440°

The PS4 and Xbox 720 need to have at least 16GB of RAM to be relevant

It is without doubt that RAM or memory is about the most important item in a console. When there is enough RAM in a system it allows the developers to try different kinds of tricks and do many things there want to do. With enough RAM in a system developers can do better graphics, physics, AI and a lot more. But RAMs are very expensive these days and console makers have to keep the cost down to be able to make a console that is affordable for the consumers. Console makers will have to choose between a powerful console and an expensive one. In the end something has got to give.

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SynGamer4161d ago (Edited 4161d ago )

The cost of RAM will most likely prevent this from happening. If anything, we'll be lucky to get 8GB, and I fully expect Sony and MS to announce their new consoles have 4GB.

The thing to remember is these new consoles will likely have dedicated OS RAM, and then RAM that can be used for games. Personally, 4GB seems like more than enough if it's ONLY being used for the game/textures. We're still going to need at least a 12X Blu-ray drive to try and fill those 4GB up. a 12X Blu-ray drive is capable of roughly 54MB/s, so we're looking at roughly 19 seconds to fill 1GB...1GB.

So yeah, I expect 4GB to be completely honest. That said, I would love to see 8GB of RAM just to shut up some of the devs :P

darthv724160d ago

The phrase: "you can never have to much" doesnt apply to consoles.

There is a limit based on the balance of everything else in the system. you cant just throw gobs of memory at something and expect the performance to be increased proportionately.

it depends on the overhead. What sort of resources are required for everything else to run in the background. 16gb...I dont even have a PC that uses that much nor do i know of any gaming PC that uses that much.

Not saying they dont exist, im just saying I personally have never seen one nor any of my extreme PC friends with one. 8gb max. Maybe 10 if you add in a 2gb video card.

Me, I have 4gb and a 1gb video card. yeah, im behind the times but it does what i need it for. As to the topic at hand, we know it wont be any LESS than 4gb which puts it possible at 4-8 maybe a little more but 16....not happening.

Especially considering the performance of games like Last of Us are demonstrating at 512mb, split in fact.

SynGamer4160d ago

I forgot to continue my initial post, but I wanted to mention that PCs are completely different from consoles. on a PC, 4GB of RAM is being shared between the OS/programs and the game, etc. On a console 4GB of RAM is going solely to the game (hopefully Sony and MS give the OS it's own memory to run off of). That's a HUGE difference. That's 4,096 MB that the developers can (potentially) use, compared to about 480 MB on the current systems (PS3 and 360).

And as I pointed out in my first post, the developers will need to fill that 4GB of RAM. Yes, it should allow games to store far more in memory; world size, objects, NPCs, etc. But if they can't use 4GB solely for the game, then I personally feel they are doing a terrible job at optimizing their games.

Ju4160d ago

The OS won't grow that much. So, whatever it takes it most likely will use then. Maybe a little be more they'll ad a more sophisticated UI.

Also, PCs have dedicated graphics cards (at least gaming PC). They hardly use 4GB shared (1 or 2GB VRAM is common now).

And lately, next gen consoles will probably run more OS services in parallel to the game, e.g. apps on top of a game (like a browser, video call??? system menus, even the store fronts) so, there will be a need to have more memory available for apps not only the game(s). I still believe those apps will be lean and 4GB is plenty in such an environment (hell, it runs usually in a phone with 1GB incl. the OS). More than 4GB is hardly imaginable for cost reasons. Even if RAM would be cheap, the least amount which gives the most features will make it in the machine; what ever is most feasible to fit the needs.

rainslacker4160d ago

There's not a single game out on PC that requires more than 4GB's of system RAM. This is because it's the most common configuration in new PC's. It's not to say that some games may use more memory if it's available, but most of the time that extra memory is used for OS and background tasks, and not a particular application.

I personally have 12GB's of RAM, but upgraded from 4 because I work with some super high poly models in 3DS Max which does take up any available memory, and 4 wasn't cutting it.

I'd be surprised if the next gen has more than 2 GB's of memory, and maybe some for the OS similar to the Wii U, and possible a separated architecture for the video memory. It comes down to that consoles are much more efficient than a general purpose computer for the things they do. It would be nice to have 4GB's for long term viability, but given the need for profitability I don't see it happening. Those few extra dollars add up over millions of units.

blackbeld4160d ago

16GB very nice but it not gonna happen.

4GB is more likely.

16GB is overkill the console price will be sky high.

