Topic: Randy Pitchford - Update: Randy on Id Software and Crytek (Reply 42)

[gpw11]

Well, twice as many people are on STEAM and XBL than PSN, but all of this is just spin. PSN is still large enough to be lucrative and If Valve could effortlessly port their games to the PS3, they would. Since they can't, they are trying to find an excuse that sounds as legitimate as possible.

The funny thing is that these companies are getting more and more ridiculous with the spin they put on their publicly made excuses, and people are starting to see through the crap.

Take Nvidia for example.

Their next and great video card (which is actually a processor/video card hybrid (code named Fermi) ) has been in a lot of trouble. They were supposed to release it two months ago, but were unable to because of manufacturing problems. The card has now been delayed into next year, while ATi's new DX11 5 series line, which came out a few months ago, has virtually had no competition and has been selling like hotcakes -- which is fantastic for ATi.

When ATi was a few weeks away from the launch of its new card, and people were wondering about Nvidia's response, Nvidia released a press statement that was so silly, that it confirmed all rumors the about Nvidia's Fermi being in massive trouble.

Basically, Nvidia released a statement saying that DX11 was completely useless and gamers were better off keeping their DX10 cards etc etc. Basically it was a statement that countered the 'push the envelope' mission statement of a graphics solution giant like Nvidia.

When the positions were reversed, as they were with DX10 -- when Nvidia had the 8800GTX ready and ATi was struggling with its low yielding parts, Nvidia had been pushing their tech like it was a gift from god.

A few years later, with ATi on top with their DX11 part, Nvidia found itself releasing a press release stating that their tech. was good enough, and that DX11 wasn't a big deal.

But people aren't stupid, and one would think that the best course of action is to keep silent about one's inadequacies rather than issue farcical press releases.

Then again, these companies are huge, with lots of powerful shareholders to please, so one can only imagine the sort of pressure Jen-Hsun Huang was under when ATi hit the mark, and Nvidia was a quarter of a year away from a launch. Typically, whenever a video card company is a month behind, it at least conducts a paper launch, but Nvidia was unable to do even that.

This, you guys will find funny:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3651

I found that to be pretty interesting.  I don't follow hardware at all really, but always found it amazing that they can pump out so many cards and people are always buying them.

That's interesting about Nvidia.  So I guess we need new video cards with every DX iteration?  Was that always the case?

I think these companies release a new card platform every year (roughly), with a wider range of models under that platform introduced 6 months later or so. I can't say for sure, but that's what it seems like to me. Far more than every DX iteration....and pretty much completely unnecessary.

[Pugnate]

Yes, you do need new hardware to take advantage of the new DX features, but typically your older card will still work. I am pretty sure there isn't a game that doesn't function with a DX9 card.

[MysterD]

Randy Pitchford has had some things to say about Id Software and Crytek.

Randy "Savage" Pitchford is at it again. The outspoken Gearbox Software president has moved on from criticizing Valve and is now focusing on id Software and Crytek, two of the biggest PC developers out there. Randy believes that the two studios have pushed technology to a point where they risk their own doom.

"This is going to be the longest generation we've seen in the last few of them," Pitchford tells OXM. "Some people have invested a lot going to a place that's too far, and the customers aren't ready for that yet because they don't have the hardware for it.

"I was thinking of Crytek, they couldn't find a market because they made a game that very few people could play. I'm not putting words in their mouth, I remember reading something publicly where they said they couldn't put this on consoles because of the hardware ... We see the id guys talking continuously about this, -- 'well, Sony will have a Blu-Ray and I don't know what we'll do on the 360, maybe we'll have three DVDs ... if the publisher will let us do that, maybe we'll errrrahh I dunno.'

"Because they're in this kind of "generation plus" mode, and like nobody knows what the generation beyond this one is going to look like."

I can see what Pitchford is saying, although I think that id, at the very least, is savvy enough to see which way the wind is blowing, as evidenced by the fact that Rage is even coming to consoles in the first place. As for Crytek, who knows? What Randy says is true -- they did make a game (Crysis) that very few people can run properly, and that's just silly.