Other Playstation 4

[sandys]

Interesting we were discussing the RFID disc thing years ago for used games sales can't believe that is just patented now.

Good idea in principle, allows easy licence registration, no arsing about with codes etc will making playback of rips harder so reduces casual copying etc. and pretty invisible to the average consumer.

I'm sure everyone is looking for a solution to this that doesn't soley rely on internet/cloud etc.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Eurogamer have a PS4 hardware breakdown from "trusted sources".

Distilled down to the fundamentals, these are the details we can share about the technological make-up of the next generation PlayStation.

CPU: Eight-core AMD processor running at 1.6GHz

Graphics core: Radeon HD hardware, 18 compute units at 800MHz

Additional hardware: GPU-like Compute module, some resources reserved by the OS

System-on-chip codename: Liverpool

Memory: 4GB GDDR5, 512MB reserved by the OS

[Parge]

Makes sense from what Kr4t0s from Reddit seemed to be saying. PS4 is going to whup the 360 graphics
wise.

The above suggests GPU performance between a 7850 and a 7870

[Cei]

I'll definitely be buying one and skipping the new Xbox. Sony have really upped their game in terms of quality exclusives recently, and PS+ is a bargain. Throw in the fact that the new Xbox looks like it's almost a direct copy of the PS4, except with a weaker GPU (but more, slower, RAM) then it's pretty obvious which will be ahead.

It also sounds like a powerhouse, especially when you remember that developers are coding direct to the metal, so to speak, without the massive overhead of Windows etc. I'm expecting the next generation to be a real step up graphically.

[Krikkit]

What about the next-gen Xbox though? A quick google suggests more power, but less RAM.

Sounds alright to me, should hold up to hammering a 1080p telly quite nicely... Anyone got a date for GT6? I'm putting my money on Nov 2018.

[Mankz]

It had better be a massive step-up.. Console graphics have been holding back PC graphics for years as developers don't want to have to code for two systems...

[Parge]

Originally Posted by Cei

I'll definitely be buying one and skipping the new Xbox. Sony have really upped their game in terms of quality exclusives recently, and PS+ is a bargain. Throw in the fact that the new Xbox looks like it's almost a direct copy of the PS4, except with a weaker GPU (but more, slower, RAM) then it's pretty obvious which will be ahead.

It also sounds like a powerhouse, especially when you remember that developers are coding direct to the metal, so to speak, without the massive overhead of Windows etc. I'm expecting the next generation to be a real step up graphically.

Despite being a big fan of the Xbox...... I agree. Sony has FAR better exclusives than the Xbox these days.

Now, if only I could actually get to grips with the controller.

[rollo]

Just depends on release dates for both i guess.

Sony has picked up the better exclusives in the last few years thats for sure. Halo Series for me has ran its course and the other big game that was exlusive fable series is now on pc anyway.

Removes 2 need for purchase from my list.

Microsoft is going to have to come out with some pretty special exclusives to get me to buy the new xbox this time around.

Sony should get the next uncharted as release title would make the console pretty much a must buy on release if its as good as the prev 3 have been.

[Cei]

Originally Posted by Krikkit

What about the next-gen Xbox though? A quick google suggests more power, but less RAM.

Sounds alright to me, should hold up to hammering a 1080p telly quite nicely... Anyone got a date for GT6? I'm putting my money on Nov 2018.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df...box-specs-leak
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df...xt-gen-console

Basically, both the PS4 and Xbox 720 appear to be based on an AMD octocore running at 1.6Ghz, with the differences lying in the RAM and GPU.

PS4: 4GB GDDR5, with 512MB reserved for the OS, 18 GPU ROPs = 1.84 teraflops theoretical
Xbox: 8GB DDR3, with 3GB reserved for the OS, 12 GPU ROPs = 1.23 teraflops theoretical

There are also rumours that two of the Xbox cores will be reserved for OS operations as well, Sony are looking at one or none. MS are using 32MB of 'ESRAM' to try and bypass their slow DDR3, but it won't match up to the GDDR5 in the PS4. GPU ROPs run at the same speed apparently.

So basically, the PS4 is going to be more powerful, both in CPU, RAM speed and GPU than the Xbox. The only thing letting it down, if you can say that, is the quantity of RAM, with 3.5GB available compared to 5GB on the Xbox. That said, I can't see 3.5GB being much of a bottleneck - the current consoles get by with a fraction of that.

Originally Posted by Mankz

It had better be a massive step-up.. Console graphics have been holding back PC graphics for years as developers don't want to have to code for two systems...

Agreed. Thankfully it should be the case - the systems will have enough RAM to throw around large texture sizes and enough grunt to push all the nice stuff like tessellation and so on.

Originally Posted by rollo

Just depends on release dates for both i guess.

Sony has picked up the better exclusives in the last few years thats for sure. Halo Series for me has ran its course and the other big game that was exlusive fable series is now on pc anyway.

Removes 2 need for purchase from my list.

