AMD’s Mantle benchmarked: The biggest innovation in gaming since DirectX 9

AMD’s Mantle is the first new consumer graphics API to launch in over a decade and its potential impact on the gaming and CPU markets is enormous. Last week, we covered AMD’s performance claims for Mantle – today, we’re diving in with our own test results. We’ve benchmarked Mantle on a range of graphics cards and CPUs, from Kabini at the low-end to the Intel Core i7-4770K.

One question many of you raised last week was whether or not Mantle would improve GPU-limited scenarios. Many of you pointed to this comment by Dave Baumann, as proof that AMD could offer significant GPU performance improvements as well. AMD’s official whitepapers distributed to reviewers implied that the GPU optimization opportunities for Mantle were more limited. So which is it?

Mantle’s GPU optimizations

We spoke to the chief architect of Mantle, Guennadi Riguer, who told us that the GPU-specific improvements from porting a game to Mantle are typically 3-5%, as AMD has previously stated. A developer who aggressively optimizes code for Mantle may see better gains of 15-20% in extreme corner cases. The implication is that moderate optimization will yield gains of 7-12%.

CPU optimizations, in contrast, are low-hanging fruit. After years of working with the relatively limited multi-threading options available on DX11, it’s easy to offer users a stepladder to fix this particular problem. According to Riguer, the amount of GPU performance gain we see from Mantle will depend on whether console developers focus on it when they port titles. (Both the Xbox One and PS4 have Mantle-enabled, GCN-based GPUs). It will depend on whether any other APIs in the game code are bottlenecks in their own right.

We’ve speculated before that it might be easier for console developers to bring projects to Mantle than to port them to the PC version of DX11, but Riguer didn’t give us much detail on whether or not this is true. Mantle is apparently “arguably” close to console development environments (in Riguer’s own words), but the architect stopped short of declaring that this gave AMD a major advantage. Even if Mantle isn’t related to the Xbox One or PS4 APIs, developers working on those consoles will still have a much better understanding of what the GCN architecture can and cannot do. That knowledge should make it easier to port games optimally, even for Direct3D.

Xbox Fun: Xbox One to get massive price cut, 1TB hard drive, report says

So, what does Microsoft have up its sleeve for the Xbox One? Will we see a bigger hard drive, or maybe a cheaper disc-free model? With the PS4 taking the early lead in sales, Microsoft is definitely going to need to react in some way, especially considering the PS4 is set for a mammoth release next month in its home country of Japan. Thanks to a huge dump of leaked information, we might already know what to expect out of Redmond in 2014.

Over at NeoGAF, a user going by the name “ntkrnl” revealed a number of interesting detailsregarding Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox One. This anonymous source revealed countless information on big titles like Halo 2: Anniversary Edition, a new Forza Horizon installment, and the next Gears of War game. More importantly, some information also surfaced about the console itself

Nintendo outlines new company direction, but it won’t save the sinking ship

Nintendo hasn’t been doing well this generation, which is something that seems to happen every other console generation. This time around, the Wii U has gravely underperformed thanks to a gimmick that didn’t catch on and severely underpowered hardware that deterred third-party development. Inching closer toward the precipice of oblivion, Nintendo realized it had to change its ways, and announced a restructuring of the company strategy. However, it doesn’t appear to be enough to right the toppled ship.
Out of the few strategies the Big N announced, the most aggressive is a $1.2 billion stock buyback which amounts to about 7.8% of its stock, or about 10 million shares. The House that Mario Built also announced that company CEO Satoru Iwata will take a 50% salary cut in order to preserve some cash for his flailing business. Interestingly, this is not the first time Iwata has slashed his salary in half. Though the Nintendo 3DS isn’t a complete failure at this stage in its life, it bombed when it first released, and Iwata took that 50% pay cut in 2011 in order to compensate. Nintendo has had a rough go of it for a while now; Bloomberg states that Nintendo has lost 80% of its value since 2007. However, the company holds a little under $9 billion and has no debt, so not only can it afford this $1.2 billion buyback, but it has enough money to strategist for the future. What that future is, though, mostly remains a mystery.
Recently, a credible Nintendo rumor site posted reportedly leaked — and very detailed — specs of Nintendo’s upcoming new consoles, the Fusion DS and Fusion Terminal. If Nintendo abandoned the Wii U and 3DS so soon after their release — which would be unprecedented if not for Sega’s post-Genesis console release cycle — and managed to trot out the two new devices well before Sony and Microsoft managed to drop the PS5 and Xbox Two, then it would be the first time in a long time that Nintendo sold consoles composed of competitive hardware. The company, though, is legendary for its stubbornness — still no Pokemon MMO, still unwilling to use competitive hardware components, mostly standing staunch against the online revolution, and not embracing the meteoric rise of smartphone and tablet gaming. What’s even weirder than Nintendo’s unwillingness to make the obvious moves that would likely save the company, is Iwata’s actual plan for bringing Nintendo back to popularity.

