I think the next gen will be interesting, as long as they don't all try and be like the Wii.
 
pingwing said:
didnt EA announce the 360 was maxed out recently...

I thought the ps3 still had some legs as programmers are STILL learning how to use the crazy 7 core dealy
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i have heard from multiple sources that the 7 core cell processor in the ps3 is actuallty only 1 real core with the other 6 having very limited functionality and it is very bad at multi tasking which is why you'll never see it in a pc. i doubt there is much more to be had from the ps3 graphically and it isnt really that much more powerfull than the xbox 360.
 
Hardware wise? The consoles have been pretty much topped out for a year or so now, developers will always irk out a little bit extra until the next console emerges though so expect minor improvements over the years. Still plenty of interesting games to look out for though so don't write them off completely.


Knives, i was fairly sure MGS4 was 720p?

PayN said:
Whatever the case, it's a great time to be a PC gamer.
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It's a great time to be a gamer fullstop tbh, been a great couple of years as of late and it only seems to be getting better. Really excited to see what 2010 has in store for us.
 
God know how many posts bashing consoles, typical pc gamers.

Nope, they are getting better, all consoles get better with age, developers are more use to them can push out better gameplay with graphics.

Didnt we have a is "pc gaming dead thread?" last month.
 
I wouldnt say they are bashing consoles, the truth of the matter is pcs are more powerfull.

I agree though there have been some great multi platform games with very good pc performance.

Last one i got was call of juarez :bib, it ran so well it almost made me forget that saints row 2 came out this year.

Looking forward to see what dx 11 brings to pc gaming and also what the next gen of consoles are like.

This is the closest pc and console has been in terms of tech so i hope we continue to see quality multi plat games.
 
cheets64 said:
God know how many posts bashing consoles, typical pc gamers.

Nope, they are getting better, all consoles get better with age, developers are more use to them can push out better gameplay with graphics.

Didnt we have a is "pc gaming dead thread?" last month.
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I was not "bashing" consoles, merely asking peoples thought on why Ports had improved recently.

AWPC pretty much summed it up.
 
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