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[yurinka]

I assume he knows the clear PS4 superiority but doesn't want to say it. Maybe they have some kind of deal with MS? MS timed exclusive DLC confirmed?

 

[Shai-Tan]

Microsoft hasn't officially released specs yet. He probably can't discuss them with the general public.

edit: but by all means continue embarrassing yourselves

 

[TrutaS]

Politically correct Carmack is worst Carmack.

However his company is in really bad shape, he can't afford to take sides when there is still so much to decide. If not for himself, he must be politically correct for the sake of his colleagues.

 

[Sola Scriptura]

My thoughts as well. Carmack is not one to shy away from something like this, I suppose since his acquisition by Bethesda he isn't being quite so open.

Carmack's corporate handlers have him on a leash now.

 

[Rooster]

Why can't we take his comments at face value?

This. Why do so many people want to read something between the lines. Sometimes all that's there is blank space.

 

[SirIgbyCeaser]

We'll probably get his opinion on the stuff at the quake con speech he does every year.

But really. ID software only released one game this generation. They're very out of touch, while at the same time, totally awesome doing their own thing.

 

[jediyoshi]

I assume he knows the clear PS4 superiority but doesn't want to say it. Maybe they have some kind of deal with MS? Another MS timed exclusive DLC?

This or illuminati, I'm calling 50/50 odds here. About the most equally feasible answers I've seen so far.

 

[Wysker]

We do know that the PS4 has a large advantage due to it's GPU being at least a 1/3 faster in most areas!

The Xbone has 32MB of ESRAM on the die which levels the playing field given developers manage the resources appropriately.

 

[Tyrone_Biggums]

This or illuminati, I'm calling 50/50 odds here. About the most equally feasible answers I've seen so far.

+1

 

[thuway]

Wow, gone soft. Lol.

I said this before as well. He has games that are coming out on both platforms. His best interest is to shy away from making any rash generalizations that could piss off either platform holder.

 

[Zarx]

Considering his past apathy for the upcoming leap in hardware "Sony and Microsoft are going to fight over gigaflops and teraflops and GPUs and all this. In the end, it won't make that much difference." I'm not surprised that he wouldn't recommend one over the other at this point. He is all about VR now.

 

[Wurstsemmel]

I assume he knows the clear PS4 superiority but doesn't want to say it. Maybe they have some kind of deal with MS? MS timed exclusive DLC confirmed?

Maybe he's just personally not interested in consoles anymore because he knows how awesome oculus rift is?

 

[Nevergiveup]

maybe he just ... Likes both boxes?

 

[Kajiba]

If he wants to stay neutral because of something money related, he wouldn't have answered at all. Stop reading conspiracies into this comment.

What are you talking about?

The man clearly doesn't want to be taking out of context by what he says on twitter. Plus he did keep it neutral by praising both. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Globox_82]

SHILL

He was so vocal about PS3 back in the day. No respect for people that have double standards.

 

[WolfForager]

The Xbone has 32MB of ESRAM on the die which levels the playing field given developers manage the resources appropriately.

Increasing the bandwidth of the RAM improves GPU performance/makes up for a slower GPU? That seems to go against everything I've read on GAF for the last 6 months, also logically just doesn't make any sense.

 

[Dark Octave]

I miss candid carmack.

They finally broke him?

Is this Gaffe and Fish's future?

 

[EGM1966]

Sensible reply - but I still prefer the pre-acquisition John who couldn't resist just saying how he saw it.

Note not saying he'd pick one massively over the other - just he seems a lot more subdued since id got acquired and Rage got relatively lukewarm reception.

 

[TheD]

The Xbone has 32MB of ESRAM on the die which levels the playing field given developers manage the resources appropriately.

No it does not!

RAM != Computing resources and if the rumored bandwidth of the SRAM on the xbone's GPU is correct then it does not have any bandwidth advantage at all over the PS4!

 

[Fugu]

Microsoft hasn't released specs yet. Carmack was plenty loud last gen and the Zenimax thing didn't really affect that.

This is one of the few times I've seen someone criticized for not saying something controversial.

 

[fabricated backlash]

Microsoft hasn't released specs yet. Carmack was plenty loud last gen and the Zenimax thing didn't really affect that.

This is one of the few times I've seen someone criticized for not saying something controversial.

People are just pissed that they didn't get ammo for the fanboy wars.

 

[funkystudent]

Dude has corporate overloads at a publisher with deals in place with the console makers to answer to. He cant pick sides.

 

[something fishy]

Actually, he probably can't comment right? Last time he could, because the first parties themselves released all the specs, this time they didn't, wouldn't he be breaking NDA if he commented about the hardware?

Blimey, massively a massively experienced dev. He has a lot of respect and a significant voice.

 

[Midou]

The Xbone has 32MB of ESRAM on the die which levels the playing field given developers manage the resources appropriately.

Pretending this is a new fact and was not taken into account during all the comparisons.

 

[SniperHunter]

Microsoft hasn't released specs yet.

And they never will.

Anyway id Tech 5 games are hitting both PS4 and Xbox One. So far we got: The Evil Within and Wolfenstine (with more coming at e3)

it would be foolish to say one version is better than the other.

 

[lyrick]

I thought Carmack was an Nvidia guy due to their developer relations strength. Beyond porting upcoming games to these two platforms, why would he pick one or the other when both companies utilize AMD as a partner and both platforms don't measure up to the current offerings of PC add in graphics cards?

 

[Globox_82]

Microsoft hasn't released specs yet. Carmack was plenty loud last gen and the Zenimax thing didn't really affect that.

This is one of the few times I've seen someone criticized for not saying something controversial.

so speaking the truth is all of a sudden controversial?

