IGN: How Does Battlefield 3 on PS3 Measure up to PC?

The question on everyone's mind since the first footage of Battlefield 3 released in February is, "where's the console version?" DICE's follow-up to last year's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and 2005's Battlefield 2 has looked great on PC even in its early, pre-alpha state, but we've never seen it running on console up close – until now.

[Emilio_Estevez]

Stupid article. Pre-alpha and mising destruction and textures.

[Kalowest]

Still looks better than MW3.

[theonlylolking]

Obviously, MW3(60fps) while BF3(console) is 30fps.
Pretty much any 30fps game will look better than a 60fps game. Just like how Shift 2(graphically) looks better than Forza 3 but that is only because Forza 3 aims for 60fps while shift 2 aims for 30fps.

Compare apples to apples not apples to bacon.

[M-Easy]

Bubble for smartness Kalowest.

[Inside_out]

.
The PC version according to all the leaked footage and even EA-Dices recently damage control trailers shows a game with a lot of problems and being 12 weeks out from launch...I don't expect it to get much better...what a mess and this footage is no doubt running on...
EA-Dices recommended specs...

Recommended specs, no minimum announced.

-OS: Windows 7 or Vista
-CPU: Quadcore @ 2.0 or faster
-Ram: 4 gb
-HD: 7.25 gb free disk space
-Video: 512 mb or greater
-Direct 10 or 11 compatible card with the latest drives ( AMD 11.5 or later Nvidia 275.35 or later
-Sound: Direct 10 or 11 compatible card
-Internet: Broadband connection

...SOoooo...if it's a mess with those specs, then how is it going to look on a less powerful system with a fraction of those requirements...O_o

[BulletToothtony]

what happened to IGN?

[TripleAAARating]

@kaveti6616
I don't see any problem with Greywulf's comment... he simply stated facts and telling from your response he's a thorn in your side cause he states facts that degrade your platform of choice... really pathetic on your part to have to ask why he's still alive, why are YOU here feeling the need to belittle him.

[baodeus]

@greywulf

Yeah 20% of GT5 looks better than forza 3, while the other 80% look worst than forza 3, especially at 1280x1080 with no AA, w/ mix of 16 high res/low res vehicles on a track w/ pixelated particles/effects/shadow/,flat ten low resolution environment/ xy trees/ 2d spectator and grass, and 80% of vehicles have no interior. You can still look at it but would you greywult? why not show them greywulf, you know what they look like right? No wonder they don't have interior view for those 80% of vehicles.

So what are u getting at Greywulf? You sure don't want to mention that part do ya. I know, i play the game, you can't lie like that man.

[NanoSoldier]

Greywulf you're still a Fanboy

[paintsville]

Greywolf is just trying to stir up the crap. The fact remains that PC will have the dominant version of BF3 when compared to either console. My interest will be how the PS3 stacks up to 360. Given past experience with MW and BF it should be interesting.

[Ducky]

... how did GreyWulf get a 'well said'? O.o

LolKing's point is that a 60fps games will look worse than a 30fps games, and used Forza as an example of a game that doesn't look that great.
Wulf replies with GT5 looking better than Forza3... which doesn't add anything to the discussion.

Maybe if Wulf had said that GT5 looks better than Shift2, which he didn't, rather, he made a typical response that shows up whenever GT or Forza are made.

[vandal GAB]

@ Greywulf

Wrong GT5 tries to run at 60fps anymore than 4 cars on screen and it's a mess.

[hamburger123]

smh @ peoples talking about forza and GT5 and shit

[SixShotCop]

TripleAAARating.

Kaveti6616 belittled Greywulf because he's a douchebag. It's really as simple as that. Why are you defending him? Is he your boyfriend? Oh wait.. he's a PS3 fanboy! I understand.

To be honest, i absolutely hate the dude. IMO he needs a freakin beatdown.

[WANNAGETHIGH]

Im tired of this stupid articles...We all know PC games look better cuz its obviously more powerfull.

