Menu Close

PlayStation 3 Can’t Handle Yamauchi’s Lofty Ambitions

All indications are that Gran Turismo 5 will indeed make it for the holidays, and most are expecting a technical tour de force.

It has been a staple of the franchise: cutting-edge graphics and overall technical composition that pushes the boundaries of the hardware. And although one might assume the PlayStation 3 has enough power to satisfy Polyphony Digital's needs, it appears boss man Kazunori Yamauchi's ambitions know no bounds. Speaking to Esquire UK and as summarized at CVG , the GT creator says quite frankly that even with the potential of Sony's machine, "it's still not enough:"

"Software has to be created under the restriction of the hardware. With each new PlayStation, the vessel has become bigger, but it's still not enough. With Gran Turismo 5 we've made it as clean and beautiful as possible within the confines of the space we're given – but of course there's a lot more that we want to put in."

Oh, "of course." We should've known. We're willing to bet that if we ask Hideo Kojima about MGS4, he'll say he wanted to "do more" and that he always feels restricted by a system's power. That's the mark of a true visionary: one who always wants to excel; to reach the next level; to see beyond the current limitations in any industry or venue. It sort of implies that GT5 will be just what we expect it to be: masterful.

Related Game(s): Gran Turismo 5

59 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
ace_boon_coon
ace_boon_coon
14 years ago

and they say japanese developers have fallen off. GT5 and MGS5 put other games to shame.

shadowpal2
shadowpal2
14 years ago

Do you mean MGS5? or MGS4? If MGS5 are you speaking of Peace Walker or Rising? If Peace Walker, well hey you're damn right…though – that isn't for PS3. If Rising…well we aren't sure of how that will be yet.

MGS4 was certainly one of those games that gave the kick start to the PS3 as the most capable system out there. Though Kojima sama himself stated that there was more he wanted to do graphic wise with MGS4.

ace_boon_coon
ace_boon_coon
14 years ago

lol sorry i meant MGS4.

Akuma_
Akuma_
14 years ago

i bet MGS5 will put all other games to shame though xD

B-RadGfromOV
B-RadGfromOV
14 years ago

Nah, cause they'll put it on other- inferior- consoles. I mean, I hope they don't, but it seems like that may be the way it is.

LittleBigMidget
LittleBigMidget
14 years ago

I'm sure the 360 would give him much more space and room to work with.

maxpontiac
maxpontiac
14 years ago

Obvious sarcasm.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

I can bet some people will run with that theory though… Or somehow make this bad news against the PS3…

Qubex
Qubex
14 years ago

From a media storage perspective, you are correct, but if space on current media storage was not an issue, the 360, if programmed for specifically and optimised for, would perform equally well.

It's (360) GPU has a "slight" edge over the RSX, this is a well known fact amongst the development community, however the PS3 can actually do more when optimised for under peak stress…. thanks to the parallelism of the mighty Cell and its PPE/SPU architecture…

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"


Last edited by Qubex on 11/9/2010 9:30:09 PM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Qubex, don't forget that GT5 runs at 1080p. I don't remember any games on 360 that run at 1080p. Some output at that resolution, but it's hardware scaled from 720p instead of actually rendering at 1080p. GT5 renders at 1080p on the PS3. Despite the advantages that the 360s GPU has in some areas, in raw compute terms, the nVidia chip is still a tad faster. But, it lacks some crucial hardware elements that the 360's GPU has, so in most cases the 360 makes things easier. I don't think that the 360 could render the resolution and quality that GT5 runs at. I think there is too much work being done by the SPEs on the Cell for the 360's hardware to keep up.

Shadow_Ninja
Shadow_Ninja
14 years ago

GT5 and what else is rendered in full 1080p. Wipeout HD? those are racing games that really only display an abundance of cars on screen and a track. some of PS3's best games are only rendered at 720p like uncharted 1 & 2, and killzone 2 is rendered at 640p and then upscaled to 720p. so in terms of graphics, i agree with Qubex that the xbox does have the slight edge.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is in 1080p

There are plenty of sub-HD 360 games that use that magical slightly less than 600p resolution that allows free FSAA.

Go back and re-read what I said. The 360's GPU has several advantages over the RSX. The thing is that the Cell BE obliterates the tri-core PPC in pure performance terms. There's no argument to be had there at all. If a developer leverages the SPEs on the CellBE, it's possible to do things on the PS3 that can't be done on the 360.

90+% of the games that run at sub HD resolution on the PS3 are multi-platform ports from the 360 where many of them already were running below 720p. The fact that games ported to the PS3 run less well than the original development platform is not entirely surprising. Of course you could look at FFXIII as a game that went in the other direction. The 360 version is markedly lower quality both in game play and especially cut-scene playback.