Confusingly, Iwata stated that Nintendo will use a “leapfrog strategy,” bypassing the (extremely successful) mobile phone market and the emerging wearable market in order to create non-wearable technology that has yet to be seen on a Nintendo console. So, it seems Nintendo will once again ignore a hugely popular market or two — most famously having ignored the online revolution — and possibly play catchup again whenever that blows up in its face.
Nintendo will also focus on quality of life applications — likely due to the moderate success of Wii Fit (even though the Wii Vitality Sensor never released) and the recent explosion of the fitness band market. This new sector of Nintendo could also focus on educational applications, as well as life management apps like the popular to-do lists that flood iOS and Android. Nintendo will reveal the plan for this new focus sometime in 2014, and will launch the initiative in April of 2015.
As for the report from earlier this week that suggested Nintendo will finally make a jump — albeit limited — to the mobile space, Iwata did state that the Big N will indeed use the mobile market in order to make connections with customers. This simply sounds like an official Nintendo app for smartphones and tablets that will serve up commercials and news. It would, however, be a very smart move to integrate Nintendo’s Miiverse into the app, so fans can access their favorite community on the go (considering the 3DS doesn’t have LTE or 3G capability).
Unfortunately, Iwata did say that Nintendo will not release games for smartphones and tablets, as the company feels that would inhibit its ability to “show its strength as an integrated hardware-software business.” This, of course, is deeply ironic because the whole reason why this stock buyback and new company strategy is happening is because Nintendo is currently not a strong integrated hardware-software business. Perhaps obnoxiously, as part of Nintendo’s “new” strategy, Iwata stated that Nintendo will stay in the business of creating traditional game consoles. So, for those of you that hoped Nintendo would go the way of Sega and finally focus on making games instead of gimmicky hardware, you’re obviously not very familiar with Nintendo.

Sony’s PlayStation Now uses custom-designed hardware with eight PS3s on a single motherboard

The lack of native backward compatibility in the new PlayStation 4 was a bit of a bummer when the console was announced, but Sonypromised it had a solution. The company bought game streaming startup Gaikai a few years back, and has been developing the technology to deliver its catalog of PlayStation 3 titles not only to the PS4, but to smart TVs, tablets, and phones. Now the first details on the guts of Sony’srecently announced PlayStation Now streaming service are leaking out, and it all starts with custom PS3 hardware that crams eight consoles into one server.

According to content partners that are working with Sony to test PlayStation Now, the service relies on a new piece of PS3 hardware. It consists of a single motherboard with the miniaturized components for eight PS3s embedded, each of which can be independently controlled. Sony’s PS Now server farms will be filled with rack after rack of these units to power games in the cloud.

Sony reportedly decided to create new hardware after experimenting with placing retail PS3 units in data centers. However, the space and power requirements to run enough games made this plan fundamentally unfeasible. As an added bonus, redesigning the PS3 hardware to fit multiple units on a single board allowed Sony’s engineers to optimize the console for faster response times. This could save precious milliseconds to combat the latency of playing games over the internet — it could be the difference between a console-like experience and a laggy mess.

PlayStation Now will rely on the PS3s in the cloud to do all of the rendering and processing work, which is why Sony thinks it can get PS3 games running on almost any screen with an internet connection. Most titles on Sony’s regular local console platform run at 30 fps with 100-150ms of input lag. That doesn’t leave a lot of breathing room for internet latency — anything over 150ms starts to feel disconnected from controller input. Sony hasn’t said officially how the system compensates for this, but there are whispers.

Game on(line): Cloud gaming, next-gen, and more from CES

Summer is usually the season for hot video game news, but this year gamers won't have to wait for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June to learn about the latest and greatest ways to shoot zombies or jump on the heads of bad guys. From futuristic virtual reality tech to fresh new ideas from the world of PC gaming, video games stood out among the gadgets at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Here are the top trends we're tracking. 

SimCity 'offline' game to be released as free download

The makers of SimCity have announced they are to release an offline version of the game.

The news comes after repeated problems with the launch of the most recent release of the city-building game, which required players to be online.

Requiring connection to the internet was seen as an attempt to curb piracy, but some users struggled to log in.

The new offline version will be available to all players as a free download once testing is completed.

SimCity had been a stand-alone game up until March 2013, when a new online-only version was released.

The launch was beset by problems, with many gamers reportedly waiting 30 minutes or more before they could start to construct a city.

Others said the game was sluggish once they were playing, that it was slow to respond to changes, and it often crashed.