This article is just asking for hits.

[DaTruth]

Ask and you shall receive!

[lMHl]

THE LEAKED FOOTAGE IS ON PC
Read a dam artical once you finsh the video dam ps3 fanboys.

[EDD213]

Hate to brake it to you but consoles don't haven nearly as much features compared to PC versions, just look at Crysis 2 that includes destruction

[lMHl]

@EDD213 Im buying it on pc so i dont know what your trying to break to me I use my xbox360 controller on my PC for games

[RankFTW]

If you use your 360 controller to play BF3 on PC then you are going to get owned, alot.

[TekoIie]

@rankftw

I've used a 360 controller for loads of games on PC, gears being the main one. I played BC2 with it as well, didnt get owned much at all and i know i would get my ass wooped a ton more if i used the mouse and keyboard because its something im not used to.

When i see video games i always think "ok lets pick up the controller and play". keyboard and mouse have never really worked for me because of that and its only RTS's that i use them for...

[SuicideShaun]

mfw you use a 360 controller...

http://www.myfacewhen.net/u...

[shovelface88]

I love how they say "...PCs max of 60[fps]," which is total bullshit. IGN doesn't do their research.

[Organization XII]

I totally was like wtf when I first read that. I mean come on, a gaming site like ign doesnt know that PC games doesn't have limitations whatsoever on frame rates? That's a big load of ignorant BS. I have a feeling IGN doesnt pay their journalists well that's why they spew nonsense in their articles - or they are just plain dumb. I'll go with the latter one.

[frostypants]

The whole article is fail. It's inconsistent with the every other critic who's seen the PS3 version and said it looked pretty damn good.

[RugbyGod]

How is it stupid? He played it. I'm sure he knows how to spell "Missing"....now, who's stupid?

[Emilio_Estevez]

Still them, of course I know how to spell missing, it was a typo obviously. He's comparing when it's not finished and to the version that will obviously be better. And I never said he was stupid, the article/comparison is.

[Heartnet]

If thats what there showing off then thats what we compare em by..

Dont say stupid article when thats all we can compare at this moment in time...

and if they think pre alpha is good enough to show off to the public then we have the right to judge and criticize

[firemassacre]

no.
1.pc
2.ps3

pc version will obviously be way better than the console versions NO QUESTION.

[solar]

you could definitely tell the difference in lighting. other than that it kinda looks like a slightly prettier BC2. :/

[frostypants]

I'd actually be ok with that...but the textures and animation both look better than BFBC2's.

[hiredhelp]

Of course.
can you imagin a console housing a 9-12" long video card.

hmm note to self create a console system with a external graphics card."

[Heartnet]

no question... wow such a blind fanboy....

What if EA focus more on the console version and release console exclusive maps and guns and add new modes to console version..

mods and the like are blocked so..

but ITLL LoOK So MUch BeTtERZ... no it wont..

[lazertroy]

So it sounds like they are actually coding this game for PS3 and not just porting the 360 version, thank god

[Supman]

Bf3 is shooter of da year.

[ddkshah]

This footage looked amazing and at such a smooth framerate. The ps3 version really has a lot going for it. 720p mlaa and at this level of destruction. Good job dice ;)

[BlackKnight]

I keep hearing about MLAA on BF3, is there an article that says so? Last I heard was MLAA takes 5 of the 6 SPUs for 3.4ms (i think that was the ms). Since BF3/DICE showed off how the SPUs are being used to do some of the deferred lighting/rendering work (if not all), can they really do both?

[zero_cool]

Yes the cell processor inside the playstation 3 can with relative ease!

http://www.alphaworks.ibm.c...

http://www.yostuffs.com/200...

http://www.realtimerenderin...

http://www.realtimerenderin...

[BlackKnight]

@zero_cool

uhhhhhh, I think you didn't even read my question/comment correctly. I already know the PS3 can do MLAA (Though not easily)....the 360 has already been shown doing it, and PC did it way before with Intel's research which started it all...Let me try to rephrase what I was asking so there are no misunderstandings:

In this PDF:

http://www.slideshare.net/D...