Tsar4ever014160d ago (Edited 4160d ago )

Come'on, The Crytek CEO was only speaking hypothetically, I don't believe he really meant consoles should get 32gb, But he was clearly referring to the future, there no telling how much video/graphic memory will be needed to run
the highest end PC & console games 7-8 yrs from today. We don't know what were going to see or know for sure how much of video/graphic memory or the type of hardware will needed to run them properly.

But 16gb to 32gb whatever how crazy it all sounds, but hypothetically speaking, I'm with crytek all the way with this, I've seen crytek's work on high-end pc and I'd want very much to see the same visual quality in graphic capability achieved on consoles, and if petitioning hardware designers to push harder on video/graphic MEMORY is the way to do it, I think us gamers should get on board help push too.

darthv724160d ago

yeah i know he was speaking in a hypothetical manner. Yet do we really think things will be coded the way they are now....7 years from now?

The idea that we will need such amounts of memory only shows the short sighted view that thing will stay the same in regards to programming techniques but the size of the renderings will get larger.

Just as with technology getting smaller and faster so will the programming techniques in taking what amounts to a huge open world size type of game but making it fit within the palm of your hand.

In fact, not too long ago it was demonstrated that there could be a fully fledged windows type OS with internet browser and yet fit within the size of a 1.44mb floppy disk.

The future isnt about getting bigger, its about making things smaller and more compact. Newer compression algorithms and chips so fast yet so small that the equivalent of a big gaming PC in your pocket.

Consoles of the future will be portable as well as stationary. Just because you hold it in your hands when on the go doesnt mean it cant plug into a tv when you are at home. And create the full immersive HD (maybe even 3D) experience.

To sort of add to my point of better programming, just look at the games at the ps3 launch and compare them to what is coming out next year. Its the same hardware but they just got better at using it. Imagine what they can do a few years from now with something as small as a phone.

sikbeta4160d ago

They can do 32GB of the slowest RAM ever if it's for the sake of the size, like Mr Crytek wanted :P but that doesn't work because most GPUs now use GDDR5 RAM which is faster than Edram and also expensive as @#*/! XD

So, the only thing they would do is put so much Edram as possible and then fill the thing with DDR3 and call it a day -__-

Sarcasm4160d ago

This article is blasphemy, The PS4 and Xbox 720 need to have at least 128 Terabytes of RAM to be relevant. It also needs to have 7.5GHz CPUs under LN2 and a GTX 990 that has 512 million CUDA cores!!!

And they need to make sure it stays below $299 or else like the article writer I'm not buying it!!!

AsimLeonheart4160d ago

I agree with you. 16 GB is just overkill and will only drive the cost of the console upwards. I wonder how some people demand such high specs for a console and then also want it to be under $400 at launch. I think 8 GB is more than enough and even then it will add significantly to the manufacturing cost. Maybe 4 GB will be enough and more affordable. I think Sony will especially try to keep the cost down next-gen while aiming for maximum performance within a certain cost range because the high production cost of the PS3 in its early days really hurt them this gen. I hope they can balance cost and power nicely next-gen so that both customers and Sony can benefit from it.

Denethor_II4160d ago

Yeah, why not chuck 32gb of RAM in there as more is always better. I have 8gb of RAM in my pc and have never needed 4gb.

AAACE54160d ago

This would be an interesting topic if the guy could use proper grammer.

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 4160d ago
Enemy4160d ago

16? I don't even know any PC gamers with that much RAM on their machines. 8GB is what I'd like to see, but realistically, we'll likely see 4GB.

Megaton4160d ago

My money's on 4gb as well. 16gb is overkill for a PC, let alone a console.

sikbeta4160d ago

Remember these consoles will last for 5/6/7 years, so what it sounds like overkill right now, it may be the standard a few years later...

Sarcasm4160d ago

"Remember these consoles will last for 5/6/7 years, so what it sounds like overkill right now, it may be the standard a few years later..."

4GB was the minimum for PCs 4-5 years ago. Fast forward to today, 4GB is still the minimum and much more isn't really needed unless you have a crap ton of background apps.

System RAM isn't the de facto element that all of a sudden makes games run better. It's just a pipeline to fit data in for faster access times when the CPU needs it. The reality for gaming is that Video Memory is going to play a bigger role. And right now top end GPU's still only have 2-3GB and it is beyond sufficient for native 1080p games.

RevXM4159d ago

4Gb?

