PS4 Just Performs Better. So What?

OnlySP: Recently, Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning was corrected over some statements that came out wrong. It seems that the performance gap between the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 won’t close.

That’s one person’s opinion, but let’s face it Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray is right when he says that PS4 has more compute units and faster memory. That’s one of those things that you just can’t get around. I know many folks hoped that as the generation progresses that gap will close but it looks like the PS4 is just going to get better versions this time around, so what?

[Spikeantestor]

Well the first thing that comes to my mind is the difrance we had between the 360 and the PS3. The Sony machine was notoriously hard to program for so there were many cases over the years where a game would have a better frame rate or what have you, on the 360 than it would on the PS3. It rarely made the games unplayable (skyrim) but it mattered.

I had both systems myself, when I would find that one version of a multiplat was better (usually the aforementioned 360 version) I'd get that one.

I assume the situation will be similar throu the life of the PS4 and One. If you only have one system than you'll have a great system with a bunch of great exclusives and not really have much to worry about. But I'f you have both, maybe a percentage of your games will be purchased more frequently on the PS4.

[Wingsfan24]

Yea once I get the PS4 here soonish, I'll probably get the majority of Open World, Adventure and RPG games there and keep the shooters on the One. Even with the PS4, I still see the Xbox One as the more social based system and better for online gaming. But for games with different performance on the One and PS4, obvious is answer is to go with the PS4 to get the best quality product(games spec wise) for your money.

[HeWhoWalks]

I'm actually curious as to how the X1 is better for social and online gaming. With the PS3 vs 360, I understood the argument (Live was more efficient), but on PS4, the online component is just as solid. In fact, I'd argue that some of the social aspects (party chat, for example), are currently better on PS4.

OT: With every gen, there are those who won't face reality. In that same breath, and as with most things, they'll just have to get over it. If you own both machines, the better version(s) of multiplats should be bought, but if it's just one you have (or plan to own), I doubt you'll go wrong either way.

[Gozer]

@HeWhoWalks
The X1 executes its social features better than the ps4, I wouldn't expect anything else from a software company . Yes, you have party chat, as well as a Game DVR that rarely works the way it should, and a Twitch app that doesn't compare well without you buying the camera for the ps4.

Regarding online MP, Live will probably end up being better than PSN again this generation. We all now the size of Azure. MS can supply dedicated servers for their games as well as experiment with cloud compute. Online MP will likely be a huge part of MS focus.

[mochachino]

Well if BF4 and COD are to go by, devs show more love to the popular version.

Also the better resolution and framerate make multiplayer better too IMO. Not to mention a larger userbase means a larger community.

To each their own I suppose but it seems silly to buy an Xone for multiplats.

[MeLoveRamen]

Why would you get shooters for the xbone, all multiplat shooters run better on the ps4

[Gozer]

@MeLoveRamen

Thats a good question. Dedicated servers for the X1 could be a reason to choose it instead of the ps4. To me that's more important than resolution.

Thing is so far we haven't seen a 3rd party using dedicated servers for one and P2P on the other, to my knowledge anyway. EA supplies their own crappy servers. And Activision supplied their version of dedicated servers for COD.
http://www.twitlonger.com/s...

I know Killzone SF doesn't use its servers for gameplay.
http://videogamesandnews.co...

The real question is will sony be able to keep up with the X1 in this arena, or will they use P2P servers on some 3rd party titles when things ramp up. I don't know if sony could demand a parity clause, but I imagine they have atleast looked into it. Dedicated servers for the X1 could be a big win for MS.

[dirkdady]

@gozer

Killzone shadowfall runs on dedicated servers and you can also have private matches with your friends.
Now compare that to titanfall which uses Azure but does not support private matches. Sort of defeats the purpose of dedicated servers aside from no host advantage right?

[thrust]

It's all about which type of games you prefer and get that console which has them :)

[No_Limit]

I agreed, just like I have more X360 third party games last generation, I will probably get more PS4 third party ports this generation because it will most likely have the better versions. Having said that, I am still sticking with the XB1 for online dominated games like Destiny and the next Battlefield because I like the community, the netcode, and my friends are all on that setup for MP games. But for the next Batman or Assassin's Creed, it will be on PS4, no doubt.

