Miyamotoo said:
Actualy we already have one intesting example, Monster Hunter Ultimate 4 that works on New 3DS but also on 3DS too, difference are better textures (and probably better FPS) on New 3DS. We already have games that are developed for 5 different platforms, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC, and we have some games that are developed for 8 totally different platforms (like Lego Jurassic World), all above mentioned plus Wii U, 3DS and Vita. Very important thing about NX (and probably all future Nintendo hardware) is that it will have same architecture, so that means same development kits, same assets, same way of developing and programing, litarly devolpers will devolp in same time game for NX handheld and home console very easy and fast, incomparably easier than when they devolped games for PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC. |
Congrats on the Monster Hunter example. I take it you've also never made a video game before? They did a similar thing with PSP models. Guess what? developers had to pretty much treat both of those settings as two different platforms, and as a result, most developers didn't really bother with the added performance boost. It jiust wasn't worth the hassle. There's also texture differences between multi-platform PS4 and Xbox One games, and it requires making platform specific coding and testing on each platform to do such a thing. This is literally an example of the additional cost I am talking about. They didn't just make it work for 3DS or New 3DS and assume it worked on the other spec. They had to test it for each spec. Unfortunately I'm not sure if the "new 3DS" requires a brand new dev kit, or a firmware update for the same kit, but if its the former you can imagine the extra cost involved. Either way, you're talking about the same inputs and the same outputs, Both are handhelds with one only marginally faster than the other. That's completely different than a home console and a handheld console, both of which having different inputs (stylus for handheld, two extra shoulder buttons for home), both outputting at two completely different resolutions, both made to be viewed at completely different distances. They would literally need to be treated as two entirely separate platforms. The same code more or less runs on both platforms? So what? You have practically the same code running on PS4 and X1. The game code is not the problem. Its the engine that's the problem.
Yes, we do have games that are currently developed for 8 different platforms. It's not very common because its very very expensive to do. It happens very rarely because puting in any one change to the code would literally take a couple of hours of verification by a single developer (assuming they have one team working on all platforms) or they have multiple teams taking care of multiple platforms (which really drives up costs, the most expensive part of making video games is paying the people who do the work). Now you want to add more platforms to this, and drive up the costs even further. Again this is what I'm talking about. Just because some developers are willing to put out a game on 8 different platforms doesn't mean that the average publisher which is releasing games on 2-3 is willing to make the plunge to start developing on the equivalent of 5-6. That would literally double the cost of a lot of game development areas.
As for your last paragraph, that's literally fanboy level thinking. You simply do not know any better. A multispec platform doesn't have the same architecture, it has similar architecture. Take two processors, one is literally half the specs of the other in every way but "the same architecture" as the other. Do you think that the "half processor" can process the same command at half the rate? The answer is not necessarily. It may be the case for 95% of the commands you give it, but the half processor might take 2-3 times as one would expect to process the other 5% of commands. It depends on if that processor running at half the specs introduces bottlenecks not seen in the "full processor" because it has half the resources available to compute it. If that turns out to be the case, guess what? You need to develop a processor-specifc work around. These are the type of things I have literally lost sleep over trying to fix in some sweaty office at 3 in the morning hours before a deadline. Therse are real problems in the console video game world.
There is no reason to think that developing for these hypothetical NX specs would be any easier than developing for PS4 and X1. None at all. Both the PS4 and X1, have practically the same architecture as well. In fact the differences between the PS4 and X1 in terms of architecture would be a pretty similar comparison between the supposed different specs of the NX, except with the NX you'd have diffferent inputs and outputs per spec, which would make it more complicated to develop for a multispec NX. Again, best case scenario it would be like developing for PS4 and X1. Also about those developer kits. Do you think these things are made of hopes and dreams? Making a dev kit that can handle the different inputs, display at the different outputs, and "scale" down to different modes that replicate the actual hardware exactly isn't exactly a small feat, and it would be incredibly expensive to make.
I will keep stating and re-stating this. It is not that simple. At all. Everyone that thinks this is feasible glosses over major, major roadblocks as if they are arbitrary. They aren't, I assure you.
