Epic: Xbox 360 Nearing Graphical Limit

And reason #1 for the graphics being as good as they are: They only need to render 30 fps max for console games.

Us PC gamers start complaining when we get less than 60-75 frames per second in a game. I still recall one time that I was irritated that one driver update with my old video card decreased the fps on the Counter Strike Source Stress Test from 192 fps to 188.something something fps.

The upper limit for graphics will never be reached with PC's due to them being modular and continuously upgradable. The downside is that there are many thousands of configurations, making optimization, and unforseen bugs to pop up where least expected. Consoles are 1 size fits all, and are easier to optimize, but as stated above, have limitations due to the inability to upgrade components to what their PC counterparts can do.

Each one has its pros and cons. PC is more expensive, but has many more gametypes available, and many gametypes that are on consoles will feel much more natural on the PC. RTS and FPS games for instance are good examples of this.

A few days ago I talked to someone who said that they liked Unreal Championship more than Unreal Tournament because it was faster paced. I argued the common "console FPS games have aimbots because the control scheme isn't good enough for players to aim properly on their own." to which he argued that it was because of aimbots that the game played faster. This irritates me that he was ok with having help, the fact that it wasn't "all him" and that he still felt that it was a better game than its PC counterpart. I'm not ok with this, but to each their own I suppose. Regardless, certain gametypes will feel more natural on different platforms. Try playing Super Smash Bros on a PC using an emulator(no controller) and you'll see where I'm coming from. Interplatform multiplayer is "forbidden" because of the fact that one platform has a "more natural" feel, plays better, etc. and therefore gives a certain playerbase a distinct advantage. Imagine console vs PC. PC players would argue "you have no skill, you're cheating and using an aimbot" or "wtf, you weren't aiming at me and you got a headshot...H4XX0R", while the console players would argue "PC gamers should have their mouse sensitivity forced to be lower to give us a fair chance, etc." It's just better off that the communities be separate...there is too much elitism in each community already for their own good, let alone allowing them to intermingle.

I would very much enjoy sitting back and watching the outcome of a PC DotA elitists vs console Halo elitist smacktalk competition.

Regardless, here is to hoping that many more great games(polished, unrushed) come to all platforms, and that any multiplatform games are polished and geared to please their respective platforms(don't pull a PC Halo, but I'm sure that other shackers could come up with other, even better examples...cough...Deus Ex 2...cough...).

Really Epic? lol... You piss on PC's for piracy and now you realize their limits with consoles? Hahahahaha.
Epic = Blonde Bimbo

Gears2 might be technically the upper limit of what the 360 can do. But I think there is plenty of room for improvement through better art.

It sure didn't reach its limit in Mercenaries 2.

God, what a butt-ugly game......

if epic was a president it would be Bush...

I love (not) reading the comments in any news item about epic. It truly shows the intelligence of people as they lack the ability to read, some how find ways to put words into their mouths... or just miss what was really being said. This will be no different. Heck look what we got already!

Its pretty impressive what can be pulled out of a console when you really have a lot of time to work on it.

Im still impressed with how good Granturismo 4 and Shadow of the Colossus look for being on the now quite old PS2

People probably said this about the PS2. Then Shadow of the Colossus came out. I'm sure someone with some major ingenuity could squeeze out quite a bit more visual quality if they really wanted to.

Well.. Pretty much any game made with the UT3 engine looked good but have been horrible performance-wise, with pop-ins, laging, etc, where others (eg GTA IV, TH) is already much better in that regard. So I don't know what to make of that statement...

Just change the scope of your game. Bam! New limits!

That's great that Epic is approaching the upper end of graphical quality on the 360.

Maybe now they can start focusing on design, gameplay, and UI.

"Just looking at all the demos we saw [at last week's Games Convention]--ours and others--it's clear that all the games just keep improving, and keep pushing that bar."

And yet peoples budgets remain the same. Console makers will sell systems at a loss again in 2012. I wonder what cheap tricks they have under their sleeves to make up that lost cash this time?

What was that guys name? 40 licks?

Depends on how well your engine is put together. Period.

Every console generation has seen unexpectedly and impossibly beautiful games towards the end of their cycle as developers really get to grips with the hardware and think more creatively. I guess this generation could be different but I would be surprised.

I'm pretty sure it was near its graphical limit when i blew up more than 3 cars in GTA4.

People should read that part of the interview in its entirety before going crazy on Epic. It's not nearly as sensational as the headline here makes it seem.

"Our shit is so awesome we've maxed out the xbox 360 already".

Yeah, ok.

Well duh. Same goes for all consoles. It's not like they are going to leave anything on the table. They gradually find better ways of doing things as time goes on and designing games to work within the limitations so games look better as time goes on, but it's not like any of these consoles are suddenly going to grow a new gpu.

I guess it's time for them to switch to the PC. :P