E3 2011: Is Xbox 360 Starting To Show Its Age?

Nearly 6 years after the Xbox 360 released, developers may now be facing the glaring issue of console limitations. During an interview behind closed doors with Deep Silver, the developers revealed one major difference between the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Risen 2: Dark Waters.

Over the course of the demonstration various details were divulged regarding Risen 2, but one piece of information caught my attention. Nowadays, most developers claim that their game’s console counterpart is on par visually with the PC version. However, this is rarely the case as PC games tend to be of higher quality due to constantly upgrading hardware, something consoles don’t do anywhere near as often (nor can they afford to do this). That is the case here with Risen 2.

One developer conducting the demonstration said that the Xbox 360 faced downgrades to performance and graphics since “the [outdated] hardware” made compromises a necessity for the title to run on the console. Interestingly enough, the Playstation 3 was not included in this statement. At this time, it is unknown whether or not Sony’s system will face similar reduction in the previously stated areas.

While AAA exclusive titles such as Gears of War show off what the 360 is capable of, it seems non-first party developers are finding themselves having to sacrifice quality in order to get games up and running on the system. We will see if this becomes a more prominent trend, at least until the next next-gen consoles make their way into homes.

At least we can all take comfort in the fact that in terms of features and mechanics nothing has been removed. PC and console will be identical in this aspect.

Our thoughts on the demo are currently being compiled and organized so check back soon to see our first impressions.

13 thoughts on “E3 2011: Is Xbox 360 Starting To Show Its Age?

  1. I’m surprised the PS3 fanboys haven’t replied. Both consoles are outdated imo. WHile first party devs can usually push the machine they favour. The PS3 isn’t all it makes out to be. Its bandwith suffers as well as 256MB of RAM less than the 360. While its spu’s can be utilised to some degree. The PS3 still is outdated and those that differ obviously don’t know what they are talking about.

    The outdated technlogy is something console owners have to put up with until we are offered a console that can upgrade the GPU or RAM we will have the suffer the consequences of the ease of gaming. PC gaming imo is too expensive and just a hassle to make sure you have a card that runs the latest unreal engine or Direct X.

    I’ll happily still game on consoles as I’m not a graphics whore, as long as it is fun and I can play online then I’m happy

  2. There’s life in the old box yet mind you. I thought that the Xbox had hit the ceiling a while ago and then I saw Forza 4.
    Correct me if I’m wrong but Gears developer Epic is not a first-party developer. They are third-party but developing this franchise exclusively for Xbox.

  3. Ok, you are taking a statement and leaping to an assumption that the XBox 360 is the only console that is ‘downgraded’ for graphics.

    Unless Sony has delivered a newly set of optimized platform tools for the PS3, the PS3 will also have ‘downgraded’ graphics.

    Yes, they are both outdated in terms of what can be offered by PCs today, but there are clues that should prevent you from making any assumptions that the XBox 360 is falling short or is starting to fall behind the PS3 in the current console technologies.

    Following these clues along with the realization it is a fact the PC technology available is a massive jump from what is in either console, and not just a slam at the XBox 360 specifically.

    Things that are often overlooked in the PS3 vs XBox power comparison wars and flames, that should be in the clues and also give XBox 360 users reassurance:

    1)…….DX11
    DX11 – This is what new games are using on the PC, and it offers a high level of graphical features and abilities. It gives developers the ability to shove a ton of graphical and data processing at high end GPUs.

    The side note on DX11 is first version of DirectX on the PC that INCLUDES all the DirectX features available on the XBox 360 is DX11. DX10 didn’t include all the XBox 360 DirectX features.

    Which makes DX11 more appealing to developers as cross platform PC/XBox development is fairly seamless, with only having to deal with interface and asset changes, instead of working around missing features in DX10. (As it was easier to stick with DX9 technologies and port ‘up’ to the XBox DirectX, than it was to recreate the technologies for DX10 and then still have to port up the XBox DirectX feature set.)

