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How will you choose between MS & Sony's new consoles?

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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,116 ✭✭✭✭Potential-Monke


    I finally caved and pre-ordered the PS4. The staff said i won't be guaranteed one on release unless they get a second batch. I'll be down at the midnight release anyway (booked the 2 days off last night) and we'll see how it goes. I'll be there in another capacity, so i won't be too miffed if i don't get one. Just need to find €500 odd between now and then, which will be hard with the Collectors Editions of AC4 and Batman, plus Ghosts and Watchdogs.

    And i really do want an Xbone simple because of Dead Rising 3, it looks like so much fun!!! That last trailer did wonders for me!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,929 ✭✭✭✭ShadowHearth


    C14N wrote: »
    It's weird how many people are switching to X1 with the FIFA. Surely there must be some other reason so many are considering going over? It IS still cheaper to buy it with the PS4 and in any case, most of your friends will probably be playing it on the old console for the next year anyway.

    What are you basing it off m8? I know in EU a good bunch of people like Footy, but there is a huge number of gamers who could not give a flying feck about fifa ( me included ), so that deal does not really makes me reconsider switch.
    I do have a sense there are plenty of xbox 360 gamers who plan to switch to Xbox one after so many changes, so this Fifa thing might just do it for them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,894 ✭✭✭Nolars


    C14N wrote: »
    It's weird how many people are switching to X1 with the FIFA. Surely there must be some other reason so many are considering going over? It IS still cheaper to buy it with the PS4 and in any case, most of your friends will probably be playing it on the old console for the next year anyway.

    Maybe they are looking at it from the angle now that the kinect is only 40 euro. Much easier to justify then 100 euro. And what about everyone who wants the ps4 eye and fifa 14 isn't the xb1 cheaper in that case?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,656 ✭✭✭C14N


    What are you basing it off m8? I know in EU a good bunch of people like Footy, but there is a huge number of gamers who could not give a flying feck about fifa ( me included ), so that deal does not really makes me reconsider switch.
    I do have a sense there are plenty of xbox 360 gamers who plan to switch to Xbox one after so many changes, so this Fifa thing might just do it for them.

    I'm just basing it off the last page or two of the thread. It seems like since the FIFA announcement there have been a few "hmm, maybe I'll get the X1 instead" posts. I don't care much for FIFA myself, but it's easy to see that it's very popular and a lot of people were going to get it anyway.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,929 ✭✭✭✭ShadowHearth


    C14N wrote: »
    I'm just basing it off the last page or two of the thread. It seems like since the FIFA announcement there have been a few "hmm, maybe I'll get the X1 instead" posts. I don't care much for FIFA myself, but it's easy to see that it's very popular and a lot of people were going to get it anyway.

    This actually might prove that YES, 100eu extra is quite a big deal for a console. With added Fifa price does even out a bit. Not a deal breaker for me though, but if they would add Forza instead of FIFA it might bring me more headache. :p Then I remember about Cross play with vita, cheaper ( still ), ps+, Warframe, Planetside 2, future Uncharted games.... Yup, ps4 it is! :pac:


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,732 ✭✭✭Magill


    Are there any F2P games launching with the xbox 1 ? There seems to be a bunch with the PS4 that im sure most people probably don't even know about.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,641 ✭✭✭zero19


    Magill wrote: »
    Are there any F2P games launching with the xbox 1 ? There seems to be a bunch with the PS4 that im sure most people probably don't even know about.

    Just Killer Instinct afaik.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,640 ✭✭✭Pushtrak


    Killer Instinct and World of Tanks are two that I know of. Well, I'm not sure about World of Tanks release date, might be launch, might not.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,721 ✭✭✭Otacon


    Pushtrak wrote: »
    Killer Instinct and World of Tanks are two that I know of. Well, I'm not sure about World of Tanks release date, might be launch, might not.

    It isn't on the list released yesterday.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,693 ✭✭✭Deano7788


    Was World of Tanks not 360?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,640 ✭✭✭Pushtrak


    Yeah, my bad, that's where it is going first. No word on an actual release date for the One, but doing so is a "no brainer".

    http://www.oxm.co.uk/59394/world-of-tanks-xbox-one-is-a-no-brainer-once-microsoft-sells-enough-consoles/


  • Registered Users Posts: 979 ✭✭✭_Puma_


    More information has been released about the Implementation of the GPU on the PS4 on Neogaf, with the PS4 using the new AMD system hUMA for accessing shared memory pools between the CPU and GPU. Could lead to a larger distinct advantage for the PS4 in terms of 3D-Performance, and a much easier system for developers to get the most out of the hardware. Coupled with the Memory set up of the PS4 you would be expecting much better benchmarks on the PS4 when both systems get released.