4 GB may have been the standard for 5 years, but then again graphics and other things in games havent exactly changed radically in that time either just compare Crysis to any recent pc game youd like. 4GB has been the norm prolly because 32 bit Windows have been where the sales are at, and Consoles have less also.
But the hardware have kept going on and is 20-30 times more powerful than Ps3 and 360 hardware today.

http://www.computerandvideo...

So for a current gen game at juicy resolutions, sure 4-6 GB would be allright.
Next gen however, well lets not vote to put restrictions on the future as future games should not only run at and with better resolutions, but at a greater fidelity and with way more going on in terms of number of objects, physics, AI and so on.

Id like to se 12-16GB ram on the next systems myself to avoid major bottlenecking new hardware and potentially even launch games.
Id be very dissapointed if I knew that future games would have huge typical traits from games all the way back to 2007... In 2014.

Anything beyond 16 would be nice too unless it comes at the cost of the memory speed or other things, but 12 is what Im realistaically hoping for.

rainslacker4159d ago

The past 5 years system memory has stayed pretty much the same, and OS's and applications taking up less of it as things become more efficient, Windows 8 has a pretty low memory footprint compared to XP. A majority of video cards use 1-2GB's of memory, but this is more likely due to most games not really taking advantage of higher amounts.

I think 2GB is probably going to be standard for next gen, but wouldn't be surprised at 4. If it's 2 there may be some extra slower memory set aside for the OS. How it's set up is a different topic however, and there are several configurations to choose from.

Enemy4159d ago

@ rainslacker: If Sony sticks to their regular pattern, the PS4 will have 8GB of RAM, even if it means splitting it between RAM and VRAM again. But it's hard to tell at this point as nothing factual has actually leaked the architecture. I'm right there with you in keeping expectations low and 2GB is the safest bet, considering costs.

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4160d ago Replies(1)
Tapioca Cold4160d ago

Agreed.

At the beginning of last gen everyone wanted a beast of a console. Sony delivered. (built in wi-fi, hdmi, blu-ray, built in batteries, removeable storage, blu-tooth,free online) then everyone complained of price. If you want the best, you fools need to pay the price. people just don't seem to get that.

I don't want to see all you sissies whining on here next E3 when pricing in released. You want it? Pay!

ambientFLIER4160d ago

PS3 was ALMOST a beast. The ram killed it. If it had a full Gig, it would have been good.

Mounce4160d ago

I DISAGREE WITH THIS ARTTICLE...

MmmmYyessss....

Consoles need to have 12 Core processors and 32GB DDR4 RAM BEFORE I FEEL THEY ARE RELEVANT...MmYyyesss!

RAM, RAM RAM? RAAM....

Oh my~

It will also need TRIPLE CROSSFIRE GPU'S!.

Also, it 'HAS' to have a price tag of at MOST $400, or......it will not be relevant....Because I said so.

MmmMYyyyesss.

ALLWRONG4160d ago

4, 6 or 8 if were lucky. People tend to forget that 6 is a possibility.

ginsunuva4160d ago (Edited 4160d ago )

YES! Just about to say everyone skips from 4 to 8.
6 is possible. Just that 3gb ram cards are not too commonly produced.

GiTS4160d ago

@ginsunuva

Pretty sure 3GB Ram sticks don't exist... You can do different combo's and configurations to get it though like 2x1024's and 2x512's in dual channel. 6GB is the same, 2x2048's and 2x1024's dual channel or if you're on a triple channel system then 3x2048's.

akaakaaka4160d ago

Are you a next gen dev?
I don't think so, don't talk like you know anything You ...

Why I'm feeling like those who want a 4gb next gen console are pc fanboys? You guys want a low end console to bust your ego about how far behind consoles are but that will not happen specially next gen consoles will be very high end like last gen plus optimization will always nade it shine plus cloud gaming keep it up to date if anything ..

I also bet Nintendo fanboys hope for a low end console like the one they got lol

And I'm amazed on how cheap some people are in here, if you don't want to pay $600 or $800 for a launch console then just wait a year or two for it to get cheaper.

The history abd logic says ps4 will have min of 8gb ram but that was if it was launch this year but with the delay that could change to a higher end tech.

Exquisik4160d ago

I'm surprised no one ever brought this up...

Playstation (PSOne) - 2 MB Ram
Playstation 2 - 32 MB Ram
Playstation 3 - 512 MB Ram
Playstation 4 - 8,192 MB Ram (8 GB Ram)

Notice the difference in Ram between one iteration to its previous iteration?

DOMination-4160d ago

16 is unrealistic. My PC only has 6 and its played everything I've thrown at it so far without any issues. 8 is probably likely uf they want to futureproof but it might only be 4 if they go for cheap consoles

green4160d ago

This website is pretty ridiculous when it comes to next gen systems.

