Next Gen Console Power - What's Your Impression ?

[MikeRox]

we all know capcoms meaning of exclusive anyway :P

Code Veronica is still Dreamcast Exclusive as far as Capcom are concerned, as Code Veronica X apparantly counts as a completely different game.

[Shozuki]

we all know capcoms meaning of exclusive anyway :P

Code Veronica is still Dreamcast Exclusive as far as Capcom are concerned, as Code Veronica X apparantly counts as a completely different game.

ha ha fair enough.

Perhaps im wrong then - but ive been reading on NeoGAF and such the game was at 60fps and Capcom were even able to pull off 100 fps on the PS3 hardware...

[NekoFever]

I think the power difference is going to be similar to the one between Xbox and PS2, if even that much. We'll have to see what things look like in a few years when every iota of power has been wrangled from them - look what we're getting out of the PS2 at the moment with games like Okami.

What I do think, though, is that we'll be a bit slower to start seeing a massive leap from the current gen. Not only do they have to make things look significantly better which gets harder every time (law of diminishing returns in action) but they also have to deal with three times (at least) the resolution which take a lot of horsepower alone. We can see that developers are struggling to get their heads around it at the moment.

[sj33]

I think the power difference is going to be similar to the one between Xbox and PS2, if even that much.

That's a bit of a chasm of a gap mind, no matter how much they push the PS2. Of course, there are some lovely looking games on the PS2...

[MikeRox]

I personally think the power of the PS2 (or more lack of) actually technically held back the Xbox in general, as most games were made for both. The games that did take advantage of the Xbox hardware were often imo a long way ahead of the nearest PS2 competition.

[Shozuki]

I personally think the power of the PS2 (or more lack of) actually technically held back the Xbox in general, as most games were made for both. The games that did take advantage of the Xbox hardware were often imo a long way ahead of the nearest PS2 competition.

I strongly agree with that, just take Ninja Gaiden as am example

[Wools]

I thing RE4 is a good example, blew most people away visually, but this was as much about the style and atmosphere that the graphics set than anything else...

There was no atmosphere in Resi 4.

Next gen does not bring as big a leap as the 32bit generation but it outclasses it in one aspect. Size.

Oblivion takes my breath away everytime I see it.

[NekoFever]

That's a bit of a chasm of a gap mind, no matter how much they push the PS2. Of course, there are some lovely looking games on the PS2...

That's why I qualified it, and maybe I should have chosen a smaller gap because, thinking about it, there is a pretty huge power gap. The PS2 is capable of some stunning stuff but I think it's pretty fair to say that any PS2 game could technically be done on the Xbox. I can't think of any multiplatform games that didn't look better on Xbox (maybe MGS2 because of the slowdown, which wasn't designed to be a multiplatform title) and I doubt a PS2 version of something like Ninja Gaiden would look nearly as nice.

It's hard to come up with any comparisons really because every generation there's been one console that outperforms the others. I'll just be diplomatic and say that I think the difference will be very small, and that both will have exclusives that look great in their own way.

[sj33]

It's hard to come up with any comparisons really because every generation there's been one console that outperforms the others. I'll just be diplomatic and say that I think the difference will be very small, and that both will have exclusives that look great in their own way.

That's actually sorta the point I was getting at earlier.
In previous generations, there has always been a technical gap large enough so that you could say X game will look better on X console. This doesn't seem to be the case between the PS3 and 360. Any graphical difference will be so small a degree that it won;t be worth discussing.

This means the factor that will separate the two is the software, and this all down to personal preference.
Shozuki, for example, says nothing on the 360 yet has really got him interested - fair enough. I myself happen to prefer the kind of produce we usually get from Japanese dev teams, so I also can;t wait to see what titles will appear in the future on the PS3... but I'm suprised how well the 360 is doing with me in terms of software, Dead Rising, Kameo, RR6 etc being the key notable titles, and I can't wait for Lost Planet, Eternal Sonata, Project Sylpheed, Lost Oddesey etc. Of course, when we see more of what people are working on with the PS3, I'll no doubt get just as excited about them.

But the point I'm getting at is with both formats technically similar, and offering different kinds of games, it will all fall down to personal preference. Ansd you just know that, like with previous console generations, enough decent games will come out on all formats to make you buy them all

[Jaxon]

If a game has good art direction, it's going to look good no matter how technical the graphics are. However, when good art direction and millions of polygons meet, like in SOTC, wonderful things happen.

[Brats]

Yeah, you get dodgy framerates and slowdown .

I think the PS3 software does look a bit better. Ridge Racer in 1080p does look sharper, there's no doubt. Whether this is because developers have become used to working with multiple cores now I have no idea, but certainly some of the launch window PS3 games are looking like second gen 360 games.

But this gen is less about technical ability and more about user functionality imo. It's about integration of online, gamer scores, DLC, Mii Channels, funky controllers etc. It's not about polygons.

I haven't played any game on the 360 (and haven't seen any game on the PS3 or Wii) that wouldn't be technically possible on a last gen console. However the next gen consoles just make it soooo easy, that it's a pleasure to play on them.

[MartyG]

That's a good point Brats - I don't recall purchasing a game purely because it has flashier graphics (maybe DOAX, but no, that was for the Volleyball stuff right?). I think the online integration stuff has been fantastic on x360. Nintendo Wii is clearly taking a different path on the power front, yet still looks to be retaining some graphical flair regardless.

I do think the PS3 stuff looks impressive ( I liked the water stuff in Tekken 5 that the characters were fighting in), and likewise I've been impressed by Xbox360 stuff. The PS3 might just have the edge in terms of raw poly pushing power, based on some of the first gen stuff, but what I most look for is a game that keeps me hooked in and immersed - polys alone don't do that, certainly not for the price differential, which is why I'll buy into Nintendo Wii but wait for PS3 for while longer.

[Yoshimax]

Technically I don't think there's as much (if any) of a gap between PS3 and 360 as some people think. Bear in mind when the games launching were started they were aiming for March this year to launch - effectively they've had another 8 months to refine those titles - Perfect example being Fight Night 03 which people seem to be holding up as an example of technical superiority on PS3's part - If it had been a PS3 launch title as was intended back in March it would've been exactly the same game.

In addition, PS3 hardware was finalised (apparently) a long while back so it's not like it has any newer tech per-se than 360 does under the hood.

This is why a lot of PS3 launch titles look like 2nd gen 360 titles - effectively they've been built in the same timeframe and with the same knowledge.

[Concept]

As Shakey_Jake mentioned earlier, sophistication of artstyle has clearly become more prominent. What I've found plesantly surprising is that a lot of next-gen reviews (and I'm not talking in the likes of Edge etc.) have started focusing less on the technical aspects of the visuals and more on how they aesthetically appear. Which is good.

It'll be this generation that sets out the men from the boys in terms of who can deliver the best artistry as opposed to solely the best tech for kudos. In a perfect world you get a marriage between the two as seen in Gears of War but if you look at how amazing Okami looks, then you'll see it's what you do with the power at your disposal which accounts for how far the technical divide is between consoles. I know which is the more important to me.

[NekoFever]

I just remembered an interview in Edge a few months back when they were talking to various developers about the relative merits of the next-gen hardware and one said something to the effect of that the PS3 has more raw power but it's slightly easier to get good results from the 360. So it seems like the gap might become more pronounced when they get their heads around the PS3 since it has some pretty convoluted architecture. Much like the PS2, in fact.

The Cell was designed with linear processing tasks in mind (like video decoding) as opposed to dynamic ones like gaming, but once developers get the hang of harnessing it they can probably come out with some minor miracles, a la Okami and SOTC on PS2.