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Engadget: Why Baldur’s Gate III is an accidental PS5 console exclusive

peish

Member
but no one can say they saw the great flash crash of 2022/23, it is unprecedentated 2tb fast ssd got

$290 to $90 in a year, madness!


It wasn't lucky to predict that standard M2 SSD prices were going to follow a standard technology adoption curve - it was basic common sense. Just as it was common sense that the proprietary Microsoft SSD expansion was going to stay high price for much longer - anyone who's been in technology for any length of time could have predicted that. Not lucky, good planning.
 

Klosshufvud

Member
"Keep devs in check". It's astounding where mental gymnastics can get you.

See

By shortcuts, I don't neccessarily mean programmers. I mean the whole process. So yes, greedy, shortsighted publishers who see the games meet the minimum performance requirements and then rush it out. 2023 has been a really rough year for PC ports especially. And the culprits are all games using current-gen consoles as baselines. It would be ignorant of me to see past that correlation. Now whenever a game is current-gen only, I just assume PC version is a complete travesty of stutters and underwhelming performance. Saves me the disappointment.
 

Mokus

Member
but no one can say they saw the great flash crash of 2022/23, it is unprecedentated 2tb fast ssd got

$290 to $90 in a year, madness!

Oh man! :messenger_hushed: I bought mine (2TB Western Digital) too soon.
 

FunkMiller

Member
It was a move out of desperation. They couldn't compete head on with Sony so had to make this half assed weak hardware.

If they'd have gone into this generation with the intent to make games exclusively for the Series X, they absolutely would be competing head on with Sony.

As it stands, they might as well get out of the console game entirely, as they clearly don't know what to do/don't care.
 
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i own all three systems but basically all you need is gamepass ultimate,pc and PS5.

Why even have a xbox at this point….Halo i guess.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Bullshit. They have improved the npc behaviour and systems every gen. Gta 5 and 4 came out in the same gen so there wasn't much improvements. Devs are always limited by what the system can do, and rockstar absolutely pushes it. The series S will limit how much they can push.
If you guys want to believe that GTA VI is going to be a modern marvel when it comes to video games I don't want to stop you. But it might be good to temper your expectations.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
When the Pro launches then PS5 is the weaker console. It will be the one holding games back for Pro owners at that point.
Like its been stated many times, there is no PS5 console that will be weaker than the PS5.

if you wanna keep comparing it to the Series consoles...

In terms of weakest to strongest just based on specs:
Series S/PS5/Series X.

For the separate platforms: (if there was a Series X Pro)
PS5/PS5 Pro.
Series S/Series X/Series X Pro.

Its not hard to see where the base PS5 slots in for this scenario...its literally going toe to toe with the XSX. The Series S is weaker than the PS5.

Going by your logic, a Series X will hold back the Series X Pro.

Those that wanna keep trying to compare the PS5 Pro to the Series S....if you can't understand why the PS4 Pro, One X and One S All Digital were all discontinued before the base consoles....I dont know what else to say.
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
Bullshit. They have improved the npc behaviour and systems every gen. Gta 5 and 4 came out in the same gen so there wasn't much improvements. Devs are always limited by what the system can do, and rockstar absolutely pushes it. The series S will limit how much they can push.
GTA AI is vastly inconsistent. Police will do things like pull downed friends out of shootouts yet can't throw granades and sometimes will just stand around shooting at you, not to mention the game doesn't even have functional stealth despite having silencers, and enemies can see you through walls. Having a few unique cool actions isn't what makes AI good.
 

Ginzeen

Banned
GTA AI is vastly inconsistent. Police will do things like pull downed friends out of shootouts yet can't throw granades and sometimes will just stand around shooting at you, not to mention the game doesn't even have functional stealth despite having silencers, and enemies can see you through walls. Having a few unique cool actions isn't what makes AI good.
GTA 6 AI will probably be leaps and bounds better. It will be 12 years later once GTA 6 most likely drops. Plus Rockstar is pumping a ungodly amount of money and resources into it.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
GTA 6 AI will probably be leaps and bounds better. It will be 12 years later once GTA 6 most likely drops. Plus Rockstar is pumping a ungodly amount of money and resources into it.
I doubt it because the average GTA player won't care, they'd rather spend the money on more famous actors, insane marketing campaigns, horse balls and licensed music. Not to mention Rockstar overall game design is still horrible even going up to RDR2, and with how much their games sell regardless they have no incentive to change that.

And lets not get into the effects gta online will have in it.
 

Ginzeen

Banned
I doubt it because the average GTA player won't care, they'd rather spend the money on more famous actors, insane marketing campaigns, horse balls and licensed music. Not to mention Rockstar overall game design is still horrible even going up to RDR2, and with how much their games sell regardless they have no incentive to change that.

