DICE Prepped For Xbox 720, PS4 Arrival, Battlefield 3 Pushing Consoles To Limit

[phantomferrari]

A confident Bach replied: "I don't know what the big corporations are thinking but definitely we are desperate to move on into the next generation. I think Battlefield 3 will look like a next-generation game and all the technology we're building, the whole Frostbite 2 system - the animations, audio, everything - is trying to aim for a couple of years in the future, rather than looking at what we have today.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...bsolute-limit/

between hearing this and seeing the unreal 3 tech videos it really does seem that at least some developers want to move onto a new console. hopefully it comes soonish and even more hopefully that sony and microsoft both over provision their consoles instead of under provisioning them

[brandinb]

not my concern i game on a pc :P

[OutSider]

it should be your concern

[Pontos]

It would be nice if these developers made their games only for the PC where they don't have to deal with noticeable limitations as a form of pressure to make Microsoft and Sony hurry and get their new products out of the door.

But of course that wont happen as long as publishers are the ones who decide where the games will be released.
Since neither MS or Sony seem eager to look ahead (Kinectic and The Move trying to extend the life of the platforms, anyone?) we surely have at least another year until something is announced.

[RejZoR]

it should be your concern

Yeah, because we will now finally get the games we should already have 2 years ago. But since consoles were too weak we got some bogged down dumbed versions of games. That's the only reason why this should concern PC gamers.

[phantomferrari]

sadly even if the game developing community really wants a new gen of console they will have to wait for microsoft and sony. microsoft doesnt seem like its in a hurry. and obviously sony is less likely to release a new console because of the extreme cost they were hit with when developing and implementing blu ray.

[kgk]

sadly even if the game developing community really wants a new gen of console they will have to wait for microsoft and sony. microsoft doesnt seem like its in a hurry. and obviously sony is less likely to release a new console because of the extreme cost they were hit with when developing and implementing blu ray.

Microsoft turned a profit much earlier with the Xbox 360 than Sony did with the PS3. I think Sony only recently actually started breaking even on the units themselves. But they recoup costs through other areas like Blu-Ray implementation, game sales, etc. Either way I can't see Sony recouping enough costs of that massive money sink to justify designing a state of the art console this year.

Granted the development cost would probably be orders of magnitude less since they already have Blu-Ray. Would just need to be a hardware/software update. It'd be nice to see them dump that cell architecture since even though it's "theoretically" superior, hardly any designers give a crap about optimizing something for that architecture.

I'm interested to see what Microsoft does with the Xbox 720 in terms of media. They'll have to implement Blu-Ray I'd imagine.

[Power5]

If these dev are that frustrated with their seriously outdated console hardware to develop around, switch to a PC focus and then the console makers will take notice. They really need to make consoles upgradeable if they want to push PC gaming to the brink. If there was a simple option at half way through the console cycle to upgrade the graphics in it how many would do it? The game GUI would not even need to have graphic options, it could just be automatically detected and better graphic options selected. Since there would only be a single upgrade hardware there would be no conflicts. If the upgrade for the 7300 or whatever is in the xbox cost $150 and included a 460gtx and install, many people would jump instantly on that service and the performance improvement would be astronomical. Devs would not NEED to design for the newer card either. They could just keep it on the old hardware only and see no increase in dev cost or time.

I hardly game on console but they need to look into something like this to refresh their line. I think it could be quite a blow for PC gaming though.

[tajoh111]

If these dev are that frustrated with their seriously outdated console hardware to develop around, switch to a PC focus and then the console makers will take notice. They really need to make consoles upgradeable if they want to push PC gaming to the brink. If there was a simple option at half way through the console cycle to upgrade the graphics in it how many would do it? The game GUI would not even need to have graphic options, it could just be automatically detected and better graphic options selected. Since there would only be a single upgrade hardware there would be no conflicts. If the upgrade for the 7300 or whatever is in the xbox cost $150 and included a 460gtx and install, many people would jump instantly on that service and the performance improvement would be astronomical. Devs would not NEED to design for the newer card either. They could just keep it on the old hardware only and see no increase in dev cost or time.

I hardly game on console but they need to look into something like this to refresh their line. I think it could be quite a blow for PC gaming though.

I don't think they are that frustrated. They care about making money number one and accessibility to as many people as possible. I can also imagine having to develop for a single aging platform compared(or two) to having to upgrade your systems and hardware to develope for this newest and greatest pc hardware.

This has been blizzard business models and it is why there games are not stressful at all. Consoles were not even considered and it is still a directx 9 game.

And as far as expansions and stuff go. Those have been flops in the past. People would rather go get a console then buy expansions. Sega CD, PC engine, and Nintendo ditched two of their expansions.

In addition, when it comes to accessories, all these companies would charge way more than 150. E.g 120 dollar for 250gb HD or 90 dollars for a wireless adaptor.

When you consider the sales numbers for console games, you would have to be a crazy to put pcs first. The last couple call of duties sold 20 million or so each. Its been a while for pc games to crack even 4 million. And if it was, it was likely a blizzard game.

