Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Next-Gen Game Consoles Still Years Off

Posted by Soulskill on from the two-more-years-of-stagnant-graphics dept.

jfruhlinger writes "Gamers who have grown bored with the current generation of game hardware will have to sit tight a bit longer. Word on the street has it that the next PlayStation won't be ready until 2014, and the next Xbox won't appear until Christmas 2013 at the earliest."

3 of 386 comments (clear)

  1. Weird abstract... by FaxeTheCat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >bored with the current generation of game hardware

    If the gamers are bored with the game hardware, they may find it immensely more interesting to start playing games on it.

    1. Re:Weird abstract... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The problem with the PS3 is the GPU, it's essentially a GeForce7800GTX with a few mods. The other problem with the PS3 is the OS. It's so memory hungry compared with the 360. The 360 uses 32MB and it has a 10MB embedded frame buffer for render targets. The PS3 uses (last time I programmed it) 40MB main memory for the OS and 7MB of video memory with no embedded frame buffer. MSAA needs more memory in the PS3 but does NOT on the 360, unless you're going to do more processing on the MSAA frame buffer. The GPU on the PS3 is so slow that you use a significant amount of CPU time reducing the load on the GPU. You usually do backface removal, degenerate triangle removal, zero area triangle removal, offscreen triangle removal and triangles hidden by occluders removal just to reduce load on the vertex pipe. Then you do MSAA resolving and any other image post processing on the SPUs as well.
      The PS3's GPU is a boat anchor. A year later and 75% the speed!
      I will say however that it was fun to program. You spent all your time doing cool shit optimizing around the GPU, whereas on the 360 you spend your time dong game code. Booooring.

      CATCHPA: irking. The perfect work do describe the PS3

  2. Re:Do not want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yea, what you're looking for is not a game console, I believe it's called a com pew tur or something like that.