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On Next-Gen Consoles And Technical Innovation

Posted by simoniker on from the infinite-polygon-engine dept.

Thanks to GamesRadar for reprinting an Edge feature discussing likely technical innovations which the next generation of videogame consoles may introduce. The piece discusses the impact of massively parallel computing on consoles, noting it's "...been plagued by a lack of good development tools, and with most developers taking three years even to get familiar with PlayStation 2's brace of vector units, this must be a real worry." It goes on to discuss graphical effects, from post-scene processing ("allows subtle ways of changing the look of the game in terms of brightness or colour saturation") to depth of field ("The biggest question remains whether developers will find any useful in-game applications for such technology.")

4 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. Graphics and story by MoonFog · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Check this statement out: Despite the howls of anger this statement will provoke from musicians, AI specialists and physics fanatics, at the end of the day videogames are all about pretty visuals.

    This was discussed here on Slashdot a week or so ago, and fortunately the statement is only partially correct. I see nothing wrong in game makers creating cool graphics, it's not like when a new game comes out to my playstation 2, I have to get the latest geforce card to get maxfps. By all means, the game makers SHOULD make use of the capabilities that lie in the graphics card.
    However, there are fortunately still games that rely on a great story. Finaly Fantasy would have been half the game it is if it weren't for the story. Gameplay and challenges are also important parts of a game. That statement is nothing more than BS, like most of the article.

    1. Re:Graphics and story by Mr.+Piddle · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Finaly Fantasy would have been half the game it is if it weren't for the story. Gameplay and challenges are also important parts of a game.

      Perhaps due to a luxury of huge budgets and big talent, Final Fantasy games tend, on average, to be very well-rounded: graphics, story, music, characters, etc. I say "on average", because I had a lot of trouble connecting with FF8's characters, for example, but the games are generally top-notch otherwise.

      Final Fantasy X really bridged the movie and game industries, and the depth of its story rivaled even that of most novels. I could wish the story were a bit less linear, but what they made was so impressive that I soon didn't mind while playing.

      --
      Vote in November. You won't regret it.
  2. Future? by niff · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've always been able to predict upcoming technologies on video cards and gaming consoles by looking at 3d modeling software like 3dstudio. New techniques you see show up there, will show up as hardware solutions some years later.

    Things that are normal in 3d software now but are missing in hardware rendering are things like decent refraction, area lights, global illumination, caustics, raytracing. We can expect to see at least some of those implemented in hardware somewhere in the future.

  3. Re:Clue meter-- low by Svenheim · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The XBOX suffered when you think about production costs. Yes, a very powerful console, but Microsoft is selling every single XBox at a huge loss. Of course you couldve made lot more powerful consoles than those out today 5 years ago, if you didnt worry about the cost. In the long run, no company (not even Microsoft), can afford to sell systems at that kind of loss, which I think is part of the reason why XBox2 probably wont be shipped with a hard drive.