And lets not get into the effects gta online will have in it.
Rockstar always pushes the tech with their games. RD2 was great all round. It also reviewed really well. So your opinion on its game design is a outlier. Rockstar pretty much always makes great games. We will see with GTA 6 though because some of their key people left like dan houser.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Such a terrible decision by Phil

Just really bad strategy and thought leadership on his part that’s going to hamstring this gen
It was not a bad move overall. Had the XSS been just a cut down XSX with fewer GPU cores and the same memory with no other changes it wouldn't have been so bad, but it is more of a change than just that so things don't scale simply. Also the BG III issue is split screen couch coop. This is a worst case example. These should have been the main test case to prove out the XSS design, or in reality, show that it was not up to snuff.

The decision to make a 1080p version of the system was not bad, the design and testing of the design were poorly executed and that is why the overall outcome is poor.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Rockstar always pushes the tech with their games. RD2 was great all round. It also reviewed really well. So your opinion on its game design is a outlier. Rockstar pretty much always makes great games. We will see with GTA 6 though because some of their key people left like dan houser.
Tech maybe, but their game design is objectively bad, this is not an opinion, GTAV for example had some of the most bizarre and broken recoil implementations i've seen, despite the fact much older games in the same style got it perfectly right.

But it'll review well and people will like it because, as i've said, proper mechanics and good game design are the last thing the average GTA/RDR player cares about. Thats why i said not to expect much in those areas, it just isn't the kind of game that cares about these sorts of things. Today they're purely presentation driven games, expect great visuals, art, production and set pieces. Dont expect anything revolutionary from gameplay or world design, if its above average in those aread it would already be a massive improvement from their previous games.
 
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I imagine we'll see more examples like this moving forward, no amount of secret sauce/untapped features is going to move the needle in any meaningful way.

If Microsoft was serious, they'd release an XSX equivalent in the $299/$349 range and abandon the peasant spec'd XSS.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
I imagine we'll see more examples like this moving forward, no amount of secret sauce/untapped features is going to move the needle in any meaningful way.

If Microsoft was serious, they'd release an XSX equivalent in the $299/$349 range and abandon the peasant spec'd XSS.

I think Microsoft would have a class action lawsuit on their hands if they abandoned XSS. You've got millions of XSS owners out there who bought the console with the promise that it would play the same games as XSX. I don't see MS getting out of that commitment outside of pulling a Stadia and giving them all their money back and we all know that ain't happening.
 

Thief1987

Member
Wait the Series S doesn’t run Xbox One X versions? Wow
How do you even expected that it will run One X versions? It has much weaker GPU, no amount of architectural improvements will cover that much of deficit. Has less memory, significantly less bandwidth, and on top of that all there is also an emulation layer, which is also takes resources, although not that much because of similarity between hardware and APIs.
 
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mrcroket

Member
Well no shit, it not only runs on a lower targetted res on the Steamdeck, but it also benefits from more shared RAM (16 GB for Deck vs 10 for Series S).
Steam deck uses 4gb for videoram also it's a PC that need a lot of more memory. With 8+8gb of ram+vram in a PC you will have a lot of problems in modern games.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
Steam deck uses 4gb for videoram also it's a PC that need a lot of more memory. With 8+8gb of ram+vram in a PC you will have a lot of problems in modern games.

BG3 requires 8GB of system RAM and 4GB of VRAM on PC and that takes into account OS usage. Steam Deck has more than enough memory. I'm guessing the reason Larian disabled split screen on Steam Deck has more to do with the fact that it is only possible when in desktop mode and at that point it would be an huge mess visually.
 
I think Microsoft would have a class action lawsuit on their hands if they abandoned XSS. You've got millions of XSS owners out there who bought the console with the promise that it would play the same games as XSX. I don't see MS getting out of that commitment outside of pulling a Stadia and giving them all their money back and we all know that ain't happening.

You're probably right, maybe just remove the "You gotta build for both systems" requirement and let the developers decide.
 

X-Wing

Member

"Larian Studios CEO and Baldur's Gate 3 creative lead Swen Vincke says that "the platform is perfectly fine".

"Do I think it holds [gaming] back?" Vincke said in an interview with Skill Up. "It just defines certain parameters within which you have to develop. There are ways of doing that - it just takes development effort [...] Despite us having grown, we don't have infinite resources. That means we can't do everything at the same time."

Looks like more a question of resources.

It is. Lack of RAM.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
At the beginning of the gen I was thinking of getting a Series S solely as a BC machine. Then I found out it runs 360 games worse than the X1X. Noped very quickly from the idea.

Not enough RAM compared to One X

I use my Series S as a retrogaming machine now
How do you even expected that it will run One X versions? It has much weaker GPU, no amount of architectural improvements will cover that much of deficit. Has less memory, significantly less bandwidth, and on top of that all there is also an emulation layer, which also takes resources, although not that much because of similarity between hardware and APIs.

Unbelievable, first time in history this happens, a weaker console than its predecessor?!
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
Oh man! :messenger_hushed: I bought mine (2TB Western Digital) too soon.
I paid 30% less for 4TB this year than 2TB the year before - to say the prices came down fast is an understatement.