He was right about CELL, why is he quite now?

afraid to hurt MS feelings, it was the other way around he would be all over sony.

 

[Izick]

 

[Tyrone_Biggums]

so speaking the truth is all of a sudden controversial?

He was right about CELL, why is he quite now?

afraid to hurt MS feelings, it was the other way around he would be all over sony.

When you were doing initial development with both systems, how much more powerful was the PS4? Your insight could really break this thing open.

 

[Roshin]

...surely doesn't tally up with how we've been comparing the specs so far, with PS4 having the obvious advantage.

Or is he just staying neutral like Switzerland for commercial reasons?

He's being perfectly clear. Two solid pieces of engineering. Impossible to pick one over the other, until we actually see what they will do with them.

 

[kitch9]

The Xbone has 32MB of ESRAM on the die which levels the playing field given developers manage the resources appropriately.

You have no idea of what the ESRAM does as no-one does. Its a 32mb cache on an 8GB memory pool, whilst it will be useful it will not fit a round peg in a square hole.

 

[Wysker]

No it does not!

RAM != Computing resources and if the rumored bandwidth of the SRAM on the xbone's GPU is correct then it does not have any bandwidth advantage at all over the PS4!

I never said it had an advantage over the PS4. I said they are two approaches to get to the same point. These differences are largely irrelevant as games on the Xbone will look exactly the same as the PS4.

 

[AOC83]

Well, it´s not like there would be a need to debate which is the better hardware. That´s already crystal clear.

 

[MrBud360]

Maybe he's telling the truth.

 

[Alebrije]

And nothing of value was said

 

[jett]

Wow, gone soft. Lol.

More like not being independent anymore and a chance of your now flailing company being jettisoned changes how you speak publicly.

 

[kortez320]

That's because the value between them really isn't the large.

I mean you basically have the same CPU but one machine is paired with a 7790 and one a 7850. This is literally a difference of a few frames here and there or a graphic setting or two stepped up in the 7850 machine.

Maybe console devs will figure out how to widen the game between the two.

 

[macewank]

You have no idea of what the ESRAM does as no-one does. Its a 32mb cache on an 8GB memory pool, whilst it will be useful it will not fit a round peg in a square hole.

But it's not about putting a round peg into a square hole. 32mb of on-die caching memory is significant .. Does it completely close the gap with the PS4 memory bandwidth? no. does it make that gap a lot smaller? yes. It's all about improving the speed of the data being transmitted.

 

[Maximilian E.]

Basically, this is a nice coup for MS.
Über-tech man Carmack does not want to pick one over the other. Whatever the reasons might be, we will not know..

But if Carmack think like this, then it's not to shabby, right?

 

[Taiser]

We have statistics, but we DO NOT KNOW if 8GB of GDDR5 will outperform 32MB ESRAM + 8GB DDR3. We don't! And you DEFINITELY don't.

7GB > 5GB

GDDR5 > DDR3

GDDR5 > ESRAM

5GB GDDR5 (176 GB/s) > 5GB DDR3 (68 GB/s)

2GB GDDR5 (176 GB/s) > 32MB ESRAM (102 GB/s)


not that complicated IMHO

 

[SaggyMonkey]

If you think John Carmack is listening to his handlers and this wasn't just exactly what he thought right when he said it, you don't know John.

 

[watchdog]

We don't even know how long they've been working with the new hardware so it is reasonable for him not to suggest one over the other.

 

[Maximilian E.]

If you think John Carmack is listening to his handlers and this wasn't just exactly what he thought right when he said it, you don't know John.

/thread

 

[PolarGamer]

PS4 has the obvious 50%+ spec advantage, but that doesn't mean endorsing one platform over the other would be wise for a person like Carmack that wants to sell games on both platforms. He can't speak freely on this matter, he's employed by Bethesda.

You're making something out of nothing.

Well. I hope you are right. But people were telling the exact same story when the PS3 was about to launch. Truth is. None of us will know the score until we get to play the first wave of games.

 

[udllpn]

A sensible thing to say given his situation.

 

[Alx]

I swear NeoGaf is getting crazier by the day... Carmack is basically saying "they're both fine, leave me alone !", I don't think we need to over-analyze that.

 

[i-Lo]

Makes sense given he's making games for both. Not once he said to choose the 360 version for Rage even though it was better than the PS3 version.

The results will speak for themselves and alienating potential consumer base isn't the best option especially now when id's games don't have the pull they used to last generation.

 

[PolarGamer]

Microsoft hasn't released specs yet. Carmack was plenty loud last gen and the Zenimax thing didn't really affect that.

This is one of the few times I've seen someone criticized for not saying something controversial.

Lol at last sentence. So true. Perhaps he's not even had hands one time with both kits.

 

[Wysker]

7GB > 5GB

GDDR5 > DDR3

GDDR5 > ESRAM

5GB GDDR5 (176 GB/s) > 5GB DDR3 (68 GB/s)

2GB GDDR5 (176 GB/s) > 32MB ESRAM (102 GB/s)


not that complicated IMHO

It doesn't really work like that. GDDR5 has higher bandwidth with a trade off of higher latency. DDR3 will be quicker to respond in almost every case and that isn't taking embedded memory on the die into consideration which is miles ahead in terms of latency.

This is like saying 4 + 6 = 10 is different than 6 + 4 = 10.

 

[i-Lo]

It doesn't really work like that. GDDR5 has higher bandwidth with a trade off of higher latency. DDR3 will be quicker to respond in almost every case and that isn't taking embedded memory on the die into consideration which is miles ahead in terms of latency.

This is like saying 4 + 6 = 10 is different than 6 + 4 = 10.

And here we go once again...

7GB > 5GB

You should really stop using the "7"GB figure. It's not confirmed yet.