Epiphany

I'm really hoping that RAI being such a focal point, that they really dive deep into playtesting for all areas where RAI is heavily used.

It deals with lightly to non-scripted AI routines that adapt on the fly causing any NPC to instantly adapt to its surroundings. Simple scenario is NPC needs to get from A to B - while getting there, something hampers the NPC's progress. The AI will adapt to the surroundings and calculate how the NPC should react given the circumstances, whether it be another NPC wanting to talk to them, objects in the way, or perhaps your player character. I know it sounds simple, but it's supposed to be ground breaking in the way the NPC's deal with everything. Every enemy and NPC will have this radiant AI, and enemies will go to great lengths to follow you, cut you off, flank you, and do whatever they can in order to out "think" you. Here's a copy/paste from one of the Team Diaries for Oblivion - mostly about combat, but you get a small sample of the AI involvement in the game. Supposedly it goes much, much deeper, but they haven't released any specific examples at this time. "You're walking through a seedy part of a town in Western Cyrodiil. People mill about, some engaged in conversation, others minding their own business out on their own errands. Suddenly, an ugly man decides he doesn't like you. Maybe he's drunk, maybe he's just a bully, maybe he's just showing off in front of his friends -- but for whatever reason, he has taken your measure and decided he can best you. He comes charging at you, with a nasty looking mace in his hand and a look of hatred on his face. Onlookers move back to make room for what should be an entertaining fight. Quickly drawing your sword and shield, you wheel around to face him. He's upon you pretty quickly though, and you barely have time to raise your shield (hold right mouse button) before his first blow thunders down upon you. But you block well, and as he recoils from the collision, you quickly perform left & right slashes with your sword (two clicks of the left mouse button, about a second apart). The bully realizes this isn't going to be easy. He backs off a bit, and starts dodging around you. First to the left, then to the right. You maneuver to keep him in view, looking for an opening. Suddenly he steps back, raises his mace in both hands, and steps forward, bringing the mace towards your head in a crushing blow! But you're quick -- you step to the side as he attacks. As he passes by, you execute a spinning maneuver and slash him in the side (hold left mouse button and left maneuver key). The hit is solid, and your foe staggers from the blow. But it's not over yet. The bully swings his mace wildly -- his first swing misses, but the next one connects for a blow that sends you staggering. Pressing his advantage, the bully bears down on you with a power attack of his own. OUCH. This isn't going well. You take a glance at your health meter; it's getting a bit low. You quickly back up out of the bully's reach and raise your shield (hold right mouse button). He's hurting, too. You circle each other for a time, looking for an opening, trying to recover some fatigue. Finally the bully charges forward with a devastating overhead blow, perhaps hoping to break your shield. But the shield holds and the recoil send him staggering back. This is your chance! You perform a mighty forward power attack (hold the left mouse button, press forward) and connect solidly. The blow staggers your foe once again, and you perform 3 slashing attacks in rapid succession (three taps on the left mouse button, about a second apart), and finally the bully collapses to the ground, defeated. The crowd disperses, going back to their own business."

Many rumors, but nothing confirmed as to why development for it didn't happen. Rumors revolve around: No HDD for the console Too difficult to develop for Not port friendly enough MS paid money for console exclusivity (makes sense, but Bethesda made it a point before it was officially announced for X360 that it would appear on all possible next gen consoles) - so this rumor is harder to follow due to the conflicting ideals. In my opinion, based on what I know about Cell, and what I've read from IBM techs on Cell and Xenon I believe it didn't happen because of the weak integer performance of the PS3. Seeing as how Oblivion has this new radiant AI system, the coding for it is most likely integer/logic heavy, that being the case, I can see how they could have run into serious difficulty getting the entire game to run smoothly on the console.

Read his question, genius. Is it a XBox 360 exclusive like Jade Empire was for the XBox? It == Oblivion

It's called a figure of speech, which is why I clarified the comment with "One will have higher theoretical FLOP performance, and the other will actually run games more efficiently." But to be anal, "8 core 3.2 ghz CPU" is fairly inaccurate, as only the PPE runs at 3.2ghz, while the SPE's run slower, and rely on the PPE to continually feed them code or they sit idle. Xenon is a symetrical set up, that has all three cores able to run at 3.2ghz independant of each other. Add to that the fact that Xenon was built as a gaming CPU, while Cell was built with workstations in mind. They are quite different approaches to a CPU set up. I'm not out of my mind. The Cell is far less efficient at running standard game code than Xenon is.

Graphically, the Xbox has trounced the PS2. The CPU in the Xbox versus the Emotion Engine in the PS2 is pretty much the same style of match up as Xenon and Cell will have. One will have higher theoretical FLOP performance, and the other will actually run games more efficiently. Sales is a different issue that has no direct relation to the power of a console, rather the abundance of software offered. EA online exclusivity for a time (PS2 was the only place to play Madden online for 1 or 2 years). GTA exclusivity for the first 3 years of the consoles life. Square-Enix exclusivity for the first few years, until the Gamecube got a joke of a Final Fantasy game. The PS3 is due out 5-6 months after the X360. The consoles are almost on the same development path, as developers just got BETA kits for the X360, and developers are supposedly getting PS3 BETA kits very soon.

When games are specifically coded for the PS2, and then ported over to the Xbox, it makes it hard to tap the power of the console.

