Battlefield 3 shows consoles age.

With the new battlefield 3 being released Fall 2011, some information was given out to the public. We learn that the PC version has an impressive 64 player multiplayer, while the console version has a 12v12 mode. EA has stated that the current generation of consoles can not handle the Frostbite 2 engine they have incorporated with the game. The graphics are better, the destructible environment and effects are more realistic, and the landscape is now destructible which means craters can be created in the ground from blasts and explosions, and the physics are better as well, which just makes the game unplayable on consoles with anything more than 12v12. We also learn that there will be jets in the game, as well as a constant request from players... prone! We also hear that there will be planes in multiplayer! (The jets, yet it is unknown if consoles will feature planes in multiplayer) EA said they are still working very hard to improve the multiplayer on consoles and that 16v16 may be possible, however they will not dumb down the game on PC due to consoles. EA has stated again and again they Battlefield is staying true to it's original roots... The PC.

Many PS3 owners are also asking the question "How is it possible for MAG to have 256 player multiplayer when BF3 can not even have over 24?" Well, this is because MAG used an impressive server architecture that allowed for this, and not only that but it used many "tricks" to make the game run smoothly. One "trick" as an example would be the decrease of graphical quality by tiny increments until the desired fps is achieved. However, one may argue that the new Frostbite 2 engine is much to advanced for consoles to handle, as the tech demos show that it is very impressive, therefore leading to the 24 multiplayer experience.

BF3 is looking like a great game, with many new additions, and it will yet again redefine destructible environments in the FPS genre.

(P.S. All the information gathered here has been from the official EA twitter feed and the official EA Battlefield 3 forums.)

[GSpartan777]

Yes, you are correct. I think Battlefield 3 will be one of those games that shows that PC is a much more superior system than the consoles and not just a console port. This will truly be a PC game.

However, DICE is requiring some PC gamers to give their system an upgrade since they stated not too long ago that it will not support DX9, Windows XP. Hopefully that doesn't bite them too much in the ass, because I noticed that not many seemed to fond of that but it's a sacrifice they'll have to make.

[AndrewRyan]

Well put. I think it is good that DICE is forcing people to move ahead. Imagine being a developer and being told that you are to decrease the quality of the game you are making because some users still have old technology that has been around since 2002 I believe. It's been 9 years, I hope people have ATLEAST upgraded to a DX10 video card by now, if not then they have to either buy a new one (cheap ones are available for DX11 and DX10) or buy the game for their console.

[Agent-86]

Shouldn't be a problem. BF2 required Win XP and DX9c with no support for Win 2000, yet sold like gangbusters. People will upgrade to Win 7 for this game, believe me. I've already upgraded my PC last year to play BFBC2 maxed out and ready for BF3.

[ATiElite]

DX9 is 5 years old and it's time for it to go away. DX11 is gonna push PC gaming to a whole new level while pushing the gaming experience even further. Battlefield 3 and DX11 is too complicated for consoles and unlike MAG, DICE is not gonna lower the quality of graphics and the experience so 12 vs. 12 is all the console can do.

BF3 is a PC first game that shouldn't be compromised by the limitations of the consoles.

[Nate-Dog]

I do indeed hope for the sake of the PC version and PC gamers they don't "dumb down" that version due to the console versions not being able to cope with what the PC version can. But I'm still looking forward to this, I played BFBC2 and have heard a lot about the original Battlefield games and the additions to this sound pretty good so far. Looking forward to a little more info so I can be sure of whether I want this or not but so far it's all sounding good.

[Tachyon_Nova]

I assume there will be multiple versions of each map for BF3 like in BF2. For example each map would have a large server (64 player) layout and a small server (below 24 Player) layout. That would make it easy for them to simply put the small server layout on the console versions, allowing for combat to stay similarly paced.

[Agent-86]

Ya, that was my same thoughts on how to handle the differences between the PC and console versions. Just scale the maps down like BF2 did. However, this also makes me think that the consoles won't have jets either. If I remember correctly, the scaled down 32 player sized maps in BF2 didn't have jets. Oh well, just glad to see that DICE isn't gimping the PC version.