Next-gen consoles will offer unprecedented gameplay, says EA
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
FIFA publisher's chief technology officer says new consoles are 8-10x more powerful than current-gen, run on PC-based architecture.
Electronic Arts believes the arrival of next-generation consoles will be a watershed moment for the gaming industry. Speaking today during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, EA chief technology officer Rajat Taneja said the new wave of consoles will usher in a new era of gaming.
"The console technology itself is a gigantic leap for our industry," Taneja said. "Any which way you look at the specifications, it is step function over what exists today. The new consoles are between 8 and 10 times the power of the current generation."
Taneja said EA is well-positioned to succeed when the PlayStation 4--and the rumored Xbox 720--arrive for three reasons. The first of which is that gamers simply will not be able to stay away, due in part to the advanced capabilities of these new machines.
"First, we no longer have to constrain our games or ration graphics or memory or bandwidth. We can let the games really flourish. 1080p, 60 frames per second, character physics on a much broader canvas, color saturation, lighting, particle effects; it will be a level of gameplay experience that is unprecedented, not been imagined before," he said. "It's going to create playing conditions for our gamers that are just going to be phenomenal."
"We no longer have to constrain our games or ration graphics or memory or bandwidth. We can let the games really flourish."
The second reason Taneja said he believes EA will succeed on future-generation platforms is due to the company's existing technology smoothly scaling to the new systems.
"The architecture of the consoles is based on standard PC components and technology. So our own investment in our backend engine…and our libraries, our tools, will very smoothly run on these and make it easier for us to innovate to the new console technologies themselves," he said. "What used to take months in the past, will now take days."
Lastly, Taneja said the fact that next-generation platforms have been built with social features and components in mind align with EA's existing ambitions in this space.
"The connected and sharing capabilities of the new consoles actually fits very directly with our strategy…of multiplayer gaming, connected gaming, social gaming," Taneja said, adding that it "helps us accelerates those features into our games."
Outside of the Wii U, Sony's PS4 is the only announced next-generation platform thus far. Microsoft is heavily rumored to be developing an Xbox 360 successor, which could be unveiled as early as next month. Both the PS4 and Xbox 720 are expected to launch this holiday.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
256 comments
I beg to differ. The gameplay will be quite precedented. First person shooters will abound. The signs point to publishers becoming ever more risk adverse. I wouldn't count on new consoles to spur creativity.
@AyatollaofRnR I completely agree with you. It's hard for publishers/developers to break old habits and step outside of their comfort zones. I have a feeling we will see a great deal of what we are already seeing just with prettier graphics.
So I guess it's safe to say that almost every third party game that comes out for these new systems will also be on PC. EA seems to have something up their sleeve with these comments. I bet Microsoft is going to come out and say their system is exactly the same as the PS4 but with connect. (We traded Connect to Sony and they gave us Blu-Ray!)
@Hardstyler2012 They like to feel noticed.. It's a sad state of affairs. I hear that if you donate just £3 a month a console gamer can get the gaming system they deserve and have a real upbringing.
"Say no to weaker human beings, say no to console gaming"
This of course is a load of chopsticks. If it were true PC's would have Uncharted, Gears, Halo (the recent ones), God of War, Infamous and just about every other huge franchise to have come out of the last generation.
I suppose World of Warcraft and Sim City do set the bar in gaming though.. we'd be daft to deny that clearly obvious fact.
yeah right now the gaming industry is bigger than jesus and Michael Jackson put together, now they release the big dog of "pc" quality gaming which we all wanted 7 years ago, "but the hardware just wasnt powerful enough, industry was loosing money" so now the technology of the manufacturer has caught up??? BOLL#CKS, i hate saying this but pc boys can now relish in what they ve been getting for years. 60 frames at 1080p phffff whats the pc going to be doing in 3 years???? what then Sony
1 Like These console fanaticisms always have this painfully condescending choice of wording that seems to almost purposely target, in order to be disregarding, of PC gamers.