[thrust]

Yeah the play stations have allways been good for single player games

[dirkdady]

Why in gods green earth would you get Destiny on xb1 when the ps4 version will not only look and run better but will also have exclusive content? o_O

[No_Limit]

@dirkdady,

"Why in gods green earth would you get Destiny on xb1 when the ps4 version will not only look and run better but will also have exclusive content?"

Which part of "I like the Xbox Live community, the netcode, and my friends are all on that setup for MP games" did you not understand? I value those things for an online MP game more than some minor extra contents or slightly better Progressive resolution. If all your friends that you play with are all on the same network, why would you wanna switch?

No worry, I still got love for my PS4 with those single player focused games like Arkham Knight and Assassin's Creed Unity.

[dirkdady]

"I like the Xbox Live community, the netcode, and my friends are all on that setup for MP games"

The netcode is being developed by bungie across both platforms so you can expect them to be the same. The xb1 live community is trending lower % of 4 million units out there, so not sure what you like about the community? Less competition maybe? If you look at stats for any MP game like battlefield 4 on the stats site you can see that active user community is doubled on the PS4 over XB1 with some of the highest ranked players on ps4.

Regarding your friends, are you a leader or follower? If you are the former assert your influence/clout and convince them why it's stupid to play Destiny on xb1 with lower graphics and less content over ps4 for the same money. Should be an easy sell. You convince a couple friends and you other friends will then feel they have to get the ps4 version as all their friends are playing it on the ps4. Easy as pie.

[vikingland1]

@Spikeantestor:
Ditto on your whole post well said.

[Negative77]

Yes so what? I have both consoles and still lean heavily to Microsoft's next gen box. Maybe that will change if it becomes a huge difference and the PS4 is significantly better when it comes to multiplats etc.

But as of right now the Xbox One gets used every day. Can't say the same for my PS4.

[tuglu_pati]

I can say the say but that is because of Titanfall, multiplats get play time on my PS4 since they usually run better.

[Hicken]

But they're already significantly better.

[asyouburn]

I would say that pushing more than twice as many pixels on the same game IS significantly better

[Negative77]

Not really. Well, I guess it depends on what you deem most important. For me, if it pretty much looks the same I'll play on the console where I like the controller/OS/functionality better.

[asyouburn]

It's not that important to me either, but the debate isn't about what's more important, it's about which one is better. And as far as image quality goes, more than two times IS better. 200 dollars is better than one, two times the pixels is better

[MeLoveRamen]

Thats funny negative because the controller/OS/functionality are all vastly superior on the ps4

[killzone619]

ps4 will have better framerate, graphics and resolution. all relevant to gaming...

stupid article

[Th3o]

Wow interesting and unique article. I love seeing these pop up everyday since their launch.

Seriously get over it and just play games. If you want graphics and better performance get a 5000$ pc and do 80k resolution with 60 fps and max graphics.

If not just shut up, play the game and enjoy the game play. I play infamous because it's fun not because the eye candy is turning me on.

Play on and shut up, opinion articles are overrated.

[ThatKanadianKid]

Getting a little defensive about a piece of hardware there? Jeez, maybe if you read past the title you'd see the author isn't even bashing either console.

"What is important is that everyone, except Nintendo of course, is on track with their vision. When I asked my brother, the proud owner of an Xbox One, why he didn’t want the best possible graphics for his games he told me that didn’t matter to him. He liked the ease of access, online service, the wide assortment of awesome applications (including fantasy football), and the new TV stuff. When he said this I understood that he was the perfect market for the system. Those things just fit his personal life better than a PS4 would."

[Th3o]

It's not about bashing it's about these articles. There is so many people trying to justify their own opinions when u should be spending less time justifying and more time using the machine u like. They just seem preachy.

The only need for justification is the justification itself.

Why we need these articles period are beyond me.

It's well known what pros and cons each console has we've been discussing it every day since launch.

