Animations done right? EA devs take notes.

[REDRZA]

Quote: Originally Posted by dfos81

Nice video, I think Sony does a great job on its exclusives. Heres a lil techy info on the PS3 v.s. 360 http://www.thelostgamer.com/2009/12/...ces-explained/ It seems that with each release of every major multiplatform title, the internet is immediately hit by floods of “X is better than Y version,” and console comparison videos. Yet is there any known reason as to why such differences occur and is it either an inevitability or something that can easily be avoided? Let’s take a look… The PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 use different GPU’s from different manufacturers, and while it’s clear to the user that the PS3 model has a stronger processor, what remains unclear is which has a better GPU. In such case, the PS3 uses a GPU made by Nvidia called the RSX, whereas the 360 uses a GPU made by ATI called Xenos. The Xenos is clocked at 500Mhz with a unified shader core and 48 unified pipelines and likewise the RSX also clocks at the same speed, but the difference is that the RSX has a dedicated shader core and only 24 pixel pipelines and 8 vertex pipelines. What difference do pipelines and shaders make I hear you ask? Well, simple shaders take 3D objects constructed of polygons and change it into what you see on the screen through the use of two types of shaders – vertex shaders and pixel shaders. The pixel shader is a type of shader program that computes colours, shadows, bump mapping, lighting etc, and the vertex shader is left with looking after pixels and adds special effects to objects in a 3D environment. Shader pipelines are simply the roads in which the data travels – the more the pipelines the better. Now the Xbox 360’s GPU has 48 unified shaders that can be used for both pixel shaders and vertex shaders, whilst the PS3 makes use of 24 pixel pipelines and 8 vertex pipelines. This means that the PS3 can’t get more then 24 pixel pipelines at any given time, whereas the 360 GPU can have 48 pipelines open to developers to be used for pixel and vertex pipelines therefore explaining why most multiplatform titles have a better frame rate on 360 than their PS3 counterpart. Now here’s the tricky bit, the Cell can be used to handle vertex calculations, which means it can decrease the work needed to be done on the GPU, which explains why some of the multiplatform games have framerate issues on the PS3. Developers don’t take the time and effort to change the coding from working on those 8 vertex shaders to the CPU which is done with Uncharted 2, even during the early PS3 lifecycle the SPU’s weren’t used. The Xenos chip is divided into 2 GPUs; the main Die and the daughter Die, which has 10mb of eDRAM. The eDRAM in the Xenos chip have self processing memory control which makes it possible for the Xenos chip to use anti-aliasing (AA) and alpha-blending without affecting the frame rate. Aliasing is needed when low resolutions occur, so the lower the resolution the more AA you will need. Even some of the 720p games need some good AA, and most of the current games on the market have sub-HD resolution like Halo ODST running on 640p and Modern Warfare 2 running on 600p resolution and up-scaled to 720p. So these games will need AA to make the graphics look smooth and so the majority of multiplatform games on Xbox 360 look cleaner and sharper then their PS3 counterpart. If PS3 games were running on native 1080p, AA wouldn’t be needed but in that case you’ll need high textures to match and each console isn’t capable of having both, but then again the Cell can be used to do AA calculations. Both GPU’s have an equal amount of memory, and half of the PS3 memory is XDR which gives it much faster access to the CPU which gives the PS3 an upper hand in some cases but that makes it harder to deal with two different sets of memories and that effects things like textures, but the 360 will need to decompress textures to be able to run the game smoothly because of the limitations the DVD creates and the none mandatory hard drive. The PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 have both great games that look amazing, but each has strengths that can be used to push each system. The PS3 has a faster CPU which helps the GPU, and the Cell is one of the rare cases which a processor can be used for graphical calculations, because it is strong enough to handle that along with physics, sound stream etc. Whereas the 360 has a better GPU with standard AA. So, despite differences at least we can now identify some reason behind the varied graphical output seen within multiplatform games. Thanks for reading!

Yes, the Cell CAN help the RSX to push graphics, but when the Cell is used in that manner it takes away computing power for other functions, so its all relative. My point is both consoles have strengths and weaknesses, but are pretty much even overall considering all.

It's up to developers to use the hardware the most efficiently to get the most out of these games. Madden would be better if EA invested more resources to making it better, point blank. This isn't about hardware, it's about innovation.

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by REDRZA

It's up to developers to use the hardware the most efficiently to get the most out of these games. Madden would be better if EA invested more resources to making it better, point blank. This isn't about hardware, it's about innovation.

[Trooper]

My dream for Madden animation...

"You'll never see the same tackle or play twice."

[REDRZA]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trooper

My dream for Madden animation... "You'll never see the same tackle or play twice."

EXACTLY! But that shouldn't be a "dream", it should be the "GOAL". If not exactly that, as close to it as possible. The technology is there, it needs to be implemented.

[Danimal]

Please stop the console arguments and comparisons.

Thanks

[Trooper]

Other games have done it...why not the most popular football franchise? This series needs an overhaul between this, presentation, and gameplay fixes...the game is far from perfect.

It's not like EA and the NFL don't have the money/technology...

[DerkontheOS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

Exactly Phobia, but I'll make it 4 with a few changes. PS3 - BluRay, Great Exclusives (God of War, Metal Gear Solid, The Show, Little Big Planet, etc) 360 - Best Controller (for my big hands), Best Online (at a cost) Wii - Amazing Controls, Nintendo Hits (Mario, Metroid, Zelda) PC - FPS, RTS, & RPGs (Great graphics/framerates, Control for multitasking, and fan add-on mods)

• PS3 - BluRay, Great Exclusives (God of War, Metal Gear Solid, The Show, Little Big Planet, M.A.G., ect.), Free Online(can be good)
• 360 - Best Controller (for my big hands), Best Online (at a cost), Mass Effect, Forza
• Wii - Amazing Controls, Nintendo Hits (Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Super Smash Bros), good for playing with family or friends(especially older people)
• PC - FPS, RTS, & RPGs (Great graphics/framerates, Control for multitasking, and fan add-on mods), games can be pretty large, Online play is more in-depth

[DerkontheOS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trooper

My dream for Madden animation... "You'll never see the same tackle or play twice."

Sounds familiar to another football game.......