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[GameBlog Rumor] - Developers disclosing problems with Xbox One drivers [Updated]

ymmv

Banned
If you followed Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD, MS tactics today are straight out of the HD-DVD playbook. A very good poster on this board reminded me of this, the execs running the Bone were the same bunch who ran the HD-DVD clown show. Paying for forced parity was par for the course in the early days of that farcical episode.

Link?
 

Chobel

Member
Let's discuss the driver situation:

Going from 1080p/30fps to 900p shouldn't double the framerate. Either the article is lying or Xbox One driver is really bad at 1080p.
 

Skeff

Member
It's not about offending MS. It's about not pissing off people who only own XB1. Let's say there's a situation in which media reports that for example, Watch Dogs is notably better on PS4, and XB1 version is missing effects or has framerate problems or lower resolution, and reviews report that. Now, people who only own XB1 are going to say "well, if this version sucks, and they didn't bother spending time to make it work/look better, I'm just going to buy some other game". This mentality is what publishers worry about, and no amount of explaining that spending more time wouldn't make any difference, is going to help.

I think this has happened a lot with PS3 last gen, and publishers took note of it.

Then perhaps people should consider there console choice a little better.

EDIT: came off as harsh, I meant that it should be made clear in game stores what each console brings to the table, this is the reason the MS parity PR bullshit Penello dishes out rubs me the wrong way so much, XB1 has a lot of things going for it, but consumers should be able to make an informed decision.
 
Like someone said on the first page, drivers can be patched post launch. But something as big as a 30-60 fps target would have been locked down much earlier in development to run optimably with the poor drivers at the time.

More evidence MS has been behind schedule for the XB1 launch this Nov.
 

jaaz

Member
I think ultimately publishers feel they can get away with different resolutions on PS4/Xbone. For whatever reason, FPS is an entirely different matter and we are more likely to see parity in FPS than we will in resolution.

So PS4 gamers may be screwed either way, unfortunately...
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
This should be simple, since we know XB1 is clearly weaker.

Any multiplat that is identical between XB1 and PS4 = boycott publisher.

It's not that simple at all, that does not take into account many things when people are working on the hardware. Some may not have the time, or skill, or money to achieve more than parity on each system.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
It's not about offending MS. It's about not pissing off people who only own XB1. Let's say there's a situation in which media reports that for example, Watch Dogs is notably better on PS4, and XB1 version is missing effects or has framerate problems or lower resolution, and reviews report that. Now, people who only own XB1 are going to say "well, if this version sucks, and they didn't bother spending time to make it work/look better, I'm just going to buy some other game". This mentality is what publishers worry about, and no amount of explaining that spending more time wouldn't make any difference, is going to help.

I think this has happened a lot with PS3 last gen, and publishers took note of it.

it's a balancing act though. If PS4 has a significantly larger installed base, then it would be more important not to piss them off than XB1 owners. Plus if you are pulling your punches on a platform, you leave yourself open to competition - both from first and third parties.
 

GreyWind

Member
Let's discuss the driver situation:

Going from 1080p/30fps to 900p shouldn't double the framerate. Either the article is lying or Xbox One driver is really bad at 1080p.

It just needs optimizing. Nothing is perfect, especially when it comes to new hardware. I'm sure Sony had their little challenges too.
 
Let's discuss the driver situation:

Going from 1080p/30fps to 900p shouldn't double the framerate. Either the article is lying or Xbox One driver is really bad at 1080p.

Isn't locked framerate usually preferred?

Maybe with 1080p framerates are 40 - 50 FPS in those games?

More than likely a rehash, which would fit with what many of the French Gaffers have said. They tend to recycle articles.

Perhaps but if so has the site been known to blatantly lie about its information?

The clarification of the sources being 2 big publishers (one french, one American) is interesting to me

Do you think they would lie about that?

Serious question
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Let's discuss the driver situation:

Going from 1080p/30fps to 900p shouldn't double the framerate. Either the article is lying or Xbox One driver is really bad at 1080p.

possibly ESRAM related? Devs not being to tap it properly so they are limited? If so, then that might be a good thing if it can get unblocked in later drivers - gives the platform room to grow.
 
If you want to get someone out of the industry for selling overpriced peripherals, using online passes, and shutting down studios...well there wouldn't be much of an industry left.

Microsoft has done those things far more than any other company. Sony continues to expand their studios and even bought Media Molecule and Sucker Punch last generation. Microsoft bought Rare and neutered them. Rare isn't even allowed to work on their new IPs it seems. They're a negative influence on the industry.
 

Sporran

Member
To the people saying we won't ever know if the PS4 version is gimped or not... if I were a 3rd party developer and some manager came to me forcing this parity, don't you think I'd do everything I can to make it public, one way or the other, after the game has been released? Personally I'd fucking hate if someone told me to spend my time to worsen a product I can be proud of.