Dice explains that their deferred rendering/lighting runs on 5-6 of the SPUs (the PS3 only has 6 SPUs a game can use, the 7th is reserved for the XMB/OS). And MLAA uses a chunk of the calculation time of 5 SPUs as well. So my QUESTION was is MLAA actually confirmed in BF3 ALONG side their deferred rendering AND all the other stuff you need like AI, Physics, sound processing, animation, etc?

[HappyTrigger]

@BlackKnight

According to DICE's engine coder Christina Coffin, MLAA will be used on the PS3 version:

"@Mad1723 its short for MLAAwesome, cause it makes the ps3 version look awesome. death to jagged pixels!"

http://twitter.com/#!/Chris...

This COULD have been replaced by now with FXAA, but we'll see in the coming months.

[xKeane]

that wasnt PS3 footage. that was just the regular PC mp trailer....if u read the article smart one

[Motorola]

Another BF3 article? C'mon its gonna turn into a war here.

[Angels3785]

IGN doesn't know what they are talking about: "We've already confirmed that Battlefield 3 runs at 30 frames per second on consoles as opposed to the PC's max of 60." I LOL'd SOOOOOOOOOO hard at that. PC's MAX frame rate at 60?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Thats insane!!!!!!!! PC can do WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY over 60fps (unless you got v-sync on and most people don't because it caps your performance to 60 fps) The only time I have ever used v-sync was in METRO 2033 which can have some HORRID tearing if you don't.

On Topic: I'm glad to see that DICE isn't shafting ANY of the versions of the game. They look like they are gonna pull off what Crytek SAID they were going to do with Crysis 2.

Don't believe me about over 60 fps? look here: http://www.youtube.com/watc...
Frame rate is in the top left-hand corner, watch long enough and it goes over 100fps. Plus this guy has a lower end PC with 2 GTX 280s in SLI. there are better systems that can do even higher than seen here.

[AKS]

I use vsync on just about all of my PC games because I don't get any extra benefit of producing 170 fps. I can get over 100 fps in both DiRT 3 and Aliens v. Predator in DX11, but I don't get any additional benefit from that. It just wastes power in my case given that I use a plasma TV with a refresh rate of 60Hz. I'm more interested in getting the full benefit of my home theater setup than putting together a multi-monitor setup at a desk. 60 fps suits my needs just fine. It would also make a difference in 3D setups of course, but that really doesn't interest me much.

[GamerPS360]

shooter and vsync dont go together very well. Vsync = Lag when millisecond counts in multiplayer.

[OrganicMachine]

putting Vsync on Multiplayer is not a great idea, Vsync although smooths out your screen, it'll also introduce input lag when playing as it tries hard to synchronize the game and your screen's frames.

I only use Vysnc when playing Single player games.

[STONEY4]

You won't be seeing any difference above 60fps without a 120hz monitor though. If I'm getting a good enough framerate, I always enable V-sync since screen tearing bugs the crap out of me and tends to make the framerate seem less then it really is. Most people I know enable V-sync too.

[Angels3785]

The only game out of the 40 or so that I own that I have seen screen tearing in is METRO 2033. Other than that I can play at very high frame rates and not see screen tearing in any other games. I know that its possible to cap the frame rate, but what I was trying to say is that IGN is wrong in saying that PC's MAX is 60 fps when its not. The PC is capable of much higher frame rates than that.

[evrfighter]

Acer gd235hz 120hz monitor. Got rid of nearly all my tearing issues. Doesn't look as pretty as a led and I own 2 samsung led but the performance can not be denied.