A properly written game on the PS3 can match a properly written game on the 360. Of course they are such different systems that the route to the same performance is different on each system.

But as I pointed out, there are no significant games on the 360 that are rendered at 1080p. If you want to argue the point, there are plenty of examples of sub HD games on both consoles, and a legion of inferior ports that lost a little resolution during translation from 360 to PS3. Bad ports and poorly optimized, generic graphics engines do not give any indication of how powerful the platform they run on is.

Now, as I said, the 360's GPU has some advantages. These are principally advantages in terms of exposing functionality to the programmer making it easier for the programmer to use certain functions. This speeds development and drops the bar in terms of the difficulty of creating high quality visuals on the platform. The PS3 does not do this, there is a high degree of performance, but it's not exposed so directly to the programmer. The result is that the game engine depends more on the ability of the developer which means that things take more effort and time on the SP3 to produce similar results. The plus side of that is that there is more freedom to decide how to do something, and more room for optimization since you have ti implement many more functions in your own code.

But we've already seen the proof that the PS3 can outshine the 360 in games such as Uncharted 1 & 2. In general though not everyone has the time and resources of Naughty Dog, so most developers do not polish their engines to the same degree.

Shadow_Ninja
Shadow_Ninja
14 years ago

i really wasn't looking at arguments. i was looking at facts. the fact the Qubex stated the Xbox's GPU has a slight edge over the PS3's GPU. that's an actual fact that even you (highlander) stated. something else you have stated is that the Cell BE obliterates the tri-core PPC, there's really no "argument" there either. saying that, PS3 games that outshine the Xbox are games that utilize the Cell to help render graphics along with the Cell's i guess you can say original tasks, like audio, AI, geometry, it's preserved SPU for the XMB, etc.

"Bad ports and poorly optimized, generic graphics engines do not give any indication of how powerful the platform they run on is."

i don't know if you misinterpreted my comment. but i never said the xbox was better overall console just because it has a better GPU than the PS3. i had just agreed, the GPU is better.

maxpontiac
maxpontiac
14 years ago

I am glad a developer has finally admitted it.

The PS3 isn't the end all solution to gaming, and I look forward to seeing what PD was capable of doing.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

I think theirs a distinct difference to right now and 5 years from now… Right now the ps3 is the answer theirs mo question bout that… As time goes on though it's apparent that the industry should only create hardware that's better… If that's not the case then new hardware is pointless! Leaving the PS3 the only choice for a game like GT5 as an example…

Nynja
Nynja
14 years ago

I'm still blown away by the night racing in the rain. Unbelievable. I can't wait to see this on the HDTV.

Oxvial
Oxvial
14 years ago

Okay hope they don't blame the Ps3 if the game ends sucking like GT psp.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

Gt psp was fine lol…


Last edited by bigrailer19 on 11/9/2010 3:55:02 PM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

The only thing that hurt GT on the PSP was the lack of a career mode.

Victor321
Victor321
14 years ago

And the "restrictions of the hardware" =P

See what I did there ^.^?

Oxvial
Oxvial
14 years ago

You beat me Victor.

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
14 years ago

so gt6 will be like gt4 in respects that it will have no real graphic improvements over the last game yet it will have tons of new cars, racing modes, and other content. I can live with that

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

There were other features in GT4 such as, but not limited to: better physics, a TON of new race tracks, a 60+ soundtrack, a more refined rally experience, a more detailed formula 1 campaign, etc. It was a more refined, packed sequel. I think you didn't play GT3 or didn't look beyond the graphics?

jlch777
jlch777
14 years ago

GT3 output resolution was 480i and GT4 480i,480p and 1080i, so there are always space for graphic improvements 🙂

jlch777
jlch777
14 years ago

edit …there is always room for graphics..

sorry

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

GT4 was awesome. It managed to drag my ancient PS2 phat up to modern 480p/1080i standards.

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
14 years ago

@scarecrow, you just reiterated what I just said. GT4 changed alot of things, but it did not change the graphics (much) because they had already pumped out almost all of the ps2's juice with the third game. So they improved everything else instead of focusing on the graphics because they didn't need to focus on the graphics. I'm not saying that 4 was bad or that 3 was bad or anything like that.

And I spent quite some time on GT3 and 4 so please be kind and make sure you understand the context that I am writing in before you make accusations

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

BTN, I disagree. The graphics in GT4 were much better than those in GT3. Not to mention that GT4 had the entire Nürburgring Nordschleife course for us to play with. Stretching the capability of the PS2 in order to output at 1080i is no slight achievement, and the graphics engine behind that was far more advanced than the one in GT3.

