EA: We Can Still Get Plenty Out Of The PS3 And 360
See Full ImageSee? Big publishers don't really want to deal with a new console cycle soon, either.
EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau told CVG that gamers are happy with the current generation, and he questions what a new round of machines would even be able to do.
Gibeau cited EA's own Battlefield 3 to prove that both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have plenty of juice left. And really, what might the PS4 be able to accomplish? Said Gibeau:
"It's hard for me to conceive what you would do on a PlayStation 4. The displays are already 1080p, you're already connected to the internet... You could make it faster, you could have more polys and you could up the graphics a little bit... but at what cost?
It'll be interesting to see how [Sony and Microsoft] think about it in terms of the next generation but it seems to me that customers are happy, and we're happy to build games on [360 and PS3] right now."
Gibeau went on to say that the industry has changed, and "big console transitions" just won't happen anymore. He says the lifespans of machines are much longer now, and the digital age is changing how consumers get their entertainment. But currently, the bottom line is that we can still get a lot of mileage out of the PS3 and 360. Finished Gibeau:
"One of the things that we like is that the technology is consistent, and we believe that there are still things that you can do on these systems... we haven't quite squeezed the last once of hardware horsepower out of these things, as you can see with Battlefield 3."
Like many gamers, this guy wants to "see the cycle last a little longer." And he doesn't believe consumers are "banging on the walls for a new platform." Based on what we've seen at PSXE, we'd have to say his observation is accurate.
Tags: next generation, next gen consoles, ps4, playstation 4, ea
8/30/2011 10:31:27 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (30 posts)
Qubex
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 10:53:20 AM
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It seems to me that developers who were originally PC only developers are the ones with the bigger issues here. ID, Crytek and the like seem to indicate a certain frustration with the current tech. The claim is that it keeps them back from developing cutting edge. The problem is cutting edge costs money, and cutting edge may not be so cool in this economy.
If a PS4 was released tomorrow I would probably not buy it and wait. There is plenty of life in the current systems, and if people want an "inbetween" they can always pick up a gaming laptop so they have the best of both worlds...
How can gamers complain when there will be a slew of future titles in the coming 3 years that will blow people away - especially the Sony exclusives which will get more and more out of the current tech, and they will prove it too...
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 8/30/2011 10:54:30 AM
5 up, 0 down
Highlander
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 1:49:12 PM
"It seems to me that developers who were originally PC only developers are the ones with the bigger issues here. ID, Crytek and the like seem to indicate a certain frustration with the current tech. The claim is that it keeps them back from developing cutting edge. "
That point about cutting edge is an interesting one because for so long now the main driver behind GPU and CPU advancement in the PC has been the gaming industry, it was the driver behind much of the high performance, high price, gear around today. But the problem for those developers is that with consoles you cannot change the platform at that pace, that is simply not how it works.
In fact I would go as far as to challenge them by pointing out that relying on hardware for software performance makes the hardware cutting edge, not the software. If they are truly 'cutting edge' developers, where are their innovative algorithms and designs that wring better performance out of existing hardware with more sophisticated software design? Cutting edge developers make cutting edge software, but don't rely on the crutch of cutting edge hardware.
Crytek in particular relied heavily on a new generation of GPUs to make it's games work. That's all very well, but being a smart designer isn't just about wringing good performance out of exceptional hardware, it's about wringing exceptional performance out of good hardware. To me, that is what most PC devs have done for years and that is why they are the ones having the most trouble with the video game consoles and the PS3 in general.
2 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 2:15:09 PM
2 up, 1 down
Qubex
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 @ 4:11:35 AM
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
0 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:00:17 AM
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1080p games already this gen, eh? Hehe oh man, he said so much right there.
I understand there's many things devs can do with the tools they have now to design their vision, but don't make stupid remarks that belittles what would actually be possible on hardware that could make the gap between the PS2 and PS3 larger than how it is now if PS4 launched in 2012 or 2013
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DemonNeno
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 12:46:39 PM
1080P has little impact on gaming, to be honest with you. True, it CAN look great, but 720 can looks just as good. I can see how his statement can be looked at as an exaggeration, but he didn't imply ALL games are. They are upscaled in most cases. Is it a bad thing? It depends on the products quality, that's all.
I think what you're intending to point out here isn't relevant to what the devs are trying to accomplish. 2012 is right around the corner, whereas devs optimizing these consoles to run what could graphically be equivalent to what we will see from the next gen is still far off in the future.
Games like Batman (multi-console bad ass-ery) & Uncharted (optimization at its' greatest) are prime examples of what the "norm" could become... Or at least close to it. Consoles still have plenty of air to breathe on their current gen.
1 up, 1 down
Temjin001
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 3:24:09 PM
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DemonNeno
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 @ 9:59:03 AM
Of course a new console will look better, but my point is regarding a new learning curve. A new dev kit. Everything will start all over again. For some odd reason, I doubt Sony will use universal tools that'll mimick a PC dev kit or an Xbox dev kit. We'll be right where we're at with the PS3 as we know it. My comment about it's advancements were implying the next gens immediate improvements.
