Hurdles of next gen development.

[Romier S]

Ran across this article recently and thought I would share with it everyone. I haven't seen it posted anywhere so if it has been, let me know. I found it to be a good read and it give Gabe Newell's perspective on next gen development and his thoughts on claims that this console is more powerful than that console. You can read the full article here:

 

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=510&Itemid=2

 

Newell is also scathing about hardware manufacturer claims regarding perormance.

 

"Statements about 'Oh, the PS3 is going to be twice as fast as an Xbox 360' are totally meaningless . It means nothing. It's surprising that game customers don't realize how it treats them like idiots. The assumption is that you're going to swallow that kind of system, when in fact there's no code that has been run on both of those architectures that is anything close to a realistic proxy for game performance. So to make a statement like that, I'm worried for the customers. And that we view customers as complete morons that will never catch on and that we're lying to them all the time. That's a problem because in the long run, it will have an impact on our sales." Gabe Newell has shared his opinions and experiences with us. We'd like to hear from more developers what challenges and solutions (if any) you're facing with your next generation console projects.

[Camp]

I'm more interested in the clarity in which Newell presents the "multi core coding is a bitch" argument. We've read the same statements before but Gabe manages to bring it home for us non-programmers.

 

If coding in the multi core world is really that much of an unknown it makes one wonder exactly what Sony & Microsoft were thinking. At the same time it makes the prospect of the next generation that much more exciting. If someone out there is able to wrap their head around, and really develop a talent for multi core development then we could see some breakout (i.e. revolutionary) games.

[Robot Monkey]

...I'm worried for the customers. And that we view customers as complete morons that will never catch on and that we're lying to them all the time. That's a problem because in the long run, it will have an impact on our sales.

 

I hope he's right, but there's a reason why there's the saying "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the buying public."

[foogledricks]

If someone out there is able to wrap their head around, and really develop a talent for multi core development

Team ninja publically showed concern about this very issue. Then they followed up by saying, "But we'll be able to utilize these multi-cores, we're just worried about the rest of the industry," ...or something like that. So expect Ninja Gaiden 2 to blow us away... in TWO years though.

[Camp]

Great! So, the one game that fully exploits the multiple cores will be too damn difficult for me to play! Shitastic.

[Derrik Draven]

Weren't there developmental problems with the Saturn, because Sega threw another processor in it, supposedly as a last minute resort after the capabilities of the original Playstation were supposedly "leaked" to Sega?

 

I remember reading statements from devs, even back then, that they thought the Saturn was kind of a bitch to write for. But I think that the complaint was that the "cores" processed on 2 different clock cycles. One would process code, then the other would process code...flip flopping back and forth.

 

I'm no programmer of any kind but I kind of get an idea of how the coding problems can occur.

 

On most of the aircraft I work on, there are 3 separate autopilot computers, being fed info from 3 separate flight control computers, all being fed from the inputs from the flight control surfaces by way of linear variable displacement transmitters. They all have to cross talk to one another and if 1 single entity goes down, it affects all the others.

 

I can kind of picture the intricate coding, with it's share of glitches and problems, being processed by a core...then adding in 2 more cores on top of that, all with their own coding and ALL of it having to cross talk to each other.

 

I do believe Mr. Newell is talking to us straight.