FiringSquad technically breaks down the PS2. In short.. they don't like it.

[LXi]

Bump, bump, bump!

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

It comes as somewhat of a surprise to me that nobody has really mentioned that the PS2 uses embedded video memory. This means that the memory is built right into the GS's processor die and benefits from the full clock speed (150MHz) and a massive 48GB/sec local memory bandwidth (notice how I said local; the the core bandwidth of the PS2 outside of the GS's bus is actually 3.2GB/sec)

You can't get around the fact that its only 4MB. Having all this bandwith is great, but the lack of texture compression is going to hurt the developers.

Using embedded memory has its advantages. The key advantage is its ability to swap textures within the graphics bus at alarming speed.

Explain to me where these textures are are going to come from? Say for example the GS stored a large 1024x1024 texture (Keep in mind this single texture will take up nearly the entire memory buffer). This texture is used to cover the wall right in front of you. Utilizing the amazing bandwith, the GS textures the wall and dumps the buffer. Ok now where is the next texture going to come from? The pipe connecting the GS to the EE, which is drastically slower. I'd like to point out that there is no direct pipe from the main memory pool to the graphics chip. The texture travels from main memory, then through the EE, and then to the GS. The bandwith between the GS and the EE is in fact lower than the pipe between the EE and the main memory pool. This is going to become a huge bottleneck.

Developers are going to have to either use small, low-resolution textures or use a single large texture repeatedly throughout the scene.

4MB is not enough. In my opinion Hardware is right. It isn't a flaw exactly. I think of it more as a mistake.

Edit: I'd also like to point out that the PS2 does in fact support a form of mpeg compression, but the GS doesn't natively support decompression in hardware. The texture must be decompressed at the EE before being sent through the slow pipe to the GS, killing just about any advantage of compressing the textures (except being able to store more, larger textures on the discs).

 

[Chad]

<< Explain to me where these textures are are going to come from? Say for example the GS stored a large 1024x1024 texture (Keep in mind this single texture will take up nearly the entire memory buffer). This texture is used to cover the wall right in front of you. Utilizing the amazing bandwith, the GS textures the wall and dumps the buffer. Ok now where is the next texture going to come from? The pipe connecting the GS to the EE, which is drastically slower. I'd like to point out that there is no direct pipe from the main memory pool to the graphics chip. The texture travels from main memory, then through the EE, and then to the GS. The bandwith between the GS and the EE is in fact lower than the pipe between the EE and the main memory pool. This is going to become a huge bottleneck. >>



Damn, he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. One thing I should say... NHL 2000 on my PS2 is the chopiest game I have ever played in my life. I'm serious, when my friend and I play, sometimes, when the camera is on the middle of the ice (most of the time) the framerate drops of the face of the earth (I can almost count the frames out loud).

One other thing that has been bothering me, my games take FOREVER to fricken load!!!! It's disturbingly loooooong! Why? I thought this was next-gen damnit!

 

[LXi]

Did you play DOA2 Hardcore? You should see that game.