| biglittlesps said: API is the thing which limits the delveopers exploring/squeezing more out of the hardware for advanced developers. Low level access can provide advanced developers like Naughty dog, Santa monica and GG to create great looking games. But, API's simplify things for regular and indie developers to create games quickly which is great but not very good for advanced developers to get more out of the hardware. I know everyone like different kind fo games so its upto their preference to choose which they want to play. I just said those games (Last of us, Killzone, god of war etc.,) are looking great due to the optimization and exploring of the developers for 2006 hardware so we can get more like that from PS4/Xbone/Wii U. |
Microsoft, AMD and nVidia as well as Intel (Plus other companies) collaborate in setting standards for Direct X and OpenGL, thus making things like Tessellation become an industry standard, which then years later ends up in a console. (So by extension Microsoft has helped in defining many of the technologies that's in the PS3 and PS4!)
Developers then are pretty much guaranteed such features will be available on all PC's and thus can take advantage of it, the PC wouldn't have gotten Tessellation in Battlefield 3 if it wasn't for it's API's.
Sure using API's does bring with it small performance penalties, but nothing that's catastrophic due to how efficienct compilers are these days and the massive amounts of development time and budget nVidia and AMD have spent over the years, making their drivers the most efficient as they can.
The end result is, we get new technologies that improve image quality sooner and industry wide, whilst consoles are stuck years in the past with the same feature sets.
Seriously, I can name dozens of PC games that rely on Direct X yet they look far better than any console exclusive, that's despite console developers having "Low level access" to the hardware.
--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--