CES 2014: Virtual reality video game tech readies for lift-off

There's no doubt that 2013 was good for gamers. The indie gaming scene thrived, there were big launches of established franchises to keep the fanboys happy and the end of the year brought the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

2014 looks like it will be another banner year, perhaps because it might signal a significant shift in the way people play.

It might be the year that virtual reality (VR) becomes established as a popular way to go gaming.

Hi-tech firm Oculus Rift is the poster child for this movement. Interest in the VR headset it is developing has been feverish since its debut on Kickstarter in August 2012.

That crowdfunding campaign raised $2.4m (£1.5m), 10 times as much as Oculus Rift sought. Between then and now the firm has raised a further $75m from investors to fund development.

Game Over For Nintendo? Not If Mario And Zelda Fans Keep Playing

Some analysts say that Nintendo's days are numbered. Holiday sales of its new console, the Wii U, have been lackluster compared to Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.

But since Nintendo still offers some of the most popular game franchises, the love of Zelda and Mario may keep the company going for a long time.

In preparation for this story, I put out a call to talk to die-hard Nintendo fans. I was inundated with responses. Among them, Brian White, 30, grew up playing the Zelda games.

Now he's got a daughter. "We named her Zelda," he says.

White says as a dad he's happy Nintendo games aren't filled with violence.

Carmack claims the PS3 and Xbox 360 have tons of life left, but developers say otherwise – who’s right?

In a recent interview with Wired, id Software founder and CTO of Oculus, John Carmack, gave a rather startling opinion on the current state of the PS3 and Xbox 360. According to Carmack, he’s often struggled with leaving the low end of gaming behind, even when he decided that Doom would require a VGA adapter and a 386.

“[T]here’s so much you can still do on the previous console generation. The 360 and PS3 are far from tapped out in terms of what a developer could do with them, but the whole world’s gonna move over towards next-gen and high-end PCs and all these other things,”Carmack told Wired. ”Part of me still frets a little bit about that, where just as you fully understand a previous generation, you have to put it away to kind of surf forward on the tidal wave of technology that’s always moving.”

That’s a little surprising to hear, given that Naughty Dog — creators of the hugely successful and gorgeous PS3 game, The Last of Us,” have said that they pushed the PS3 to 110% to create the title. According to Lead Designer Jacob Minkoff, “With The Last of Us, we are as efficient as we can possibly be. It’s just squeezing every last drop of power out of the system. And it’s a system we know really, really well. We know its constraints, so we can push it to the edges and play it really fast and loose because we know what the system can handle.”

Xbox One APU reverse engineered, reveals SRAM as the reason for small GPU

For months, Sony and Microsoft fanboys have lined up to hurl insults at each other over which console would pack more hardware, hit higher performance targets, or prove a better design for the next generation. With the two consoles launched, the game-to-game comparisons have mostly come out a wash, with a slight edge for the PS4. But there’ve still been questions about the underlying chip design — which architecture is more efficient, and what unique sauce went into each console?

The fine folks at Chipworks have completed their teardown of the Xbox One and given us an answer to that question — and a few puzzles to go with it.

The Xbox One die is 363 square millimeters, up from the PS4′s 348 sq mm. The 5% additional space, despite having the smaller GPU core, is mostly due to RAM. The Xbox One contains a whopping 47MB of on-die RAM, and that pushes the die size up considerably. It’s also why Microsoft didn’t have room on the APU for a larger GPU.

Xbox One costs more to make than the PS4 : Thanks to ESRAM and Kinect

If you bought an Xbox One for $500, rest assured that you got a good deal: It cost Microsoft $471 to make the Xbox One, new Kinect, and everything else in the box. After the retailers’ cut, Microsoft loses money on every Xbox One sold. At $471, the Xbox One costs about $90 more than the PS4 — a cost difference that is almost entirely down to the new Kinect, which costs around $75 to make.
This data comes from IHS iSuppli, which reported its bill-of-materials teardown analysis of the PS4 last week, and then the Xbox One today. The cost of making an Xbox One mostly boils down to the APU ($110 from AMD), 8GB of RAM ($60 from SK Hynix), and the Kinect ($75). The cost of the console itself comes to around $332, with the Kinect, power brick ($25), gamepad ($15), and headset making up the remainder.

PS 4 Launched

The PlayStation 4 debuts today, sparking a new round in the battle over your attention span, thumb endurance and, ultimately, checkbook. But despite all the fanfare over Sony’s latest release, the PS4 will only enjoy a week alone in the spotlight, with Microsoft set to launch its own next-generation console, the Xbox One, on Nov. 22.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the details you'll want to know about Sony's new console:

$399.99: The launch price of the PS4, a significant drop from the PS3’s much-maligned opening price of $499.99 for the 20-GB model and $599.99 for 60 GB. More important, that price point places the device $100 below the opening cost of the Xbox One, reversing the price advantage the Xbox 360 held over the PS3.

