Pros & Cons of Xbox 360
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:59 pm
[align=center][img]http://www.killagraphix.com/uploads/art ... box360.jpg[/img][/align]
[b]Japanese Developers on Pros & Cons of Xbox 360[/b]
[[url=\"http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?a ... ure&email=\"]Source[/url]]
With the launch of the Xbox 360 fast approaching, developers have been more talkative about what it's like to work with the first next-gen console. Because of the first Xbox's failure in Japan, it's important that MS get the support of Japanese developers for the 360. Here's what some are saying...
It's no secret that Microsoft has been taking a much more pro-active role as of late in courting Japanese developers to make games for the Xbox 360. The original Xbox may have been a powerful console, but it just didn't cater to Japanese gamers' tastes. Now that many developers in the land of the rising sun have been working on Xbox 360 games in preparation for the console's launch later this year, what do they think of Microsoft's second console? The latest issue of Famitsu Xbox (via GameSpot translation) has a number of revealing quotes on the Xbox 360 from several Japanese game makers.
[b]Powerful hardware[/b]
The one thing the developers all seem to agree on is that the 360 is a graphical powerhouse capable of creating far more realistic environments and characters than the original Xbox. "When you consider the essence of videogames, you can't take away its graphics, sound, and interactivity. The Xbox 360 is the best solution [to delivering the highest quality gaming] at the current time," commented Tecmo producer Tomonobu Itagaki, who has been one of the strongest supporters of Xbox and whose Team Ninja is working on Dead or Alive 4 for 360's launch.
"It's as though we need to bring the quality graphics from pre-rendered movies into to the actual game," Akari Uchida, Konami producer
Added Yuke's chief planner Shunsuke Katsumata, "Self-shadowing effects contribute a lot to making a pro-wrestling game. When it comes to pro-wrestling games, trying to render the wrestlers' muscles is really the key point. But up until now, we couldn't even use a virtual self-shadowing effect, due to hardware limitations." Yuke's, known for the WWE Smackdown! games, is working on another wrestling title for 360, called Wrestle Kingdom.
There's been a lot of talk about the fact that these next-gen systems—PS3 and Xbox 360—have multi-core architectures as opposed to the single core design of a PC chip like a Pentium 4. Developers are very used to programming for single core and arguably could be making better next-gen games, at least initially, had MS utilized a single core design instead. There will be a steep learning curve for developing on next-gen consoles, as Capcom producer Keiji Inafune points out. Inafune, who's working on the zombie title Dead Rising for 360, thinks it will take some time for developers to truly realize the potential of the system. "I believe that we'll be seeing two kinds of games for a while after the Xbox 360's launch... Games that feel like something on current generation consoles, and games that feel like they're Xbox 360 titles," he said.
[b]Developer-friendly, but much effort required[/b]
Multi-core issues aside, most of the developers agree that the 360 is not very difficult to develop for thanks to its use of DirectX and the development kit's support of Visual C++ and other important tools. They also cited the console's ability to recycle programs to save time and effort. "... once we create a game, we can take parts of it and build it into a new game. So if we make a program to display an ocean wave, we can use it again and again," commented Cavia chief producer Takuya Iwasaki.
Creating games for 360 will also require more work than game makers are used to—something that next-gen developers are starting to come to grips with now. "We had no intention to make Rumble Roses XX just a usual port. We were hyped, saying to ourselves that we're going to make it a completely new game," explained Konami producer Akari Uchida. "But when it came time for the actual development, we realized that the volume of data [for the 360] would be one digit different [from current consoles]. The number of polygons per character by itself is 10 times larger than current consoles... It's as though we need to bring the quality graphics from pre-rendered movies into to the actual game."
[b]Capacity issues[/b]
Microsoft's decision to stick with the traditional DVD format instead of opting for a larger capacity disc (as Sony did with Blu-ray for PS3) will also have a big impact on developers as they try to figure out how to fit massive amounts of data on normal DVDs. "The volume of data in Enchant Arms won't fit into a single DVD. It's an RPG, so we're thinking it would be inevitable that we release it on two discs... But to be honest, that's even looking grim," explained From Software producer Masanori Takeuchi.
If MS does eventually upgrade the 360 to HD DVD, storage capacity will no longer be an issue, but it's not clear if or when that will happen—especially if Blu-ray becomes the dominant DVD format successor.
On the whole, however, it appears that developers are generally pleased with the 360 as a development platform. As with any leap to a new generation, game makers have to face and overcome fresh obstacles and it's the ones that figure out how to work within the limitations of the new hardware and optimize their games for that platform that will ultimately come out on top.
