Just Cause Dev Claims PS4 Will Out-Power Most PCs For Years

[Steven Bogos]

Just Cause Dev Claims PS4 Will Out-Power Most PCs For Years

Linus Blomberg says the PS4, with its social ecosystem and integrated business marketplace, is a perfect fit for the kind of games Avalanche Studios makes.

"I'm glad Sony decided to go with 8 GB RAM because it means that the PS4 will out-power most PCs for years to come," Linus Blomberg, CTO and co-founder of Avalanche studios told Gaming Bolt [http://gamingbolt.com/ps4-will-will-out-power-most-pcs-for-years-to-come-avalanche-studios-cto]. Avalanche Studios is the developer behind the Just Cause franchise, and Blomberg says that the PS4 is "a perfect fit for the types of games we do, and we are confident that we'll bring open-world gaming to a whole new level because of it."

Blomberg says that the new console generation can't come soon enough, considering the PC's dominance in power, as well as competition from mobile platforms. "The consoles desperately need a boost since having been overtaken in terms of performance by PCs several years ago, and also losing market share to mobile platforms." As well as its increased power, Blomberg is also interested in the PS4's "good social ecosystem and connectivity, and integrated business marketplace."

"The off-the-shelf philosophy behind the architecture makes sense from a pricing and heating point of view, but it also means that Sony more easily can make incremental improvements of their system," adds Blomberg, hinting at the possibility of an "upgradable" PS4. "If that's actually their plan I don't know, but it could help preventing the inevitable loss of market shares that the long console cycles entails."

I'm not sure what PCs Blomberg is referring to in his claim. The free-to-use PCs in the public library? Your work computer? That old Pentium 4 grandma uses to Skype with? He surely can't mean gaming PCs, considering PC gamer recently threw together a PC [http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/21/pc-gamer-vs-playstation-4-theres-only-ever-going-to-be-one-winner-right/] for around $600 that could (theoretically) match the PS4, and the very machine I am using to type right now has had 16 GB of RAM for over a year...

Blomberg also confirmed that work on Aionguard, an open-world fantasy game, was still underway.

Source: Gaming Bolt [http://gamingbolt.com/ps4-will-will-out-power-most-pcs-for-years-to-come-avalanche-studios-cto]

Permalink

 

[Arakasi]

Wait, isn't half the point of consoles that you don't have to upgrade them? So the devs have a stable, reliable, unchanging platform on which to develop? Making an upgradable console seems disingenous, may as well get a PC at that point.

As for this:

" As well as its increased power, Blomberg is also interested in the PS4's "good social ecosystem and connectivity, and integrated business marketplace."

Good luck with that, PS4 buyers.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I think he means it will out power "The average PC" for years to come.

 

[VanQ]

I'm not sure what PCs Blomberg is referring to in his claim. The free-to-use PCs in the public library? Your work computer? That old Pentium 4 grandma uses to Skype with? He surely can't mean gaming PCs, considering PC gamer recently threw together a PC for around $600 that could (theoretically) match the PS4, and the very machine I am using to type right now has had 16 GB of RAM for over a year...

My bet is that he is referring to the bottom 10% that do run PCs along those lines. It's not just the consoles that hold back developers from unleashing the raw power in most of our machines, it's also that the developers want for that bottom 10% to remain a possible sales figure.

This is something that consoles don't actually have to worry about considering their standardized hardware. There is a point in time where we have to leave that bottom 10% behind however.

 

[marurder]

Console can no longer compete so now they are playing catch-up by trying to mirror the PC.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I think he means it will out power "The average PC" for years to come.

I'm sure he does, but that seems an odd quote to throw out. Even the PS3 outpowers the "average" computer.

 

[Denamic]

With 'most PCs', is he including non-gaming laptops and netbooks? Because my current mid-range computer is already way ahead of the PS4 in terms of power.

 

[Mithcha]

I won't even pretend to know computers, but I'm fairly sure even a cheap lump from PC world has at least 8GB. So does that make the PS4 an overly priced PC world knock off?

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Most PC's? Of course.
Most gaming PC's? Well, a lot of those are already more powerful than the PS4.

 

[Something Amyss]

I think he means it will out power "The average PC" for years to come.

