EA's Gibeau: Soon Mobile Graphics Will Rival Current Consoles

[Karloff]

EA's Gibeau: Soon Mobile Graphics Will Rival Current Consoles

EA's getting ready for this brave new tablet world.

"In the near future, the next wave of tablets and phones will have nearly Xbox 360 or PS3 capabilities in terms of graphics," EA's Frank Gibeau claims, adding that "some of our engine technology that used to be console-specific now can, with modifications, be able to power games on tablets and on phones in the near future. We're just getting ready for that." That means Frostbite - EA's engine tech - will be coming to all major mobile platforms in the not so-distant future and, with it, EA's AAA titles.

But that doesn't mean those games will be a straight port. "You have to redesign the game," Gibeau admits. There's too much that needs to be changed to take into account the touch screen, plus voice and camera options; just importing some kind of virtual D-pad won't cut it. EA sees this as less of a problem and more of a challenge, allowing it to incorporate new features while at the same time presenting the kind of game that gamers have come to expect. It is a redesign, but it's the kind of redesign that allows EA to deliver something that, it thinks, its customers will come to love.

"Same ingredients, completely different meal," Gibeau concludes. "That's kind of the way we think about it."

Source: IGN [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/03/ea-next-tablets-will-have-nearly-ps3-quality-graphics]


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[Doom972]

By the time that happens, next-gen capabilities will be the standard, so tablets will stay behind.

Againt, I have to ask: Who's the target audience for this? The majority of tablet users don't care about games with flashy graphics anyway, and gamers use PC/Consoles/dedicated handhelds.

 

[fix-the-spade]

So basically, console gamers are going to find themselves in the same boat as PC gamers have been in the last eight or so years.

The tech and mechanics of your games are about to mysteriously jump backwards then stagnate as major publishers chase their new perceived darling market and everyone else gets games designed to those limitations but upscaled slightly.

Hooray for EA!

 

[RA92]

Yes, but they will still be using shitty touch controls that are on the screen, obstructing the player's view.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Good luck with that EA. Modern day game designing philosophy doesn't work with tablets, with the lack of any control input other then a touch screen. As you said, a virtual D-Pad just won't cut it and it'll require some major innovation to make AAA FPS games work on a mobile device, and we all know just how good you are with innovation right EA?

Not to mention the fact I highly doubt there is a market for AAA dudebro shooters on mobile devices to begin with.

 

[BernardoOne]

8 years later? Congrats. And even then, the batteries will run out pretty quickly.

 

[walrusaurus]

ANyone with half a brain could see that the hardware specs would catch up eventually. Thats hardly a penetrating analysis from EA. It also doesn't mean squat: unless ea has invented some kind of fantastic wizard battery that runs on universe juice, no mobile dvc in existence will be able to actually play such a game for more than an hour. And if you can only play it when your plugged into a wall whats the point of having it on a mobile in the first place.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Shit, the next Qualcom quad core processors are going to be clocked at about 2.2 Ghz so we really might not be far off. Of course, I'm not going to play touch screen versions of games without some incentives like hopefully an official Google controller. Strategy games and turn based rpgs would work great on touch screens like frozen synaps, XCOM, and the final fantasy ports. It's going to be weird seeing console ports on mobiles

 

[Baresark]

Yes, but they will still be using shitty touch controls that are on the screen, obstructing the player's view.

I think someone could make a killing with a very flat bluetooth controller with the proper buttons in various places and touch sensors instead of the thumbsticks

Some people already make some really good bluetooth controllers for tablets. The thing is, the games pretty much have to be made to support them, and most are not. You see more and more controller enabled games showing up, but the shitty part is that most of them are complete and total shit.

OT: While graphics will catch up, EA will bring the same shitty lack of innovation to the table they are currently bringing. So, better looking games will not mean better games, unfortunately. They love to do this whole song and dance about how tablets and smartphones are the wave of the future! I don't see any reason to play games on tablet when I have a PC, a Vita, a 3DS, and a PS3.

 

[AJey]

Nooooo... your little phones and tablets are ALMOST as good graphically as 7 year old technology? Noooooooo... so damn impressive. I am shell-shocked, really. You must be soooooo proud!

 

[surg3n]

The only handheld that I thought had some potential for FPS games is the PS-Vita, and what EA titles do we have on that?

Hmmmm - surely that's a problem. When someone makes a console that can handle a lot, can handle modern FPS games, make them look great, and have an ideal control scheme in place, it's kinda disheartening for it to be largely ignored.

But the iPad, ohhh - that can still make some money - because any EA title will go straight to the app store front page, to hell with indie developers who made the platform into a viable gaming option - let's flood the market with badly conceived EA ports. Plus, Objective C - it's not an ideal language to port to, even if you do use C++ there's still a lot of faffing about doing that.

I'd rather see new ideas for tablet games, not poor FPS and driving game ports - because we have them already, they are shite. EA need to learn from that. Has anyone played an EA driving game on iPad? - it's like gaming for idiots... pretty graphics but the gameplay could be done on a 8-bit console.

 

[Vaccine]

Cool, I'll believe it when I see it, but it's nothing but words right now.

If it really is boasting that kind of tech I am scared at the size and weight of the battery required for that, or worse yet, the disgusting price tag on some of the next gen tablets when and if they come out.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

So? Touchscreens just don't have the tactile feedback to make playing these kinds of games appealing. If they were geared up for it a bit more it would be great, but the majority of people that want to play games on tablets and smartphones probably want more casual games anyway.

Also, it does make me laugh how usually Escapist users harp on about how 'graphics don't matter', but when this guy says that smartphones may soon be able to have current gen graphics (yeah, they'll be out of date when they come around, but they'll be perfectly serviceable) they get laughed at.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Only one little problem. Touch screen controls are terrible, probably only thing worse than motion controls.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Sounds like a continuation of the Polished Turd mentality that drives most AAA games now:
"It has AWESOME GRAPHICS!...and mediocre gameplay, dumbed down to total shit on account of awful controls."

Good for them.

 

[Somebloke]

What he is saying, is that, provided they can adapt them properly to the idiosyncrasies of the set of formfactors, there is a not at all insignificant opportunity to sell their old products all over again, and you know what? -For once, I do not begrudge EA it. (...although I do expect the developers to get their fair share of the cake.)

(EDIT: Even without good control adaption, many mobile devices have HDMI out (...and soon enough decent wireless streaming video) and can use controllers (then there are the OUYA class devices), and I'll bet there are one or two people out there who always has the latest phone, but never has been interested in a console or a gaming PC, but may now take a fleeting interest.)

 

[ph0b0s123]

By the time that happens, next-gen capabilities will be the standard, so tablets will stay behind.

Againt, I have to ask: Who's the target audience for this? The majority of tablet users don't care about games with flashy graphics anyway, and gamers use PC/Consoles/dedicated handhelds.

Yeah next gen consoles will put mobile devices to shame... Unfortunately the next gen's CPU and GPU architecture was originally aimed for the mobile / tablet devices. So not so much...

The only thing the console version of the jaguar APU's has going for it is the SKU will be two mobile 4 core SKU's put together (more cores does not necessarily mean better) and a clock speed bump. I don't think mobile devices will take much time to catch that up.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ps4-and-xbox-one-s-amd-jaguar-cpu-examined/0116297

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_%28microarchitecture%29

So tablets will already be on the market, running with the same chips as next gen consoles (just with less cores), not long after the consoles launch....

Also as to the controls issue. Not so much of an issue.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phonejoy/phonejoy-play-turn-your-phone-into-a-console