Sakai

@themightyant of that there is no doubt, the PS5 does something similar with triangle culling etc, as I mentioned in my first post about Geometry Engine and Primitive Shaders. Another example is the xbox uses hardware vrs, but the ps5 uses a software version, with hardware vrs having an advantage.

I was just theorising on a possible reason for the extra performance, as their last game Control had more even performance between the two, with the ps5 even out performing in some scenarios.

Whereas with Alan Wake 2 it seems that the results are less even this time with one offering better performance when measured

@themightyant if the Mesh shaders are more performant at the same task than the Geometry engine, the increase in performance could be down to that. Obviously it is just an educated guess as nobody will really know, but it does make logical sense.

"PS5 uses it's own solution here and there is no MAJOR drop off between the two"

I have never seen anyone measure the difference between the two to come to that conclusion, and this is the first game to support mesh shaders on console. Very little information is known about the Geometry Engine. Could you point me in the direction of the test that came to that conclusion. I would be interested in reading it

DF and Remedy both confirmed the use of Geometry Engine, but they did not say there is no performance difference between the two methods

You mentioned Control and that is interesting, because that game had more even performance between PS5 and XBox series X (With Series X actually stuttering more)

'ranking' the consoles here is not easy - it seems that in some scenarios, Series X can outperform PlayStation 5, while in others the opposite is true. Xbox Series S does seem to be the least consistent overall, but only by a very small margin. The most noticeable issue here is the Xbox stutter, causing hitching on top of the existing frame-rate drops, just as it does in Series X's 30fps mode. -Digital Foundry

Maybe this is more evidence that the extra performance has come from Mesh shaders, as Control did not support them, and their last game was more even between the 2 consoles in performance terms.

But with Alan Wake 2 there is clearly a more performant console version at this moment, when watching the graphs on the DF video, and mesh shaders is the main difference that we know of between the 2 versions of the North Light Engine, used in Control and Alan Wake 2

To the best of my knowledge this is the first game to use mesh shaders on PC and xbox Series S/X and on PS5 they use the geometry engine on primitive shaders to produce a similar result. I read an interview with one of the developers before the game launched. Maybe it could help explain the performance increase?

@inverseIV the terms of service could not be clearer, just be careful out there mate

@inverseIV @TitnTin

"Activision is cracking down on third-party hardware cheating in Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Devices like XIM, Cronus Zen, and ReaSnow S1 have been widely used in Call of Duty to allow mouse and keyboard users to get the benefits of aim assist and reduced recoil from controller mixed with the benefits of movement from mouse and keyboard. Activision has now updated its Ricochet anti-cheat system to detect and eventually suspend or ban players using this third-party hardware.

“These devices act as a passthrough for controllers on PC and console and, when used improperly or maliciously, can provide a player with the ability to gain an unfair gameplay advantage, such as reducing or eliminating recoil,” explains the Richochet team in a blog post today.

The Ricochet anti-cheat system will initially display a warning to players it has detected using this hardware. “Continued improper use of these devices may lead to additional warnings, the deployment of mitigations, account or feature suspensions, or the banning of the offending account across Call of Duty titles, per our Security and Enforcement Policy,” says the Richochet team.

Activision’s crackdown comes just weeks after Ubisoft announced it will start messing with Rainbow Six Siege players that cheat by using XIM or similar devices to spoof controller inputs. Players that cheat in Rainbow Six Siege by using third-party devices will notice more input latency that will mess with their aim. Unplugging the devices will bring the latency back to normal."

Everything I have read indicates it is the hardware that is detected not scripts, and it is not just COD/Ricochet

@Banjo- its a pity that as usual a small minority of players has kind of ruined it for the majority. But everyone wants rid of Chesters as it ruins games and communities

@InterceptorAlpha i think he was being sarcastic as none of the top 10 PlayStation games are exclusive

@Titntin XIM allows various things like aim assist to be used while using Mouse and Keyboard, scripts and marcos to be used, and lots of other "cheaty" things like changing controller input to get into lobbies using the wrong controller type and many more.

Some people use them for legitimate reasons, but not many, and its why alot of games and anti cheat have banned its use already

That is impressive for a single player only game. It's the only single player game in the whole list if i am not mistaken. Alot of people must be enjoying it.