Developing for the PC, especially the graphic orientated one, has been more of a goodwill gesture for PC owners. It is not really a profitable move.

Developing purely for graphic and the hardcore market stung crytek when they made crysis. Hence why they turned tail for consoles.

Ultimately the reason developers make games for consoles are they are much more profitable.

[lizardmech]

Pretty funny that console limitations are suddenly a concern now, they're obviously frustrated they can't sell more than the latest Call of Duty reskins and that it's nearly impossible to differentiate FPS games on stagnated hardware.

Foolish devs have made many of their jobs completely pointless, there's not much point programing fancy new engines and making new higher quality assets for outdated hardware is there.

I don't see how a new console would be of interest to sony or MS. Why would they care if all their customers buy 20 million copies of the latest call of duty and ignore everything else. They still get their royalties either way.

Maybe they should have considered this before they screwed their established customer base for some temporary free money and advertising from MS.

[Florinmocanu]

A new BF3 trailer.. amazing..../drool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfrrA...layer_embedded

And of course the usual Hitler videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoS1X...watch_response

[Mungri]

LOL, that Hitler video was spot on IMO.

Seriously though, how is BF3 supposed to work on an Xbox 360?

[RejZoR]

This one is so true and is even related to BF3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLITd2PvkU

[Pontos]

LOL, that Hitler video was spot on IMO.

Seriously though, how is BF3 supposed to work on an Xbox 360?

Same way Cryengine 3 runs on it: 1280x720 or less, no AA, the equivalent of mid-high graphics (In Crysis 1 terms, and i'm quoting Crytek circa 2007 here), narrow maps (64 player will only be on PC, consoles will have less), the like.

[[XC] hipno650]

Pretty funny that console limitations are suddenly a concern now, they're obviously frustrated they can't sell more than the latest Call of Duty reskins and that it's nearly impossible to differentiate FPS games on stagnated hardware.

Foolish devs have made many of their jobs completely pointless, there's not much point programing fancy new engines and making new higher quality assets for outdated hardware is there.

I don't see how a new console would be of interest to sony or MS. Why would they care if all their customers buy 20 million copies of the latest call of duty and ignore everything else. They still get their royalties either way.

Maybe they should have considered this before they screwed their established customer base for some temporary free money and advertising from MS.

I would beg to differ. the last CoD was the best selling yet and anyone who has a console has it and loves it. I personally can't stand it even on PC. there is absolutely no differences between CoD 4 and Black Ops or any of the games in between....

I am really impressed so far with the looks of BF 3. It looks like they are going down a different road than every other FPS that is trying to be like CoD. it has a more realistic and well structure game-play mechanic. compared to the CoD style mechanic where everything is always exploding and they throw waves and waves of stupid enemies at you non stop.... also the combination of natural disasters and the use of a REAL physics engine are a pretty big leap forward.

one thing I have never understood is why people think that the 360 is the biggest problem and the thing holding back gaming tech.... the 360 has a faster GPU than the PS3. while the 60 is still incredibly slow it is faster that the PS3 in GPU processing.

[Mad1723]

LOL, that Hitler video was spot on IMO.

Seriously though, how is BF3 supposed to work on an Xbox 360?

Muddy textures, low res, no AA, the usual drill. But for once, we will get the much, much superior version

[Monkeywoman]

I would totally pick up a PS4, I'm just not holding my breath. I understand that Nintendo has a high probability for dropping wii2 at E3 but given the problems in Japan and Sony already working out the NGP....no PS4 till late 2012

[SubZero.it]

Would like to see valve saying:"source engine pushed consoles to the limit" lol

[bearcatrp]

Looks like the wii might be getting an upgrade. Found this here:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/14/w...ad-at-e3-2011/

[zanzabar]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...bsolute-limit/

between hearing this and seeing the unreal 3 tech videos it really does seem that at least some developers want to move onto a new console. hopefully it comes soonish and even more hopefully that sony and microsoft both over provision their consoles instead of under provisioning them

the new UT3 platform only works with pc, mac and arm currently so i dont see why they would do that unless the new consoles were close.

[ScottALot]

Anyone else think the title meant overclocking an Xbox using Dice as a cooler?

[zanzabar]

Anyone else think the title meant overclocking an Xbox using Dice as a cooler?

it would be cooler but it needs more ram not more clocks

[Luka_Aveiro]

Am I the only one that thinks Xbox 720 is just plain stupid?

I mean, 360 is ok, full circle, etc. etc. etc...

But 2 complete turns? Wouldn't that make you a litle dizzy?

[zanzabar]

Am I the only one that thinks Xbox 720 is just plain stupid?

I mean, 360 is ok, full circle, etc. etc. etc...

But 2 complete turns? Wouldn't that make you a litle dizzy?

maybe we will get xbox (x^2)+(y^2)-4

for the non math type thats a circle with a radius of 2

[clayton]

Am I the only one that thinks Xbox 720 is just plain stupid?

I mean, 360 is ok, full circle, etc. etc. etc...

But 2 complete turns? Wouldn't that make you a litle dizzy?

Two RROD.