Chittagong
Gold Member
Didn't see this posted yet.
"Now, gentlemen, it's YOUR problem, not our. Next?"
"Now, gentlemen, it's YOUR problem, not our. Next?"
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(GI.biz) Sony plans restrictions on PSP games power consumption
- Thread starter Chittagong
- Start date
Shogmaster
Member
So basically, your game better not be pushing PSP full tilt? No games are gonna go close to 333/166Mhz limit of the CPU and GPU?
This is a load of crap Sony!!!!
This is a load of crap Sony!!!!
Shogmaster
Member
I can't wait for Marconelly and Pana's damage control posts.
haha...this is great. 
I think finally we can conclude that Sony isn't going to pull a rabbit out of its hat on this one. When you need to include a battery emulator with your devkits...wow.
I can already hear developers now:
"Well, we were going to have such and such, and that would have been really cool, but unfortunately that scene put us over the Sony mandated power consumption...so we had to cut that feature."
I can see such things as FMV and streaming music (aka, not synthesized) being dropped. Maybe even wireless play, since wireless is infamous for sucking up power. This, of course, all depends on what exactly the "maximum power" a game can suck up is. But something makes me think it's going to be pretty stringent.
I think finally we can conclude that Sony isn't going to pull a rabbit out of its hat on this one. When you need to include a battery emulator with your devkits...wow.
I can already hear developers now:
"Well, we were going to have such and such, and that would have been really cool, but unfortunately that scene put us over the Sony mandated power consumption...so we had to cut that feature."
I can see such things as FMV and streaming music (aka, not synthesized) being dropped. Maybe even wireless play, since wireless is infamous for sucking up power. This, of course, all depends on what exactly the "maximum power" a game can suck up is. But something makes me think it's going to be pretty stringent.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
Retarded.
Hopefully, after the first game lineup, the PSP fails miserably. Upon seeing the dismal number of units sold, hopefully Sony will get their heads out of their asses and lift this policy.
Rather than force developers to conform to these standards, Sony should instead require companies to display the average battery life a game will have on the back of the box somwhere - (possibly located alongside other symbols that may be there which display # of players, wifi compatibility, etc.).
Hopefully, after the first game lineup, the PSP fails miserably. Upon seeing the dismal number of units sold, hopefully Sony will get their heads out of their asses and lift this policy.
Rather than force developers to conform to these standards, Sony should instead require companies to display the average battery life a game will have on the back of the box somwhere - (possibly located alongside other symbols that may be there which display # of players, wifi compatibility, etc.).
Chittagong
Gold Member
Actually pretty curious that this pops up now, as launch games should be ending beta testing or in first submissions to make their way out this year as Sony has claimed. Will they get rejected? Sorry, you didn't fit these guidelines you didn't have when you designed the game!
deadhorse32
Bad Art
Sony tech team : "Holy shit battery life blow"
*a few months later of R&D*
Sony tech team : "Holy shit battery life still blow"
*a few months later of R&D*
Sony tech team : "Holy shit battery life still blow"
Shogmaster
Member
Deku Tree said:
You are assuming alot by thinking that most PSP games will be streaming data off the UMD. PSP has 32MB of RAM, so my guess is that most PSP games will load the level and that is that until the next level is needed.
Chittagong
Gold Member
kaching said:
I wanted to play fair to GI.biz but every chapter seemend to have something worthwhile :-(
If Sony's going to regulate games individually during the submission process, controlling which games can use powerful graphics and which can't, it gives Sony's notorious software approval department another opportunity to play politics on which games and which publishers get an unfair advantage to break the guidelines.
mashoutposse
Ante Up
Any handheld that uses optical media will encounter similar issues with battery life.
As long as these guidelines are relatively flexible (and I bet they are), I don't see a problem with establishing such a policy.
As long as these guidelines are relatively flexible (and I bet they are), I don't see a problem with establishing such a policy.
Chittagong
Gold Member
Lazy8s said:
Combine that with the alleged "no 2D policy" and no games get into the market.
