Linking consoles together for more power (next-gen, next-next gen, never-gen)?

S

Smokey

Member
So I've been thinking about this for a while now. Why hasn't this been done before, and will it ever? I know some games like Forza supported such a feature where you could link 3 Xbox 360's together, 3 tvs, and 3 games for a unique experience, but what about linking consoles together as a feature? Nintendo would never do such a thing, but what about MS or Sony? Linking 2 systems together for extra power would allow for even more graphical fidelity, better frames rates, etc for those who want it. Those who don't can still game just fine playing their games as they always have.

Of course it would be more expensive since you'd have to buy another console but why would Sony/MS care? That's another console sold for them and as I mentioned it wouldn't be a requirement. It would be a "feature".

Sony did announce something like this during their bogus E3 presentation before the PS3 launch, but is there a chance anything like this could happen for real? Or technically are there some challenges to doing this?

BF3 Ultra available on consoles right now for example would be a good thing IMO.
 
That would be giving up the advantages of a console platform to make something like a cumbersome but still underpowered PC.
 
I think there are more technical problems than what one would first think. How would you link them together? With a cable? How much bandwidth would you need to do something like that?
 
Atomski said:
Because it makes a lot more sense to just buy a PC than multiple consoles..
Click to expand...

Not really. If you were able to buy 2 of the cheapest variants of 360s today and were able to link them together (somehow), you're looking at what...$350-$400? 1 of my GPUs in my machine cost more than that.

Again I'm sure there are probably some technical hurdles that I'm missing. This would be for people who want better graphics and the like. So naturally it would be aimed at the hardcore, and not the mainstream.
 
JY4vD.jpg


SEGA tragically ahead of the curve once again.
 
Well, in theory this isn't dissimilar to using multiple graphics cards on PC, which has been done for years. The problem is that two consoles won't give you twice the power. To make effective use of a feature like that the game would need to be designed with a lot of complex load-balancing systems in the code.

It could be done but the cost and complexity outweighs the benefit.
 
Smokey said:
Not really. If you were able to buy 2 of the cheapest variants of 360s today and were able to link them together (somehow), you're looking at what...$350-$400? 1 of my GPUs in my machine cost more than that.
Click to expand...
If that is the case, then that GPU is also 5 times more powerful than 2 360s.
 
Smokey said:
So I've been thinking about this for a while now. Why hasn't this been done before, and will it ever? I know some games like Forza supported such a feature where you could link 3 Xbox 360's together, 3 tvs, and 3 games for a unique experience, but what about linking consoles together as a feature? Nintendo would never do such a thing, but what about MS or Sony? Linking 2 systems together for extra power would allow for even more graphical fidelity, better frames rates, etc for those who want it. Those who don't can still game just fine playing their games as they always have.
Click to expand...

3117g8sD8hL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


They won't do it in the future, but the expansion pak is pretty much exactly what you are asking for =P
 
Durante said:
If that is the case, then that GPU is also 5 times more powerful than 2 360s.
Click to expand...

Possibly.

I started thinking about this after watching the 60fps Uncharted 3 video yesterday. Sony could make a killing having a feature like that available to those who wanted it to get the game running like that. It's extra units sold to them.
 
Turrican3 said:
IIRC Sony did something like (EDIT demo, probably? or is it supported in the retail version too?) that for GT5.
Click to expand...

yeah, I think I read it somewhere, Sony link 3 or 4 ps3 together to demo GT5 on 4k resolution or something , they display it on a big cinema screen.
 
All you'd need to do to keep up with Moore's Law is buy another console after one and a half years, then two more after three years, then four more after four and a half years, and so on. Brilliant.
 
ultron87 said:
Didn't this already happen with the Wii?
Click to expand...

I wanted to put this in the OP. But I refrained from doing so lol.

Callibretto said:
yeah, I think I read it somewhere, Sony link 3 or 4 ps3 together to demo GT5 on 4k resolution or something , they display it on a big cinema screen.
Click to expand...

Yes they did. So we know it can be done. Same concept, but actually making it a reality.
 