Do we need another story about the same thing?

[cozomel]

@sourgrouch

Do you ever stop being a trolling fanboy? Also, Ryse and Forza do not have the best graphics, KZ, Infamous and BF4 on the PS4 do.

And this features argument is lame. Then i can say that the PS3 and 360 are better machines because of the ease of access, online service, the wide assortment of awesome applications, etc. And seriously? Ease of access? It doesnt get any easier than the PS4, the X1 OS is far more complicated than PS4s. I guess Wii U guys can make the same argument too.

[hello12]

The performance difference have only been noticeable with multiplats- therefore third party developers outside of Microsoft's control.

I believe third party developers were mostly likely not using the 32mb of embedded ram near the GPU for games. At the Microsoft build, it was announced the 32mb of Esram, is exclusive to the GPU I have a feeling most developers used only the 5gb of DDR3 for games as they were unsure how to get the most out of the Esram before launch.

Its interesting however most neutrals see Ryse as being the best looking game so far yet on either console. First party game.

Forza still is the only game on either console- first party to be running at 1080p 60 frames.

Killzone and Infamous hit 1080p but only 30 frames.

If PS4 is 50 per cent more powerful and had better SDK's at launch why is it failing the 1080p 60 frames target?

The reason directx12 is a game changer. It does not increase the GPU performance two times, it increases the CPU performance across all four cores which evidently boasts the GPU performance by a large margin. What percentage by remains to be seen.

On PC and x box 1 games run on 4 cores but only 1 core is doing the bulk of the work. Its a bottleneck PC gamers have been complaining about for years and years. Directx12 solves the issues so its a revolutionary change.

New techniques to get the most out of the GPU, also been brought out.

Sony has nothing like directx12, Directx12 costs a fortunate to code and workaround.

Directx12 i think pretty much solves the frame rate issue on xb1. Better CPU performance you will can hit the 60 frames with ease.

1080p is easier achieved now because Developers don't have to sacrifice frame rate or resolution anymore to reach their goals.

[grassyknoll]

You know absolutely nothing about game development. If developers were just using the DDR3 RAM they would barely run. If you honestly believe DX12 will increase performance on every metric by 100% you're insane.

[hello12]

What. 360 games and PS3 games use 524mb memory max thats all those systems have!

5 gigs OF dddr3 is 8 times the memory bandwidth of the 360.

Impossible go look at the 360 version of Titanfall and xb1 version of Titanfall!

Esram is complicated, as its requires new SDKs and tools, and its obvious non of this was available at launch for third party studios. At the Microsoft build last week, Microsoft said Esram is how the the xb1 will hit 1080p and 60 frames? So its obvious to me its not a bottleneck at all.

I think the 5gigs of DRR3 was enough for third party developers at launch.

Savage, Microsoft designer of x box 1

ESRAM is dedicated RAM, it’s 32 megabytes, it sits right next to the GPU, in fact it’s on the other side of the GPU from the buses that talk to the rest of the system, so the GPU is the only thing that can see this memory," Savage said, via DualShockers.

"And what it does is that it gives you very very high bandwidth output, and read capability from the GPU as well. This is useful because in a lot of cases, especially when we have as large content as we have today and five gigabytes that could potentially be touched to render something, anything that we can move to memory that has a bandwidth that’s on the order of 2 to 10 x faster than the regular system memory is going to be a huge win."

Savage exemplified a potential use for the ESRAM with a racing game. The sky, since it doesn't change so often, can be fit in the somewhat slower regular RAM, while the actual car mechanics or physics can be handled by the much faster ESRAM.

When you use this model and take full advantage of the other Xbox One hardware, then Savage is confident that any game can reach a 1080p resolution and a 60fps framerate, especially when it's all about the visuals.

"This is how you get to 1080p, this is how you run at 60 frames per second… period, if you’re bottlenecked by graphics."

Vitullo@ I stopped listening to Sony complaints long time ago. Since launch i heard the cloud was just a gimmick magic cloud according to some of you.

Yet just 5 months since launch Microsoft shows off a demo of physics and game rendering been done on the cloud.