The pay cheque is a powerful force ;)
 

kpaadet

Member
I don't get the "don't wanna piss off Microsoft" part. Because by gimping the PS4 version wouldn't 3rd party devs royally piss off Sony, you know the company which will eat a few billion $ to get those superior specs in their machines. So why would those devs be afraid to piss off MS and not Sony.

How would Sony really know if they gimped the PS4 version?
 
If true and Microsoft is ruining nextgen like so many believed, then it will be so easy to just not buy games from those devs.

We're watching.
 

Skeff

Member
It's not that simple at all, that does not take into account many things when people are working on the hardware. Some may not have the time, or skill, or money to achieve more than parity on each system.

in this case, for possibly the first time ever, multiplatform development is easier on the stronger machine, platform agnostic builds are said to run far better on PS4 than XB1.
 

Rembrandt

Banned
Even if the parity rumors are false I would still agree with you. This is a company that rushed out hardware and had widespread hardware failure as a result. This is a company that charged the customer a ridiculous dollar amount for accessories like hard drives and wi fi adapters. This is the company that ushered in paying for online gaming. To make matters worse, this same company blocks the user from using things like Netlix behind a paywall. They also routinely abandon their customers after three to four years by completely ceasing development on their current consoles because they've shut down so many studios. The ones they have remaining have been making avatars, long in the tooth franchises, and apps.

They tried, unsuccessfully, to usher in a console that was always online and had heavy DRM. So fuck this company. It was perfectly fine for games like Skyrim to run better on the 360, but now that the tables has turned Microsoft is protesting because of their fuck ups? I'll never buy another console from them again with the bullshit they've pulled and continue to try to pull.

Some of you Sony fanboys are truly ridiculous. Are we really going to talk about Microsoft charging exuberant amounts of money for accessories (mainly only the wifi adapter) and not even think about the Vita? Sure, they ushered in paying for online gaming but they also revolutionized it and and made Sony step it up. If it wasn't for XBL, there wouldn't be a PS+. How do they routinely abandon their customers when it has only happened once? (Xbox > 360) The PS2 was around for 10+ years and the 360 has been around for 8 and will probably be supported through 2014 and 2015, too. That's 10 years, which is what how long they said it would last. I guess nobody's ever going to let the DRM thing go, even if Microsoft offered to suck their dick and give them a Xbox One for free.
 

tkalamba

Member
Isn't locked framerate usually preferred?

Maybe with 1080p framerates are 40 - 50 FPS in those games?



Perhaps but if so has the site been known to blatantly lie about its information?

The clarification of the sources being 2 big publishers (one french, one American) is interesting to me

Do you think they would lie about that?

Serious question

I'm just going by what locals have been saying. Several have now called that site out as unreliable, and known to basically take articles from else where and just rehash them. They've even been referred to as a tabloid. I'd take it as they are just trying to generate hits.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
it's a balancing act though. If PS4 has a significantly larger installed base, then it would be more important not to piss them off than XB1 owners. Plus if you are pulling your punches on a platform, you leave yourself open to competition - both from first and third parties.
That is true too.
 

vcc

Member
The timed exclusives thing is really the fault of both the publishers and the console makers. They want to lock in a base cash flow in case the game doesn't take off. Why not get a partial return on investment early and take option value on the actual game sales?

The courting casuals aspect is happening on both sides because they needed to broaden the pie. Mobile games are taking off while AAA game budgets are skyrocketing. Thus both sides are trying to get casual gamers in for the revenue stream. This industry can no longer survive solely on hardcore gamers. Do you really think there are hundreds of millions of hardcore gamers in the world?

The problem with timed exclusives is that it's a transaction that inevitably costs the consumer (money comes from somewhere, likely live subscriptions) but does nothing for them. It's also unsustainable.

The casual market segment is already all gone. The casual gamers that bought a large portion of the 100m wii's have moved on to their cell phones and tablets. They won't be back int he same numbers as the Wii U proved. Relying on them to prop up the industry is going to draw resources away and probably fail.

GTA is not a 'casual' game but it sold a billion dollars worth of games in a week. The money is there but the studios and publishers need to be more realistic. Not every game can sell 5m+ units so don't budget every project to need 5m units to break even.

MS has a long history of being extremely negative for the market segments they jump into. For years they have generally entered a market, used their money to leverage a position, extinguish their competitors, then start profiteering with sub standard products (exchange, office, explorer, MS SQL) however they are not doing it as well as they used to and area's they had 'won' are firing back up. The worst possible thing for the industry is if MS pushes Sony and Nintendo out. Nintendo or Sony monopolies would also be awful but not to the same extent as MS.
 