[b]Japanese Developers on Pros & Cons of Xbox 360[/b]
[[url=\"http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?a ... ure&email=\"]Source[/url]]
With the launch of the Xbox 360 fast approaching, developers have been more talkative about what it's like to work with the first next-gen console. Because of the first Xbox's failure in Japan, it's important that MS get the support of Japanese developers for the 360. Here's what some are saying...
It's no secret that Microsoft has been taking a much more pro-active role as of late in courting Japanese developers to make games for the Xbox 360. The original Xbox may have been a powerful console, but it just didn't cater to Japanese gamers' tastes. Now that many developers in the land of the rising sun have been working on Xbox 360 games in preparation for the console's launch later this year, what do they think of Microsoft's second console? The latest issue of Famitsu Xbox (via GameSpot translation) has a number of revealing quotes on the Xbox 360 from several Japanese game makers.
[b]Powerful hardware[/b]
The one thing the developers all seem to agree on is that the 360 is a graphical powerhouse capable of creating far more realistic environments and characters than the original Xbox. "When you consider the essence of videogames, you can't take away its graphics, sound, and interactivity. The Xbox 360 is the best solution [to delivering the highest quality gaming] at the current time," commented Tecmo producer Tomonobu Itagaki, who has been one of the strongest supporters of Xbox and whose Team Ninja is working on Dead or Alive 4 for 360's launch.
"It's as though we need to bring the quality graphics from pre-rendered movies into to the actual game," Akari Uchida, Konami producer
Added Yuke's chief planner Shunsuke Katsumata, "Self-shadowing effects contribute a lot to making a pro-wrestling game. When it comes to pro-wrestling games, trying to render the wrestlers' muscles is really the key point. But up until now, we couldn't even use a virtual self-shadowing effect, due to hardware limitations." Yuke's, known for the WWE Smackdown! games, is working on another wrestling title for 360, called Wrestle Kingdom.
There's been a lot of talk about the fact that these next-gen systems—PS3 and Xbox 360—have multi-core architectures as opposed to the single core design of a PC chip like a Pentium 4. Developers are very used to programming for single core and arguably could be making better next-gen games, at least initially, had MS utilized a single core design instead. There will be a steep learning curve for developing on next-gen consoles, as Capcom producer Keiji Inafune points out. Inafune, who's working on the zombie title Dead Rising for 360, thinks it will take some time for developers to truly realize the potential of the system. "I believe that we'll be seeing two kinds of games for a while after the Xbox 360's launch... Games that feel like something on current generation consoles, and games that feel like they're Xbox 360 titles," he said.
[b]Developer-friendly, but much effort required[/b]
Multi-core issues aside, most of the developers agree that the 360 is not very difficult to develop for thanks to its use of DirectX and the development kit's support of Visual C++ and other important tools. They also cited the console's ability to recycle programs to save time and effort. "... once we create a game, we can take parts of it and build it into a new game. So if we make a program to display an ocean wave, we can use it again and again," commented Cavia chief producer Takuya Iwasaki.
Creating games for 360 will also require more work than game makers are used to—something that next-gen developers are starting to come to grips with now. "We had no intention to make Rumble Roses XX just a usual port. We were hyped, saying to ourselves that we're going to make it a completely new game," explained Konami producer Akari Uchida. "But when it came time for the actual development, we realized that the volume of data [for the 360] would be one digit different [from current consoles]. The number of polygons per character by itself is 10 times larger than current consoles... It's as though we need to bring the quality graphics from pre-rendered movies into to the actual game."
[b]Capacity issues[/b]
Microsoft's decision to stick with the traditional DVD format instead of opting for a larger capacity disc (as Sony did with Blu-ray for PS3) will also have a big impact on developers as they try to figure out how to fit massive amounts of data on normal DVDs. "The volume of data in Enchant Arms won't fit into a single DVD. It's an RPG, so we're thinking it would be inevitable that we release it on two discs... But to be honest, that's even looking grim," explained From Software producer Masanori Takeuchi.
If MS does eventually upgrade the 360 to HD DVD, storage capacity will no longer be an issue, but it's not clear if or when that will happen—especially if Blu-ray becomes the dominant DVD format successor.
On the whole, however, it appears that developers are generally pleased with the 360 as a development platform. As with any leap to a new generation, game makers have to face and overcome fresh obstacles and it's the ones that figure out how to work within the limitations of the new hardware and optimize their games for that platform that will ultimately come out on top.