Microsoft has delivered on all its promises so far.

DRM that everyone hates so much is killing the gaming industry. Reason why Microsoft and game developers were keen on it. They make nothing from used games and its partly the reason game studios close. They make money by selling you new games not used games. The money from used games goes nowhere, but to Gamestop investors.

[vitullo31]

don't you guys get tired of all this secret sauce talk and the new techniques to get most out of the gpu and dx 12 and blah blah blah it's not going to happen you are all idiots if you think microsoft is going to just snap their fingers and boom xbox one now has more power and features 4k gaming all of the sudden WOW LOOK AT THAT... get a life, play the games you love and S T F U this site is really getting annoying

[Sp1tfireXM]

lol..... way to prove you know so much more.... by only telling him he knows nothing and spewing nonsense. Not to mention putting words in his mouth, with that, "performance on every metric by 100%" bs. Not at all what he said, GYFO butthurt fanboy

[mochachino]

Lol@ KWNS "Microsoft has delivered on all it's promises"

How? By promising to promise to deliver on its promises.

MS claims 4x the power from the cloud and 2x the GPU power from DX12. So their promising about 6 trillion teraflops "sometime" in the future.

So if Xone is already 6x more powerful than 360 then at some unspecified time Xone with be over 24x more power than 360 making it the biggest console gen power jump ever, way more than PS4s 10x and equivalent to a $2000 plus gaming PC.

They should use the cloud and software to make 360 match PS4 in power while they're at it...

Can't wait for that never to happen.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ KNWS

You are talking absolute nonsense, as usual.
-----

"Its interesting however most neutrals see Ryse as being the best looking game so far yet on either console. First party game."

Second party actually, but that's besides the point. Ryse is a linear, corridor environment hack and slash. Where are its dynamic elements? It has performance struggles into the TEENS in terms of frame rate and outputs at only 900p. The only area where Ryse is best is facial detail and animations. THAT'S IT.

Killzone, inFamous pretty much take the cake for performance and graphics... and everything else. Both are doing more and both have a more stable performance.
-----

"Forza still is the only game on either console- first party to be running at 1080p 60 frames."

Why? Tell me why you foolish people keep ignoring the reasons why Forza 5 manages to achieve 1080p/60? Any developer can tone down effects, features, fidelity and in Forza 5's case, all 3 of those in a HUGE downgrade from pre-release footage, that they didn't even make people aware of until they bought the game.
--------

"Savage, Microsoft designer of x box 1"

Surprise, suprise - Xbox designer praises his own product. Acting like ESRAM was built for a specific trump? It was used because MS had no appropriate solution to costly high-bandwidth RAM at the time. Sony snuck in and afforded themselves a large pool of fast GDDR5 for each console. Microsoft were just slow off the mark, they were meant to launch in 2014 and would've waited for prices to subside on GDDR5, but they couldn't.

Anyone looking at ESRAM and saying "yeah that's friggin fantastic design, can't wait to let developers use this bad boy at the expense of smaller pool of slower DDR3", that's idiotic. He's just playing off the negativity surrounding his creation.
-----

"Since launch i heard the cloud was just a gimmick magic cloud according to some of you. Yet just 5 months since launch Microsoft shows off a demo of physics and game rendering been done on the cloud."

1) People were laughing at Microsoft's reliance on the cloud to try and feebly make their underpowered console compete with significantly stronger base hardware.

Microsoft were claiming the cloud would make the Xbone 3-4 times more powerful. It's PR garbage and made to feed you guys manufactured hype. We were laughing at you guys for falling for this crap and criticising Microsoft for, yet again, pulling the wool over the eyes of the gullible.

We know that Sony had been working on cloud compute and cloud streaming technology with partners Gaikai and RackSpace before Microsoft even announced their using of Azure for Xbox. We know that cloud computing exists as a valid technology.

