Gemüsepizza

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,595
Excellent GiantBomb interview with Phil Spencer, chief of Xbox:



Video link starts at a relevant spot:


Jeff: "So when you pie-in-the-sky think about what that next box is... what's going to be the next thing in that 'we have to have this', what is it?"

Phil: "If you look at the Xbox stuff we are doing right now like variable framerate... I think framerate is an area where consoles can do more just in general. You look at the balance between CPU and GPU in todays consoles they are a little bit out of whack compared to what's on the PC side and I think there is work that we can do there."

Pretty big news. This was posted in one of the other threads, unfortunately it didn't get much attention apparently. Seems like we can expect much more 60fps games on next-gen consoles! Thanks to Wollan for finding this!
 

Ada

Member
Nov 28, 2017
4,001
This has been glaringly obvious since the Ass creed Unity debacle. The CPUs in these consoles have been a huge bottleneck.
 

rebelcrusader

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,833
It helps too that since 2013 cpu's have barely advanced but they have grown less expensive (amd finally has competitive parts)

Next gen is going to be one where pc doesn't have that enormous advantage
 

KZXcellent

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,020
I'd highly suggest people watch the whole interview. Jeff interviews Phil every year and it's always fascinating.
 

AegonSnake

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,566
I would rather they use the cpu to improve a.i and other simulations than waste it on framerate. Not all games need to be 60 fps.
 

Einbroch

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,479
Every piece of news really makes me more and more excited about the next generation of Xbox.
 

Mars People

Comics Council 2020
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,514
The one sensible man in video games management.

I am waiting for the day when people realise that the highest resolution in the world is pointless if the frame rate is terrible. And yes 30fps is just not good enough for the vast majority of games.
 

random51

Banned
May 6, 2018
189
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try to stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint. The more hardware you give them the more time they spend on feature creep instead of optimization and you end up in the same place you started.
 

Alexious

Executive Editor for Games at Wccftech
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
930
I feel like the improvements made with Ryzen will be critical in this regard.
 

ZeroDS

"This guy are sick"
The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
3,561
Jeff literally said pie in the sky. Don't get your hopes up until the console is announced.
 

Van Bur3n

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
26,089
Finally, someone who knows what these consoles truly need.

Also, Phil, you should really respond to me on Twitter. I've made many attempts to communicate but they seem to go unanswered. I'm just a little worried, Phil. But don't worry, Phil. I'll be fine.

Phil, please respond. Did I say something wrong? Phil? Phil.
 

MisterMangu

Banned
Feb 12, 2018
724
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint.
I think the comparison to PC he drew is giving us options.

Giving us a 4k/30fps or a 1080-1440p/60fps option. But they need hardware capable of doing that seamlessly. Which is what he is getting at.
 

SmashN'Grab

Member
Oct 27, 2017
525
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint.

Yeah, I don't think he has a clue. You should probably get in touch with him to give him the lowdown.
 

El_Chino

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,218
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint.
Well if he gave them the best possible CPU for the next Xbox and developers still try to "break the bag", can't really blame Phil for that.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,582
Using Zen-based CPUs which are much more powerful than Jaguar should mean more 60fps games and games with variable refresh rate in the 40-60fps range.
 
Nov 2, 2017
307
Everyone knows this, and this was best they could get in APU back in 2013, so its not their fault and they made conscious decision to go with it. Tech has improved, and this time its possible to get balanced CPU.
 

THRILLHO

Member
Nov 6, 2017
1,217
I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, I've just got a Asus PG279Q monitor and damn.
 

pswii60

Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,862
The Milky Way
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint.
Ugh. It's a fact that the Jaguar CPUs in the consoles this generation are not balanced with the GPU. There are plenty of games on Pro and X for example, where the GPU is easily capable of serving up 60fps but the CPU is holding it back.

What Phil is saying here, is that the CPU needs to be more balanced, and as a result it will allow for an increased number of opportunities for higher framerate games. Which is a fact. Especially for open world games, or games with a greater use of physics and AI.
 

Bulby

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,551
Berlin
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint.