Into

Member
Publishers did not gimp multiplats on Xbox or GameCube, because of the PS2 version.

Granted many of those games were made first and foremost for the PS2, since it was the head and shoulders market leader. But the Xbox and GC versions still ran and looked better in almost every case.

So if Sony could not "force" parity while dominating their competitors, i doubt Microsoft can when they are not dominating anyone here, likelihood is that PS4 will outsell the Xbox One from the get go.

Only company i can see going with this is maybe EA.
 

Mondriaan

Member
it's a balancing act though. If PS4 has a significantly larger installed base, then it would be more important not to piss them off than XB1 owners. Plus if you are pulling your punches on a platform, you leave yourself open to competition - both from first and third parties.
Maybe as a big publisher they are expecting MS to foot a good chunk of the co-marketing bill, but that's not going to fly if all the reviews are unbalanced about the definitive console version being the other guy.
 

Chobel

Member
Isn't locked framerate usually preferred?

Maybe with 1080p framerates are 40 - 50 FPS in those games?

If that's the case then it's not driver problem, and the article is lying. Because going from 1080P/45-50fps to 900p/60fps is normal.
possibly ESRAM related? Devs not being to tap it properly so they are limited? If so, then that might be a good thing if it can get unblocked in later drivers - gives the platform room to grow.

It could be, I just remembred that digital foundry said that Xbox One eSRAM prefer 900p games.
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
in this case, for possibly the first time ever, multiplatform development is easier on the stronger machine, platform agnostic builds are said to run far better on PS4 than XB1.

True, but in a multiplat development, they are going to target a specific performance point for both systems surely, rather than individually. It could be the case that time and money is spent achieving this on the weaker system, leaving no room for enhancing the other version.

I just don't think it is at all as simple as, ''the games are the same, so that publisher was paid off''. Not at all.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Maybe as a big publisher they are expecting MS to foot a good chunk of the co-marketing bill, but that's not going to fly if all the reviews are unbalanced about the definitive console version being the other guy.

at some point MS would end up spending so much in 'parity dollars' that it would have been cheaper to make a more powerful machine in the first place.


True, but in a multiplat development, they are going to target a specific performance point for both systems surely, rather than individually. It could be the case that time and money is spent achieving this on the weaker system, leaving no room for enhancing the other version.

I just don't think it is at all as simple as, ''the games are the same, so that publisher was paid off''. Not at all.

but add PC in as the most likely central development point - with Xbox and PS4 branching off from that - and that already has a significantly higher quality level. So you're porting down anyway. You'd just get closer, quicker with PS4
 

jaaz

Member
Quick! Someone should start a twitter campaign urging developers not to do this parity crap. It seemed to have had some effect on Sony's DRM/used game decisions...
 
Microsoft has done those things far more than any other company. Sony continues to expand their studios and even bought Media Molecule and Sucker Punch last generation. Microsoft bought Rare and neutered them. Rare isn't even allowed to work on their new IPs it seems. They're a negative influence on the industry.

Microsoft was known as the E3 company : Embrace / Extend / Exterminate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish

It also makes sense, because doing so they'll poison every potential competitor.
 
If as looks likely, the PS4 is going to significantly outsell the XBO, it would be incredibly stupid to nerf the version that has the most sales potential. Guess we'll see soon enough.
 

Knuf

Member
you will lose your job the moment you go public by the publisher.

Sure, but aren't there many sites that protect whistleblowers identities? Hell, even a GAF account would be enough. ;)
Oh, and you know, every now and then even developers change place of work, move to other states and so on.
 
Some of you Sony fanboys are truly ridiculous. Are we really going to talk about Microsoft charging exuberant amounts of money for accessories (mainly only the wifi adapter) and not even think about the Vita? Sure, they ushered in paying for online gaming but they also revolutionized it and and made Sony step it up. If it wasn't for XBL, there wouldn't be a PS+. How do they routinely abandon their customers when it has only happened once? (Xbox > 360) The PS2 was around for 10+ years and the 360 has been around for 8 and will probably be supported through 2014 and 2015, too. That's 10 years, which is what how long they said it would last. I guess nobody's ever going to let the DRM thing go, even if Microsoft offered to suck their dick and give them a Xbox One for free.

First of all, the Vita was fairly priced from the get go. Plenty of people on GAF thought it would be a hundred dollars more than what it launched as because of the hardware.

Secondly, Microsoft has abandoned development two times. They did it with the Xbox and the 360. This is indisputable and anyone that has taken note has been aware of this for some time. They hopped aboard the Kinect train and since that device launched they have been putting out very few quality titles whereas as the PS3 had The Last of Us, God of War, Gran Turismo, and Beyond all launch this year. Among other games.
 
