How Will Next Gen Ports Be Handled?

Before much was known of the Xbox 360, the Wii and the PS3, it was generally assumed that porting across the three platforms would be much easier than on previous consoles because they would most likely be pretty similar in terms of features and performance. How times have changed.

Last generation it was still relatively easy to handle multi platform ports with all three consoles having roughly the same basic capabilities at least in terms of features, with only the Xbox's "Live" online networking system really separating it from the Gamecube and PS2. Developers generally aimed for the lowest common denominator (the PS2) and worked from there, this time things look to be a little different.

[MONOLITHICIDE]

I just cant wait for GTA and PS3

[Marriot VP]

I just cant wait for GTA and 360

[Jay da 2KBalla]

me neither

[ps3willrule]

it doesn't even seem that way every one of those games is the exact same with features and everything

[ps3willrule]

i mean for ps2 and x-box hopefully that changes

[GrimFang4]

I just cant wait for SSB and Wii

I have the feeling that companies like EA will do the same "lowest common denominator" approach even though the article says this won't happen. EA is not very heavy on the graphics and effects, so why wouldn't they say "This is good enough" and start with the Wii then port to the others? I mean, if you look at games like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and such from EA, these are not the best graphics that Xbox, PS2, and GC can do. Why expect everyone to use the full power of the new systems when they haven't tapped out the current systems? This is especially true when they want to make money.

[ps3willrule]

actually i know ps3 lord sounds like a fan boy but its true MS is already compressing games oblivion got cut short....jus wait till second gen games..can only get worse.

[Jay da 2KBalla]

ps3 will rule and ps3 lord is the same person. So hey asshole you aint slick. Also doesnt matter if oblivion is being compressed.Procedural synthesis which is a compression technique that microsoft invented is used in Oblivion and not only does it compress games but it makes graphics better which is why oblivions trees look so realistic.

[PS360PCROCKS]

not tru tru, oblivion is a boring game anyways

[PS360PCROCKS]

well atleast to me it is.

[GrimFang4]

Are they really reaching the limit of the disks? Is that what you're saying? I don't think I've seen any evidence to that. The new format seems sorta unnecessary right now.

[Jay da 2KBalla]

It depends on ho much content. Oblivion has alot of content which is why it got compressed with procedural synthesis but procedural synthesis helps the quality of games which again is why oblivions trees look so realistic.

[ps3willrule]

look it up on google microsoft compressing games u'll see but ur a fanboy so what ever..

[Jay da 2KBalla]

Oblivion is the only game that got compresed ass.

[Lucidmantra]

I also remember an article that says 50 GB will not be needed until not ps3 but ps4 because of the rate at which game sizes rise. Ill get you a link if you cant google for that article since you like to google.

[Jay da 2KBalla]

Exactly. Good post

[GrimFang4]

Well I'll check it out, but I don't see how anything I've said indicates me as being a fanboy. I also don't see why that is such a commonly occuring insult(?) around here.

[Jay da 2KBalla]

ps3willrule is just an asshole. Pay him no attention.

[PS360PCROCKS]

yeah they compress it, but only to keep it on one disk, it doesn't in anyway harm the game, so wheres the merit? stop trying to get yourself an advantage because u have a BR drive

[Jay da 2KBalla]

a slow ass blu-ray drive at that and THE ONLY GAME that got compressed was oblivion but 360rocks said it doesnt harm the quality of the game soooooooooo stop sayin bs ps3willrule.

[ps3willrule]

u guyz r idiots!! u don't think that hurts quality...hmmmmm compression in a game wtf do u think that means they cut out story content no....they cut out the AI and Physics and yes maybe they'll b a little more jaggies...y u ask..because the dvd can only hold so much information graphics doesn't take that much information beleive it or not physics and AI do and that is what u call gameply folks i am speaking the truth seriosly. it depends they said they compressed it but in reality its either the AI or physics and it may not seem much cause it turned out good but it could have been alot better if say yes it were on a blu ray because then they could fit all the AI code and information on to it. u'll see in the next year or so... wait till gta lol

[Jay da 2KBalla]

Over the course of its life, the size of the average Xbox title increased by 77%. If the Xbox 360 size increases at the same rate we can expect the average Xbox 360 title in 4 or 5 years to be around 7.40 gigs, and to occupy about 87% of the disc's capacity.

Additionally, you'd find that size is not an indicator of quality, either in graphical quality or storyline. No one would accuse Doom 3 of being worse looking than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but it's almost 3 gigabytes smaller (Terminator 3: 5.67 gigs; Doom 3: 2.957 gigs). Half-life 2, for example, is only 2 gigabytes.

Large games may simply be the result of poorly optimized programming, not an indication that they couldn't be smaller if they had to be, and still deliver the same experience.

SO STFU

[Jay da 2KBalla]

• XNA:

XNA is a development tool that Microsoft introduced in 2004. XNA helps developers build games more quickly and more efficiently. XNA represents a refinement of everything that has been learned developing for the Xbox, which has an architecture that is very similar to the Xbox 360. As a new development tool, it represents a change in the way that game developers might program, and how it impacts on filesize is an unknown factor.
• Procedural Synthesis:

Procedural synthesis is has a great deal of potential to effect the Xbox 360's filesizes. In short, procedural synthesis is a way of producing graphics that Microsoft has pushed heavily with the introduction of the Xbox 360, including specific hardware functions designed to do handle procedural synthesis. It uses algorithms to produce high quality graphics out of extremely small files. For the best example of what procedural synthesis can do, check out .kkrieger, which means Warrior in German. This first person shooter is built almost entirely from procedural graphics, and as a consequence occupies about 96 Kilobytes of space. Yes, the game responsible for this screenshot here, here, and here could fit almost 14 copies on an old-fashioned 1.4 megabyte floppy disk.

You can download a beta version of this game from the developer's website here, but be warned that it's fairly buggy, and meant more as a technology demonstration than anything else.

Procedural synthesis is the reason that Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has such brilliant forests. Oblivion makes use of a technology called SpeedTree, a middleware product for procedurally generating forests and foliage. You can see other examples of their software in screenshots here, here, and here.

PWNED

[GrimFang4]

I don't see any reference to Oblivion losing anything from its compression, just as the word "compression" implies. Here's a good article if you can handle anyone saying good things about the 360: http://www.gamesfirst.com/?...

In short, I could write a game that takes up multiple Blue-Ray disks. Professional game devs are supposedly better than me at writing games. They won't waste their space like me, especially if Microsoft is giving them tools that save the space for them.

[Jay da 2KBalla]

see 15.1 and 15.2

[ps3willrule]

what tools the only tools there given them is a dvd 9 drive and even if they layer the fuk outta that dvd 9 will run slower if layered ur arguments are useless u guyz are all ignornant to facts...like a post which shows ps2 outselling 360... i bet a wall could be white and u people would argue the wall is black.

[GrimFang4]

XNA and Procedural Synthesis. They're development tools. If you know anything about game dev, you'll know that the DVD drive or any storage medium is not a development tool.

[Jay da 2KBalla]

see 15.1 and 15.2