Microsoft is going to have to come out with some pretty special exclusives to get me to buy the new xbox this time around.

Sony should get the next uncharted as release title would make the console pretty much a must buy on release if its as good as the prev 3 have been.

I'm the same - Halo and Gears of War hold no interest for me, which means there's literally nothing on the 360 I want to get that I can't buy on the PS3. On the other hand the PS3 is flooded with excellent titles, all exclusive - Uncharted, LBP, Ni No Kuni etc etc.

Microsoft may manage to get out one or two good exclusives, but they'll need to pull a magic bunny out of the bag to match what Sony have with their obviously tight relationships with key developers. MS's treatment of first party (such as Rare and Bungie) has been terrible.

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by Parge

Despite being a big fan of the Xbox...... I agree. Sony has FAR better exclusives than the Xbox these days.

Now, if only I could actually get to grips with the controller.

I hate going into things with a bias, but I have to admit that even if the next Xbox is a great console I'll still probably stick with a PS4. Playstations have always had the best games in my opinion, in every generation.

The controller is also my favorite of any console. Simple, comfortable, and effective. Xbox controllers have never rubbed me the right way and Nintendo are off in their own little world of insanity.

[sandys]

I'll likely buy both, prefer PS as usual but really wouldn't object to Sony taking some of the good bits from the 360 controller. These machines will probably still cost less than a highend GPU and can happily sit in my games cabinet provided their subscriptions models don't go silly.

[Cei]

What would you take from the 360 controller and give to the PS? Only thing I'd take is a removable battery (yet without adding bulk) - everything else I find the DualShock3 to be better at - although that could just be from owning a PlayStation since the 90s.

[sandys]

The triggers and sticks with the same level if feel, preferably tighter still, also PS owner from the first, never really liked the 360 pad for ages but with more use of it on my PC I've come to appreciate some of it. Can't stand 360 battery to be honest that has to be the worst thing to take, having rechargeable along with standard charging cable I could plug into anything when batt is needed has been great, just like phones you can charge 'em off anything, how it should remain.

[samkiller42]

It's interesting how these leaks both point to Blu-Ray being added into the new xbox.

Sam

[rollo]

its a natural result to add blue ray

Higher textures require more disk space. DVD is at its limits already. Blue-ray is the only medium available to Microsoft to use.

Wether it will play Blue-ray films or not no one will know for a while as that will depend on Microsoft getting Licence deals in place.

Usaully takes 3-4 years before you see what a console is really capable off graphics wise. Not expecting a massive increase in the quality of pc ports. Just because it works on a pc based console is no guarentee that it would work on a pc desktop.

We dont even have a GTA5 release date yet for PC think PC gamers will just have to accept that they are now the 2nd rate players in the games market. Consoles went passed us in priority sadly.

360 pad in windows is easy to use. PS3 pad in windows is a pain to setup, Due to no official driver support.

[Cei]

Putting DVD in the 360 was a bad move in the first place - it was okay for the start, but it later turned out to be a real mistake.

MS are trying to also push the Xbox as a media centre, so BD support makes sense (including film playback).

[Parge]

Originally Posted by rollo

We dont even have a GTA5 release date yet for PC think PC gamers will just have to accept that they are now the 2nd rate players in the games market. Consoles went passed us in priority sadly.

Three years ago I would have agreed with you, today, that isn't the case.

[GoodBytes]

The WiiU is using Blu-ray disc. It can't play play Blu-ray movies as Nintendo didn't want to pay the codec fees.

[Cei]

So? The Wii couldn't play DVDs either. Microsoft however are pushing the Xbox as a media centre, and demonstrated their willingness to pay licenses when they provided the 360 with DVD playback. If the new Xbox has BD it will play films, I'd put money on it.

[GoodBytes]

Oh I agree with you, but it was worth mentioning that not because it have Blu-ray drive that necessarily it will play Blu-ray movies.

Anyway, PS4 dev kit info:
http://kotaku.com/5977849/the-playst...e-specs-so-far

-> 8GB of RAM
-> 2.2GB VRAM
-> 4x Dual Core AMD Bulldozer CPUs
-> AMD R10xx
-> 160GB HDD
-> 2x Ethernet ports
-> Same old controller that never really changed.

It will also feature a different account system where it looks like the account of the user is stored on the controller and not on the console, so that you can have multiple users on the same console. There isn't much details, beside: "multi-user simultaneous logins." I just hope that means that your account isn't finished if your controller breaks.

It must be noted that the early dev kits are usually more powerful than the consumer consoles so that it can run diagnostic utilities with the game.

So expect 4GB of RAM and not 8, and possible 2GB VRAM instead of 2.2GB. CPU cores might also drop.

On the PC side, for game developers, Nvidia has special GPU analysis system, where you need a second graphic card which will monitor, and process information on what is occurring on the first GPU, and other stuff, to allow the developer to optimize their games. It's also consumes more system RAM when executing. Does that mean that the game required 2x GPU to run, and a lot of RAM? nope.