    It also means that XBox/PC titles are still getting better, as the DX11 features in the XBox are now being used, that were often overlooked in the previous generation games.

    (Examples of DX11 features in the XBox 360 is Tensellation, and the more advanced Direct Compute technologies, that did not exist in DX10)

    DX11 and XBox 360 DirectX features are also more advanced than the feature set possible on the PS3, as even OpenGL doesn’t meet these features well, and the version of OpenGL that does, won’t run on the PS3.

    2…..GPU….. Xenos
    This is more important than the usual arguments of the post-processing AA and HDR arguments that we see from the PS3 and XBox fans.

    Xenos is credited as an ATI designed chip; however, the core design came from Microsoft and Microsoft hardware engineers. They are the ones that introduced the concept of a ‘unified shader’ and other aspects that make this GPU technology important for the XBox 360 and also what is at the basis of virtually all GPUs technology produced since then.

    Beyond who actually developed the technolgy, the Xenos is a unified shader based GPU. The PS3 was to have a ‘new’ GPU technology by using a custom chip that worked with and on the Cell processor. This fell through, as Sony was not even close to being able to provide what the Xenos Microsoft introduced was capable of doing. Sony scrambled, and made a deal with NVidia, which is where the PS3 PSX comes from.

    The PSX in the PS3 is a under clocked NVidia Geforce 7900 GPU. So its base performance is somewhere between a 7800 and 7900 NVidia PC video card.

    More importantly, the PSX is a PS/VS GPU design, meaning it is not a unified shader GPU, thus running each shader side starved or overloaded based on the screen content produced. It also is missing other more technical GPU design features as it is very much of the DX9 era of GPU design – meaning most DX10 and DX11 features are not even possible on the PS3 GPU. (So no tensellation, no direct compute like abilities.)

    3)….CPU….
    The CPU differences between the PS3 and XBox 360 should have been ‘bigger’, as the PS3 Cell in theory should be able to ditch the XBox 360. However, with the lacking GPU, post processing and other features being handled by the XBox 360 GPU, are being compensated for on the PS3 by using the Cell processor. Which this alone negates the Cell advantage.

    Sony’s gaming development platform tools and the compiler capabilities available to PS3 developers are not the best. The parallel processing that should be happening on the PS3 Cell CPU is getting strangled by overhead in managing the cores and the threads.

    4)….NT…
    The XBox 360 is basically running Windows NT, a forked version that is somewhere between Windows 2003 Server and Windows Vista.

    This gives the XBox some ‘abilities’ the OS of the PS3 just can’t do. Primarily the way the XBox version of Windows NT handles the GPU is a pre-cursor to the WDDM/WDM technologies of Vista.

    This is why and how the XBox 360 can easily use the ‘shared’ RAM for system and video, and also the OS can ‘schedule’ GPU threads for GPU computing, just like Vista and Windows 7 does. (Vista and Win7 is more mature in these technologies as they are handling multiple 3D games/applications on screen at the same time, and can schedule the GPU threads pre-emptively, something no other OS current can.)

    ….Conclusion….
    So, yes, the jump between the hardware power of the XBox 360 to today’s PC hardware is a jump. However this is also true for the PS3.

    The XBox 360 has some tricks that haven’t been used yet, like the DX11 features that were just skipped because tensellation wasn’t available on the PC or any other platform. The XBox 360 also has the benefit of ‘current’ generation GPUs as it is a unified shader based technlolgy, unlike the DX9 era PSX GPU in the PS3, which is a massive difference in hardware abilities, that the PS3 will NEVER be able to fully compensate for without completely strangling the Cell CPU. Just AA and basic HDR that the Xenos does for free, eats a lot of PS3 CPU performance, as the GPU is not capable of doing both at the same time.

