PS3's power -- untapped for years?
by Nick Doerr 
{ Mar 7th 2007 at 12:30PM }
The former boss of Shiny Entertainment, Dave Perry, has decided to shower the PS3 with praises, calling it "the best piece of hardware, without question" among other things... but says that statement won't become obvious for a few years. He says that so far, he's not seen a single game that properly shows off the power of the PlayStation 3. "I haven't seen anything even close to what the machine's capable of doing. So that's the sad part for Sony - I feel really bad for them that somebody hasn't really stepped up to show us the hardware all singing, all dancing."He cited the common cycle in the console market -- first-gen games to last-gen games on a console. We've done that before, you know what we're talking about. Games initially look like crap when compared to the last games released for the system -- Perry used God of War as his example of how the PS2 created gorgeous games after being around for a few years. But he placed most of the blame on hardware designers, specifically, the fact that software developers should have more say in what's put into a console and less add-on stuff like web browsers. What do you guys think? Is he right? Should software developers get a say in what they'd like to find in a console instead of just dealing with the difficult programming business that comes along later?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Reginold @ Mar 7th 2007 12:42PM
Is this the same Dave Perry that made those crappy buggy Matrix games?
Ignore him.
Dragon J @ Mar 7th 2007 1:52PM
I think he's dead on. You should start with the top ten target game producers for your system and have a sitdown; similar to the GDC before your system is even fully conceived. That way, everyone will be jazzed about producing kick ass launch titles years before your system hits the shelves. Launch titles don't define a system in the end, but getting that type of support in the beginning will show off the true power of your system early in the game. The end result is more God of War level titles and less Madden 07 BS...
Colin @ Mar 7th 2007 12:58PM
He's also responsible for Earthworm Jim and MDK, both series were awesome enough to make me overlook Enter the Matrix. :p
-Colin
aka Bitter @ Mar 7th 2007 12:57PM
Silly question: How does one "know" what the potential for a product as complex as a games console is until you have seen it? If Dave has seen this magic application that "properly shows off the power of the PS3" please enlighten us all where it might be found.
Obviously games will get better as time passes and developers learn more about the hardware. But it is up to the 1st party to create something that developers can aspire to. We all know what this is. Killzone 2, as good as the target renders shown at E3 '05, playable. This is the holy grail of the PS3, I hope to see it soon.
shaf2k @ Mar 7th 2007 1:29PM
God of War, really isn't the prettiest game out there. MGS3 & 4 came in the mid life of the ps2 and they have far better graphics
wiiguyuk101 @ Mar 7th 2007 2:01PM
one theres no such thing as good graphics on a ps2 ohh please dont insult my interlect
and two ps3 is sooooooooooo powerfull utter noncense the sony love developers said exactly the samething when ps2 cameout
longloadtimes and a 3 generation old controller is just NOT NEXT GEN
i havnt sen one game yet all 3 couldnt run wii can match ps3 minus the hd modes but it could easily fake those with a upscale
people need to start loking past sonys smoke and mirrors and GET A GRIP ON REALLITY FOR CHRISTS SAKE
HOW CAN PS3 BE THE BEST THING OUT THERE WEN ITS CONTROLLER HOLDS IT BACK MASSIVLY AND ITS A NOWN FACT ITS A BUGGY UNBALANCED POOR LATENCY DESIGN THATS HARD TO PROGRAMME
TALK SENCE MAN
WHAT MAKES MII LAFF IS THESE DEVELOPERS THINK WHAT THEY SAY WILL MAGICLY CHANGE SONYS FURTUES AS IF
Bored @ Mar 7th 2007 2:30PM
Look... a troll! How sweet! :)
Dragon J @ Mar 7th 2007 4:39PM
@6 Umm dude, you're in Europe. You've probably never TOUCHED a PS3, so what do you know about the loadtimes? Its assholes like you that make abortions easy to get over there. And based on your PS2 comment, you've never touched a PS2 either. Think before you speak there weeman...
boodah @ Mar 7th 2007 3:40PM
Yes, developers and software people should have more say. The 360 has 512MB of RAM because Cliffy B said he needed it to run Gears of War. It cost MS big bucks, but it was worth it in the end. The 360 was designed around developer feedback. With Sony, unfortunately it seems like the engineers developed the Cell on their own, to be super-powerful but with a very steep learning curve. Then they handed it off to the marketing team to sell it, with a tacked on GPU because the Cell couldn't run the graphics like they originally planned (remember claims of dual HDMI with 2 1080p 60fps?). The 360 has 3 dual-core chips with an advanced GPU.
The PS3 is harder to develop for, so multiplatform titles probably won't be much different at all. Developers make them on PCs and then move them to the 360 and PS3. PS3 exclusives, built from the ground up for the PS3, will get better and better. Sony needs to focus more on tools, like Edge, to make developing and programming for the Cell and the SPUs a lot easier. They need to automate as much as possible, like development engines like Unreal Engine 3 has let artists and level designers do things through the engine as they design, through automation, that programmers used to have to do.