Of course devs do what they want. Point is in consoles its completely unbalanced. The X has a 6tf gpu and a 2013 notebook cpu. If you had a PC it would be a ridiculous set up.
 

Ushay

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,698
So what exactly is the difference between the current Jags and the newer CPUs on the market. How much of a difference will we see?
 

DontRaff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
253
Don't the console makers (MS, Sony, Nintendo) pretty much judge if their games will be 30fps or 60fps by which CPU/GPU combo they choose? It's not really the developers fault if the hardware can't handle 60fps and a jump of resolution to 1080.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,767
But Pinello said it was the "most balanced system".

It is quite obvious the CPU has been the bottleneck since 2013, and there is no other choice but to improve it for next gen, otherwise it is a waste of GPU silicon.
 

IronicSonic

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,639
I think Phil might not understand how developers work, or in this particular case is ignoring that for the purposes of this interview.

It doesn't matter how big the bag is, a developer will try to stuff more into it than it can hold. Give them a 5 pound bag? Somebody will try to put 10 pounds into it.

Additionally, FPS isn't a hard technical limit, at least within the ranges we're talking about here. It is a trade-off. You can sacrifice FPS to do other things and a lot of developers on console make that sacrifice purposely. No amount of hardware is going to change that thanks to the 5 pound bag rule.

As somebody who spent most of his career supporting developers I can tell you that "throw more hardware at it" is a band-aid when it comes to fitting the developers' vision into your current hardware footprint. The more hardware you give them the more time they spend on feature creep instead of optimization and you end up in the same place you started.

Even If you are right, a better CPU/GPU could give us more chances to "performance mode" being a standard.
 

EkStatiC

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,243
Greece
It's a simple thing
A decade ago all the advertisements was static images so framerate was irrelevant.

Fast forward to today with the dominance of video and twitch and if a game is not at least 60fps for most watchers something is off.
 

TailorDKS

Member
Apr 18, 2018
402
Do what some ps4 (i guess Xbox too) games do: let the players choose.

Just make an option if you want higher resolutution, higher framerate or something in between. Done.

--> but this depends on the developers and not Xbox/Sony. But at least with more power they get more responsibility.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,582
Uuh, pretty sure it's up to the devs to decide that, and not something the hardware makers can guarantee.

Nobody is using the word "guarantee". A better balanced system with CPUs that aren't severely underpowered will allow more developers to create games with higher frame rates.

It'll also help VR.
 

Saint-14

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
14,477
Don't the developers decide the frame rate? I don't see what Phil can do other than insure their next console having a good CPU.
 

Philippo

Developer
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
8,337
I mean wasn't this pretty much expected anyway? That the biggest improvement in next gen consoles would be the CPU?
 

Stowaway Silfer

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
32,819
Interesting that he'd say that. I certainly hope we see 60fps become more viable for even more genres next gen. It feels like this generation, graphics got "good enough" that most FPS devs would target 60fps and then push the visual fidelity as far as the framerate and other elements allowed. I hope that we can get devs of other genres saying that graphics have gotten good enough that they can focus on the framerate first.
 

SmashN'Grab

Member
Oct 27, 2017
525
Good job ignoring the second half of the sentence, cupcake. He almost certainly has a clue, but the marketing clue is taking precedence in this particular instance.
So what is he supposed to do? He's talking about balancing the CPU and GPU to have them far less out of whack compared to the current generation, which is a good thing. And you're stating that it will barely matter as developers will just crank up the graphics anyway to the point where the framerate will chug regardless.

Like, removing the bottleneck is at least going to make it less likely there'll be framerate issues going forward. We all know that certain games will be too taxing already. But there's nothing he can do about that.
 

RivalGT

Member
Dec 13, 2017
7,088
Well a better CPU for nextgen system is obvious, so devs will finally have 60 fps as an option for most games without having to compromise too much on their visions, and other devs will have the option to make better use of the CPU by having better AI/physics in their games. This current gen I think the CPU wasn't able to do either, as it wasn't that powerful compared to even lastgen offerings. I hope we at least get a 2nd gen Ryzen at 3.0 GHZ, that should be many times more powerful than what we have now.