49 replies to this topic

[Meelow100]

http://www.computera...graphical-leap/

"Next generation consoles in production at Sony and Microsoft may not provide a significant generational leap that consumers are accustomed to, the president of Nintendo has said.

In what signals a return to the games industry's habitual public criticisms of new consoles from rival executives, Satoru Iwata has detailed his doubts over the PlayStation 4 and so-called Xbox 720.
"If they decide to increase the spec numbers, will the consumers be able to realise the difference enough so that they can understand it's much superior to today's machine," Iwata said in an interview with The Telegraph.
Iwata's claims have been published on the same day as similarly critical remarks made by Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, who said the Wii U was "in a generation of its own".
And while the Nintendo president has doubts over the graphical advancements of the next generation machines, he appeared to hedge his bets by saying that developers would struggle if PS4 and Xbox 720 were significantly more powerful than their predecessors.
"If they beef up the processing power, that simply means much more work for software developers to take advantage of those spec numbers. So I have to ask the question if that type of differentiation really makes sense.
He added: "I think further arguments must wait until probably next year, when they have finalised and disclosed whatever they are thinking about for the next generation of consoles."

I've been saying this, and everyone has been too.

[Keviin]

I think the leap will be bigger than Wii U's (compared to PS3 at least, not compared to Wii off course, then it would be smaller..) and off course they will be more powerful, but not a that big difference. Sony has already commented on this by saying the PS4 won't be a powerhouse like the PS3 was. Now Microsoft has either the chance to risk a lot by making a superpoweful console, or play safe and follow the same succes as its competitors.

However I disagree with mr. Iwata's argument, as it has never proven to be that much of a deal on previous consoles. I'd rather think other companies just want to make more profit by following the Wii's concept: everybody knows how damn succesful that was. Cheap price = more people buy/cheaper manufacturing costs = more profit. Easy as that people.

[Reaper Pin]

I.... I don't think Iwata is in the position to say that... after... well... you know.

[Keviin]

After what?

[Desert Punk]

If Sony come up with some super powerful console at twice the price of everyone else then they deserve to go out of business. As a complete package the ps3 is a good console but in the detail its got some major issues to do with a weak gpu and memory bandwidth problems. The way the memory is split in two, one area for game code and one for video can be very limiting depending on the game. I actually think a off the shelf PC chipset will have major advantages to development. The original playstation was an amazing console for its day but the ps2 and ps3 were really naff designs in many ways. The vita may not succeed but the hardware is fantastic and to be honest if the PS4 ends up with a x86 type processor with something like a AMD fusion chipset it will be fantastic and very powerful but still likely to be sub latest PC performance when its launched.

I'm not a fan of PC gaming but if you want the best hardware a modern pc is where its at. consoles nowadays are falling further and further behind.

I don't see the wii u or the ps4 or next xbox being difficult to develop for. I remember a quote about castle wolfenstein taking about a week to get running on the original xbox but it took about 9 months to get the engine working on ps2 such was the difficulty in working with the ps2 and its more limited performance. I imagine the ps3 is no different.

Nintendo can get away with weaker hardware because they develop many of the best games you can play. Not only that but the games don't rely totally on huge levels of realistic violence. Its part of Nintendo's disney like charm. To me Sony are still making lots of stupid decisions and it wouldn't surprise me if they were stupid enough to bring out a very powerful console that most people couldn't afford. I think sony need to think more about the end price and when they launch the model rather than cramming in as much performance as possible. Vita really needed to be cheaper and still shows Sony's over ambition with hardware. Its a stunning portable console but still too expensive for most people who want a handheld console.

[jono]

Think about it. The Xbox 3 will have a super heavy focus on Kinect 2.0, which will drive the price of the system up more then the GamePad ever could. And if the PS4 is exceptionally powerful, then it'll be all alone, and devs will build games for the less powerful system and simply scale up, in order to save on costs. Plus there's the possibility Sony makes a tablet controller of their own. In any case, I think it's likely that the Wii U won't be significantly less powerful.

[Plutonas]

all that matters is to have green light by the new game engines, but nobody comes out to say.. YES wii U supports all the new game engines. And dont tell me again that wii U dont need the new game engines, because it has IBM cpu and not an x86 cpu.. Game engines are the programs the games are built from, if nintendo dont need the new game engines, is more like, they dont need the new games.

Edited by Orion, 14 June 2012 - 04:31 PM.

[MorbidGod]

All I have to say is, does anyone really expect a huge jump from PS3 to PS4?? I think Sony themselves said they cant afford to make a big investment and Microsoft from the sounds of things will focus on Kinect. So ... Is this really news?

[blu gamepad]

Its hard to say. I would like to believe that the leaps in graphic fidelity will be more in line with the 6th gen where only a few feet stood between each system's power, and were all, more or less, evenly matched with only the PS2 and Dreamcast feeling the blunt.

As always, it is the games that will ultimately decide the victor. A good lineup that appeals to many people, and support to prove that.


I just hope Sony and Microsoft learn a thing or too on where to dry the line when it comes to cost.

[WisdomPowerCourage]

Why don't we all just listen to Mr.Iwata instead of trying to come up with our own arguments. I think that Iwata is in a pretty good position to be able to talk about the specs of his console and how they will compare to others considering he actually knows the specs instead of us just guessing at them.

[Meelow100]

Why don't we all just listen to Mr.Iwata instead of trying to come up with our own arguments. I think that Iwata is in a pretty good position to be able to talk about the specs of his console and how they will compare to others considering he actually knows the specs instead of us just guessing at them.

Neogaf and gamefaq are bashing Iwata and saying "he has no idea what he's talking about", so much people are hyped about PS4 and 720's specs, too bad the PS4 won't live up to there expectations.

