Devs say PS3 & Xbox 360 CPUs fall far short of company claims.

[epobirs]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2461

After interviews with anonymous developers, this article reaches the conclusion that the performance of the next gen Sony and Microsoft consoles will be far short in realty from the numbers the companies claim. Which isn't to say they won't advance the state of the art a great deal but real world applications are a far cry from what consumers are being given to believe based on benchmarks involving unrealistic situations.

At the heart of the CPU choice in both cases is cost. The Cell and Xenon chips are intended to be extremely cost effective and become more so over time as they're implemented in newer process technologies. This leads to $150 consoles in a way that cannot be easily matched in a comparable gaming PC in the same timeframe.

[Ugamer_X]

I can't get to the page about multi-threading for some reason, it just takes me to some search page.

[Final Starman]

Same

[epobirs]

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2377&p=1

Works fine for me.

You'll also want to read this article that is heavily referenced in the first:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2453&p=1

[Tromack]

So, the article says that the PS3 can support 7 BlueTooth Controllers. 7? First off, odd numbers are so weird to find in a console. Second, I only know of one game that allows for more than 4 controllers, that being Bomberman for the Sega Saturn. I'm sure no one is going to design a game that uses 7 controllers, so it's all moot. It's just weird.

[Quackzilla]

Heh, no shit.

Those numbers may hold when rendering raw data, but running a game is a whole different ballgame.

[Reality's Fringe]

I never expected the new systems to meet any of the claims the marketing execs have made, but I can't blame them for throwing them out there.

"Oooh, baby, are you going to rock my world?"
"No, but I can thrust repeatedly in a relatively satisfactory manner."

Just apply that to the new consoles.

[stocker08]

lol, all the new systems come out and the revolution(the only game system that really has no solid specs out right now) whoops em all. That would be funny since Ninendo is the only company right now bragging about how their system is going to rule.

[whoknows]

Not suprising

[epobirs]

So, the article says that the PS3 can support 7 BlueTooth Controllers. 7? First off, odd numbers are so weird to find in a console. Second, I only know of one game that allows for more than 4 controllers, that being Bomberman for the Sega Saturn. I'm sure no one is going to design a game that uses 7 controllers, so it's all moot. It's just weird.

It isn't so much that Sony wanted seven controllers as that number of simultaneous devices is very common for Bluetooth hosts. There are some other scenarios where it may have some utility, such as giving each of three players a wireless headset in addition to their controllers as they compete online against another team. The average PS3 will rarely deal with more than two Bluetooth devices at any one time but far be it from any console company flack to use a lower number when a higher one is available without resorting to lies, even if it represents something of limited utility.

Didn't SNES Bomberman support 5 players with the bundle port adapter thingy? I have one packed away I think but haven't looked at it in years.

[Ugamer_X]

It isn't so much that Sony wanted seven controllers as that number of simultaneous devices is very common for Bluetooth hosts. There are some other scenarios where it may have some utility, such as giving each of three players a wireless headset in addition to their controllers as they compete online against another team. The average PS3 will rarely deal with more than two Bluetooth devices at any one time but far be it from any console company flack to use a lower number when a higher one is available without resorting to lies, even if it represents something of limited utility.

Didn't SNES Bomberman support 5 players with the bundle port adapter thingy? I have one packed away I think but haven't looked at it in years.
A multitude of sports games support 8 players, dating all the way back to the PS1 era (maybe even before that, but I can't be sure).

[epobirs]

Interestingly enough, the article and others related to it have been removed from the Anandtech site. Apparently somebody at Sony and/or Microsoft threw a hissy fit.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050629-5054.html

Hannibal at Ars Technica has some followup criticism, noting that much of the developer disappointment comes as much from their added workload as from any real deficiency in the chips.

[Quackzilla]

Well, at least the technology won't go stale anytime soon.

[Zer0X1999]

This makes Nintendo's argument of a simpler system to program for more reasonable, should they choose to go with a single core CPU solution.

But, developers will eventually get used to multi-core CPUs. Theses issues always come up with new technology.

[SkyGheNe]

A multitude of sports games support 8 players, dating all the way back to the PS1 era (maybe even before that, but I can't be sure).

Oh man that's a good one! Let's see...my friends

Madden 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/maddennfl2005/index.html?q=madden+2005

ESPN Major League Baseball 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/espnmajorleaguebaseball2k5/index.html?q=espn

and

Fifa Soccer 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/fifasoccer2005/

Beg to differ. I have never heard of a console game supporting 8 person split screen/single screen on one system. The only way you are getting 8 people to play is if you go online. If you go online - you might as well have another console if you want to be playing with 8 people in the same room. That and the fact that there is no way of playing with 8 people on a single console.

[gokou36]

Oh man that's a good one! Let's see...my friends

Madden 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/maddennfl2005/index.html?q=madden+2005

ESPN Major League Baseball 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/espnmajorleaguebaseball2k5/index.html?q=espn

and

Fifa Soccer 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/fifasoccer2005/

Beg to differ. I have never heard of a console game supporting 8 person split screen/single screen on one system. The only way you are getting 8 people to play is if you go online. If you go online - you might as well have another console if you want to be playing with 8 people in the same room. That and the fact that there is no way of playing with 8 people on a single console.


Really? You didn't search hard enough. I'm sure there are more games, but here are just a few. Btw can xbox even support 8 players? Both of these games they are limited to 4 on xbox while ps2 version can go up to 8.


ESPN NBA 2k5
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/espnnba2005/index.html

Fifa 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/fifasoccer2005/

[epobirs]

This makes Nintendo's argument of a simpler system to program for more reasonable, should they choose to go with a single core CPU solution.

But, developers will eventually get used to multi-core CPUs. Theses issues always come up with new technology.

Standard console industry double-talk. There is nothing stopping a developer from taking a simpler approach to programming the PS3 or Xbox 360. It just means not realizing the full potential of the hardware. That is a big difference from calling a system simple because it is very limited by comparison.

[epobirs]

Really? You didn't search hard enough. I'm sure there are more games, but here are just a few. Btw can xbox even support 8 players? Both of these games they are limited to 4 on xbox while ps2 version can go up to 8.


ESPN NBA 2k5
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/espnnba2005/index.html

Fifa 2005
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/fifasoccer2005/

Since the Xbox controller ports are just USB with a non-standard connector and more amperage available, it would be extremely easy to create a modified USB hub to support potentially dozens of controller ports.

There appears to be very little interest in doing this sort of thing on systems that already have four controller ports as standard. The multitap type devices are most found on machines with two ports or in the case of the PC Engine/TurboGrafx, one port. (The 3DO had only one controller port but supported multiple inputs by daisy chaining controllers. A horrible feature.)

Since few games can be made viable for more than four player due to display real estate it should be remembered that many Xbox games support more than four players via LAN. Halo, for instance, although not online, did allow for 16 players to compete on four Xboxs joined together by Ethernet.

[MaxBiaggi2]

Console manufacturers always promise the sun, moon and all the stars in the sky before launching a new system. It's all a load of hype to fool consumers into buying their hardware and software. I plan on waiting for at least the first price drop anyway, so I'll have plenty of time to see how true said claims are before making my purchase.