I'm just going by what locals have been saying. Several have now called that site out as unreliable, and known to basically take articles from else where and just rehash them. They've even been referred to as a tabloid. I'd take it as they are just trying to generate hits.

Right and I've taken that with a grain of salt

They were sent a review unit of the xbox one so clearly they're not nobody

I guess it could be a rehash though but then I would think they'd be lying about the publisher sources which is very very bad to do

I don't know

Also worth cross-posting from the EDGE thread

Third party devs will develop their IP to look similar to protect their own interests, not the platform holders, and to make sure they dont alienate one side or other. Differences will be slight, mostly resolution stretches, framerate locks or other subjectives. This is done at design/preprod to develop your scenes with this is mind and use graphical effects to maximise its look/impact. Think GOW3.
The MOST important aspect is the time taken to produce your basic complete - Faster complete means more time to polish, add extras etc. Will MS have direct control? Unlikely, even at the most pro-MS studios. There are too many tech-savvy fans out there and studios need all the goodwill they can get.

I still don't know what to take way from this post as you can read into either way
 

Biker19

Banned
MS has a long history of being extremely negative for the market segments they jump into. For years they have generally entered a market, used their money to leverage a position, extinguish their competitors, then start profiteering with sub standard products (exchange, office, explorer, MS SQL) however they are not doing it as well as they used to and area's they had 'won' are firing back up. The worst possible thing for the industry is if MS pushes Sony and Nintendo out. Nintendo or Sony monopolies would also be awful but not to the same extent as MS.

Very true, but Xbox fanboys will refuse to hear it & will still defend Microsoft at every turn in which they think that they're doing better for gamers. They need to open their eyes & wake up.
 

Nafai1123

Banned
If downgrades do happen, I suspect it will be only during the beginning of this generation. Publishers who have already set up partnerships will feel pressured to keep parity, but the reality is if the difference between the two consoles is as large as suspected, it's going to be impossible for that illusion of parity to remain true. This will become increasingly true as we see 1st and 3rd party games that DO take full advantage of the respective hardware.
 

airjoca

Member
If multiplatform games look shit compared to first party exclusives, sooner or later those devs will have to step up their game.
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
Nope, it's just a rumor that fanboy's are going crazy over.

They think that UBISOFT for instance would sign a exclusive content deal with Sony but then intentionally gimp the graphics of those games to appease MS.

10817204-1371038779-643629.jpg

Think about it though, they already got money from Sony by doing this, why not play both sides and give something to Microsoft, something that Sony can't do anything about, or something that don't screw up the contract with sony. Double agent type stuff, selling parts of a pig, "we'd like to thank our sponsors, Sony, Microsoft, and Apple (timed istore app exclusive. Not real just an example)!"
 

FranXico

Member
I'm going to repeat what others said and I agree with:
Going by that site's reputation (or lack thereof), it's just a rehash of the old Edge "power struggle" article. Very easy to label something as "report/rumor" and just re-post it away for hits.

As for the "politics" people are raging about, I got banned already for so much as implying that notion, so my advise is to calm down.
 

tkalamba

Member
Right and I've taken that with a grain of salt

They were sent a review unit of the xbox one so clearly they're not nobody

I guess it could be a rehash though but then I would think they'd be lying about the publisher sources which is very very bad to do

I don't know

Also worth cross-posting from the EDGE thread



I still don't know what to take way from this post as you can read into either way

I don't think review units means anything. Any site, covering a topic, as long as it can generate traffic could get a review unit. MS will want first hand reviews in the hands as many reviewers as possible.

I work in the advertising industry (not gaming related, mostly autos and pharma) and our clients regularly have reviews for products on pretty much any site that can get a review out to as many people as possible. If they have the Reach, they can more than likely get a review console. It really isn't indicative of anything.
 

SenkiDala

Member
I know gameblog (I'm French) they're familiar with making those kind of news... Everything is (probably) fake. They always pretend they have "their sources" but it's always a copy/past (translated) from a foreigner article (here this one: http://www.edge-online.com/news/pow...es-between-ps4-and-xbox-one-performance/#null) pretending it's from "their sources"...

They are full of shit, don't give any credit to those guys, honestly.

Also they don't have an Xbox One, the X1 on this article http://www.gameblog.fr/news/38501-la-xbox-one-est-arrivee-chez-gameblog-les-photos is a fake, they even admit it "il s'agit pour le moment d'un mock up. Impossible donc de l'allumer" which means "for now it's just a mock up. So it's impossible to turn it on".

Gameblog being gameblog, copying other websites, days/weeks after, pretending it's from their sources... Pathetic. :/
 
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