A few weeks ago, he posted that the next gen systems need to support 4K resolutions http://n4g.com/news/1126262...

Now he is talking about 16GIG ram? Can he pay $1000 for a console?

lfclee4160d ago

He's right your tripping not him, the future is now 4k is here a couple of years down the line 8k is on the horizon ready to go, so I think he's right, no malice intended.

neogeo4160d ago

I want 8k at 240fps on every game and I want full ray tracing.
and I want you to buy it all for me:)

MEsoJD4160d ago (Edited 4160d ago )

I have a gaming pc and don't have close to 16gbs of ram. I say 8gbs at the most.

lfclee4160d ago (Edited 4160d ago )

Ram is very cheap nowadays and when your buying in bulk your getting the product alot cheaper, I bet ati are rubbing the hands with huge contract offers being completed already regarding gpu's and hd's etc.

Bordel_19004160d ago (Edited 4160d ago )

If the PS4 ships with less than 8GB RAM I'm not buying it. PCs today are so much more powerful than consoles, I stopped using my PS3 more than a year ago. Xbox and PS3 are dinosaurs,6-7 years after their initial release.

If a PS4/X720 is to hold it's ground against PC for years ahead it needs to be really powerful when released.

I think the video game consoles are a dying breed, this next generation will probably be the last one as we know it.

avengers19784159d ago

There is no need for that much ram 8 gigs is plenty for a console, most high end PC's don't have 16 gigs and they run better frame rates and higher resolution... it be overkill...

shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

@SynGamer
"on a PC, 4GB of RAM is being shared between the OS/programs and the game, etc. On a console 4GB of RAM is going solely to the game (hopefully Sony and MS give the OS it's own memory to run off of)."

Sounds like consoles.. Youtube, myspace, nexflix app more than one app open etc..

plus most pc gamer close programs or "apps" in windows 8 before playing.

Windows 8 is a phone/tablet OS on a beast pc.

That would be like putting psVita OS on a beast pc.

Windows 8 uses 300mb ram on pc and boots maybe faster than a console now?

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

how much for wiiU os again? lol

But I wonder if the next consoles will be 30fps or 60fps.. Are devs willing to give up an extra 30fps or will they want to use all the resources?

But anyway console are consumer friendly low cost gaming devices. Why is everyone wanting pc experience? Get a pc or be glad with what you got. Console gamers are not even supposed to worry about ram, cpu, gpu that you will never even see or your warranty is void. lol

Looks sounds like a pc gamer forum in here.

tordavis4159d ago

Whoever wrote this doesn't know a damn thing about video game hardware requirements. 6gb is all that is needed. Some for the OS and the rest to run games. Stop spreading bullshit!

donman14159d ago

And we need 16GB of memory WHY???

solid_warlord4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

All of u who say 4gb of RAM is more than enough are not looking at the bigger picture. If the next Xbox or PS4 is to not only survive but to flurish for the next decade atleast, it needs 8gb or more.

For M$, the leak of there so called "road map" tells us that there next console will come with Kinect 2.0 which will see vast improvements with multiple player detections. The road map also suggested the next xbox will be doing alot of multi tasking as it will come as a PVR and u will be able to take in game screenshot and record gameplay video and put them directly onto the web. All that requires more ram.

If M$ goes with 4gb then attleast half of that will go to OS to deal with PVR, party chats, kinect 2.0 feature ect. In the end, u will end up with 2gb ram for devs to play with the next 5-8 years or more and that seem very small as the years go by. PC will just stamp on consoles.

The best option for $ony and M$ is to have atleast minimum of 8gb of RAM so devs can get 5-6gb of that to play with. 16gb would be alot to ask but 8gb of Ram is feasible and i would think its the minimum requirment thats needed.

+ Show (15) more repliesLast reply 4159d ago
000014161d ago

i'm so tired of this topic, wait until they show the goddamn systems before saying what it does and doesn't need.

ThichQuangDuck4160d ago

I would love to be a gaming journalist right now being able to be successful of what ifs and this is what should happen.

Danlord4160d ago

Syngamer- I see ur point. In The end l hope to see 16GB inside the console :-)

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170°

Microsoft once tried to nab LittleBigPlanet from Sony after a few drinks

It turns out that many moons ago, Microsoft once had its eye on the Sony published LittleBigPlanet series.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
XiNatsuDragnel1d 16h ago

Microsoft had a good idea but fumbled it again.

