Sony, Microsoft about to be bottlenecked by Nintendo

WE HAVE TALKED to a lot of developers here at E3 Halls, mostly over informal drinks. Several expressed extreme dissatisfaction over the performance shown by both Sony and Microsoft consoles.

The main problem for the PlayStation 3 console is that it is still in a heavy prototype stage. And the performance in many cases just isn't there.

One of the reasons offered to us is the actual hardware installed in the console. Since this generation was all about pricing instead of technology, those savings are the reason why Crysis and many more titles will remain PC exclusives, since consoles don't have the horsepower. Developers have voiced out their disappointment in not being able to do what they've planned to do.

One reason for failing to deliver the performance promises on both sides is the fact that both Microsoft and Sony products utilize 128-bit memory interfaces for the GPU, which cuts available bandwidth to half othat available on high-end products from the PC world.

Instead of a memory bandwidth of 44.8 GB/s, the Xbox 360 features only half of the number and, in practice, the Xenos GPU is working on levels of graphics cards somewhere around the year before the last one.

The PS3 is a bit more complicated with a TurboCache feature with the system memory, but we'll just focus on the GPU capabilities. The RSX has a memory clocked at 1400MHz but, again, you'll be just as stuck as with the Xenos GPU - cruising around at 22GB/s.

CPUs are also a whole other story.

In the end, it seems that Nintendo will be the one to beat, especially with a dramatic price difference. For the price of the PS3, you get a complete console, around three games and some accessories. µ