    Have any gaming journalist had a hands-on with a post production Xbone yet, bearing in mind that the E3 showcases where PC based Development machines? I would be very wary of preoredering an Xbone while there is still some questions about its hardware set up, especially the memory yield rumours, bearing in mind that the hardware will probably determine the longevity of a console. If I get 2-3 years of high performance gaming with a PC rig set up I am generally happy. I would generally expect the same, if not more from a console.

    Looking at both consoles with an open mind, post Microsoft policy u-turns, the only reason I could still see myself getting an Xbone in the future is if we get a killer gaming feature based on kinect that is not possible with the PS eye. Hardware, Price, Online service and the lack of a paywall for other online services(Twitch/Netflix) have me firmly decided that I will be getting a PS4. The only question being if I get the PS4 this side of Christmas or not. Leaning towards waiting until the new year to see the big studios, like Naughty Dogs, upcoming releases. Generally I would wait a year to decide on games to distinguish between systems, as both are bound to have some major releases lined up that will miss the launch.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,505 ✭✭✭✭Xenji


    Yeah we were discussing this in the PS4 thread yesterday, basically

    If anyone wants to read up on HUMA and what it is and does http://mygaming.co.za/news/hardware/53750-amds-plan-for-the-future-huma-fully-detailed.html

    Going back to CBOAT he did mention some big news would come out this week and could he of meant this
    Although both upcoming game consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are based on AMD hardware, only PlayStation 4 incorporates hUMA [Heterogeneous Uniform Memory Access] for supporting a shared memory space. This was explained by AMD's Senior Product Marketing Manager Marc Diana to c't [big German IT magazine] at gamescom. This should put the 3D-performance of PlayStation 4 much farther ahead of Xbox One than many have expected so far. AMD sees hUMA as a key element for drastic performance improvements in combined processors. AMD's upcoming Kaveri desktop processors support hUMA as well.

    Behind the scenes, c't could hear from developers that the 3D-performance of PlayStation 4 is very far ahead of Xbox One.

    Back in April, AMD manager Phil Rogers explained to c't that hUMA improves 3D-performance in particular. "Game developers have been eager to use very large textures for years. Until now they had to resort to tricks in order to package parts of larger textures into smaller textures. That is because today a texture has to be located in a special place of physical memory before the GPU can process it. With hUMA, applications can work with textures much more efficiently". AMD will give more details on hUMA at its upcoming developer conference in November.

    More nerd stuff :

    PS4 will have hUMA wich means that you no longer need a distinction between CPU partition and GPU partition. Both processors can use the same pieces of data at the same time. You don't need to copy stuff and this allows for completely new algorithms that utilize CPU and GPU at the same time. This is interesting since a GPU is very strong, but extremely dumb. A CPU is extremely smart, but very weak. Since you can utilize both processors at the same time for a single task you have a system that is extremely smart and extremely strong at the same time.

    It will allow for an extreme boost for many, many algorithms and parts of algorithms. On top of that it will allow for completely new classes of algorithms and will show why GDDR5 Ram was such a big deal for Sony

    Also

    Speaking of Neogaf, the infamous CBOAT this week stated that
    PS4 games are ready to master while Xbox is stuck in development hell with the latest SDK dropping the performance by 20%


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    I'd keep reading that Neogaf thread if I were you, the reporting of this news seems to be extremely iffy and there's still no direct comment given from Diana.

    That nerd stuff comment is also mostly nonsense.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,505 ✭✭✭✭Xenji


    gizmo wrote: »
    I'd keep reading that Neogaf thread if I were you, the reporting of this news seems to be extremely iffy and there's still no direct comment given from Diana.

    That nerd stuff comment is also mostly nonsense.

    It is all taken from Neogaf, the nerd stuff was also picked up by websites reporting on this and they recycled it as their own, a user Wicked posted it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    Xenji wrote: »
    It is all taken from Neogaf, the nerd stuff was also picked up by websites reporting on this and they recycled it as their own, a user Wicked posted it.
    Aye, saw that alright, that's why I thought I'd mention it. :)

    AMDs slides do a really good job of explaining how hUMA works but a knowledge of how CPUs and GPUs work, combined with how DirectX 11 treats data helps cut through some of the waffle on that thread with regards to how much of a benefit it is over the potential XBox One setup.

    What I find most surprising about the whole thing though is that, if it's true then yea it's certainly another advantage the PS4 has, but why didn't Cerny and co bring it up during their rather excellent hardware talks?