7 Like "We can let the games really flourish. 1080p, 60 frames per second, character physics on a much broader canvas, color saturation, lighting, particle effects; it will be a level of gameplay experience that is unprecedented, not been imagined before,"
Not imagined before? Except games have been like this on PC for the past 8 years. PC games have been forced to stay about the same due to console limitation.
@Kooken58 I'm sorry.. and I know you have a lot of people agreeing with you. But you PC gamers don't half get annoying preaching about your magical fantastical computers which can rule the world.
PC's are good alright? WE GET IT.
Geeeeeeeeeeeeez.. It's like you're always trying to convince yourselves!!
6 Like @Kooken58 And this is why the new gen is great for PC gamers. At last we'll enjoy games that use the true power of our GPUs.
Not really, they can finally deliver PC games on consoles instead of up converted opposites. Also the PS4 is a PC system which makes it easier to dev.
Hmm ''unprecedented gameplay''? And for how long will you continue to extract every last penny off of us to get to that stage? Is there any way at all of standing up to seemingly unstoppable cash thieving machines like this? Or will it just continue on uninterrupted?
@robertcain When the majority of gamers boycotts EA's milking practices, we'll have a better chance to change that.
EA forgot to mention the other reason they will succeed: DLC and Microtransactions.
And why all this "Xbox 720" stupidity? There's zero chance MS will call it that. It's bad enough from gamers, but from game journalists too? Why not just say "third Xbox" or "Xbox 3"?
@Razorlight6 It may be the "third" Xbox, but I highly doubt Micro$ will call it Xbox 3. I believe part of the reason they named the successor to Xbox the Xbox 360 was to appear to be on the same level in power as to the PlayStation 3's name. I am thinking more along the lines of it being called the NeXtbox or Xbox 4000.
@Tamreal7 @Razorlight6 I know why MS called it the 360. I'm talking about what the media calls it. This article is not calling it the Xbox 720 because they think that's what it will be called. I meant "Xbox 3" as a general descriptor, like "third" Xbox, my other suggestion.
360 has the connotation of encircling the globe, so 720 is redundant and 4000 doesn't mean anything. At least with 360 they could (poorly) disguise their number grabbing with a reason behind the name. I'm doubtful they will go with another number now that they have acheived their equal status with Sony and the Playstation.
heh heh heh... yeaaaaaaahhhh....
riiiiiiiiiiiight... EA.... yup..... uh huh.... innovative...
well, cant argue with that... hehe...
1 Like EA, you have such a great track record of doing something new. Oh, I don't know, off the top of my head, Madden comes to mind. Wow, you've done so much with that. Yes, I expect with the new generation it will be like a whole new game.
Humm... what else... Oh, Dragon Age... good job there too EA. What else... what else... how about "Generic shooter XXVII"
Translation - EA is going to put more special effects, higher resolution, and maybe better FPS, and that's about it. This must be the face melting graphics I keep hearing that we need. I don't think the problem is graphics, it's that you've burned out. All form and no substance is what you're trying to feed me.
1 Like Definitively next gen consoles are going to have a lot to deliver.Good choice that both companies dedided to include a blu-ray drive on them.Developers would have the chance to create masterpieces and not be limited by adressed harware to casual gamers like mobiles.When I saw the trailer of Tomb Raider I was surprised how much Laura have changed since the PSone.Those casual gamers that say that graphics doesn't matter are just lame trolls.If that were true,that isn't by the way,so why every year companies release computers and videocards more and more powerful?Fortunately trolls opinions doesn't count as the few who bought the dissapointing Wii U who's slow and can't even run more than half the past gen consoles because it's crappy cpu slightly better than a popular mobile nowadays.
2 Like They will be saying that there are no limits for some good PR, then during the end of the live cycle devs will complain about the hardware. All hardware has limits, and as it becomes easier to make higher quality graphics, the standard for graphics also increases and then eventually, low behold they are scrambling for hidden CPU cycles, memory optimizations and all kinds of workarounds to adhere to those standards until the next console is released. Hell it even happened at the start of this generation really...
