A Peek At the Origin of PS3's New Visualizer

Folks at the Gamasutra network had a quick sitdown with the Q-Games team, the people behind the PlayStation 3's new Gaia music visualizer. They discuss the origins of the project, as well as some possible plans for the future. "McLaren explains: 'This representation of the earth is a 3D model with some shaders and SPU trickery going on. We tried to accurately model the earth's atmosphere and have all the correct highlights on the oceans, etc. The texture data is sourced from the NASA Blue Marble project.'"

Peak/Peek

[Anonymous Coward]

Peak = top, summit Peek = look

Re:Peak/Peek/Pique

[edittard]

Pique = a state of annoyance, or to torment/irritate someone.

He was piqued by yet another case of semi-literate, lemur-brained oafs posting lame poppycock to slashdot..

Re:

[Sciros]

"at least" indeed.

Once Square and others start to really get going with PS3 (that is, once Japanese developers stop concentrating so much on the PS2, haha) it will pick up strength quickly. ...Yeah, really, the PS3's biggest problem might not be price/Xbox/Wii as much as it is the PS2 which keeps the PS3's target audience fully occupied since it's still doing alright in terms of games.

Re:

[techpawn]

the PS2 which keeps the PS3's target audience fully occupied

Kinda like Vista. Right now, current users don't see a real good reason to upgrade the cost is too high for what they get compared to a perfectly good system that works right now. They are their own major competitor and that's not going to change. At least the PS3 and force the hand of a killer app like XBox360 and Halo 3. Vista... Not so much... Microsoft can lock you in, but, an office suit doesn't change that much and there are other alternative

Re:

[lluBdeR]

Yes, I was going to pay the ridiculous price for a Playstation 3, but since it didn't have a nifty visualization while it plays music (how often do people do this with their console?) I bought a Wii instead.

Couldn't you just save yourself a few hundred dollars and download a Winamp visualization?

Re:

[tieTYT]

Once Square and others start to really get going with PS3 (that is, once Japanese developers stop concentrating so much on the PS2, haha) it will pick up strength quickly.

This is what I've been thinking. But then, you gotta think from the perspective of the people trying to make money off of the games they develop. They're thinking, "Why would I release this game exclusively on the PS3 when it has a fraction of the population as the 360 or the Wii?" They're thinking, "If I'm making this game exclusive s

Re:

[sammyF70]

actually, it goes a bit further than that. developing a game for the PS3 is way more expensive than developing one for the Wii. Google "development costs wii ps3" and you'll find plenty of articles about PS3 games costing up to 4 times the price of a wii game. Lower population but higher costs are not an incentive to develop games (but apparently it is for music visualizers .. go figure ..)

Re:

[Pojut]

For now, multi-platform release games have consistently looked better on the 360 than on the PS3. Oblivion is one of the rare exceptions to this, but it got a texture update for the PS3...can't really objectively compare the two.

I personally think it's just because developers need more time to learn how to work with the more complicated PS3. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my 360, but once developers really start knowing what they are doing with the hardware, the PS3 is going to have some unmatchabl

Re:

[nuzak]

> the PS3 is going to have some unmatchable visuals.

It already does -- take a look at the new Ratchet and Clank. Heavenly Sword is pretty awesome too, tho much of it is simply high-def cutscenes.

When I bought my PS2, it was so I could get at the great catalog of PS2 games. The sales guy said about XBox games: "you either shoot it, drive it, or it's a sport". But now it's the 360 that has the variety. Heck, they even scored Culdcept Saga, a game that has gotten my non-gamer gf addicted from the demo a

Re:

[provigilman]

It already does -- take a look at the new Ratchet and Clank. Heavenly Sword is pretty awesome too, tho much of it is simply high-def cutscenes.

The OP was talking specifically about multi-platform releases. Take Madden for example...the 360 version looked great, but the PS3 version could only get 30fps (as opposed to 60 on the 360) going. This is a problem.

First party games are always optimized for that platform, it's the multi-platform releases where you start to see who's better at what. Last-gen I o

Re:

[king-manic]

The OP was talking specifically about multi-platform releases. Take Madden for example...the 360 version looked great, but the PS3 version could only get 30fps (as opposed to 60 on the 360) going. This is a problem.

First party games are always optimized for that platform, it's the multi-platform releases where you start to see who's better at what. Last-gen I only bought multi-platform releases for my XBox because they just simply looked better.

For current-gen, at least so far anyway, it seems to be going the same direction. The 360 has the best looking games (again, only talking multi-platform here), the Wii has the interesting IP's and control scheme, and the PS3 has what? They lost Assassin's Creed, GTA, DMC and a whole host of other exclusives... Sure, they have the FF series, but the 360 has a bunch of exclusive Mistwalker RPG's coming out!