120fps is my limitation so screw ign

[Mr Tretton]

Videos or GTFO

[venom06]

THIS IS A STUPID ARTICLE... WHY THE HELL ARE YOU COMPARING CONSOLES TO PC IGN?? THERE'S NO FREAKIN COMPARISON... A MONKEY IN A TREE KNOWS THE PC WILL BE BETTER.. NOW WATCH THE CoD FANBOYS @ N4G RUSH THIS TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE... SO DISGUSTINGLY PREDICTABLE........

[BlackKnight]

LOL from article:

"We've already confirmed that Battlefield 3 runs at 30 frames per second on consoles as opposed to the PC's max of 60."

Really now? 60 Max? Games run at WHATEVER your PC can out put. Counter strike 1.6 literally runs at 1000+ FPS on my computer. Not to mention 3D gaming on PC that was done on shutter based glasses ran up to 120, so you could get 60FPS in 3D.

Your max FPS is limited by your system and display. There are plenty of displays with 120HZ and higher...

[Angels3785]

I just said this...........^up there.........just proves only if you OWN a PC will you know the truth. You sir know the truth. I lol'd hard at that too.

[frostypants]

Technically, a developer COULD cap the FPS.

But they never would...

[BlackKnight]

Some actually do, like Brink due to IDtech 4 and how things are handled online with servers/clients.

Pretty annoying.

[MsclMexican]

Honestly PC fanboys need to understand that console gamers are gamers too.

When we get battlefield 3 we don't wanna feel like we got dicked over by DICE

[BeastlyRig]

It's not like I wouldn't want console players to have a good game!

I hope it will be amazing on console as well!

But I am sure many console players want this to focus completely on consoles & disregard the pc players who made the franchise what it is..

Some of them are usually happy with that..

I have heard it with my own ears time and time again.

It's not the pc players who made up the whole "pc is dead motto".

[Angels3785]

How can some one disagree with BeastlyRig!?!?!?!?!? BATTLEFIELD STARTED ON PC!!!!!!!! AS did alot of GREAT franchises!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also he is saying that EVERYONE should have a good version of the game. How can people disagree with that either? So now we disagree with facts and hate each other when we wish each other luck? WOW.

[Theonetheonly]

iread your comment V1.0 and then i chose to agree then i saw it update and then
i saw this
Its not like wouldnt want consoles have good game.

TO
It's not like I wouldn't want console players to have a good game!

now comment 2.0 i must say is much better than 1.0 good job.

[Why o why]

trust me. Ive always felt consoles held pc games back but the console owners arent to blame for that. The devs/studios/publishers whatever are responsible for some of the pc games being downgraded. Pc gamers are more select in their purchases. Both are used to different things. I think we can all get along but there is a bit of snobbery from all sides. So we're all snobs. Lets celebrate our differences not always bicker about them

@
reed lol

[kikizoo]

others pc, less powerfull, held pc games back, not consoles...5,6 years after you have the best graphic card, you can see games with taht kind of performance on pc (and it's not really different than best consoles games for now, even with way more powerfull pc in 2011)

[f4nb0i]

Answer. Cr*p

But then again I doubt even my pc will run it as well as the "PC demos" we have seen. I wonder what rigs they were running?

[spektical]

bf3 starts not only a PC vs console war, and the always 360 version (>) or (<) ps3 version, but also a flame war with MW3...

lol

[Hifist1]

PC - the way it's meant to be played.

[AKS]

Why act like this? PC gamers are already reviled on this website. You're arrogant bragging just makes things more difficult and turbulent for PC gamers here.

Having better graphics and the use of kb/m doesn't mean that the console versions won't be really good games as well. Stop acting like a jerk and giving PC gamers a bad rep.

[solar]

@ AKS

no seriously, Battlefield on PC is really the entire experience with the series. 64-player battles are the most intense MP experiences you can have with a military shooter. i dont think he was bashing console users. just stating you havent really played a true BF MP.

