Physics tend to eat up a lot of the processing power too, people standing around waving don't really test the physics.
All that aside though, Apple is clearly getting their game face on. Just like Windows blew out competition because of focused development for their platform, it seems the iPhone is steeling the show and the development muscle of the big dogs. Apple has long understood that simple hardware specs don't equal superior performance, something very few people seem to fully understand. For Apple hardware is about harmony, about removing the bottlenecks and letting everything just work together. Most companies just try to throw a few beefy parts in there and crank up the power until your battery is nonexistent.
Unfortunately this theory does not hold water when it comes to gaming.
Recent tests of Valve games (was it HalfLife 2?) showed that on the same Mac hardware, featured game runs significantly faster (and better looking) on Windows, compared to OSX counterpart.
Hardware in perfect harmony would require fully optimized hardware drivers, APIs, everything-underlying code... which Apple hardware is still lacking a bit.
Basically Carmack is saying the iPhone can now do something between the PS2 and PS3, or between Xbox and Xbox360... Which generally makes sense.
Number of polygons, to my understanding, is only a part in complete equation. For example, original XBOX had nVidia graphics, I believe based on GF3 design, that could pull T&L, anisotropic filtering, anti-aliasing, etc. Plus, CPU was fast enough to support graphics as they were.
What I am trying to say is - with all that on-the-paper supremacy of A4 graphics, I am yet to see, say, driving game that compares well with Forza Motorsport (original XBOX) or Gran Turismo 4 (PS2, PSP)... both visually and regarding gameplay.
What I am trying to say is - with all that on-the-paper supremacy of A4 graphics, I am yet to see, say, driving game that compares well with Forza Motorsport (original XBOX) or Gran Turismo 4 (PS2, PSP)... both visually and regarding gameplay.
The A4 is a CPU, not a GPU. Pretty tough for the A4 to claim graphics dominance.
Apple uses the PowerVR SGX535 in the iPhone 3GS, 4, and iPad.
Comments
Physics tend to eat up a lot of the processing power too, people standing around waving don't really test the physics.
All that aside though, Apple is clearly getting their game face on.
Unfortunately this theory does not hold water when it comes to gaming.
Recent tests of Valve games (was it HalfLife 2?) showed that on the same Mac hardware, featured game runs significantly faster (and better looking) on Windows, compared to OSX counterpart.
Hardware in perfect harmony would require fully optimized hardware drivers, APIs, everything-underlying code... which Apple hardware is still lacking a bit.
Basically Carmack is saying the iPhone can now do something between the PS2 and PS3, or between Xbox and Xbox360... Which generally makes sense.
Number of polygons, to my understanding, is only a part in complete equation. For example, original XBOX had nVidia graphics, I believe based on GF3 design, that could pull T&L, anisotropic filtering, anti-aliasing, etc. Plus, CPU was fast enough to support graphics as they were.
What I am trying to say is - with all that on-the-paper supremacy of A4 graphics, I am yet to see, say, driving game that compares well with Forza Motorsport (original XBOX) or Gran Turismo 4 (PS2, PSP)... both visually and regarding gameplay.
What I am trying to say is - with all that on-the-paper supremacy of A4 graphics, I am yet to see, say, driving game that compares well with Forza Motorsport (original XBOX) or Gran Turismo 4 (PS2, PSP)... both visually and regarding gameplay.
The A4 is a CPU, not a GPU. Pretty tough for the A4 to claim graphics dominance.
Apple uses the PowerVR SGX535 in the iPhone 3GS, 4, and iPad.