Crytek head says next-gen consoles 'impossible' to match PCs

Crytek head Cevat Yerli talks about the hurdles faced by Sony and Microsoft, claiming it is "impossible" for a reasonably-priced console to match high-end gaming PCs.

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As gamers prepare for their likely first glimpse of the next generation tomorrow, at least one executive is tempering expectations. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli says it is "impossible" for the next-generation consoles to match high-end gaming PCs.

"Without breaking NDAs that are in place, realistically, from purely a price point perspective, it is impossible," Yerli told Eurogamer. "It's impossible to package $2000-3000 into a mainstream, let's say $500 console. I'm not saying they are $500 consoles. They may launch a console at $2000, but the consumer pricing is usually much lower than that." He further stated that Moore's Law dictates that hardware evolutions mean consoles launching in 2013, 2014, or even 2015 "will never beat a PC again."

The other issue at play is the PC culture, which Yerli says has grown more advanced and devoted to powerful gaming rigs. "If you look at PC gaming, that has changed also. The whole modular way you can design a PC today, with two, three or four graphics cards in them, and you can water cool them and overclock to infinity, that didn't exist even six or seven years ago. You just bought one or maybe two graphics cards and then you were super enthusiastic. It's very difficult to compete with that. People have these massive nuclear power plants standing in their rooms that will run your games really fast. It's hard to compete with."

If Yerli is right, Sony's presentation tomorrow may underwhelm some PC gamers who already own machines that outpace the future console.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 19, 2013 10:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Crytek head says next-gen consoles 'impossible' to match PCs.

    Crytek head Cevat Yerli talks about the hurdles faced by Sony and Microsoft, claiming it is "impossible" for a reasonably-priced console to match high-end gaming PCs.

    • reply
      February 19, 2013 10:43 AM

      The only thing I'm looking forward to about the next generation of consoles is that finally PC games will come out that aren't 6 years out of date graphically.

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        February 19, 2013 11:00 AM

        Hooray! Finally games that are only 1 year out of date graphically!

        At least things will be 1080p for a while.

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      February 19, 2013 10:47 AM

      is this news ?

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        February 19, 2013 10:58 AM

        It's either:

        - not news at all, if he's just talking about what is purely technically possible

        - or really dumb, if he's presenting the multi-graphics-card water-cooled gaming audience as a business consideration for choosing development platforms.


        I read the article and I'm still not sure which.

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          February 19, 2013 11:06 AM

          In other news the new Toyota Yaris will not outrun a Lamborghini Aventador.

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          February 19, 2013 3:06 PM

          ...and he is saying that those top end rigs are more common in the PC gaming space nowadays.

          More PC gamers have very powerful gaming rigs today... heck, even most mid spec PC's today will shit on consoles. Value for money is awesome, doesn't cost much today to beat the consoles.

          Now excuse me while I don my Hazmat suit ready for some gaming action on my nuclear power plant.

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            February 19, 2013 3:16 PM

            And those new consoles seem to be more like PC's... with Sony dropping the CELL chip and such, what's the point of buying one really?

            But yeah, all moot points really... I am just talking non-news shit. Not sarcasm.

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              February 19, 2013 3:24 PM

              Windows PC's are still quite limited by their API's and their BUS structure, there are _some_ things that offset the balance.

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            February 19, 2013 4:01 PM

            I think that people with $1500+, let alone $2000+ systems are still a tiny percentage of overall PC gamers. They are just a vocal minority that likes to shout loudly in order to justify their systems. Look at the latest Steam hardware survey and you will see that most PC games have very average powered systems.

            The last couple computers I built I did my best to keep them under or right around $1000 so that meant no super high end parts, multi-monitor, or fancy cooling systems. I also only build a new system about every four to five years.

            I know people who have to play WoW at medium or lower settings because their computers are from 2005/2006.

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        February 19, 2013 11:01 AM

        Yeah I'd say prepare for a lot of deja vu with most 'news' regarding' the new console cycle.

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      February 19, 2013 11:54 AM

      Just be powerful enough to bring back open cities in Elder Scrolls games, a la Morrowind. Other than that consoles have little effect on me.

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      February 19, 2013 12:00 PM

      Ni No Kuni has me stopping and gawking at the graphics more than any Crysis game ever has.

      The technology needs good design to back it up.

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        February 19, 2013 3:45 PM

        Studio Ghibli means Quality. Also, Kids & Monsters.

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        February 19, 2013 9:56 PM

        So true (haven't played NNK) but Okami HD is based from a 7 year old game and looks fucking sweet as hell.

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      February 19, 2013 3:02 PM

      i think the thing he fails to address, which has been said again and again, is that consoles present one thing that PCs do not, a standard hardware spec to develop for. Then there is the issue where consoles don't have to perform like PC graphics, they just have to look like them. Xbox and PS3 have been getting away with up-scaling 720p games to 1080p for years, and how many console gamers actually give an actual shit about this?

      The gap between graphics on a PC and graphics on a console are considerable enough in todays games to justify a next gen console, add the "Home Entertainment" abilities and ease of use of a console and it will always make it a winner.

      If i read the article again, it clearly comes from a message that says "We still love you high end PCs!" but nowhere does it encourage people to use PCs instead of consoles (they'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they did that). That all said, I am still going to pick up Crysis on the PC cuz everyone knows it'll look wayyyyy better :)

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      February 19, 2013 3:14 PM

      All this console vs. PC stuff has made me realize PC gamers have low self-esteem.

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      February 19, 2013 3:21 PM

      Maybe they'll finally add native keyboard/mouse support to more games on consoles.

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      February 19, 2013 3:54 PM

      Right, but a fixed platform offers a ton of benefits for game development.

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        February 20, 2013 12:59 AM

        Like what? Overpriced games?

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      February 19, 2013 4:17 PM

      lol, slow news day?

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      February 19, 2013 9:35 PM

      The last generation of consoles weren't capable of matching PCs either.

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        February 19, 2013 10:20 PM

        they used dated parts but also looked better for a while at the beginning. certainly for the price point.

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      February 20, 2013 12:58 AM

      This is exactly why I left consoles 2 years ago. 4x the HD as 1080p with PC gaming and consoles just don't stand a chance.

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        February 20, 2013 1:22 AM

        [deleted]

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          February 20, 2013 3:29 AM

          [deleted]

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          February 20, 2013 10:02 AM

          Actually, most console games are barely rendered at 720p (at least on the Xbox, lots of games are lower than 720p res but output is upscaled) and some PC gamers with higher-end monitors are gaming at 2560×1440.

          The math:
          2560*1440=3686400 pixels
          1280*720=921600 pixels

          3686400 / 921600 = 4

    • reply
      February 20, 2013 3:23 AM

      [deleted]

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