Hardware changes very fast, except in the consoles. I think that is what makes them attractive, after all. No need to update them every year or 6 months..
2 up, 0 down
Borderline
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:01:41 AM
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1 up, 0 down
Qubex
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:14:37 AM
A PS4, realistically, would need to be in the order of x4 what the PS3 is today to make an impression on current and future PC hardware. If a PS4 comes out in 2014, it would need to be pretty advanced to be unique.
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
6 up, 0 down
Borderline
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:56:06 AM
2 up, 0 down
Highlander
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 1:51:18 PM
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MRSUCCESS
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:36:52 AM
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I love me a lot of JRPGs and action adventure games. Where are all the JRPGs and Devil May Crys, Metal Gear Solids and God of Wars? We don't have much those which means lets give these consoles more time because at the end of the day game-play matters much more than graphics. At least in my book it does.
Last edited by MRSUCCESS on 8/30/2011 11:38:38 AM
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Kiryu
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:52:44 AM
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6 up, 2 down
maxpontiac
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 12:09:35 PM
4 up, 0 down
Alienange
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 12:27:33 PM
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I'd say one of those two are definitely wrong.
2 up, 0 down
BigStack007
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 12:33:00 PM
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3 up, 1 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 8:10:50 PM
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Eld
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 2:04:25 PM
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Some people are downright uninformed when it comes to tech news.
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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 2:34:14 PM
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As far as consoles go, he's right in some respects. I don't think we will see the huge jumps we once did, I think consoles will have longer life cycles, and really the next gen can only be a beefed up version of this gen. I hope the next gen uses 1080p but apparently nobody told this guy that only a couple games use it this gen.
That said, this gen can't last much longer, just a few years at most. The 360 and its DVDs are really holding everybody back. No, there's no more power in that thing.
We have come upon the age where games best played on PC now have the capability of being closer on the PS3 despite converting to 360 hardware better. And still they have to make those "identical experiences" for some reason. Imagine Skyrim or BF3 if they could give PS3 their all.
3 up, 2 down
NLCanada
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 5:26:40 PM
You say Imagine Skyrim or BF3 if they could give PS3 their all.
Just look at the best looking games on the ps3 ( Uncharted, MGS, KZ, and compare them to Gears, Splinter Cell, Alan Wake. Although there maybe differences in terms of graphics, it is very very minimal, nothing huge.
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UbiEaActisuck
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 2:37:38 PM
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NLCanada
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 5:12:43 PM
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LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 5:58:18 PM
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1 up, 2 down
Dancemachine55
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 8:18:21 PM
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- new 3D graphics card
= PS4
360 - new optical disc drive
- new graphics card
- more RAM
- built-in HDD
- Kinect processing chip (for performance)
= next-gen Xbox
If anything, it's the 360 that REALLY needs the upgrade to next-gen. Had the PS3 had a little more GPU and CPU RAM from the start (or better bridging between the two), there would be no reason AT ALL to upgrade the PS3 to a PS4.
Even Gears of War 3 continues to impress me!! Uncharted 3 is as good looking, if not better looking, than many PC games of this generation!!
Even if a new console was introduced next year (apart from the Wii U, which in my eyes is simply playing catch-up with PS3) I probably wouldn't get one until at least 2014. My PS3 and 360 have given me a lot of love this generation, and with online content and services being really big this year, jumping onto a new online service for a new console might be a big ask for many consumers. (That's if Live and PSN aren't incorporated for backwards compatibility into new consoles, which I'm sure they will)
0 up, 1 down
Darth Kain
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:40:27 PM
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___________
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 @ 5:26:03 AM
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anything that would consider a massive worthwhile gap would not be concieveable on next gen hardware, ray tracing for example, or cloud gaming.
so what would next gen systems give us?
ok you could have better looking games but as insomniac and so many other developers have said, i dont think thats enough.
consumers are not looking for prettier games, there more so looking for totally new things to do.
thats what the next generations going to be about.
its not going to be about how pretty a game is, its more so going to be about new features.
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Highlander
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 @ 2:44:10 PM
Ray Tracing would be the 1 major advancement that would be worth a new generation of hardware. I don't even think an upgrade to be able to hit 1080p60 consistently is really worth an entire new cycle. I think it needs to be something really new and different from where we are now. Ray tracing definitely has that aspect of being really new and different and a big step forward. Whether or not the hardware can handle it is the question.
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___________
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 9:12:29 AM
my dual 570s heavily OCd and I7 OCd to 3.8GHz and 8GBs of DDR3 1333MHz struggles to run the nvidia garage tech demo!
let alone a fully fledged game.
as for cloud gaming, no we dont need new consoles, but we do need new hardware for that. well at least AU does.
no way were having cloud gaming on freaking copper lines!
ISPs need to relax allot too, even the 500GB+ plans have like 300GBs off peak and 200 during peak.
not to mention most are now counting uploads towards that.
then if you go over either the peak or off peak then your speed gets limited to 8kbps.
then you got the whole problem of server banks, and trying to allocate them worldwide to minimize lag.
Last edited by ___________ on 9/1/2011 9:15:12 AM
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Sogi_Otsa
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 10:51:40 AM