It's great to see all 3 platforms doing great with Starfield, Spiderman 2 and Mario Wonder. As consumers we need the competition and its exactly what we want

@Titntin lots of games like COD, R6, and Destiny etc already banned XIM and Ricochet anti cheat was updated to detect XIM users, be careful out there mate

Matt Booty is a wierd one. If I was to blame anyone for XGS past problems, it would be him, as I feel like his job is more involved in that sort of thing day to day than Spencer.

But everytime I hear him in an interview he comes across really well and a really knowledgeable person in the industry and wins me back over.

Confusing guy

Not a fan of all the flickering DF reported on PS5 (and probably series x also but they have not tested it) and honestly I think the Full Path Traced PC version is really underwhelming. It's not a big differance at all. Huge fan of Remedy so I will play this when it's either in a sale or released Physically, I am voting with my wallet with the whole Digital Only fiasco

@cburg the people who didn't like Starfield sure never let people forget that they do not. I have never seen people spam the same comment over and over and over and over, even in unrelated topics. Its been going on for weeks. Some of them are (unsurprisingly) new accounts here and its all they ever post about ad nauseum

@StonyKL as Dead Space is joining the service as part of EA Play (you need PC Gamepass or Gamepass Ultimate for EA Play to be included) then Dead Space remake will not be leaving the service any time soon, if at all, as usually games stick around on EA Play for a long long time and only very rarely leave the service under special circumstances. No need to panic

@themightyant my experience has been great from a technical point of view. I have to agree with Digital Foundry who said that the level of polish and consistency is well above their previous efforts. It really has been night and day for me

My main complaint with the game is some of the quest structures are a bit uninspired. A bit to much talk to A, then B, than A again, then B etc etc.

The only thing I have not done is build a base or built my own spaceship, so I cannot comment on those systems. Not really interested enough to try it

My current playtime is 3d 1h 55m, I have finished almost all the factions quests and nearly finished the main campaign. I am lvl 41.

I think I'm going to settle on an 8.5/10 for this game. Room for improvement if they ever make a sequeal, but a really enjoyable game. Around about where the metacritic landed.

I must give a shout out to the devs as is easily the least buggy game Bethesda has ever made. Only 1 crash in all 3days playtime and the worst bug I had was a airlock stuck in the sky and I had to reload. Pretty amazing when you consider some of their previous releases. They deserve the praise they got from Digital Foundry for that achievement

Now the long wait for ES

@Microbius always the same usernames with the same comments ad nauseum. Pure xbox, the home of concern trolling

@Dan1283 people have different tastes and opinions. What you think is hopeless, could be gold to somebody else. And what you love, somebody else might not like at all. 2021 was great for MS games, but 2022 was awful

@Dan1283 to qualify for publisher of the year you have to have released atleast 5 distinct titles that year, so it's not just down to 2 games

@GamingFan4Lyf 100% this. They even won publisher of the year in 2021 with the highest metacritic average ever, I think people forget that

@themightyant Jim is a Newcastle fan, so I always had a soft spot for him, even if I didn't agree with every decision they made under his watch. The toon army stick together

You too mate

@themightyant interesting thesis. Maybe one day we will get the relevant information to say for definite one way or the other. It's a shame sales data is the only accurate information we are given

@themightyant I thought we had already established we don't have any accurate data for game pass?

Or can you provide the accurate data to show the breakdown of Starfield players on game pass and what device they play on and for how long?

The data we have does say that, but the data we don't have access to could change that

@themightyant its the only information we have available, so its the best we have, and it says that Starfield was way more popular on PC, and it was not even remotely close.

Now if we ever get granular game pass figures, maybe we could revisit it and come up with a different answer, but I am not sure why they would ever release those figures to the public. But i for one would find it very interesting

@themightyant my comment says sales. As we do not get game pass numbers or breakdown, its the only thing we have to go from that is reliable. And it sold way more on PC

@themightyant 2/3 of Starfield sales in the UK were on PC not console, as mentioned in the article.
Bethesda is a traditional PC developer, long before they released a console game, and that is where the bulk of their audience plays

I have it, and I also still have the day one controller that you got, and it's still sparkly new, never used once.