@PcGamer4Ever1 The graphics card will be a pretty bloody large leap and the architecture of the CPU will make it quite a lot faster than the Cell too, so you would be surprised.
I wonder if the discs themselves can handle the games. Metal Gear Solid 4 took up a full disc 2X. I guess if GT4 took up 7 layers, there is no reason we can't have 7 layer Blu-Ray discs, however.
1 Like I probably won't get a whole lot out of the social features that they've talked about, but am still excited about the new consoles. I am sure that I will buy both of them eventually just like I did this generation. I am a simple guy though and do not think that I will benefit from many of the changes except for the improved graphics.
Basically just means more content removed from the game and sold as extra dlc, more season passes and micro transactions to unlock players, new stadiums, uniforms etc that are already on disc.
2 Like @BoromiRwcgeorge According to your translation, EA is quite a good sucker, isn't it? Well, I guess there're still a lot of people who love to get good sucking these days. That's why their games still continue to suck relentlessly (please note that some of their games' online supports were discontinued, but sucking practices will live on).
Big deal, PS3 was 32 times faster than the ps2 and ps3 generation wasnt SO MUCH different than ps2 generation. This next generation will have the very same gameplay quality as before, only with slightly more detailed visuals, that will not make any difference.
What a boring generation, i really hope Oculus rift comes out soon.
@fluffy_puppy666 actually the things is the ps3 was in fact better than the ps2 that's a given the issue is that the ps3s cell created a slew of difficulties when devs had to create/code their games. This is why nearly all the attention from devs and the whole playstation press deal was to let the world know that Sony is playing ball this time and playing big. The ps4s architecture is setup to stop all the overly innovative tech of the ps3 so we can have as gamers, a amazing next gen. And for this guy to say they can save weeks on development that screams to me more games and faster turnaround between games.
@untouchables111 So, sony is doing what they should have done long ago; they are just fixing a mistake and doing some upgrades that will make no big difference in our games. It will be the same thing, lets not expect too much from the next generation.
@fluffy_puppy666 @Total_mischief @untouchables111 Not really. Just look at the evolution between Uncharted 3 and the first few PS3 games. As long as the PS4 doesn't last another 8 years, that is.
@Total_mischief @fluffy_puppy666 @untouchables111 The AI wont be much better than what we see in crysis 3, since its a game with technology from this next generation. But maybe crytek didnt put so much effort into the AI, since the game is available for xbox 360 and ps3. Well, i dont know, i dont think the AI will make that much difference too. About the visuals: we will get used with the visuals and everything will get boring again.
@fluffy_puppy666 @untouchables111 It actually will make a difference.Visually, if it lives up to the clips from the presentation then I don't need to explain, as for the rest, we'll be able to have much better AI, something that's lacking in many games.
1 Like I keep reading how pc like the console are going to be like. This is going to be a huge boost for the pc library but thats anticipating that expensive consoles are going to sell in this economy I know I for one am not buying one untill they get in the 300 range.
@Elaisse Well, first of not every country has a shit economy, and even then the higher end of the middle class and up in the US will be able to afford the consoles. So yeah, they're going to sell, especially considering that they'll probably be cheaper than the previous generation.
@Elaisse I agree although I think people are going to buy anyway. I am betting a $500 tag because its new yet the tech it not based on something brand new. Pc setups are all over and have many versions.
2 Like Social features? *spits* If I want to be social I'll go down the pub, visit a friend, go to a gig. If this means Twitter *spits* and Facebook clones built into the next consoles I'm not gonna be impressed and I'm sure I won't find it hard to stay away.
@Total_mischief @Shanks_D_Chop Twitter does have a tendency to make bile rise in my gullet.
this could be possible. I mean i look foward to seeing next gen FIFA. the animations and tech already in the game is great. But im optomisitic .
4 Like Wow unprecidented. That sounds so grand. Somehow I beleive that may be a vast overstatement.
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