  • Registered Users Posts: 979 ✭✭✭_Puma_


    gizmo wrote: »
    Aye, saw that alright, that's why I thought I'd mention it. :)

    AMDs slides do a really good job of explaining how hUMA works but a knowledge of how CPUs and GPUs work, combined with how DirectX 11 treats data helps cut through some of the waffle on that thread with regards to how much of a benefit it is over the potential XBox One setup.

    What I find most surprising about the whole thing though is that, if it's true then yea it's certainly another advantage the PS4 has, but why didn't Cerny and co bring it up during their rather excellent hardware talks?

    It does seem to add up though with what we know about the Memory set up on both systems. It would make sense for the PS4 engineers to take advantage of hUMA since the PS4 has a unified memory address space. Only reason I can see it wasn't talked about is that the Devtools might not be ready to take full advantage of it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    _Puma_ wrote: »
    It does seem to add up though with what we know about the Memory set up on both systems. It would make sense for the PS4 engineers to take advantage of hUMA since the PS4 has a unified memory address space. Only reason I can see it wasn't talked about is that the Devtools might not be ready to take full advantage of it.
    They can't take advantage of hUMA unless the APU supports it though, which is the big question here. Both consoles are UMA after all, whereas hUMA is a different story as per those AMD slides.

    As for the devtools issue, taking advantage of this kind of thing isn't something that immature devtools would have gotten in the way of and regardless, it's still something worthy of bringing up earlier if support existed.


  • Registered Users Posts: 979 ✭✭✭_Puma_


    gizmo wrote: »
    They can't take advantage of hUMA unless the APU supports it though, which is the big question here. Both consoles are UMA after all, whereas hUMA is a different story as per those AMD slides.

    As for the devtools issue, taking advantage of this kind of thing isn't something that immature devtools would have gotten in the way of and regardless, it's still something worthy of bringing up earlier if support existed.

    It would be baffling if AMD put a non hUMA compatible Graphics core chip in a console APU with true Unified Memory Access. Seem counter intuitive to me and it is their next big thing after all. To add more weight to the story MS have had to put a customised APU in, probably to facilitate the "Move Engines" which are basically a more convoluted system of doing something similar. The bottleneck in their system seems to be Memory yield, which all adds up to the rumours we are hearing on the likes of Neogaf. I would take Games site reports of this and its performance results with a pinch of salt however.

    Who knows why it was not brought up in a press conference,but if it is been utilised then you can be sure the Devs have been briefed about it, what matters at the end of the day. In any case we wont see how both systems stack up against each other until we see benchmarks on release.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,505 ✭✭✭✭Xenji


    The PS4 does have hUMA and AMD confirmed it, C't is not some random site, it is one of the biggest computer magazines in Germany.

    http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Gamescom-Playstation-4-bietet-Unified-Memory-Xbox-One-nicht-1939716.html That is their official website as well.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    _Puma_ wrote: »
    It would be baffling if AMD put a non hUMA compatible Graphics core chip in a console APU with true Unified Memory Access. Seem counter intuitive to me and it is their next big thing after all.
    Well on the basis that both consoles feature full UMA, why would the APU in the XBox One not feature it when the one in the PS4 does? The tech isn't due to feature in Kaveri, the PC-based variant, until next year after all. It is, of course, possible that Sony paid AMD for it of but either way it'll definitely be interesting to see some official word on it.
    _Puma_ wrote: »
    To add more weight to the story MS have had to put a customised APU in, probably to facilitate the "Move Engines" which are basically a more convoluted system of doing something similar.
    The Data Move Engines don't really have anything to do with this kind of system. There was a good run down of their functionality in the Digital Foundry article here.
    _Puma_ wrote: »
    Who knows why it was not brought up in a press conference,but if it is been utilised then you can be sure the Devs have been briefed about it, what matters at the end of the day. In any case we wont see how both systems stack up against each other until we see benchmarks on release.
    Indeed, it makes comments like these all the more interesting. :)

    EDIT...
    Xenji wrote: »
    The PS4 does have hUMA and AMD confirmed it, C't is not some random site, it is one of the biggest computer magazines in Germany.

    http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Gamescom-Playstation-4-bietet-Unified-Memory-Xbox-One-nicht-1939716.html That is their official website as well.
    It's worth pointing out that the same guy from AMD confirmed that it was featured in both consoles back in June, here.


  • Registered Users Posts: 979 ✭✭✭_Puma_


    gizmo wrote: »
    Well on the basis that both consoles feature full UMA, why would the APU in the XBox One not feature it when the one in the PS4 does? The tech isn't due to feature in Kaveri, the PC-based variant, until next year after all. It is, of course, possible that Sony paid AMD for it of but either way it'll definitely be interesting to see some official word on it.