IrreducibleSUN
IrreducibleSUN
14 years ago

I think the point here is that a developer (Polyphony Digital) has pushed the PS3 to it's limits and that in itself is an achievement. Quality.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

"as clean and beautiful as possible within the confines of the space we're given"

Why are there devs constantly claiming to have maxed out the PS3? Is the PS3 to blame then when the fans see screen tearing and experience long load times?

He should just say what's really going on. If they put everything in the game that they wanted to, there'd never be a game.

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

You clearly don't have the mind of a perfectionist

Kiri
Kiri
14 years ago

I beginning to believe that he wants to make a game that's better than life…

ace_boon_coon
ace_boon_coon
14 years ago

he's like most perfectionist, they feel what they have can always be better. they always have ways to make their art better, and i always comes out superb.

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

I'd love to be an employee at PD.

Kazunori is like the nicest and most thoughtful dev I have ever seen. Yes even better than Kojima imo.


Last edited by Scarecrow on 11/9/2010 4:22:39 PM

ace_boon_coon
ace_boon_coon
14 years ago

it always comes out superb.

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

Yup, I think PD's eager to get their hands on the ps4 dev kit.

I hope their inputs as to what they want on the ps4 were heavily considered by SCEJ/SCEI.


Last edited by Scarecrow on 11/9/2010 4:23:53 PM

RobiinzZ
RobiinzZ
14 years ago

GT6 for Ps4 launch, now that would be a quite something.

NoOneSpecial
NoOneSpecial
14 years ago

Well, I know we won't be disapointed. I honestly cannot wait much longer but my longing to play has stopped me from going insane……

city96
city96
14 years ago

I hope PD get to tell SONY how powerful the PS4 should be so they can release GT6 right on launch day. That is a perfect Dream.

I think Kaz is kinda going a bit overboard, considering the realism and critical acclaim the series has so far, he could have just released the game ages ago and it would have sold loads. His work is better and more defined than most other devs so his 50% = 200% of Turn10's

Turn10 seems like a joke of a dev, they try to add a "twist" of some sort to simulation, if they mean unrealistic then, yeah they did it. lol

NoOneSpecial
NoOneSpecial
14 years ago

True That

main_event05
main_event05
14 years ago

This is the news i like to hear

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
14 years ago

Isn't that obvious when he is a perfectionist?

Well Kojima already said that PS3's power wasn't enough for what he wanted.
I remember watching an XPlay interview, he said the final production of MGS4 wasn't what he had in mind in the first place.

FatherSun
FatherSun
14 years ago

Yamauchis ambitions are welcome. He is a developer that will always push the envelope. I can't imagine what else he will come up with. Motorcycles? I just had a few runs on GT5 at the Playstation Lounge. Amazing. It is worth the wait. They will not give a release DATE!

Killzone 3! Superb. Can't wait till it its completed.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
14 years ago

expect GT6 to be in development for over a decade.

FatherSun
FatherSun
14 years ago

Hope not. I hope he will be able to build upon GT5 assets and get it to us sooner. Like everyone said. Release with PS4.

Shams
Shams
14 years ago

Kaz should tell Sony what would be enough, then Sony should make the ps4. And i'd have no qualms if he then chose to release GT6 on that instead.

Temjin001
Temjin001
14 years ago

I know this is a stretch, but I wonder if CoD has anything to do with the delay of the US release of GT5. I know they're different markets, but I'd imagine most gamers play more than one type of game (I'm one of them). Perhaps Sony doesn't want to curtail potential revenue by releasing GT5 too close to Black Ops. They're both heavy hitting, multi-million selling franchises and I would imagine Sony wouldn't want to share GT5's spotlight with anyone during it's launch window.
And btw, I'm sure Sony wants CoD to sell as much as possible, too. They do make money, even if it's 3rd party. And with a game that'll probably rake in at least 7million+ copies PS3 side, it's a cash cow they want un-fettered.

FatherSun
FatherSun
14 years ago

I considered this scenario as well. I also think the Move may have played its part as well.

swapnilgyani
swapnilgyani
14 years ago

This is definately good news. I'm sure some bots will reading this and going "PS3 is de limited power lolzzzzz", but most sane minds would know what the comment means.

Of course, we all know what a great developer Yamauchi is, and that's why totally believe it when he says he's pushed this powerhouse to its limit. I wonder how we would have reacted if this statement came from our dear Bobby, Wada or Captain Obvious.

Please keep pushing the system to its limits with your every production. I'm totally okay with the idea of 1 Gran Turismo per generation.

playSTATION
playSTATION
14 years ago

can't wait for Naughty Dog to push the ps3 power even more.