2) What Microsoft showed is a controlled demo running on PC hardware - it's fresh from the lab. It's not something you're going to be seeing in the manner that they showed at Build for the next 8-10 years. Yet, Microsoft sold their console on the promise that it would make their console 3-4 times more powerful. They are deceitful and disgraceful as time has proven. We have been criticising them for that.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ KWNS (continued)

"Microsoft has delivered on all its promises so far. "

No they haven't:

- The Kinect still is not the desired future of playing your games as they sold it as. Kinect Sports Rivals is just another good example of Kinect's shortfalls as a game controller. Microsoft has shifted their focus to multimedia with it, and it's now used mainly for navigation (something that can be achieved with a cheap mic - not an expensive forced peripheral).

- They said the cloud would make their console 3-4 times more powerful. They sold you something that won't be proven in the capacity you're expecting for close to a decade. They sold you yet another lie, so you would buy into the cheap hype of their console along with their controlling vision of the future of gaming.
-------

"Reason why Microsoft and game developers were keen on it. They make nothing from used games and its partly the reason game studios close. They make money by selling you new games not used games. "

What the heck is this garbage? Why were more developers signing up to make games for PS4, before it had even been announced? Why were developers so keen to give Sony their feedback on the machine? If they were all so pro-DRM, they'd be flocking to poor old multi-billion dollar MS. Or could it be the people in charge of MS are greedy, controlling, monopolistic, money-grubbing men in suits? Nope, it's the "poor old developers" excuse.

-----

Like I said, you're full of sh*t.

[dantesparda]

@knws

Wow guy, you have just clearly demonstrated in two long a$$ walls of text that you know nothing of what you are talking about. There is so much wrong and so much fail in there that i dont evn know where to begin. But my advice would be to stop listening to other fanboys and trying to act like you understand cuz you obviously dont.

[LordMaim]

"Forza still is the only game on either console- first party to be running at 1080p 60 frames."

At what cost?

http://i.imgur.com/ktNVhbu....

[dantesparda]

You MS fanboys telling me you cant see the clear downgrade here? See how flat and low quality the current assets are?

[mezati99]

I have both consoles and i lean heavily to sony's next gen box.
as of right now the ps4 gets used every day. Can't say the same for my xbone.

[jhoward585]

PS4 Just Performs Better. So What?

The performance Gap widens. that's what.

[Belasco]

How does it "widen" with fixed hardware on both sides? Not to mention the advent of DX12? Aaaand lists along with techno babble you don't understand incoming...

[jhoward585]

Everyone seem to use Forza 5 as a reference to say see its ruining at 1080p/60fps.

Again, Forza 5 was heavily down-graded to reach 1080p/60fps.

Besides, Sony believe in quality not quantities.

Oh one more thing, DX12 will improve some things but not all.

[incendy35]

First of all PS4 doesn't have faster memory. There is a reason ESRAM cost about 50 times more than DDR5. Second of all, compute units in parallel operations are the sum of both the CPU and the GPU so you have to take the entire system bus and performance into consideration.

So far Forza 5 is the only AAA Exclusive that is running 1080p and 60fps. X1 is also doing true multitasking. PS4 has yet to release a AAA Exclusive that runs at 1080p and 60fps, and their multitasking is faked doing a suspend/resume similar to iPads.

Be very difficult to argue PS4 performs better at this point based off of actual games and system use.

[grassyknoll]

Tomb Raider & MGS Ground Zeroes both run at 1080p / 60 on PS4 while one runs at half the frame rate on Xbox One the other under half the resolution. So...

[incendy35]

Those aren't exclusives, plus Tomb Raider's frame rate is all over the place. MGS definitely was optimized better for PS4 although the game plays the same on both systems.

[amiga-man]

incendy35:So far Forza 5 is the only AAA Exclusive that is running 1080p and 60fps

A racing game is a terrible genre to judge a consoles power because it is the easiest sort of game to do 1080p and 60fps in, the cars are the only real eye candy in the game but it is the background thats moving creating the illusion of movement and it was severly downgraded to achieve it,the cars barely move so can have much better detail.

Tomb Raider and MGS are both much better barometers of a consoles ability and guess which console they are on.

