Quote:
Originally Posted by number1laing /forum/post/15511207
Most PS3 exclusives take much more space than the DVD allows, FWIW.
You familiar with the concept of bottlenecks?
The idea that a mismatch between capabilities of one subsystem keeps a different subsystem/capability from being used to its full potential?
Well, the 360 and the other HD console both have different bottlenecks.
It is well documented that the other buys are limited in how *fast* they can get data off their optical media and use different strategies to deal with the issue; some replicate the same data in different parts of the disk, trading off game size for data access speed. Others simply *mandate* total or partial game installs.
This isn't the proper forum to discuss the bottlenecks/limitations of the other console but I would suggest that the reason there is no significant difference between the two platforms is not that we, the gamers, are being sold lowest-common-denominator games but rather that the bottlenecks of either system cancel out the advantages and the two boxes are in fact interchangeable in overall performance.
I would offer up the idea that the current games are the way they are not because the hardware dictates it hut bevause the developers are limited by time and cost constraints.
Finally, let us remember MS polled developers to find out how much space they expected to need and which traits they most valued in a console, *before* finalizing the 360 spec-sheet. As a result, the 360 was optimized for average current-gen throughput, not peak performance, unlike the other system. Between the EDRAM video cache, the 12x DVD speed, hardware-assisted data decompression, and dedicated hardware scaler for arbitrary video scaling, the 360 is designed to move data *fast*, not just in bulk. Think of it as the difference between moving cargo via train versus via barge. The barge carries bigger loads but it is slower and it is more limited in where it can take that data.
If you want to move a lot of low-value large bulk cargo barges are great, but if speed is important, rail or truck is always much better. Which is why roadfill is moved by barge and drugs and electronics move by rail or even air.
Bottom line is there is no such thing as a silver bullet; no single trait that makes all that much difference.