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[Paul Eres]

ram isn't exactly in short supply so it is weird how little consoles have compared to PCs (even PCs of the time when those consoles were released). but i wasn't talking about ram; ram is just memory, not power. just like a larger hard drive isn't power

i still don't think we need it though, even ram. if the state of the art were 'frozen' at the level of, say, the snes, and for the rest of time all videogames had to be no more powerful than snes games, that'd be fine by me, it might even have advanced videogames more if that were the case

i think power is to videogames what special effects are to movies -- it's not something to be especially proud of advancing, especially when all the emphasis is on it and not on other things. so it's a good thing prima facie but a bad thing to focus on

[FrankieSmileShow]

goddam. My playstation consoles are starting to pile up. I really wish they would make some fully backwards compatible version or something. I would gladly pay like an extra 100$ for that. Probably wont happen however...

[Gabriel Verdon]

I thought the ps3 was notoriously difficult to develop for? I don't think "more power = less man-hours needed to get a game running on it" is a very accurate blanket statement.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

i still don't think we need it though, even ram. if the state of the art were 'frozen' at the level of, say, the snes, and for the rest of time all videogames had to be no more powerful than snes games, that'd be fine by me,

as someone who likes making games that have a base on interesting technical problems i completely 100% disagree

[Superb Joe]

it might even have advanced videogames more if that were the case

hahahaha

[Zecks]

power aint bad and while it might be focused on too much atm it's not really making less good games come out compared to what we have now.

i see where paul is coming from but yeah.

[Superb Joe]

technical innovation is bad, let me tell you about the 80's and/or 90's

[alastair]

PS3 and 360 graphics look hideous now, and have for some years.

[C.A. Sinner]

In other news, directly comparing PC hardware specs to console hardware specs (or even consoles to each other) is dum because they use different architectures.

Also, I could think of at least 20 great games off the top of my head that wouldn't have been possible on the SNES even with "downgraded graphics." Technical innovation is always a good thing because it opens up new possibilities. If you want to make a game "the old way," nothing is stopping you. Hell, even "retro-style" games profit from advances in hardware.

[Headless Man]

It's nice to have a range of viable platforms with different power levels.

[Gimym TILBERT]

In other news, directly comparing PC hardware specs to console hardware specs (or even consoles to each other) is dum because they use different architectures.

Also, I could think of at least 20 great games off the top of my head that wouldn't have been possible on the SNES even with "downgraded graphics." Technical innovation is always a good thing because it opens up new possibilities. If you want to make a game "the old way," nothing is stopping you. Hell, even "retro-style" games profit from advances in hardware.

Name them or it didn't happen (despite being so obvious)

[Paul Eres]

it wouldn't matter, i could name 10 or 100 too -- i didn't say we wouldn't lose good games, or that every good game can be made with a technology level. just that the average quality would have been better if people had focused more on improving things with what they had. i could also name 10 good movies that couldn't be made without computer special effects, but that doesn't mean computer special effects are good for movies

[Okenido]

it wouldn't matter, i could name 10 or 100 too -- i didn't say we wouldn't lose good games, or that every good game can be made with a technology level. just that the average quality would have been better if people had focused more on improving things with what they had. i could also name 10 good movies that couldn't be made without computer special effects, but that doesn't mean computer special effects are good for movies

Then why not name some, and tell me why it couldn't be done on the SNES or without computer special effects?

Here's an easy one: Die by the Sword.

[Paul Eres]

as i said, i didn't name them *because* it doesn't matter to my point -- whether they exist or not is irrelevant, so naming them serves no purpose

[Okenido]

as i said, i didn't name them *because* it doesn't matter to my point -- whether they exist or not is irrelevant, so naming them serves no purpose

Sorry about that, my reading comprehension seems poor tonight.

Edit: Yes it is very poor.