If the PS3 doesn't clean up their act (and their graphics) in very short order, they're going to have problems.

I think it's just a case of the first gen development problems. It's hard to code your own solution to a new architecture so the PS3 versions of multi-platforms games seem poor due to this. However, the 360 first gen games were also nothing to write home about. There was nothing to compare it too but many looked like xbox games with a slightly higher poly count. So far I've always bought multi platform games on the PS3 because I hate live with a vital passion (their C policy is ridiculous I refuse to even

Re:

[Total_Wimp]

From the great grandparent:

For now, multi-platform release games have consistently looked better on the 360 than on the PS3. Oblivion is one of the rare exceptions to this, but it got a texture update for the PS3...can't really objectively compare the two.

The translation of this is that Oblivion looked better because the people who made it polished it specifically for the PS3. Madden undoubtedly looked better on the 360 for a similar reason. It's not a deficiency in the PS3 that gives it graphics headache

Re:

[HAKdragon]

They lost Assassin's Creed, GTA, DMC and a whole host of other exclusives... Sure, they have the FF series, but the 360 has a bunch of exclusive Mistwalker RPG's coming out!

Assassin's Creed was first shown off for the 360 so people where confused when they were showing it off at E3 and only mentioned a PS3 release. GTA was never completely exclusive to the Playstation. GTA got a port to the GBC (not the greatest, but surprisingly good giving the limits of the handheld. GTA2 had a Dreamcast Port. GTA3, Vi

Re:

[the_fat_kid]

"the aforementioned girlfriend"
Hey, this is Slashdot, you insensitive clod.

Re:

[Gravatron]

Games like call of duty 4 proved you can get the ps3 and 360 to match visual for visual, and the first party sony games look fantastic, or at least Rachet and Uncharted did. I'd wadger that 9/10th of the early multiplatform release woes can be attributed to ether EA, who sucks at porting, or to the well publicised issues with the UT3 engine on the ps3. Ut3 on the ps3 plays great though, so I think epic must have finally figured out their problems.

The ps3 and 360 can really pull off some amazing visual

Re:

[Breakfast Pants]

proved you can get ps3 and 360 to match visual for visual

Huh? Of course you can do that, just adjust your game to pander to the lowest common denominator. You can do that for basically any two systems you choose. Do xbox1 games on the 360 prove the two systems are equivalent?

Re:

[Penguin's Advocate]

I won't try speaking for "looks" (for a lot of reasons), but in terms of performance and stability, I can attest to the PS3's superiority over the 360. Oblivion is a great example of this. Putting "looks" aside, the PS3 version has far shorter load times, loads far less frequently, and is far more stable than the 360 version. Having put in well over 200 hours (each) on all three ports of Oblivion (360, PC, PS3), I can say that the PS3 version is *the* best executed version. Try riding a horse in Oblivion

Re:

[elrous0]

I've got a 360 that I bought just a five months after release (April 2006). I've had it crash maybe once or twice in almost 2 years of use, and I've had no RROD's.

If your 360 is crashing all the time, you need to either send it in for repair or consider where you're placing it (needs to have some space around it to avoid overheating), because it's not supposed to do that and doesn't for most of us.

My take as both a PS3 and 360 owner

[elrous0]

I own both a PS3 and 360, and generally prefer the 360.

I will say that the PS3 hardware is DEFINITELY superior to the 360--much more solid build, wifi built in, runs quieter, more powerful, built-in blu-ray drive, etc. (with the exception of the PS3 remote, which sucks, and the PS2-style controller, which doesn't fit my large hands as well as the 360 controller). I agree that the PS3 will get stronger if it's given time and if MS doesn't pull something like releasing a "Xbox 720" in the next 2 or 3 years.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Still no games?

[Total_Wimp]

Topic: The new visualizer for the PS3

Off Topic: Ranting about why any other aspect of the PS3 sucks

For the record, the new visualizer looks nice if you happen to be playing music, which the PS3 does fairly well. Please feel free to tear this comment to shreds if you'd like to get back on topic. In exchange, I promise not to rant about the red ring of death when responding to any article where Xbox hardware isn't specifically mentioned.

Cheers,
TW

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm really beginning to wonder if you people are Microsoft paid astro-turfers that keep talking about Sony rootkits and Sony arrogance.

Technologically, the PS3 is turning out to be more interesting than I anticipated. Strangely, there is this powerful anti-Sony sentiment that has effectively killed interest in the platform on the internet.