    The Data Move Engines don't really have anything to do with this kind of system. There was a good run down of their functionality in the Digital Foundry article here.


    Indeed, it makes comments like these all the more interesting. :)

    I would imagine because with the use of eSRAM in the Xbox one there is no way for the Architecture to allow the system to see the memory pools as one unified address system, something that Sony pre-empted with GDDR5 to achieve higher yields without eSRAM. The Data Move engines may have been an attempt at a solution to up the yields to be on par with a hUMA architecture, but again we wont know until we see some benchmarks, and to be quiet honest the only people that truly know the benefits will be the Engineers at Sony and AMD.

    EDIT* According to a post on Neogaf it does see like it is something to do with eSRAM and having to copy the memory across
    "X1 can't have pure hUMA because it has eSRAM where data must be copied and managed to deal with bandwidth constraints. In other words, maybe you can do a virtual compute in RAM on the GPU but it has to go to eSRAM first rendering CPU/GPU algorithmic cooperation extremely difficult if not impractical, because the whole point of eSRAM is pushing data through a fast pipe, not sitting around waiting for computations to be done.

    In a way hUMA is for slow stuff, because it lets you do computations on the GPU while the CPU is doing something else or while the GPU isn't writing a frame, computations which the CPU can then look at and apply to some other logic. Basically it gives the CPU access to GPU power without having to do a copy. With eSRAM in place the copy must be done.

    It makes sense that both X1 and PS4 have a hUMA-like memory controller and system. It also makes sense that AMD would tout the PS4's architecture over X1, because in the end AMD isn't going to have eSRAM in the way of the memory flow and access on its 2014 PC architecture."


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    _Puma_ wrote: »
    I would imagine because with the use of eSRAM in the Xbox one there is no way for the Architecture to allow the system to see the memory pools as one unified address system, something that Sony pre-empted with GDDR5 to achieve higher yields without eSRAM. The Data Move engines may have been an attempt at a solution to up the yields to be on par with a hUMA architecture, but again we wont know until we see some benchmarks, and to be quiet honest the only people that truly know the benefits will be the Engineers at Sony and AMD.
    UMA refers to the main system memory pool though, so the inclusion of eSRAM shouldn't affect that state. As for the DMAs, again this isn't what they're for, give that article I linked a gander.
    _Puma_ wrote: »
    EDIT* According to a post on Neogaf it does see like it is something to do with eSRAM and having to copy the memory across
    "X1 can't have pure hUMA because it has eSRAM where data must be copied and managed to deal with bandwidth constraints. In other words, maybe you can do a virtual compute in RAM on the GPU but it has to go to eSRAM first rendering CPU/GPU algorithmic cooperation extremely difficult if not impractical, because the whole point of eSRAM is pushing data through a fast pipe, not sitting around waiting for computations to be done.

    In a way hUMA is for slow stuff, because it lets you do computations on the GPU while the CPU is doing something else or while the GPU isn't writing a frame, computations which the CPU can then look at and apply to some other logic. Basically it gives the CPU access to GPU power without having to do a copy. With eSRAM in place the copy must be done.

    It makes sense that both X1 and PS4 have a hUMA-like memory controller and system. It also makes sense that AMD would tout the PS4's architecture over X1, because in the end AMD isn't going to have eSRAM in the way of the memory flow and access on its 2014 PC architecture."
    The first part is true bar the need to copy to the eSRAM, then again, it's there for a very good reason. The second bit is spot on and I'm glad someone brought it up, this is why I regarded hUMA support as an advantage but not a massive one over in the PS4 thread. The last bit offers a very good explanation as to why the AMD rep is now touting the PS4 APU as supporting the tech alright, especially in the context of his previous statement saying they both did. Again, an official announcement would clarify things but this is a decent start. :)


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,689 Mod ✭✭✭✭stevenmu


    Like Gizmo says, there's no inherent reason why the eSRAM should prevent the One from using hUMA as well. I've been trying to figure out why it seems to be PS4, and the best I can come up with is either

    A) Because of the eSRAM, Microsoft are getting their APUs with a custom memory controller, which happens to not support hUMA

    or

    B) The Xbox One hardware supports hUMA but Microsoft haven't implemented support for it (I'd imagine it would require OS and SDK support).



    Another thing I've been wondering about is that shared memory between the CPU and GPU was one of big advantages touted for the Xbox 360 over the PS3. Was this something else, or have Microsoft had this since the last generation? That would explain why AMD are only mentioning the PS4, they don't want it to be too obvious that their shiny new technology has been in a console since 2005.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,873 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    After playing both consoles this week at gamescom I have to say they are pretty amazing. The new PS4 controller is really nice, much bigger and a much better fit than the current one.