See my edit that I didn't get in before you started responding. Just look at EA and all their cross platform efforts. They're always nearly identical, because they design for the lowest spec hardware, and simply port everything over. Hell, they don't even take advantage of custom soundtracks on the Xbox, and they BUTCHERED 480p output on the Xbox version of NCAA 2005 last year, because the PS2 version doesn't support it. Yet, when you look at a football game like ESPN 2k5, which was built with the Xbox in mind first, they were able to achieve 480p on the Xbox with ease, has better visuals than Madden did, and had, in general, a graphically superior product. You've basically been hearing people tout the theoretical FLOP performance of the PS3 over the X360. Just keep in mind that the PS2 has a better theoretical FLOP performance than the Xbox does, and you can see where the graphically superior games ended up this generation.

PC and X360 console exclusive.

No reputable, independant, objective party has declared the PS3 as being twice as powerful as the 360. As, no "independant object party" has had a chance to do anything but inspect the PR statements. But please Ender, spare me your nonsense and hypocritical attitude, and just continue to "ignore" me, as you once claimed you were going to do. I keep coming back, because I am right, and it's better to be a voice of reason, than to just sit back and watch people make false claims. You've YET to prove anything relating to the PS3 being a better gaming machine. I'm not about go dive into the entire logic vs FPU performance aspect, because it simply flies over your head, and you spew the same two lines of "Blu Ray!" and "Higher resolution!"-(which is inaccurate). I look forward to when the PS3 launches, and you get a serious dose of reality, and I've bookmarked both of our "confrontations" on the subject, and will be the first to link them directly back to you, so that you can see where you failed in the debate. Have a good evening. Renderware is a "lowest common denominator" Middleware kit for this generation. This is a pretty much something everyone knows, including game reviewers that continually bring up the fact that EA games on Xbox/GC are PS2 ports. If I remember correctly, EA is already touting about how they've got the next installment of Renderware working on next gen systems, which means more of same "belt mill" mentality for EA products. Crank'em out 3-4 a year, and use next gen as an excuse for the inflated price tag. edit: Renderware is a LCD Middleware kit in the hands of EA - because of their strange policies about not taking advantage of more advanced hardware.

Oblivion launches with the X360 this Fall.

Depends on your knowledge of how Cell works within a game environment.

Liar, Liar, pants on fire. Says the guy that's yet to prove otherwise. In gaming performance, Cell is less than Xenon, and the RSX is less than Xenos. Their specs also listed the PS3 as some kind of network hub, but that was recently scrapped in favor of "lower cost".

The PS3 does not have more powerful hardware. The PS3, currently, cannot store music like you're wanting. Jade Empire is not on the PS2. If you're wanting to use one as a media center, I'd recommend just buying an iPOD kind of device, otherwise, the X360 will provide you with most of your multi-media needs for all your music.

When games are officially announced that I actually care about, then you can attempt to hold me to some stupid standards you claim to have. Until then, sequels to MGS, DMC, and Killzone do not register on my care list, neither does SSBM and Mario 128. When more information on the next Final Fantasy installment is released, then I'll be truely excited about an exclusive PS3 title. Don't know why I even bother explaining myself to you, as you fail to even follow the most simple of concepts, but oh well.

Discussing this topic with you is like banging your head against a wall. You're too ignorant on the subject to see the fact that the Xbox/PC versions of Splinter Cell are vastly superior to the PS2/GC versions, because they are based off of different platforms. The lighting is not the same, the bumb mapping is not the same, the GRAPHICS are not the same. bye

Grow up, and follow through with your promise of having me on your ignore list.

Because the proof is in the game. The Splinter Cell series has always been designed as a PC/Xbox lead platform title. The Xbox/PC versions are not ported over the PS2 and GC. Sorry if you're unable to understand this. Not leaps and bounds, but significantly, none-the-less.

Thought I was on your ignore list, My. Hypocrite? But if you want to be anal, Alan Wake is multiconsole, and Ninja Gaiden 2 has also not had a confirmed platform, as Itaguki has avoided all questions regarding if it was coming out on X360, or on the PS3 as rumored.

Oblivion Gears of War Alan Wake Ninety Nine Nights Lost Odyssey Blue Dragon Too Human pt 1 Ninja Gaiden 2 Enchant Arms (if it comes out in the states) new Shadowrun game (no official title yet) Kameo Quake 4 to name a few

You have to look at titles that take advantage of hardware. Burnout is a prime example of a title built for the PS2, then ported to the Xbox. If you look at Splinter Cell series, titles built for the Xbox, you can tell a simple "port" can't happen, and that the developers have to modifiy the engine, which is why it looks so drastically different on both the PS2 and Gamecube.

Doom 3 (Xbox) The atmosphere is unmatched by any other FPS. Widescreen and 5.1 surround make for an incredible experience.

So basically, everything that's said has gone right over your head? Oh well, bye then.

Yet you've done nothing to prove your knowledge on the subject of next gen consoles... Hmmm, go you.

lol Show me where my PS3/X360 facts were wrong plz. Blu-Ray aside, because my info was from December, and I linked to the article I was quoting from, I have yet to be wrong. X360 will be using 9 gig dual layer discs, hardly obsolete, but hey, what do you know.