Just when everyone thought the PlayStation 2 was dated hardware, someone chimes in with some research that screws up the theory.
Recently, Sony Europe conducted a study, and found that over 60% of all PlayStation 2 games aren’t utilizing the machine to its potential. Through the use of their performance analyzer, they found that most of these games are running at 30 frames per second, and sporting considerably less polygons onscreen that what the machine is capable of. Not surprisingly, most of these games are ports from other systems, or cross-platform developed titles that tend to make the games as similar as possible from one platform to the next by utilizing as many common features in each console as possible.
Sony has maintained that the key to the performance of the PS2 has been the console’s twin vector units – microprocessors that run in parallel to the Emotion Engine that can help with all sorts of tasks, including enemy AI and physics. These vector units are capable of lightning-quick geometry processing, and can take quite a load off of the Emotion Engine (the main CPU) if used correctly. Unfortunately, many of today’s developers aren’t using those microprocessors, and Sony is hoping their study will open a few eyes, and help jumpstart greater PS2 development for the future. Our call? Don’t count on it.
Fear Factor By now, you’ve probably noticed that while most PS2 games are less beautiful than it’s Xbox or GameCube counterparts, some games out there really look fantastic (Silent Hill 3 comes to mind), and at times, look even better than what is offered by the competition. Many who own a PS2 can’t figure this out, which is understandable. If one game looks amazing, why aren’t all of them so stunning? But the problems lie in not what the hardware is or isn’t, but what you do with it. While some developers are using those vector units that we talked about above, most tend not to even touch them, which result in a lot of untapped potential just waiting to be unleashed. If you own a PS2, this is quite a revelation, as the $50 you’re plunking down for a game could be so much more that what it is.
Developers have gone on record saying that they are afraid of the PS2. More precisely, they are intimidated by how they must work with the thing (assuming that they want to utilize the vector units). See, those two microprocessors have very little in the way of onboard memory for code and data. As a result, developing on the PlayStation 2 is an extremely low-level chore; one that requires a vast knowledge of the PS2’s internal architecture. If you’re a dev who has a lot of background on PC’s for example, this level of commitment can be very frightening. In addition, it’s the sole reason PC-to-PS2 ports don’t fare well.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne for PS2 is just one game that may have turned out a lot better had the developers taken advantage of the PS2’s vector unit co-processors. There are more underachieving games where this came from.
So, the end result is that many developers – because of a lack of knowledge – don’t want to screw around with the PS2’s guts. And what you get are underachieving games that are far less than what they technically should be.
Additional Drawbacks In addition to all the vector unit issues that we just observed, the PS2 is seriously lacking some video Ram (VRAM). Compared to the poly-pushing power of the PS2, the 4 Megabytes of embedded VRAM just isn’t enough. The Nintendo 64 had that much, and the Dreamcast had twice the amount! Due to this, developers have been wrestling with this hurdle ever since, being forced to thrash textures in and out of VRAM more than they would like.
Again, Sony steps in and argues that the VRAM is never a problem at all, considering that the bus that connects the Graphics Synthesizer to the PS2’s 32 Megs of main memory is so quick (1.2 gigabytes per second). In other words, the bus is so speedy at streaming graphics data into the Graphics Synthesizer’s VRAM that it’s almost like the Graphics Synth is jacked into the main memory. There are some pretty big “pipes” that connect the PS2’s main components together, and that bandwidth translates into ultra-quick texture loads in to VRAM, so there is little to actually complain about.
But it all comes back to those vector units. Because so few developers are utilizing them, they are left with the Emotion Engine doing most of the work, even though the twin co-processors could be taking on a lot of those tasks themselves.
Lead by Example Without a doubt, the PS2 should be used more efficiently by developers. Anyone who owns a PS2 deserves to have their machine maxed out. And in these days of development, taking the easy route is often the best route (for them, at least), especially since the feature sets of the Xbox and GameCube are so easy to exploit.
But the bigger culprit may be Sony. The company built a tricky, proprietary machine, and they knew it. The majority of the development community isn’t going to understand this new way of making games. And though Sony is disturbed by developers not taking full advantage of the hardware, the company isn’t doing much to solve the problem.
When developing for Xbox, developers were in awe of how helpful Microsoft had been to them, wanting help in any way they could. Sony, on the other hand, weren’t so phenomenal. When developers got their PS2 dev kits, all of their documents were in Japanese (we’re not kidding). Microsoft would answer technical questions on a daily basis (sometimes within an hour). When working with Sony, dev’s found that many of their questions weren’t answered at all. Developers quickly learned that if you’re making a PS2 game, you’re on your own. Is it any wonder that dev’s are having trouble fully unlocking the PS2’s potential?
Show and Tell If it wasn’t for the installed base that anticipated the PS2 so much, chances are, it would’ve went to the way of the Sega Saturn. If you remember, that machine was difficult to work with, and developers dropped it like a hot rock. First and second parties almost certainly have access to Sony’s performance analyzer, which tend to give those games an edge. Third parties may rent the analyzer, or the service, but it ain’t cheap. One would think that if you’re desperate enough to call forth developers and complain that your console is being under-utilized, the service or analyzer itself would be free of charge.
If you’re going to develop a tricky, unorthodox machine, offer no help to the community who are making games that show off your system is capable of, and then complain when the machine is under-used, the blame is on you, not them. The fact is, if Sony wants developers to use the PS2’s features more efficiently, it’d be wise to show them how to do it, not simply tell them they should.