Cacabunga10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Project Spark idea was decent but they quickly gave up ..
LBP was wonderful

ApocalypseShadow1d 4h ago

Microsoft in a nutshell. Always tried to poach Sony employees, games, 3rd party games and devices like the depth camera that was turned into Kinect but was running on PS2 before Xbox 360. Wouldn't be surprised they wanted LBP. Just like they worked behind the scenes pushing the MLB to bring Sony's baseball game to Xbox instead of making their own.
https://www.playstationlife...

They didn't spend years trying to develop their own baseball game. They wanted Sony's game.

They're scum.

Zachmo1829h ago

Microsoft didn't force MLB on Xbox. MLB gave Sony 2 options either go multiplat or risk losing the license.

OtterX12h ago

"However, Healey said Media Molecule wouldn't have felt right doing that, adding it would have been "morally corrupt"."

Major kudos to Media Molecule for being an upright studio with principles.

Tody_za11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Great, more stories like this please. Show the last of the zombies holding the line what we've been saying for years: Microsoft is anti competition, anti industry and has no interest in making games at all.

But hey, at least there's an Xbox Games Showcase to look forward to, right?

Inverno10h ago

Well considering SONY just killed the series, LBP would've been dead by now either way. Though MM probably wouldn't exist by now either, so I'm glad they stayed with SONY, hopefully they don't get shut down any time soon or ever honestly.

Inverno8h ago

They shut down the servers, that's millions of user created levels gone. That and dead are pretty much the same, it's also been years since 3 and they cancelled HUB soooo.

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60°

Game Studio Closures, Entertainment News, Disney, And More Skewedcast

The full Skewedcast crew back for this episode and Gareth, Justin, Michael, and JoeyZ at Skewed and Reviewed break down the latest entertainment news qith a focus at 40:00 on the Microsoft Studio Closures and how it impacts the game community and what can be done to help offset this negative trend.

340°

What is the point of Xbox?

Xbox has repeated the same terrible mistakes for over a decade. The reason is simple: its priorities are back-to-front.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
purple1011d 13h ago

ohhh man, the press really did not like those last closures, their having a field day bashing xbox,

anyway, ive got to nip off to the shops now, i've run out of microwave popcorn.

Jingsing21h ago

Apparently the last 10 years wasn't enough to get the gaming press to notice but as soon as they touch Bethesda it is full on nuclear war. A lot of people in the gaming press seem to have this irrational hard on for Fallout and Skyrim despite the fact they are low quality poor buggy games.
I've grown tiresome of the unbalanced fandom in the gaming press for fantasy games and their ability to just forgive crap so long as it's a fantasy game RPG game all quality concerns are not an issue for them,

anast20h ago

Popcorn has been good lately.

PapaBop18h ago

Clearly this is just a big conspiracy orchestrated by the popcorn industry, Microsoft are just their puppets, every time they open their mouths, I'm forced to stock up on popcorn.

TheEroica12h ago

Yep, Microsoft and Sony are a mess. Neither have a compelling business strategy and they're not making bangers anymore.

anast9h ago

Which Sony games are you talking about?

PhillyDonJawn9h ago

You enjoying all the bs Sony and MS been doing? Shame on you

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 9h ago
XiNatsuDragnel1d 12h ago

Xbox is getting rightfully roasted here

Einhander19721d 11h ago

The only point to xbox is and always has been to take market share and money from PlayStation and Nintendo, but mostly PlayStation. It's been the goal since sweaty Steve Balmer said it himself.

1d 10h ago
ApocalypseShadow1d 5h ago

Yup. To put Sony out of business because they thought they were a threat to their Windows business.

solideagle16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

Genuinely curious: how is Sony (hardware company) threat to Windows (operating system/software company) business?

isarai1d 9h ago

I mean the motto "xbox, the most optional console ever made" was peaked years ago, people are just now taking a step back from deepthroating Phil to see what we've all been seeing for a long time now.

Ra30309h ago

The current Microsoft Xbox motto is .....We're Microsoft Xbox, and we don't care and it shows!

P_Bomb1d 8h ago

I’ve still got friends that main on XB. For their sake, I hope it sticks around. They’ve put everything into that ecosystem. It’s all or nothing.

I wonder if we’ll ever get back the level of competition seen during the 360/PS3 era?

NotoriousWhiz21h ago

Seems like Daddy Microsoft is trying to shut it down. Or at least bring costs under control. On the bright side, it seems likely that acquisitions are going to stop.

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