  4. This is no surprise, we heard this from developers years ago! We’ve already seen the best the 360 has to offer, and its not much. PS3 will be fine for a few years yet, the quality of Sony exclusives are outstanding, and keeps getting better! Don’t agree that its outdated, devs havent even figured out how to fully maximise the cell yet, and no one has filled up a blu-ray disc either! Give some 3rd party devs the time. Long way to go, and may it continue!

  5. Want updated console in 2012 xmas. Thought Wii U might fill that void, but that controller looks terribly uncomfortable. Plus specs dont seem to surpass the 360/ps3. Very dissapointed.

  6. with games like Heavy Rain last year and Uncharted 3 this year, I don’t think the ps 3 has hit a ceiling YET! Don’t know bout the 360.. haven’t seen anything impressive for it but gears 3 but I don’t pay attention to gears much and dont know if it looks any better than gears 2.

    I do know the ps3 has all those SKU’s that only naughty dog seems to know how to TRULY use+handle and therefor take Uncharted 2 + 3 to the next level with no slowdown AT ALL.

  7. God of war team / Sony Santa Monica also obviously knows how to push the SKU’s to another level, and who knows if even they and Naughty dog have fully squeezed the ps3’s power out. They say they havent yet……

  8. The article is slightly wrong dude….

    For example, MLAA on PS3 cost around less than 2 ms per SPU.

    PS3 MLAA is extremely cheap while it is as good as “top PC 8X MSAA”(Digital Foundry)

    and many other stuff can be off loaded from GPU to SPU which gives a significant edge over Xbox when used properly.

    Sadly, not many 3rd party fully uses SPUs.

    @JJ

    PS3 does not have 256 mb ram… that was fail.
    it has 512 mb and blazing fast speed.

    Problem is it is fairly hard to program to use the both rams.

    Please stop speaking out of your arse. And LoL @ starting with ” i am surprised PS3 fanboys havent replied”
    That was fail xbox fanboy trying to be stealthy.

  9. After looking at games like Skyrim and Rage, there is clearly still some juice left in these systems.

    But when you look at Battlefield 3 on PC and than COD MW3 you see how big the difference is there. But it wont matter, COD MW3 will still outsell it, there is no need for new hardware for at least a couple years.

  10. It has a lot to do with the hardware on the 360, as well as the disc format. The lack of space is really holding this generation back from what it could potentially be. The PS3 is vastly superior to the 360 in several ways (the same ways my PC are generally superior to consoles). CPU, GPU and RAM-wise PS3 is on top. The only argument is the GPU–while some may say that the 360’s GPU runs faster due to it’s reliance upon eDRAM, the general graphical performance of the PS3 is faster and better than the 360’s overall. I’m not being a fan boy, I’m just stating the facts, dammit.

    My PC is so powerful though, that it only cost me $50 more than a PS3 to run games twice as fast with an entry level card. Talk about disappointing five year old hardware.

  11. I actually prefer a controller-just how I roll.

    I also feel that the games aren’t yet to the point a console (PS3 or Xbox 360, and I have both so I’m not going to argue which one is better, just that -personally- I use my PS3 more because my Xbox 360 is the generation before the current and therefore the WiFi isn’t there…sadly), excluding Nintendo’s, needs to consider upgrading right now. Maybe this is a little because I have both consoles and also know I don’t want to spend another near thousand on two new consoles just yet. But I think until consoles start crashing everywhere because of power failure due to the graphics then it’s time for a new console-for now, I think they’re doing just fine.

    Re: Xbox 360 being more “outdated,” I agree it’s probably the disk format, but in the current life cycle of that console I think Microsoft, with all its billions, could certainly figure a way to include a new component that updates it.

  12. lol at the xbox 360 fanboys defending their console still article doesnt include the ps3 version cause of the 3 PC xbox ps3… xbox 360 is the most outdated of em all just see battlefield 3 lol

  13. and to that guy who said the dash on 360 is like that of a fork out windows 2003 and windows vista 360 doesnt even have a web browser for fck sake fail

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