1. What piece of information would you want that I could provide that would convince you there is not a huge delta in performance?
2. If it comes out after we launch that the difference between 3rd party games is maybe single-digit FPS between the two platforms, will I get an apology or concession?
Albert, huge Xbox fan here, but I own every current gen console and will buy all "next gen" consoles as well. I've got a gaming pc too, so I'm an equal opportunity gamer. I go where the games are.
When the Xbox 360 and PS3 were released, I thought the unified memory pool, ease of anti-aliasing implementation, and other features were well-thought out. Red Ring of Death issues aside, I loved the console. I say this as someone who went through 11 Xbox 360's, most of which were covered under the Microsoft warranty that I bought with my launch day unit. But anyway, onto the questions.
1a. Does the 32 megs (quantity) of eSRAM function as a true "bottleneck" to the system? Does the speed of the DDR3 function as a bottleneck? Or, does the eSRAM successfully eliminate almost all bottlenecks and give a truly higher bandwidth only limited by the clock speeds of the cpu/gpu? A very clear discussion about the bandwidth and memory management needs to be made, which includes numbers and justifications using math. Many people on GAF argue about the total bandwidth of the system, and this probably needs to be clarified. What is the eSRAM speed, how does it function in coordination with the DDR3, and where are the bottlenecks in the system? Specific detail would help.
1b. There has been much discussion about the Xbox One's "secret sauce" or special, largely unknown and undisclosed features that could mitigate the brute force approach of the PS4's design and perceived bandwidth advantage. Depending on whose numbers you believe, this advantage may or may not truly exist. For example, do the "move engines" the awesome audio chip, or any other specialized hardware optimize bandwidth usage or lessen the load on the eSRAM or the cpu/gpu in such a manner that it would make less overall bandwidth necessary? For example, the audio chip does work that would otherwise be done by the cpu. Is there any other special hardware that eases the burden on the main system memory and cpu/gpu usage, and if so, by how much (a few cycles, an estimated number of "flops" etc)? People on GAF like to argue numbers, so perhaps give them some.
Here, and in the next question, I'm giving you the opportunity to explain the optimizations made in the Xbox One that may not be apparent in a simple numbers to numbers game. This is your chance to discuss any "secret sauce", if there is any. When you answer this question, keep in mind that the PS4 likely has specialized chips as well, and that PS4 fanboys will simply say "the PS4 has the same chips/technology inside it". So, it would be best to give some specific detail, to the best of you knowledge, as to how the Xbox One's specialized hardware is optimized to make full use of the bandwidth in the system.
1c. Like the question above, does the Xbox One have any special software features that would make the system more efficient. For example, I hear that DirectX 11.2 uses a new form of Texture Block Compression (Block Compression DDS?)? How does this help maximize system performance, and while Sony no doubt has similar technologies in PSSL, I suspect that there are some differences between the two (DirectX 11.2 vs. PSSL). What specific software features make the Xbox One unique, or at the minimum, what features do you suspect will be superior in the Xbox One?
Basically, you said earlier in the thread "we have customized and balanced the system to reduce bottlenecks and optimize performance, in ways that aren't seen in the published specs." I and many other GAF members would love to hear about this stuff. However, keep in mind that half the crowd here will scream "But the PS4 team did the same thing!", so be sure that you really emphasize how what you guys did is really different and special in some fashion. The hardware (and maybe software) are very different from the PS4, so I feel like you guys should be able to give some interesting discussion.
1d. How fast is the blu-ray drive?
2. I doubt very many people on GAF will apologize.
3. .Here are some random questions and comments that you may or may not choose to answer. Maybe GAF can answer some of these for me.
-- If you really want to clear the air, ask John Carmack run some benchmarks using the PS4 and Xbox One. Ask him to make a blog post or give a speech or AMA about the differences between the two consoles. Universally, he is viewed as the king of hardware and coding, so there is no better person to give an unbiased discussion of the two consoles. He has already mentioned, I think, that they are near parity, so I doubt anything bad would be said about either console in his discussion. People may not listen to a MS employee (there is some blind PS4 fanboyism and MS hate around here), but they will listen to Carmack.
-- The Xbox One uses a special chip to to encode game video for the dvr feature if I remember correctly. Does the PS4 have a similar chip? Or is it done using the main processor.
-- Will we ever be allowed to record more than 5 minutes of gameplay? That is one of the disappointing features to me of the Xbox One. It's a very multimedia oriented device, which I'm ok with, yet the PS4 announces support for 15 minutes of gameplay recording. Will games allow for one button access to the recording feature, much like the PS4 does?
-- What is the system flash memory used for? OS updates? To store the actual OS? I suspect the OS runs from the flash memory which would allow for super-fast system boots. Is it on the flash memory, and is there anything else on there?
-- The DRM setup and "download history" on the Xbox 360 are horrendous. Any updates to either of those? Will I at least be able to search my download history? Will the Xbox One allow me to transfer my DRM rights more than once a year?
Maybe I should be asking Major Nelson some of these questions as well.