Chris Putnam @ Mar 7th 2007 3:50PM
I'd kind of suspected this, though all the people bellowing that PS3 is no more powerful than the 360 have made me wonder. Everybody's knocking the early PS3 titles for not looking any better than their 360 equivalents, but they're comparing launch titles to one-year-in, second generation+ games on the Xbox - and PS3 still arguably looks better. Doesn't anybody remember all the uproar around the 360's launch about how those games looked no better than Xbox 1 games on an SDTV?
There's also the fact that the 360 is easier to program for, so its early games naturally utilized more of the system's power than PS3's has. PS3 should have a lot more untapped potential lying around, assuming developers can find it.
I'll be surprised if the PS3 games of next Christmas don't start pulling noticeably ahead of the 360 in terms of graphics. I guess I could be wrong, but it just seems to me that, however many mistakes Sony has made, that extra $200 and extra year of preparation must have gone toward -something-.
boodah @ Mar 7th 2007 4:57PM
The PS3 may have arguably more power in the CPU unit and the SPUs, but I think a lot of that will go towards AI, physics, etc. It's the GPU that actually computes and displays the graphics, and the 360 has a better GPU/video card than the PS3. Originally the Cell processor was supposed to do the graphics on the PS3, but it didn't work out and they tacked on a GPU near the end that is below the level of the GPU on the 360.
So we'll just have to see if PS3 can actually "look" much better...
bootsielon @ Mar 7th 2007 10:31PM
boodah:
Shut the hell up. Nobody cares about what a fanboy, an amateur, or a random internet surfer has to say about this issue next to any developer.
And guess what? John Carmack said PS3 has a higher peak point in terms of power than 360, although harder to achieve (naturally). And you know what Hideo Kojima said? That the perfect machine would be "A PS3 with Wii controller" (he didn't know PS3 was getting rumble again, so it's understandable). And you know who else came to praise the PS3? EA, Ubisoft, and SEGA said it is the most sophisticated console they've ever worked before. Mark Rein said Blu-ray is a great addition. Same with the developers behind darkness, Square-Enix and Tecmo.
This is not to mention that all PS3s come with free online HOME, a hard-drive and a Blu-ray drive unlike Xbox 360, further enhancing the game experience.
Shut your trap already, troll. We know you were looking for a response, and you got it now. Whatever you said is worthless next to anyone in the game industry, let alone the whole industry combined.
AL7AIR @ Mar 8th 2007 6:54AM
To all the nay-sayers: Have you ever owned a console? Yes? Good! Compare a few launch titles and titles released after a couple of month/years. Examples: GT and GT2 on the Playstation, Halo and Halo2 on the Xbox, GTAIII and GTA: San Andreas on the Playstation2 ... see the difference? Every machine will see better looking games once the developers know the inner workings of it.
Lord Madux @ Mar 8th 2007 2:58PM
@#9
"and PS3 still arguably looks better."
than what? hahah. you guys have 3 games to play on your superior system. while I am having tons of fun with my 360, you guys are praying for a decent release list. so please, come back to the real world. SONY'S BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL. WE ALL KNOW IT. and i have one....its still sitting in the box, sealed. so no fanboy comments apply here dude, and i still get my rpg on on my ps2. hah.
just remember sony drones, u only have 3 games left- MGS, FF, and DMC. if ANY of those gets ported to 360, that system is FINISHED. perception is everything in the real world, and it translates into platform confidence.
also-
DAVE PERRY PLEASE SHUT UP- YOUR COMPANY DOESNT EVEN MAKE GOOD GAMES. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THEY DONT MAKE ANY GAMES!
this guys is in the same class with "mr. daikatana" john romero. WEAK. they cant make games to save thier lives. MDK and earthworm jim be damned, that was 10 years ago. SHINY IS A WORTHLESS COMPANY, why do they get quotes? What has shiny produced over the last 7 years?
and all you buffoons start flaming each other becasue of his useless, trivial comments. get a clue. next thing you know, the killzone guys are gonna start running thier mouths. Oy Vey!!!
GIVE GAMERS A BREAK!
bootsielon @ Mar 8th 2007 3:29PM
Maddux, his opinion is worth more than yours. That said, everything you just wrote has been rendered useless.
bootsielon @ Mar 8th 2007 3:31PM
Oh, and by the way... Xbox only has one game left: Halo.
Everything else is too hardcore, or unknown.
lord madux @ Mar 9th 2007 1:13PM
um, yeah guys, right......
thats why all those 360 games have sold a mil+ copies, right?
no other game besides halo, right?
too dumb to be proved wrong. not even worth it. and i have both systems. your whole ps3 year might as well be a wash. ill open mine on christmas.
there should be soemthing out by then.
when lost planet gets ported, you all will be back screaming "yeah, we got it to, we actually matter"
go play your "new" oblivion
hahahahahha
lord madux @ Mar 9th 2007 1:13PM
"16. Oh, and by the way... Xbox only has one game left: Halo.
Everything else is too hardcore, or unknown."
dumbest comment ever. what the hell is too hardcore?
u r a wiffle ball gamer, u not a real player.
and no, his opinion means NOTHING. JUST LIKE YOURS, PEON
lord madux- again!