[AKS]

I'm getting it for PC as well. I just finished building a new rig (2600K/ CF 6950s), and wanting to make sure BF3 played smoothly with high detail was a big part of that. I agree that the PC version is certainly going to be the best version, but stating it the way he did just pisses off console-only gamers and gives the impression that the version they get isn't going to be worth playing. It also gives the impression that really good PC franchises are mostly tech demos rather than the strong games that they are. For example, this "the way it's meant to be played..." attitude led to quite a bit of bashing of Crysis 1 as being just a glorified tech demo when I actually enjoyed the experience quite a bit. You can probably find posts in my post history of me defending Crysis 1 from these attacks. I get tired of seeing PC games bashed due to the brash statements some PC gamers make about technical superiority.

[Gran Touring]

@AKS I don't know whats with the disagrees, you made a valid point. The video game industry is focused on console gaming, tried and true. The only AAA, fully PC-centric games I see coming are BF3, Diablo, Star Wars: old republic... off the top of my head. I could go on to name maybe 10 AAA platform exclusives for PS3 and 360 coming out this year alone.

Sadly, it doesn't seem like this trend is gonna change either. I thought the first Crysis was a groundbreaking game and truly brought us into the next generation of gaming when it was released, but to see how they handled the sequel really disappointed me in the direction they're taking the series.

I've said this before and I'm definitely gonna get some disagrees for this, but Crysis 2 took everything that made the first great and chucked it out the window. If more developers developed first for PC then ported to consoles, I think we could appease all platforms with that sort of format. Not to favor PC over consoles, but just so quality isn't lost across any platform.

[AKS]

You'll get disagrees for saying practically anything about PC gaming on N4G. I'm actually not taking either the console or PC side, which I'm sure blows the phantom disagreers' minds. I enjoy PC gaming and high end graphics, but I don't like seeing console gaming slighted because it isn't as technically advanced. It's not the comsoles fault that developers have been slacking in multiplatform games. Metro 2033, DiRT 3, Last Light, BF3, ect. are all multiplatform games. Can anyone provide examples of games that blow away the graphics of multiplatform PC games like BF3 or Last Light? I hear the argument that multiplatform development limits PC game development frequently, but looking at what DICE and others have been doing demonstrates that this isn't the case if a developers respects PC gamers and puts in the work.

Regarding Crysis 2 specifically, Crytek clearly underestimated the challenge they were undertaking with 3 versions and struggled. They only recently finished the DX11 and high resolution textures. They obviously couldn't get everything done in the time frame that they (poorly) planned. Hopefully they don't screw up like this with their future games.

[Hufandpuf]

PC is obvious, but I'm going to be playing this on 360 for a while until I can build a rig. I'm a HUGE BF fan, and I don't want to be looked down on because I play on 360.

[gamingisnotacrime]

there i fixed it for IGNorant

[Black102WingS]

IGN = IGNORANT

[Theyellowflash30]

30 Frames Per a second on PS3..... meh
60 Frames Per a second on PC ...... Bada$$!!!!

32 Players online on PS3.... ok I guess...
64 Players online on PC ..... BADA$$!!!

Looks like the PS3 Version doesn't really stack up where it matters the most for me. Features and Gameplay. I like my games running a smooth 60 FPS. And 64 players is sick. This is Battlefield! You need large numbers of players to fill up those massive maps.

Im not knocking the PS3 Version I bet it will be great. But lets be honest if you can get it on PC that would be the far better option.

[kevnb]

no fps game really stacks up on console, for many it just doesnt matter though. Other people just dont know how to use a pc well enough to game comfortably on anything but a console.

[death2smoochie]

You're being unfair to consoles because NO FPS game on consoles NOW OR COMING OUT has the features you just listed with the REAL TIME effects and Destruction of BF3.
It's obvious if you want the full experience the PC is the way to go.
IGN at times is quite the comical rag

[Clarence]

Ign sure loves the MW franchise. BF3 will be the best FPS this year.

[Brownghost]

Anyone see the videos were it was MOH vsBFBC2 vs CODBO an they picked black ops so bull and such fanboys

[GoldPS3]

Well my PC is shit so PS3 version for me and I'm happy with that.