    Fully in the ps4 camp not that I needed much convincing


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    stevenmu wrote: »
    Another thing I've been wondering about is that shared memory between the CPU and GPU was one of big advantages touted for the Xbox 360 over the PS3. Was this something else, or have Microsoft had this since the last generation? That would explain why AMD are only mentioning the PS4, they don't want it to be too obvious that their shiny new technology has been in a console since 2005.
    Not quite. To put it simply, while the 360 featured 512MB of system memory which was indeed shared between the CPU and the GPU, the two could still not directly access the contents of each others allocated memory. hUMA, however, avoids this limitation by being a bi-directional coherent memory model. This is one of the primary advantages of the tech. Here's another link which explains both this and its other advantages quite well.

    As an aside, the 360 also featured a Unified Shading Architecture which is completely different but was often listed as an advantage on the GPU-side over the PS3. Just to confuse things obviously. :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭ION08


    After playing both consoles this week at gamescom I have to say they are pretty amazing. The new PS4 controller is really nice, much bigger and a much better fit than the current one.

    Fully in the ps4 camp not that I needed much convincing

    Hey, can you give me a bit more info with regard to what you thought of the controllers?

    How did you find the PS4 controller compare to the ONE controller?

    I'll be going from an Xbox 360 to a PS4 and the controller is my biggest concern... the Xbox 360 controller being amazing compared to the light & flimsy controller of the PS3

    One thing that really annoys me about Sony is the fact that Analogue sticks have been the main input for movement for over a decade now, yet Sony still place it in an awkward position as if the D-Pad were the primary control while the analogue stick is placed like a secondary ... they should really swap around the positions around ... (they should have done this many years ago!)


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 10,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭marco_polo


    I don't think there is any reason why the XB1 couldn't support hUMA (GDDR5 in itself is not an essential component, as there are even some rumours that Kaveri can roll with either a GDDR5 or DDR3 setup), it just needs to be a hell of alot smarter about using its limited eSRAM effectively.

    I would imagine plenty of things such as huge textures can be left in the 8GB DDR3 pool, and still be a hell of alot faster than the current situation of constantly streaming from a HDD/Disk.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,721 ✭✭✭Otacon


    ION08 wrote: »
    Hey, can you give me a bit more info with regard to what you thought of the controllers?

    How did you find the PS4 controller compare to the ONE controller?

    I'll be going from an Xbox 360 to a PS4 and the controller is my biggest concern... the Xbox 360 controller being amazing compared to the light & flimsy controller of the PS3

    One thing that really annoys me about Sony is the fact that Analogue sticks have been the main input for movement for over a decade now, yet Sony still place it in an awkward position as if the D-Pad were the primary control while the analogue stick is placed like a secondary ... they should really swap around the positions around ... (they should have done this many years ago!)

    If you listen to the most recent Joystiq podcast, Alexander Sliwinski mentions that he tried both controllers and preferred the PS4 one [skip to 46:58]. He mentioned that he hated the DS3 but the DS4 has impressed him.

    This tallies up with a friend's impressions from E3, but as I haven't held them myself yet, it is still up in the air.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 51 ✭✭ZeroBarry


    ION08 wrote: »
    Hey, can you give me a bit more info with regard to what you thought of the controllers?

    How did you find the PS4 controller compare to the ONE controller?

    I'll be going from an Xbox 360 to a PS4 and the controller is my biggest concern... the Xbox 360 controller being amazing compared to the light & flimsy controller of the PS3

    One thing that really annoys me about Sony is the fact that Analogue sticks have been the main input for movement for over a decade now, yet Sony still place it in an awkward position as if the D-Pad were the primary control while the analogue stick is placed like a secondary ... they should really swap around the positions around ... (they should have done this many years ago!)

    I appreciate your opinion, but ergonomically speaking having the primary movement controllers (Analog Sticks) closer to the location where your thumbs will be hovering while holding the controller just makes more sense to me. You don't need to reach further with your left thumb in order to control your movement, which reduces strain on the joint, allowing the user to play for longer in comfort. Thats just my opinion based on some literature I read.

    My friend did an engineering study on game controllers for an assignment in college and that's the conclusion he came to as well. From my own personal experience I find the PS3 controller to be easier to navigate with over the X360 controller.

    Since your getting a PS4 I really hope that the dualshock 4 will have a design that suits you, I know others that are having the same worry about the controller aswell. :D


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