{"id":2841,"date":"2013-07-08T12:49:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T16:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=2841"},"modified":"2013-07-08T12:49:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-08T16:49:14","slug":"why-amds-next-gen-console-victories-are-a-big-win-for-pc-gamers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/07\/08\/why-amds-next-gen-console-victories-are-a-big-win-for-pc-gamers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why AMD's next-gen console victories are a big win for PC gamers"},"content":{"rendered":"
Let the light shine on the next generation of consoles. Let Microsoft and Sony slug it out in an epic battle for the eyeballs of living-room gamers everywhere. Let the headlines sing about slightly tweaked gamepads and bundled Kinect sensors. Why? Because these consoles harbor a portentous secret: Beneath all the drama about online DRM<\/a> and executive shuffling<\/a>, AMD hardware sits at the heart of every single next-gen game console. Every. Single. One.<\/em> (Yes, even the Wii U.)And because of this, the future has never looked brighter for PC gaming.
\nLet me explain.<\/p>\n

Jaguar roars<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Microsoft\u2019s Xbox One console, like Sony\u2019s PlayStation 4, carries a semicustom x86-based AMD APU.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before we talk benefits, we have to talk hardware, briefly.
\nWhen you get down to brass tacks and silicon, the underlying hardware for both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 amounts to that of a midrange gaming PC: Each console rocks a semicustom AMD APU<\/a> consisting of eight \u201cJaguar\u201d x86 CPU cores sharing the same die as a next-gen Radeon graphics processor.
\nBut enough tech talk! For details, check out our more in-depth comparison of PS4 vs. PC graphics<\/a>. This article is about the benefits we PC types\u00a0might gain from the x86 architecture that PCs and the next-gen consoles share.
\nAnd benefits we shall see. In fact, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 aren\u2019t even out yet, and PC gamers are already starting to reap tangible benefits from those consoles\u2019 computerized cores.<\/p>\n

Ports aplenty<\/h2>\n
\"\"EA<\/small>
Among the flood of top-tier games shown at E3, many titles, such as Battlefield 4, are coming to PCs and consoles alike.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PC gamers are used to being second-class citizens. Sure, we get our share of MMOs (such as\u00a0World of Warplanes<\/a> and Star Wars: The Old Republic<\/a>) and complex real-time strategy games (like Company of Heroes 2<\/a>) and the occasional gloriously detailed first-person shooter (hello, Crysis 3<\/a>!). But in general, most big-name games have bypassed the PC to land on consoles and consoles alone.
\n\u201cIn the past, consoles have had very unique architectures compared to the PC,\u201d says David Nalasco, a technical marketing manager with Radeon\u2019s GPU business. This situation has made cross-platform development more difficult, and making a game for a single platform already takes a ton of time, effort, and moolah. And with all that said, Nalasco notes that the very nature of consoles makes them appealing to developers.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re a game developer trying to get the most out of your platform, you\u2019re going to work on the one that\u2019s most straightforward\u2014the one you\u2019ve worked on for years and hasn\u2019t changed, and has a huge install base,\u201d he says.
\nHence, the PC\u2019s aura of neglect. But with x86 blood now coursing through every platform\u2019s virtual veins, those days may be ending.<\/p>\n