[Brownghost]

Shut the hell up the console is way outdated and the pc will never fall old and will be the most powerful Gaming platform and stop whining about the ps3 version it looks fine

[Ninjamonkey82]

One thing i always find with ign if they showed pre alpha xbox footage ign would have nothing to say. I own all consoles and pc but id like to see these guys shut up for a while tbh.

[MrDead]

raise your game IGN, flamebait click genarators are a sign of desperation. This article tells us nothing

[luraz]

I don't know why u guys all shouting like PC rulez, Bf3 rulez. There are far more gamers on consoles than the pc in the shooter genre. I personally love to play shooters on my PS3 and not pc. If EA really wants to compete with activision they have to concentrate on the consoles and they know it. SO far I have seen a lot of trash talking from EA, but no proof. IGN is a trust able website and if they are not so sure about BF3 on consoles I have my doubts about BF3. Come on man, EA is keeping a lot of console videos secret to us and showing only PC footages. I am not stupid and u guys should ask yourself why EA is hiding these videos? IMO EA is far more evil than Activision, so im still watching the developments about BF3 on consoles.

[kevnb]

it will look about the same as a pc running a geforce 7900 series card, but run a bit smoother thanks to fixed hardware. Of course pc gamers sit up close and expect more, so they need the higher res and aa to make it feel right... and they need all the extra effects to give those mid range to high end video cards a work out. Websites like ign will bring it up and just downplay the difference though.

[Venjense]

After waisting my money on Crysis 2, I'm starting to think that any game published by EA will be a rushed buggy mess.

[venom06]

DUMBASSES @ IGN COMPARING PC TO CONSOLE... PLEASE ATLEAST TRY TO STOP BEING COD FANGIRLS AND ATLEAST TRY TO STOP TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING TO BASH BF3 ABOUT... DAMN, Y'ALL ARE SUPPPOSED TO BE "NON-FANBOYISH" AND OBJECTIVE ... YEAH, RIGHT...

[PS360PCROCKS]

pre-alpha in almost August for a game that releases in October? so they have to finish in 2 months? yikes! I hope their isn't any delays

[Bolts]

BEHOLD! The power of the PC. I don't think the PS3 version will ever be able to pull this off.

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

[hiredhelp]

Ok, So let me know if im wrong here but after spending alot of time following bf3. On the web i keep hearing the line crop up about ps3 haters on bf3. .?

Well im kinda confused as to why if anyone should be hating this game on eaither console.
Because this game has prooven one thing to me when comes to consoles. That apart from PC, been shown off the PS3 is the only console version to be shown. This tells me that EA DICE"
are working closely with ps3 making it there weapon of choice between the two.

Dont get me wrong im not saying its gona be better than 360. But im speculating there learning the system. So to me if you feel threatend for whatever reason of this game being on ps3. You thinking of likes of kz3 DONT GO THERE! Period.. Its not same game however if they are learning the system utilizing it the right way this is a good thing. To me has no threat at all i welcome that. Than a develope looking for a cheap way out as a backwords port.

That being said i feel the 360 will also look just as good. Just i feel times changing for ps3 more devs starting to learn the ps3. That takes time be happy. But im sure this only applys to a select few of you. The console version ps3 or 360 will rock.

Sorry bobby but mw3 will be last on my shopping list this year. (my personal opionion)

[kuroukage]

Simple answer: it doesn't and never will. Get over it console kiddies...PC version is going to crush anything on console graphically. Way outdated hardware now.

[StayStatic]

IGN = Ignorant Gaming N00bs

[SuperSaiyan4]

What settings do you reckon I will be able to play on with the following spec?

Asus M5A97 PRO AMD 970 motherboard
AMD Phenom II X2 (Unlocked to quad core @ 4ghz)
Kingston HyperX Grey DDR3 8gb 1600mhz
Asus ATi HD 5770 1gb
Windows 7 64bit Home Premium

I have a Hiper 600watt powersupply you guys reckon that is enough?