Re:

[BLKMGK]

Perhaps it's not so strange considering the aforementioned rootkit and their continuous pushing of proprietary formats at every chance. Sony seems to always want to do it differently - for a cost premium to the end user. Their arrogance has gotten old and I, like many, avoid them when possible. Is that really so hard to understand?! I as a consumer fear the day they actually manage to get one of their "special" formats accepted as any kind of standard. Let's not forget they are as much a part of the variou

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

"I as a consumer fear the day they actually manage to get one of their "special" formats accepted as any kind of standard. "

You mean like... Compact Disc? Damn Sony (and their collaborators) and their damned proprietary formats.

Re:Oh cool!

[donscarletti]

Sony PS3 is a proprietary format, does not play games for any other platform, which is exactly the same as the other two consoles in the current generation. Sony PS3 uses USB and Bluetooth for controller communication, which are as standardised as anything else. Sony PS3 has slots for Sony's Memorystick, right next to its slots for SD and CF, the competing media. PS3 supports Sony's Blueray format as well as Toshiba's DVD and Sony's now standard CD.

As for the **AA, my (unhacked) PS3 lets me rip CDs to MP3s then copy them to other devices. I don't get what people are supposedly missing on the PS3 from those Japanese media tyrants called Sony, I can't speak for the XBox, but I've looked all through the Wii for the "Rip DVDs then share them on bittorrent channel" but if it was there I couldn't find it.

The Sony rootkit was a very evil thing to do, but it wasn't developed in house and only the music publishing division was involved. As for the competition, Microsoft calls its flagship rootkit an Operating System and still distributes it with impunity even though it contains DRM like NGSB and spyware like genuine advantage. As for Microsoft, everyone here has been chiding Sony because MS now has all the software being target for it. Doesn't this seem at all familiar to any of you? When Microsoft created the slightly cheaper platform that managed to take the market despite being not quite as powerful? All I know is that Sony's two generations of gaming hegemony were fun but Microsoft's twenty years of PC dominance brought nothing but crippled innovation and instability.

Re:

[BLKMGK]

Beta, UMD, Memory Stick Duo, BluRay. Probably more I've missed. I'm far from an XBOX fan - the only older XBOX I own are hacked to run XBMC and I only bought a 360 after they began to crack it too. I'm presently working on setting up XBMC on Linux and it's pretty solid but the Linux part can be a PITA. I won't get into an O/S pissing match\debate - we're talking about Sony not MSFT. Sony music and movies are a large part of their business. Know what DVD are hardest to rip these days? In my experience it's S

Re:

[donscarletti]

I mentioned that PS3 supports Memory Stick and Blueray, as well as the competing SD, CF and DVD formats, it does not support either UMD or Beta though, I don't know why they are interesting to the topic. Who cares if it supports Sony's formats if it supports other ones also? Sure, Sony have a movie buisiness and movie buisinesses are evil here, but is that really a problem here? When Nintendo were censoring all the religious, sexy and violent parts out of their games, Sony came in and said anything goes. Wh

Re:

[BLKMGK]

I stated that they push proprietary formats - and gave examples -> UMD, Beta, and their memory stick. This logic appears to have escaped you. I do not care so much about the PS3 as I do Sony as a company that is as close to evil as most any other save maybe Microsoft. For that reason I do not support the PS3, well that and it pushes yet another of Sony's formats they would like to see rule the world so they can receive unending royalties. If that hardware were made by someone else and wasn't pushing a pr

Similar PC Project

[Anonymous Coward]

If you have a few spare gigs and a crapload of bandwidth you can get a similar open source project which wasn't as impressive looking last time I ran it but which will let you use the full blue marble dataset:

http://www.andesengineering.com/BlueMarbleViewer/ [andesengineering.com]

Good visualizers for Windows or Linux?

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Any recommendations for good (and free, but not necessarily Free) music visualizers for Windows or maybe linux?

This is slashdot, so I'm sure no one will believe me, but I'm looking for something I can put on my projector and will look cool projected onto the bodies of drunk, semi-naked dancing girls. Yes, being semi-naked is not enough, they gotta have cool computer graphics on them to be interesting.

Re:

[Abcd1234]

I maintain that GOOM [ios-software.com] is one of the most effective visualizers I have ever seen. TBH, this earth visualizer, while somewhat pretty, is pretty friggin' boring, if you ask me. There seems to be very little actual algorithmic interpretation of the music... just a slow animation of a photorealistic earth model. Woo woo. But GOOM! The stuff it does continues to surprise me, and it's been running on my MythTV install for over a year, now.

Re:

[killeena]

I think the answers may depend of invites to this party. :)

There are some good visualization plugins for Winamp...
http://www.winamp.com/plugins/browse/1 [winamp.com]

Re:

[Pojut]

The Milkdrop plugin for WinAmp is positively insane...especially if you have a fast video card with a nice widescreen LCD monitor...crank up the resolution, FSAA, and texture size in the options and it looks unbelievable

Re:

[Breakfast Pants]

Someone wake me up when hardware can do this [google.com].