Wait the Series S doesn’t run Xbox One X versions? Wow
This was announced 6 months before launch - but yes. It was also kind of obvious given the market positioning - they explicitly placed it as sub 4k machine, so 1X profile was never in the cards.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Yeah, that would be a good alternative.
An XSX with half the SSD, no BD drive, and targeting $399…

I am thinking manufacturing the XSX is quite a problem for MS and it was costing way too much for them to fulfill all the XCloud orders and having this for all consumers too… then again I do not think they expected a Digital only full specced PS5 at $399.

Again being able to have a well positioned model they could manufacture in high volumes without losing a lot of money in each unit sold and maintaining a single spec for devs was something that hints at the right architectural bets being made there with a clear vision of the PS5 platform and the current generation (we will see what cloud gaming option they will have for PS6 and above).
 

FunkMiller

Member
Finally had to sell mine. I realized I was only using it for more MS Rewards points. Just not much point for me to have an Xbox along with my gaming PC.

Yeah, I'm getting there too. I think I might trade mine in for a SteamDeck, as I've got as pretty decent gaming laptop.
 

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
I am thinking manufacturing the XSX is quite a problem for MS
That huge die size just for the sake of TFs was always there to bite MS in the ass, really.

As for BG3, the game is one of the better optimized titles on PC, so Larian will be the last people who's abilities i doubt reguarding the talent to squeeze the vision into hardware.
 

Solidus_T

Banned
I've got to say, I was one of the people who scoffed at developers and others who said the gen would be held back by the Series S. I overlooked the tiny amount of RAM.
I've also been wondering why MS didn't just swallow their pride and accept a version without split screen. This is just gonna make the release of Starfield get offset by Baldur's Gate III when it releases on PS5.
 

Zuzu

Member
Wait the Series S doesn’t run Xbox One X versions? Wow
I know. It’s ridiculous that a ‘next gen’ console can’t run versions of games that were running on a last gen console. It’s unprecedented really
 
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Kappa

Member
I don't mind a lower specced model to keep these devs in check. If Rockstar was able to pull off RDR2 on an Xbone, then the Gotham Knight devs have no excuse for their complete failure on current-gen only systems.
Literally this. Wasn't the complaint last gen that the cpu's sucked. Now there is CPU parity across both makers yet we have another excuse. Lazy ass devs
 

StereoVsn

Gold Member
Finally had to sell mine. I realized I was only using it for more MS Rewards points. Just not much point for me to have an Xbox along with my gaming PC.
I am mostly using it for Xbox OG and 360 games plus some other older X one ones and bunch of kids stuff, mostly on Game pass.

Oh, and I like to play Forza/Sports games on it. Usually you get most EA stuff after a bit plus NBA 2K (get it for $10-$20 normally).
 

Solidus_T

Banned
Literally this. Wasn't the complaint last gen that the cpu's sucked. Now there is CPU parity across both makers yet we have another excuse. Lazy ass devs
You could have read anything on why Larian is having trouble making this game work on the Series S - the articles or even post on this forum - but you've decided it's the CPU?
They are not lazy for not being able to make this work with only 8GB total RAM.
 
I don't mind a lower specced model to keep these devs in check. If Rockstar was able to pull off RDR2 on an Xbone, then the Gotham Knight devs have no excuse for their complete failure on current-gen only systems.
Well, with the long history of poorly optimized games throughout the entire video game industry's history, your desire implies either you have no idea what you're talking about or you do, but you are completely disconnected from reality. Adding ONE MORE step in the long and arduous game development journey is the last thing a console-making company should do.
 
By the way, people keep repeating that on PC, developers already have to make games for hardware weaker than the Xbox Series S (XSS). Well, I took a look at the minimum requirements for Baldur's Gate 3. They demand 8GB of "regular" RAM + a graphics card with a minimum of 4GB.

You know how much RAM the XSS has? 10GB in total.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Finally had to sell mine. I realized I was only using it for more MS Rewards points. Just not much point for me to have an Xbox along with my gaming PC.
Yeah, I'm getting there too. I think I might trade mine in for a SteamDeck, as I've got as pretty decent gaming laptop.

I'm getting there too, its sad because I actually really like the hardware itself. But I have a 4080 PC and a laptop that has better specs anyway.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
BG3 requires 8GB of system RAM and 4GB of VRAM on PC and that takes into account OS usage. Steam Deck has more than enough memory. I'm guessing the reason Larian disabled split screen on Steam Deck has more to do with the fact that it is only possible when in desktop mode and at that point it would be an huge mess visually.
I bet they disabled it because only one person can hold the handheld, so split screen is pointless, lol.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
By the way, people keep repeating that on PC, developers already have to make games for hardware weaker than the Xbox Series S (XSS). Well, I took a look at the minimum requirements for Baldur's Gate 3. They demand 8GB of "regular" RAM + a graphics card with a minimum of 4GB.

You know how much RAM the XSS has? 10GB in total.
12 GB is more than 10 GB
 
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