PS3 Hardware issues: Teething troubles or a deeper problem?
Well its no secret that the PS3 was going to be hard to program what with Hideo Kojima making comments like the PS3 could be described as a meal you would have on very special occasions whereas the Xbox 360 is likened to a meal you would have more often. Take that as you will but analogies aside, what is clear is that developers are going to need to work that little bit harder to get the most, performance wise out of the system. However with the multitude of technical issues that arises when programming new hardware and ultimately making a saleable product, are Sonys problems with its new hardware going to prove too much for developers and ultimately consumers especially if development incurs additional costs which translate to more expensive games?
Looking at the potential problems with the PS3 it is clear to see that longer development times could pose a massive problem for Sony especially in regards to third party developers. Unlike Microsoft with its XNA tools, what support can Sony give to its developers especially when we are receiving reports such as the general processing of the multiple processors are a pain to work with and that Sony engineers are having problems fixing graphical and slow down issues with the system?
So, what are the issues some developers are having with the hardware? Well reports have been abound that the PS3 is having problems with slowdown with this being linked to the number of objects and effects being displayed at any given time. With next generation graphical effects and techniques such as HDR lighting, HD resolutions, shadows, antialiasing, parallax mapping, and even normal mapping which thus far have posed no problems for the Xbox 360 the PS3 seems to be having many issues with these. Coding these effects into games is what is expected from developers to be incorporated within next generation titles and the assumption is made that the PS3 will be able to handle these effectively; however reports surfacing and received by us are indicating that the PS3 suffers immeasurable slowdown and unsteady frame rates which are not a result of poor coding but in fact the fault of the PS3 architecture and Nvidia graphics processor.
It's widely reported amongst those who have had hands on experience with both the Xbox 360 and PS3 that the Xbox 360's graphics processing ability is superior to that of the PS3 and it appears that there may be some issues here. Some have gone as far as estimating that the PS3's graphics processing ability is about 75-85% of the Xbo 360's. However the validity of the claims is questionable since there are simply too many variables to consider. On the surface it would look like ATI's Unified Shader Architecture which is used in the Xbox 360 is paying dividends and allowing developers to get the required results from the system.
Looking at programming for the PS3 and on the general processing side of things it has the multiple processors which according to a few reports are a pain to work with in general. On paper the PS3 has a massive amount of power available, but in reality this is proving difficult to hook into and a lot of the raw power is simply unusable. As always its clear that once developers become more accustomed to using the PS3 and the development tools/profilers improve then better results will be accomplished. However the same can be said for those developers working with the Xbox 360. Its a learning process which hasnt been aided by the fact that many development teams received their PS3 final dev kits late and doesnt bode well especially when big name companies are also reported to be having the same problems with the PS3 with Sony engineers being unable to resolve the extensive list of the problems developers are experiencing. We are now hearing insider reports which go as far as claiming that a tried and proven game engine and graphical techniques used within a game currently available for the Xbox 360 is unable to sustain performance on the PS3.
Sonys E3 press conference had an air of confidence about it and whilst its conference was perhaps on the corporate side its clear that on the surface at least Sony is proud and very pleased with the PS3. However the underlying reported problems dont necessarily mean that as some gaming forum posters would put is Sony is doomed but more what are the implications of such issues for the gamer? Well already gamers are divided over the forced inclusion of the PS3 Blu Ray player and of course the inflated price point of the system. Ultimately if developers are having issues with the system then this in turn could present unexpected game delays, potentially buggy products and the more obvious longer development times.
Another thing that wasnt clear after E3 this year was that of the price of the games. Could this area be where the programming problems have the most direct impact in relation to the consumer? Well the jury is still out but I suspect that with the Blu Ray disks in combination with increased developer times or more importantly increased developer costs could well mean PS3 games being more expensive than their Xbox 360 counterparts. I guess this would hit home more if say multi-format games (which have also been reported as being an issue, programming wise due to both systems very different architecture) are released with no graphical/game play differences whatsoever other than the increased price for the PS3 version. November is fast approaching and so I guess now its up to Sony in the limited time available to iron out these issues, otherwise potentially games are going to be hit with long delays and gamers are going to think even harder about whether they should buy a PS3 or not rather than simply rushing out to buy one based on the name alone.
Posted By: Robert Cram
Date: 2006-06-18