I have been lucky enough to have every single console since the snes day one

@Mephisto2869 in a perfect world yes, but as nothing is perfect, I would say over the next 1-3years yes, that would be a more reasonable guess, as delays etc can happen

@Mephisto2869 before 2018 Microsoft hardly had any studios, mainly only studios dedicated to Halo, Forza and Gears. Games this generation take approx. 6 years to make, so we should start to see the fruits of their labour soon. Where's the games? They are currently being made...

@themightyant for now yes, but not for long I worry

Please god I hope he doesn't become the next CEO of Playstation

Grainger games, Blockbuster, EB, Gamestop have all closed for good near(ish) to me.

5 GAME stores have closed within 45minutes and we are left with 2 completely pointless tiny satellite shops in Sports Direct stores that sell more Funko pops than games.

Tesco, Sainsburys etc no longer sell games in store

The only brick and mortar stores i can think of that still sell games are Currys and Smyths and the sections are not good

As someone who still buys and prefers physical media, the writing is sadly on the wall. Its going to end up like PC gaming in the not too distant future

@awp69 This site has become the home of xbox concern trolling

Got to love them still trying to save face and pretend they didn't fold like a cheap suit. Its adorable

"With the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market. As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice. We are the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome."

The last sentence shows its all about trying to save face.

I also like how they also try to bury the fact its only for 15years, only mentioning it once in the whole press release lol

The other mind blowing fact is the CMA expect Ubisoft to be a huge player in cloud gaming, when they don't even own their own cloud gaming service, they use Lunar, and it's only available on PC.

Ever since the ABK deal and Starfield, the online discourse/hatred towards all things xbox has gotten worse and worse.

There's a weird subset of gamers who are outraged that xbox finally has some games

On xbox I'm playing Starfield currently lvl 34. On PS5 I am finishing up ff7 remake and I am on chapter 17. After I finish ff7 I am going to try cyberpunk again. I did not like it before 2.0, so we will see how I feel after the update

@S1ayeR74 they said day 1 gamepass at the trial mate

I have not played it enough yet to give my final verdict, 45hours played but still only on the second story mission (when you go back to the starting mine planet) but it's been a great game so far

@EvenStephen7 @S1ayeR74 COD will be on gamepass from 2025 it was revealed in the CAT court case with the CMA, unless circumstances or contracts have changed since then, which is always possible

The only difference I can really see is trackside detail is massively improved in forza. The rest looks pretty similar

I played it a few months ago and thought the whole thing was massively underwhelming, and that was before you even mention the bugs and constant crashing. I am yet to try 2.0, but a friend who has played it says its still very buggy and crashes alot and he has no idea how it reviewed so good

I would prefer Evil Within 3 than Hi Fi Rush 2, but maybe we are all lucky and we get both? I know Tango have more than 1 team

As a fellow Newcastle United fan all I have to say is well played Jim. Agree or not with their current trajectory, you cant deny his sucess as a CEO.

@Dan1283 "What about a performance mode on series s though? I'm guessing not then but if the series s is going be 30 fps and the series x 60 moving forward what is the point of a series s?"

the point of the series s is to provide a way for people to play the game at a lower price point. What a weird comment lol

I would never pay for early acess for any game ever.

It's only a thing now as very few people have self control or patience anymore.

On xbox I am playing Starfield, currently at lvl 30m and on PS5 I am playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake and I am up to chapter 11

@OldGamer999 @S1ayeR74 In the CAT trial MS said that COD will be comming day 1 to gamepass in 2025, as Sony have a contract in place preventing it until then. Unless there has been a new contract or change in circumstance since then.

But they did not mention if its stops older COD games comming to gamepass as soon as possible or not

Other titles from ABK like Diablo should go to gamepass asap

Never played redfall but i just want to know what ID are up to. They are one of my favourite developers

I played cyberpunk around Easter time on my PS5, as I got a cheap copy from Amazon, and though it was pretty rubbish to be honest. Its was all just a bit underwhelming. But interested if this 2.0 update will change my mind and willing to give it another go as I never trade in my games

@Titntin I haven't edited any of my original posts since you @ me. I have no interest in any console without a disc drive, unless I am forced kicking and screaming and there is no other option. You have a good day 2 buddy