[f4nb0i]

mid

[Jihaad_cpt]

how much did that cost you?

[death2smoochie]

That setup will run you now less than $600..maybe slightly more as it has more ram.
Here is a comparable system with a better GPU

http://www.ibuypower.com/St...

[hiredhelp]

Not sure on video card i reckon you be safe thoe. But rest parts certanly you can run it at id say at least high settings.

[Jihaad_cpt]

wow another FPS, wow the PC needs more variety

[unicron7]

IGN, why you be trollin? Try to pry that Activision cock out of your ass for more than a couple seconds in order to get an actual look at some decent games.

I swear, these guys have been trolling PS3 HARD the last year or so. If only they paid other consoles the negative attention they reserve for one, I might actually believe their bullshit. Until then, fuck off.

Since the green machine has been released it has definitely unleashed an entirely new, and more stupid type of fanboy on the gaming world and media.

[xtremegamerage]

The PS3 is so powerful, it opened a wormhole in space and a PS4 popped out. It's the future baby.

[Bounkass]

FOR F*CK SAKE! STOP COMPARING PC GAMES WITH CONSOLES!

[_LarZen_]

"How Does Battlefield 3 on PS3 Measure up to PC?"

Hm...it wont?

[zero_cool]

What is Interactive Ray Tracer for Cell Broadband Engine?

Interactive Ray Tracer for Cell Broadband Engine™ demonstrates the power of the Cell Broadband Engine for interactively ray tracing high-definition television (HDTV) images of complex scenes. Interactive Ray Tracer can run on both the Playstation 3 & QS21 Cell Broadband Engine-based platforms.A single Linux® binary is supplied that renders the provided scene. Interactive Ray Tracer serves as an example to those interested in the digital media, graphic rendering, & high-performance computing aspects of the Cell Broadband Engine's capabilities.

How does it work?

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used by the film industry & is considered too computationally expensive for today's game systems.However, Interactive Ray Tracer enables the Cell Broadband Engine processor to achieve real-time performance with this rendering process, once considered only for offline.

Ray tracing is much more computationally expensive than the more commonly used raster graphic process.Both attempt to create realistic images, but only ray tracing delivers optically correct results.The raster graphic process falls short because it considers each object in a scene as an isolated entity. Ray tracing, on the other hand, takes into account the interaction of light between objects, allowing for correct reflections, refractions, & shadows. Ray tracing is also able to compute the effects of indirect lighting, where light is transferred from one surface to another. This technique is called "global illumination;" the first step in this direction is "Ambient Occlusion," which is implemented by Interactive Ray Tracer.

Today a large, complex, ray-traced scene might take hours to render. If that is multiplied by number of frames (24 to 30) in a typical second of animation & then by the length of the animation,it is easy to see why production studios are investing heavily in server clusters for generating feature films.Now consider the implications within the context of an interactive video game where,as opposed to a scripted film, every possible scenario must be taken into account & each frame must be rendered in 1/60 of a second. For this reason, ray tracing has long been considered too expensive for interactive purposes.

However,the Cell Broadband Engine processor can trace high-definition frames in fractions of a second. This processor provides a cost-effective alternative to current ray-tracing options and helps free studios from the limitations of low-fidelity, raster-based graphics approximations in their final production frames.

On the Playstation 3 running Linux,six of the Cell Broadband Engine's eight SPEs are available & are deployed for ray tracing.The RSX graphics chip normally used to compute images sits idle as 720p or 1080p frames are computed by software & sent directly to the framebuffer. Furthermore, the user can navigate through the scene with the PS3 controller.

[zero_cool]

PLAYSTATION®3: An Engineering Masterpiece

At the heart of Sony Computer Entertainment’s breakthrough PLAYSTATION®3 system is the Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell BE™) processor. The Cell BE is a multi-core processor employing a PowerPC processor element (PPE) & seven synergistic processor elements (SPE) to provide supercomputer capability in a home computer entertainment system. The Cell BE is capable of 218 GFlops performance.