3 million: The estimated total of consumer sales for the PS4 by the end of the year, according to Sony. By March 2014, following the console’s launch in Japan, the company expects to sell an additional 2 million. During the same length of time, the PS3 sold 3.5 million units.80 million: The number of PS3 units shipped as of Nov. 2, 2013 , an impressive figure given the Xbox 360’s yearlong head start and 79.4 million shipped as of Sept. 30, 2013 . But given the success of the PS2, which from 2002 to 2012 has sold 155 million units worldwide , it’s no surprise that Sony has aggressively sought  to crush its closest competition, Microsoft.

26: The number of launch titles accompanying the PS4's debut. At the forefront are big-budget exclusives including “Killzone: Shadow Fall” and “Knack,” but the majority of the games are either ports of PS3 titles, such as “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” and “Battlefield 4,” or downloadable titles, such as “Trine 2” and “Resogun.”

$49.99: Though it launched at a higher price than the Xbox 360, the PS3 boasted an entirely free online multiplayer suite, while Microsoft required a $50 annual fee from users wishing to play online.

Later on in the PS3’s life span, Sony introduced PlayStation Plus, an equally priced online subscription service offering occasional deals and monthly free games. But PS+ and that subscription fee are now mandatory for anyone who wants to take their PS4 games online.

x86: Much of the PS3’s initial marketing was focused on the Cell Processor, a supposed miracle with which PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi hoped to revolutionize not just video game consoles but many consumer electronics , allowing them to communicate with each other to increase processing capabilities.

For the PS4, Sony has dropped Cell for Intel’s x86, which is used by the Xbox One and PCs, making cross-platform development significantly easier. The reason? Building games for the unique Cell architecture presented a hurdle for developers, a problem that hampered many early PS3 titles.

1080p: The new gold standard in resolution. Just look at the reaction to the news that the latest “Call of Duty” would run at 720p on the Xbox One, identical to the Xbox 360 version. The PS4 version hits 1080p, and the difference is dramatic. But that advantage won’t last forever: Xbox Onehas its own 1080p titles . So expect the average game to look significantly sharper than you’re used to on the PS3 or Xbox 360.

The Xbox One Is Enormous In Comparison To The PS4

Both the Xbox One and Playstation 4 are essentially repackaged PC parts at this point. Unlike the PS3, Sony’s new console uses standard X86 architecture and fairly standard components. This should allow for an easier development path and quicker adoption among studios down the line.

That’s why I was so surprised when I saw this image on the German gaming publication PC Games of the two next-gen offerings side-by-side. The Xbox One is so big!

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t believe I’ve seen any shots of them together in one image, as each one has been handling its press events separately, obviously. We have a PS4 in the labs for testing and I was at the Xbox event earlier this year and saw the console in person. It didn’t look all that big, roughly the size of the old Xbox 360′s (before the slimdown) overall. But, when compared to the PS4, the size difference is crazy. But until the Xbox One makes its way into reviewer hands (and is allowed to be shown publicly) we won’t be seeing comparisons.

Add to that the fact that the PS4 has a slight edge over the Xbox One in pure processing power and it’s even more puzzling. Developer Patrick McCarron posits it might be the slimmer Blu-Ray drive in the PS4, or perhaps fan size. Primate Labs’ John Poole conjectures that the Xbox One’s system on a chip might actually be much bigger than the PS4′s. One possibility could be more aggressive attention to thermal properties by Microsoft this time around, after overheating and cracking solder caused the ‘red ring of death’ fiasco which cascaded into a major PR issue.

Here’s the Xbone next to a slim Xbox 360:

And that size differential is even more nuts when you consider that the Xbox One has an external power brick, and the PS4 does not. Its power supply is internal to the device itself, and it plugs directly into the wall.

For a look inside the PS4, you can check out Wired’s video of Sony engineering director Yasuhiro Ootori tearing it down here.

The site has a bunch more comparison images between the two consoles including controllers and more. Head on over there to check them out.

Via: TechCrunch

Nintendo Wii U

Every game console including the Nintendo Wii has a selection of online video services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, but the Wii U goes a step further.  Nintendo TVii aggregates your favorite shows and movies across multiple services and lets you decide how you want to watch content on Netflix, Hulu Plus, or even your TiVo DVR or cable box. Sports games and other shows get additional information integration, with live scores of multiple games at once appearing on the gamepad while you watch. You can have multiple favorites lists based on different members of your household, and users can respond to content in realtime and share their thoughts with other users.

The New Nintendo 2Ds Released Few Months Before (Leaked Photos)

Xbox One Joystick Vs Playstation 4 Joystick (Graph)