The “Break it Down” Blog

In a Quake-Con 08 interview with the GameTrailers crew, John Carmack (lead genius behind the engines of id Software) was talking about console development.

He said that while the PS3 is harder to develop for (you spend more time separating the work and collaborating with all 8 processors) it is much better than “back in the day”. He did admit that Xbox 360 software development was easier, but that the DVD requirement will “require some quality consessions” in order to even get their game on 3 DVDs, but they will likely be forced to get it onto 2 DVDs at most by Microsoft.

An interesting note is how much it costs to add a DVD to your game; Microsoft charges you an “erroneous licensing fee” just to make it painful to do, so most folks will just over-compress their game assets and call it a day instead of paying a few hundred thousand extra (I’m guessing that is how much it costs).

Carmack also discussed the “no HD requirement” order from Microsoft that was handed down that will make game performance and texture loading much harder to do and likely again cause performance to suffer.

After the notable texture quality differences in Soulcalibur IV between the Xbox 360 and the PS3, are we finally starting to see the two consoles diverge and the PS3’s superior technology pull ahead?

I’m hearing from folks that have played Metal Gear Solid IV that this is the beginning of “Game Over” for Microsoft as far as comparable graphics go; it seems devs are finally figuring out the Sony hardware.

Before getting your panties in a ruffle though at that comment, consider that graphics mean very little in this day of gameplay and interaction. Look at the Wii, it looks like an Xbox 1 or worse and it’s out-selling everyone.