Even then, it's kind of a "what?" moment.

Console can no longer compete so now they are playing catch-up by trying to mirror the PC.

That's why consoles are only 6% of the market. Oh, wait....

 

[Kipiru]

Power has never been the consoles' strong point- PCs take that top. Consoles are about the stability of hardware that the game developers can grow accustomed with and concentrate on gameplay, rather than graphics. PCs will forever have better visuals, and consoles greater diversity in games. I don't see that changing for as long as we use the terms Gaming Console and Personal Computer.

 

[Monsterfurby]

By now people who state that their development platform of course will overpower PCs don't even have to bother coming up with actual words for that. Just saying something to the extent of

"Insertmarketinglinehere Insertmarketinglinehere Insertmarketinglinehere Insertmarketinglinehere Insertmarketinglinehere Insertmarketinglinehere Insertmarketinglinehere. Insertmarketinglinehere? Insertmarketinglinehere! Insertmarketinglinehere... Insertmarketinglinehere, Insertmarketinglinehere, Insertmarketinglinehere & Insertmarketinglinehere!"

is entirely sufficient for everyone to know exactly what they are talking about.

 

[Something Amyss]

I won't even pretend to know computers, but I'm fairly sure even a cheap lump from PC world has at least 8GB. So does that make the PS4 an overly priced PC world knock off?

But...It has social media. I challenge a PC to tackle that!

 

[Colt47]

I'm pretty sure he is talking about the fact that the new console will raise the bar on the minimum level of performance people can expect for their gaming. Technically, the PS4 is going to have some interesting performance advantages since it's got entry level gaming rig performance while also performing on a 720p television screen. Most PC gamers I know wondering around the university campus play on laptops that wouldn't be able to match the PS4s grunt, and I'm one of the few people who actually invests in a mid level gaming rig (which I'm going to be upgrading to 16gb of RAM and a shiny new radeon 7970 once the summer rolls around).

I'm very interested in seeing if the new consoles can bring more games that have interesting mechanics like Gravity Rush (The one system selling game the Vita probably has at the moment unless someone is a die hard persona fan) and Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance. The additional inputs on the PS4 controller could make for some handy short cutting in the User Interface and allow some simulated mouse action.

 

[VanQ]

I won't even pretend to know computers, but I'm fairly sure even a cheap lump from PC world has at least 8GB. So does that make the PS4 an overly priced PC world knock off?

But...It has social media. I challenge a PC to tackle that!

I don't think my two and a half thousand dollar computer can match that! Oh, woe is me that I have to press two buttons to upload a video or screenshot to Facebook when I could be pressing just half that amount!

Spoiler

And woe is me when I bug my friends on Facebook with that kind of crap.

 

[Fasckira]

Social ecosystem? Integrated business marketplace? 8GB being considered enough to outweigh PCs for years? Another incredulous statement to flesh this paragraph out?

Always puzzles me when devs come out with preferences of various consoles. Unless they plan to make console exclusive games, their preferences are entirely moot.

And I really hope consoles dont go down the route of encouraging the consumer to upgrade the hardware. Part of the reason I prefer consoles for gaming these days is simply knowing that I can buy a game and it will work without issues out the box (though even then some games try their best to dispel that dream admittedly).

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Never mind that the "PS4" at the conference was actually a PC running PS4 specs.

I'm pretty sure he is talking about the fact that the new console will raise the bar on the minimum level of performance people can expect for their gaming.

Let's hope that's what he means. Otherwise it's just ignorance.

I won't even pretend to know computers, but I'm fairly sure even a cheap lump from PC world has at least 8GB. So does that make the PS4 an overly priced PC world knock off?

But...It has social media. I challenge a PC to tackle that!

I laughed, good show sir.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

It'll have more RAM than the PC I use at work to do spreadsheets... Congrats

 

[Colt47]

It'll have more RAM than the PC I use at work to do spreadsheets... Congrats

It's about time: I don't think it's possible to buy a standard work laptop that has less then 4gb of RAM. Heck, I don't think it's possible to buy a decent work laptop that has a processor weaker than an 2nd gen i3. (And before someone points out the pentiums still being tossed around, I said DECENT dang it.)