lisa, you were right

[swordchucks_yo]

October 12, 2007 | Assassin's Creed developers claim both PS3 and Xbox 360 are problematic
By Dave Parrack

Desilets, the game's creative director, told Pro G that Ubisoft Montreal is struggling with memory problems on both consoles. It seems that neither the PS3 or the Xbox 360 are much of a joy to develop for, and the company is facing

Comments

[lastchancetobuy]

"And remember that this is at a relatively early stage of the next gen consoles lifespans."

Seriously? For the PS3 and Wii, maybe, but consider the fact that the Xbox360 was released almost exactly four years after the original Xbox, and about a year before the PS3 and Wii -- if we assume a general four year or so cycle from Microsoft on their consoles, the 360 is already almost half-way through its lifetime. Not exactly what I'd call "early." Although I'll admit that the DVD is probably on its way out as far as media goes, there are ways for inventive developers to get around it. Unreal maps, for instance, could be offered as a free download on Xbox Live Marketplace, or an optional game "Update" through the game itself (360 users can already get Halo 2 added maps through an optional downloaded update). A similar thing could be done for games that are becoming exceptionally large: the way I understand it, what makes next-gen games especially big is hi-res textures, texures which are now made all the more high-res by hi-def systems

[swordchucks_yo]

i agree with you 100%, but thats not how its going to be. they have to accomodate everyone, especially the people giving them the most money: the ones buying hd technology. its just how it is. it sucks.

[lastchancetobuy]

You are entirely correct, and it is indeed a sad situation. But such is the dichotomy of PC/Console gaming: developing for consoles is easier and can guarantee a much more constant gaming experience because the equipment will be the same on every system, but consoles lack the power and upgrade flexibility of PCs, and a such create a development environment which is alternately not taking advantage of the hardware (PS3, Wii in many cases), or is already starting to strain at the limits of un-upgradeable hardware. I'm beginning to wonder how much longer companies will consider pure gaming consoles to be a marketable device. Especially with the PS3 and Xbox 360 we're seeing a trend toward consoles that are literally standardized PCs in special boxes, and as such the divide between consoles and PCs is becoming smaller and smaller. The Wii is the only "next-gen" console that is doing something to really differentiate it as a console, but considering that it has a tiny library of games and nearly everyone I know with one almost never even

[sonofzeal]

I'm beginning to wonder how much longer companies will consider pure gaming consoles to be a marketable device.

What makes you think they do now? All of the systems have internet browsers, and the 360 and PS3 also allow you to play movies. Hell, you can download movies and tv shows on the 360, and use it as a media center. The PS3 allows you to install Linux on it, and that opens up all kinds of capabilities.

Especially with the PS3 and Xbox 360 we're seeing a trend toward consoles that are literally standardized PCs in special boxes, and as such the divide between consoles and PCs is becoming smaller and smaller.

Actually, the PS3 and 360 both use PPC chips (and for that matter, so does the Wii), where as consumer PCs use x86 processors. Also, the PS3's CPU, Cell, has a radically different architecture than anything consumer CPUs use. I do agree that we're getting much closer to such an event (the Xbox 1 was probably closer than anything in this generation though) but we haven't gotten there yet.