[cozomel]

@ incendy

BUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The X1's memory system is not faster than PS4's, youre crazy and a fanboy if you think that. Many devs have said that the PS4 memory is 40 to 50% faster. Your measely 32MBs of eSRAM is nowhere near enough to compensate for the far slower DDR3 RAM (68GB/s vs 176GB/s)

And MGS, Tomb Raiders, COD, Diable III, ResoGun, Warframe, Blacklight Retribution, Contrast, FIFA 14, Flower, DC Universe, Strider, Outlast, Trine 2, NBA 2K all say hi. And Titanfalls framerate is all over the place too. Its even more eratic than Tomb Raiders

[grassyknoll]

Why do you have to be exclusive to for a game to be seen as 1080p / 60 on PS4? The Show (exclusive) & COD are 1080 / 60 too.

[DigitalRaptor]

"So far Forza 5 is the only AAA Exclusive that is running 1080p and 60fps."

This is getting SOOOOO dull now. True ignorance is going on with arguments surrounding that game.

LISTEN to people with logic. Forza 5 is not any justification of next-gen. It was DOWNGRADED massively. Turn 10 did that cause they had no choice but to tone down effects, features and fidelity to boast the numbers 1080 and 60. It's embarrassing that that is your go-to example to try and prove anything.

Do us all a favour. Stop with the delusions, use logic and we'll stop giving you reasons to hate Sony fanboys telling you about your significantly less powerful console.

[Godmars290]

The difference will be the exclusives. Like its always been.

When talking about performance differences its only ever applied to multiplatform titles, but the Playstation brand's strength has always been diversity whereas Xbox's issue has been narrowed perspective. Of only even being about FPS or what 3rd party devs could do rather than MS themselves.

[randomguy35]

This like all other generations of gaming will end up like rest. Both consoles are very similar both have their strengths and weaknesses. PS4 is more powerful true but not by much imo, i'd really wish people would stop the bashing and just get their game on and be happy with what ever system they purchased. The competition between the companies will no doubt benefit us gamers the most. Playstation est.1995 and Xbox est.2000 I love it.

[D-riders]

Last gen was a bad gen for Sony it gave MS an attitude that they can do what they want. And now Sony is battling to prove they are the ebst plce for online and stuff. However i find that funny that online gaming is compared since we are 8 years from where online gaming was when last gen started. I dont see how it matters.

[Illusive_Man]

Microsoft experimented with more compute units and determined more is not necessarily better. There is a point of diminishing returns.

The memory issue is a bit more complicated. GDDR5 is faster than DDR3 but the bandwidth is comparable for both platforms when the ESRAM is included.

[MasterCornholio]

They thought it was better to axe GPU cores in favor of ESRAM to make up for DDR3s smaller bandwidth.

Who's right here Microsoft or Sony?

Or better yet which console is more powerful and simpler to make games for?

In my opinion Sony were smarter with their consoles design because they managed to produce more powerful hardware that's easier to develop for and sell it for a 100$ less than the competition. Result, 7 million PS4s sold.

P.S ESRAM is tiny at 32MB which is a pretty big limitation in the system.

[TitanUp]

ms made a mistake with kinect that is why there console is 100$ more.

Sony has done a really good job with the ps4 now they just need to update their software a bit faster.

[VegasDawg]

I wish could silence all the fanBOYs and just talk about games, I can remember a time before gaming became mainstream we did exactly that, until then gamers keep on gaming, casuals and fanBOYs need to shut up and listen.

[LordMaim]

You hear they're remastering The Last of Us for PS4? That game was pretty awesome.

[MegaDan]

You Xbots are so delusional, PS4's HARDWARE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE XBONE. No software update will help your system better than the PS4, period.

[KinjoTakemura]

The specs don't lie. And the performance capabilities of each machine's hardware will not change no matter what others may have you believe. The only way Xbox1 will surpass the ps4's performance is for Microsoft to send each xbox1's owner six GPU compute units and GDDR5 memory. Well everyone posting here knows it ain't gonna happen.

[Skate-AK]

People can't handle the truth. The funny thing is that it isn't even a very big deal.