The 360's hardware is about as simple and straightforward as it gets. There are no significant mysteries or hidden performance tricks to unlock. The difference in visual quality between Gears, Red Faction, GTA4, etc have more to do with the varying technical demands of those games than hardware utilization and quality of code.
If so inclined, one can do some exotic things like tiling, but that has it's own compromises such as massive reduction in polygon count. Even KZ2 style ...
than most 360 games. The amount of non-scripted destructability is far beyond anything in gears as well. Where it falls terribly short of Gears is in texture quality and use of per pixel lighting. As he so clearly outlined, the high dynamic polygon count is to blame. This means more objects stored in memory (limiting texture quality) and more vertex shader operations (limiting pixel shader operations).
On hardware as simple and straightforward as the 360, there's very little ...
He says
"We’re pushing so many polys with the destruction system it’s not going to look like your Gears of War 2. Part of what we’ve had to do over the past four years is not only come up with this tech – which we’re calling the Red Engine - but figure out the perfect balance."
This is what's been said for ages by anyone who understand how unified shaders (the 360's GPU's design) work. The more polys you have the lower your pixel pushing ability. It's...
but a bit too bloody for my tastes.
Graphics are insanely good, however.
he says the 360 and PS3 are equal in capabilities. Complete nonsense that's meant to downplay the PS3's superior capabilities. More horsepower, wifi, browser, blue-tooth, far better all-round media player, much more reliable, cheap hard-drive upgrades, completely free online, linux capable, etc...
The whole point of this article is to downplay the PS3's advantages. What's more there's all kinds of twisted logic thrown in there.
He says that since Blu-Ray beat HD-D...
Ouch
In fact, for most of 2008, the PS3 was stomping on the 360 in sales despite the premium price.
Microsoft's massive price-cut and complete redesign of the interface (including the blatant Mii ripoff) was the last ditch effort to regain the number 2 spot from the PS3.
Just as Kia outsells Lexus every day of the week, now that Microsoft is practically giving away the 360 at $199 so it's no surprise that it's selling better than superior (quality, features, perfo...
Average annual sales:
PS3: 9M (facing two competitors over 2 years)
360: 8.3M (one year with zero competition, two years with 2 competitors)
Now that the 360 is at $199, it has a chance to overtake the PS3. $199 is the magic price for consoles because at that price almost anyone can afford to buy one.
Having said that, here are some (but certainly not all) of the things that can put Microsoft back in the position that they were for most of 2008, i...
Still, now that the basic platform has been released and appears stable, expect content to explode in 2009 and 2010 as the stuff that's in development is added.
Will home be successful? If Sony makes it fun and free, people will use it. It really is up to the people running the project to figure out how to inject compelling content and how to keep things clean and family friendly at the same time (without resorting to naked furries).
If it's going to copy the style of Gears it should atleast match it technically. Given that many PS3 games (and even a couple of 360 games) exceed Gears technically, it's a real shame that this game features such mediocre textures and lighting. On the plus side, there seems to be a decent amount of polygon detail.
Perhaps the way these pictures look are are a result of the game being unfinished. I remember MGS4 had some questionable screens yet now it's widely recognized as ...
The $199 price point is where a console will do most of it's sales.
The 360 has been cheaper than the PS3 since the PS3 came out. Yet, the PS3 has higher average annual sales. Now the the 360 has reached that magic price-point. Yet what do we see?
It's no surprise that a $199 machine outsells a $399 machine. What is dismaying to all microsoft shareholders is that it's still being significantly outsold by the more costly Wii!
Any one who has studied...
Just how many units should a $399 machine sell?
Based on historical console sales, if it sells this well at $399, it will be an absolute blockbuster at $199. Why? Because the number of people who can pay $399 is far smaller than the number of people who can pay $199.
The reality is this: At $199, the 360 is the cheapest hardware. Yet, it's sales are only half that of the more expensive Wii. Why? Because the market doesnt really like the 360. The fact is, 35% ...
How can anyone be surprised that a $399 machine sells fewer units than a $199 machine?
The Nissan GT-R is an incredible car from Japan and it has all the bells and whistles, like the PS3, but it will never sell as well as the simple, all-american Ford Mustang, not because of advertising, not because of the way it looks, but simply because the Mustang is half the price. $199 is the price at which a product becomes affordable to the average consumer. At $399, you're still selling...
the 360 version looks much better.
Having said that, given the exceptional visual quality (incredible textures, shaders, polygon counts, lighting, etc with very solid frame-rates) of games like Uncharted, MGS4, etc., such a poor effort in creating the PS3 version is inexcusable. The old "we're trying to figure it out" is no longer valid. If people are paying $60 they deserve better than a rushed port. Shame on the developer for short-changing customers.
UE3 has not reached a limit with Gears 2. Engines don't have limits. The more powerful the hardware the better it will run.
The reality is that the 360's GPU already reached it's limit with Gears 1 but they did not max out the CPU. In Gears 2, they maxed out the 360's CPU as well. This allowed more enemies on screen, but because the hardware was already maxed out, they had to make compromises (easily seen in those side by side shots) to help out the GPU.
Just loo...
are coming out of the closet. It's an embarrassing sight, to say the least. Bitter about Dreamcast, bitter about HD-DVD and therefore staunchly anti-sony, these people come and go as the news changes.
Here's the reality:
The "magic" $199 pricepoint is the last chance Microsoft had to take over the market once and for all. $199 is said to be the price at which a product goes from being an exclusive niche item to a mass market product that almost anyone ca...
You kids are too young to remember or too caught up in Dreamcast360 hype to admit it.
Reality: Despite several price-cuts, the 360 is barely outperforming what it did last year. The fact is, the 360 is going to struggle in 2009. The $199 price is supposed to cause an explosion in sales. Yet the more costly Wii is outselling the 360 2:1.
At $399, neither Sony nor any analyst worth his salt would expect the PS3 to sell like hotcakes. Not many people have $399...
It's blatantly obvious that a limit has been reached. While in some parts Gears 2 looks better, in other areas we see a noticable downgrade in polygon count, number of objects, and textures.
If 20 million xbox owners and 25 Million 360 owners didnt reward Microsoft for nickel-and-diming them Microsoft would not be encouraged to pursue this new scheme of theirs.
Fortunately, there are companies, like the one I work for, which are providing consumers with a better alternative.
I would recommend reading about the fundamental laws of physics (such as conservation of energy) as well as how unified Unified Shader Architecture works before we continue this discussion.
@ Soxfan, GT5 Prologue has been out for some time now and it's a perfectly valid comparison.