James Delahunty
30 Jun 2011 0:50
Action-packed games pushing up against console performance ceiling.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 console will have been on the market for six years this November, and the PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been around just one year less. That's a very long time in the world of consumer technology, and resource demands for games are only increasing.
Bodycount game director Andy Wilson spoke about how the limits of the current generation of games consoles are being reached. He spoke to CVG about the complications of developing Bodycount for the console platforms.
"It takes a huge amount of effort to get all of that to even work on current consoles, because it takes sh*t-loads of memory, it sucks up performance out of the consoles like you wouldn't believe," he said. "It's been an unusually long console cycle and it's going to run on for some time yet,"
He continued: "You find the ceiling by building engines, tools and middleware which mean the next game you do on the current generation you've already done all of that stuff, so you can then push it even further."
Sony has said it is still committed to a ten year life cycle for the PS3 console, even though there has been hints that the next generation development is in full swing. Microsoft has also said that the Xbox 360 has years of life left in it before it will be replaced.