Sony, Toshiba and IBM co-developed the Cell BE for a wide range of computing & consumer electronics applications with the PLAYSTATION 3 being the flagship product.

Rambus XDR™ & FlexIO™ interfaces provide all the chip-to-chip connections between the Cell BE and its supporting logic, graphics processing & main memory devices.The PLAYSTATION 3's breathtaking graphics performance, including high-end 1080p video output, is delivered by the RSX Reality Synthesizer. Meanwhile, the South Bridge chip is responsible for interface & control of PLAYSTATION 3's rich provisioning of storage & communications technologies including Blu-ray™ Disc player, 40 or 60GB Hard drive,802.11b/g WiFiTM, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 & Bluetooth® 2.0.

XDR™Memory Architecture & FlexIO™ Processor Bus Unleash the Power of the Cell Broadband Engine™

The Cell BE employs an architectural strategy of extremely high-bandwidth access to main memory in lieu of large on-chip memory cache.The XDR memory controller interface (XIO) on the Cell BE is 72 bits-wide & is capable of operating at 3.2Ghz data rates providing 25.6 GB/s of total memory bandwidth.Four 512Mb XDR DRAM devices provide for 256MB of high-performance main memory for the Cell BE.

The Cell BE employs a similar strategy of extremely high-bandwidth connections to companion chips to achieve unprecedented levels of performance.Rambus' FlexIO processor bus provides the high-bandwidth connectivity between the Cell BE & the RSX and South Bridge chips. In the PLAYSTATION 3, the FlexIO interfaces connecting the Cell BE to its companion chips provide an aggregate bandwidth of 40 GB/s.

Morphological Antialiasing in God of War III

Eric wrote a post back in July about a paper called Morphological Antialiasing which had been presented at HPG 2009 (source code for the paper is available here). The paper described a post-processing algorithm which could smooth out edges as if by magic.Although the screenshots were impressive,the technique seemed too expensive to be practical for games on current hardware; also there were reportedly bad artifacts when applied to moving images.For these reasons I didn’t pay too much attention to the technique.It was reported (including by us) that the game The Saboteur was using this technique on the PS3 but this turned out to be a false alarm.

However, God of War III is actually using Morphological Antialiasing.

I’ve looked closely at the game & the technique they use appears not to exhibit significant motion artifacts; it definitely looks better than the MSAA2X technique it replaced (which was used in the E3 2009 demo).According to the game’s art director,the technique used “goes beyond” the original paper; this may mean that they improved it in ways that reduce the motion artifacts.

My initial impression that the technique is too expensive did not take into account the impressive horsepower of the PS3′s Cell chip.After optimization, the technique runs in 20 milliseconds on a single SPU; running it on 5 SPUs in parallel enables it to complete execution in 4 milliseconds. Most importantly, turning off MSAA saved them 5 milliseconds of GPU time,which on the PS3 is a significant gain (the GPU is most often the bottleneck on PS3 games).

[Platinum_k]

For the LAST time NO!... but who really cares???

Console gaming is the BOMB!

[iistuii]

Admit. I am slightly concerned that this late in the day there's no console version vids about to get exited about. I mean there's Gears vids Uncharted 3 vids, Forza4 vids, MW3 vids, Fifa12 vids all showing what the games like and getting us all ready for these great titles, yet B3 isn't being shown at all. Are they hiding something, or keeping it close to their chests, a pre alpha movie that's missing so much isn't anything to write home about, only time will tell.

[ILikeTurtles]

PS3:

lower res, less details, less players online/game, low framerate, shitty AA etc in comparison.
it's the same game except those things

I'll get the pc version first but probably get the ps3 version too when it gets cheap so I can play with my ps3 friends too :)I mean more $ for an inferior version isn't appealing in my opinion.

[Brownghost]

Have they fixed the alpha trial problems