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
That's pretty neat, I like that they are giving that sort of "test" to developers. Of course I don't know of any handheld dev kits in the past did that. It's really crucial these days with powerful 3D hardware to make sure you don't push the system too hard. Hell Tony Hawk for the GBA (launch title) diminished battery life by a noticable amount with it's polygonal skaters.
Go Go Ackman!
Banned
So how many PS2 games use constant streaming, as opposed to loading the stage into RAM and letting the disc spin only for music or whatever?
Eh..
The 3D chipset definitely draws more power than a 2D one...but I think the main issue is the spinning disc in the back of the machine.
Unrelated, but have there been impressions posted on what exactly a PSP with a spinning medium in it feels like? It'd be pretty annoying if it created vibration everytime the disc spun up. (Which is going to be quite sporatic due to trying to conserve battery. Could be pretty annoying.)
Quite a few I would assume. Anything that is an expansive or ever-changing environment would need to stream data like this to prevent loading "zones" or loading in between environment changes.
As for precise examples? Grand Theft Auto is definitely a game that does this. Also something like Katamari Damacy where the environment is morphing (adding new objects and removing them) on a massive scale.
The downside to this announcement is that I see a lot of developers who wanted to use streaming music not being able to. Spinning down the disc will be a huge battery savings...and streaming music just doesn't allow this.
Jonnyboy117
Member
TekunoRobby said:
It's only necessary now because Sony chose to go with an optical medium for PSP, which is looking more and more like a poor decision, IMO.
Bluemercury
Member
This is what you get for building things around technology on a market where power comsumption dictates the rules.....
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Hmmm and I was always under the impression that having a nice steady spin wouldn't require that much amount of power compared to heavy GPU use. Then again I never performed any studies or read about them.
I think the key point here is that they BOTH add a significant amount of variability to power usage, depending on how they're used. We're getting into a class of portable gaming devices now who's min or max peformance characteristics are much further apart than any device before them. The PSP could render a game as simple as something from the B&W Gameboy years upwards to something rivaling today's current console releases. And really, the amount of disc spinning/data access that's required is largely dependent on just how complex you want your game rendering to be. You wouldn't even have the requirements for heavy data access if you didn't have the ability to render 3d visuals of at a level contemporary with set top box abilities.fugimax said:
mashoutposse:
Nintendo also gives guidelines, but their system doesn't really make this as much of an issue.
Having flexibile guidelines would leave room for claims of preferential treatment to certain games/publishers. On the contrary, any standards should be clearly defined and enforced without much exception.
Nintendo also gives guidelines, but their system doesn't really make this as much of an issue.
Naked Snake
Member
Well that about wraps it up for PSP!
Baron Aloha
A Shining Example
Wow. So far this *sounds* like a f--- up of Nintendo proportions!
It certainly adds complexity to the development process (like the article points out) but at this point its still anyone's guess as to how much. It *might* not be that bad. You never know. But its certainly going to hamper things somewhat...especially in the early going until devs get the hang of making games for the system.
Also, just because its in the draft doesn't mean that it will end up in the final TRC. Sony might simply make a recommendation that the games stay below X watts or something and leave it up to developers to take the battery consumption issue into consideration when they are making their games.
It certainly adds complexity to the development process (like the article points out) but at this point its still anyone's guess as to how much. It *might* not be that bad. You never know. But its certainly going to hamper things somewhat...especially in the early going until devs get the hang of making games for the system.
Also, just because its in the draft doesn't mean that it will end up in the final TRC. Sony might simply make a recommendation that the games stay below X watts or something and leave it up to developers to take the battery consumption issue into consideration when they are making their games.
This doesn't sound good at all. :\ I was gonna wait for a price drop anyway, but this certainly solidifies my 'wait and see' stance on the PSP. Hopefully this won't be so bad. I don't know, I just keep getting this feeling that the PSP is this Godsend to handhelds that despite it's greatness will somehow fall flat on it's face at any moment.
DaCocoBrova
Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
:lol
2 hours for movie playback?! Provided the thing is fresh off a charge, that's not enough time to play most movies. Sigh.
I hope they have a USB charging option...
2 hours for movie playback?! Provided the thing is fresh off a charge, that's not enough time to play most movies. Sigh.
I hope they have a USB charging option...