[Nollog]

http://www.computera...graphical-leap/

"Next generation consoles in production at Sony and Microsoft may not provide a significant generational leap that consumers are accustomed to, the president of Nintendo has said.

In what signals a return to the games industry's habitual public criticisms of new consoles from rival executives, Satoru Iwata has detailed his doubts over the PlayStation 4 and so-called Xbox 720.
"If they decide to increase the spec numbers, will the consumers be able to realise the difference enough so that they can understand it's much superior to today's machine," Iwata said in an interview with The Telegraph.
Iwata's claims have been published on the same day as similarly critical remarks made by Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, who said the Wii U was "in a generation of its own".
And while the Nintendo president has doubts over the graphical advancements of the next generation machines, he appeared to hedge his bets by saying that developers would struggle if PS4 and Xbox 720 were significantly more powerful than their predecessors.
"If they beef up the processing power, that simply means much more work for software developers to take advantage of those spec numbers. So I have to ask the question if that type of differentiation really makes sense.
He added: "I think further arguments must wait until probably next year, when they have finalised and disclosed whatever they are thinking about for the next generation of consoles."

I've been saying this, and everyone has been too.

Iwata didn't criticize anything, he merely said he doesn't see how just raw specs can give gamers something more substantial at this point, which is what I've been saying too.
Graphics aren't going to look much better, and that should be a real concern for MS and Sony this generation.
They kinda screwed themselves last gen by releasing super-over-powered consoles which kind of leapfrogged the generation.

[Nin_Stream]

After what?

I.... I don't think Iwata is in the position to say that... after... well... you know.

[Gimbal]

I agree with Iwata. There's a reason the games this Gen cost 60$ rather than the 50$ they used to cost. There's also a reason no one ever uses PC power to the fullest. Bigger specs won't make much of a difference when no one has the resources to fully use them and even if they do have the resources the more expensive consoles and games won't have the same appeal.

[Mitch]

I like how Mr. Iwata just makes the assumption statement of how Xbox 720 and PS4 wont be significantly more powerful than their predecessors just to help play off the Wii U's lacking of power (assuming it actually is lacking power or not) ((i personally could care less about power i just like Nintendo and what they stand for))

[lucario23]

All we need is one of the other consoles to be similar in power to the wii u and we won't have to worry abou next generation. Seriously, think about it. If one of the other consoles are similar in power to the wii u all the multiplatform games will be available. It would be like how the Xbox was the console the developers developed for cuz it was the weakest. If rumors are true that the ps4 is similar to the wii u then this next generation will be fine. If not then I am building a PC

[Joshua]

As what I've always been saying, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft goes soft on their hardware and focus more on Kinect orientated stuff, because right now it's making a huge wad of cash for them.

[Alianjaro]

Why don't we all just listen to Mr.Iwata instead of trying to come up with our own arguments. I think that Iwata is in a pretty good position to be able to talk about the specs of his console and how they will compare to others considering he actually knows the specs instead of us just guessing at them.

Exactly what I was thinking

[Usman Mohammad]

Exactly what I was thinking

The reason for the disagreement is that UE4, Samaritan Demo, Star Wars 1313 and Agni's Philosophy clearly show stellar graphics quality, all but agni's philosphy confirmed to be running on a single GTX 680. I can see the other next consoles running a GTX660 or 670, which have near enough performance but with significantly lower price points. Also considering that they have good ties with GPU makers, they can easily have a bargain price on the those chips. These consoles are to hit end of 2013, by then the prices of these GPUs will significantly decrease to pretty much what a 560Ti costs now.

Only time will tell and it really depends on what the competition does, if one follows Nintendo and launches a current mid ranged speced console then next gen will be shorter, however if they launch with 660s 670s then Nintendo is clearly left behind in sheer computing power, like they are this gen.

We're Nintendo fans but you really can't ignore something that's in such a big flux at the moment. There's two arguements:

Pro Nintendo: Iwata is in a pretty good position to be able to talk about the specs of his console and how they will compare to others considering he actually knows the specs instead of us just guessing at them.

Con Nintendo: Nintendo has not developed in HD, they were late to the game, it wasn't just graphics but everything about the system, they didn't see online gaming being as big, they didn't see the need for mass storage (remember laurent fisher saying only Otaku's needed more space). The single player games were good, but as an overall package it just did the very basics of what the other current gen consoles offer. Iwata is in no place to say where the other consoles go because he couldn't see where trends were going back when the Wii launched.

Devil's advocate again because we really need to stop giving Nintendo a pass just because we're fans, I like Microsoft and Sony too, but I hate Xbox because don't give that a single pass because they've had too many chances. Nintendo really has to pick up, and this is from the information WE HAVE NOW, no looking to the future that they will do everything in summer conference or next year when the Wii U is mature and retro's game is out.That is giving them a pass and seriously stop giving them a pass, it's Nintendo they magically come through somehow and probably will again but that still doesn't mean we can be easy on them.

I'm coming from a very broad perspective that is seeing the industry as a whole, this could either be another Wii (less powerful, no big multiplat new IPs) or a silly ponying of game enhancements( which can be a good thing considering games are expensive to develop and better visuals etc means more work. The break even point of units sold would have to increase aswell, so that could be a good thing for the silly ponyation of better AI,graphics,rendering(more things on screen, schedules etc). However UE4 makes developing games much easier than UE3, so that's another counter arguement that engines are becoming more streamlined and efficient that less people and time is required to develop games as general developing software does a lot more work automatically (think windows XP where you had install driver disks or tell it to install from windows update, now Windows 7 just gets the drivers automatically with out any user input).