Smokey said:
Yes they did. So we know it can be done. Same concept, but actually making it a reality.
Click to expand...

Well, combined processing is nothing new and they've been doing it on PCs for ages (CG is made using large computer farms). From a hardware perspective it's not particularly difficult or sophisticated. It's just that they really aren't going to go through the trouble/expense of developing an alternate version of a game for the few people who would ever use this.
 
I was thinking Nintendo might do this with the wii CPU/gpu that will probably be in the wii u for BC? They are already so low wattage, get them working to spit out the screens effects, while the rest works on the TV output.
 
Gamer @ Heart said:
I was thinking Nintendo might do this with the wii CPU/gpu that will probably be in the wii u for BC? They are already so low wattage, get them working to spit out the screens effects, while the rest works on the TV output.
Click to expand...

Nintendo would be the last to do something like this.

Bear said:
Well, combined processing is nothing new and they've been doing it on PCs for ages (CG is made using large computer farms). From a hardware perspective it's not particularly difficult or sophisticated. It's just that they really aren't going to go through the trouble/expense of developing an alternate version of a game for the few people who would ever use this.
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Well said. And probably true :(
 
I'd easily pay $1,000 for a PS3 that could run everything at 1080p60, even if the effects were the same as the regular version.
 
Ultron stole my post.

I don't see how this would be different than 32x. Split the userbase, etc. Seems kinda dumb.
 
Um don't think it's quite that simple. You would need some third piece of equipment designed by Sony/MS to get them to cooperate rendering the same shit, for starters. Not sure how complex or expensive it would need to be. If it were possible, I guess developers could optimize their games for that setup as well, but just trying to up the framerate or resolution on games not designed for it sounds like it could cause all kinds of bullshit.
 
Red UFO said:
I think there are more technical problems than what one would first think. How would you link them together? With a cable? How much bandwidth would you need to do something like that?
Click to expand...
Thunderbolt?
 
Developers would have to develop their games for the 13 people who might try it.

Technical issues (the how) aside....that alone would make it not worth it.
 
Z_Y said:
Developers would have to develop their games for the 13 people who might try it.

Technical issues (the how) aside....that alone would make it not worth it.
Click to expand...
Because what you are saying is not true. Developers make games for 3 platforms, and one of those platforms supports the feature we are talking about for 2 different hardware vendors no less. It could done and it would be useful. Just look how Sony's first party games take a hit in visual fidelity when playing in 3D mode.
 
Z_Y said:
Developers would have to develop their games for the 13 people who might try it.

Technical issues (the how) aside....that alone would make it not worth it.
Click to expand...
If it's just for a resolution or fps boost it shouldn't be too difficult, since they're just parallellizing or splitting the workload.
 
Refreshment.01 said:
Because what you are saying is not true. Developers make games for 3 platforms, and one of those platforms supports the feature we are talking about from 2 different vendors. It could done and it would be useful. Just look how Sony's first party games take a hit in visual fidelity when playing in 3D mode.
Click to expand...
what am I saying that is not true? You're not just going to connect two 360s up via a USB and double your frame rate. That would take development time and money. Time and money that would be spent on a very small number of consumers relatively speaking.
 
Smokey said:
So I've been thinking about this for a while now. Why hasn't this been done before, and will it ever? I know some games like Forza supported such a feature where you could link 3 Xbox 360's together, 3 tvs, and 3 games for a unique experience, but what about linking consoles together as a feature? Nintendo would never do such a thing, but what about MS or Sony? Linking 2 systems together for extra power would allow for even more graphical fidelity, better frames rates, etc for those who want it. Those who don't can still game just fine playing their games as they always have.
Click to expand...
HDMI 1.0 bandwidth: 3.96Gbps
HDMI 1.3 bandwidth: 8.16Gbps
Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth: .... yeah

If you want to drive a single display from multiple consoles, how exactly would you connect them?

edit: you could probably squeeze 720p30 through a Gb Ethernet link (661Mbps w/o audio). Or possibly even 1080p30 half-frames (1920x540; 746Mbps). Theoretically...
 
Smokey said:
what about linking consoles together as a feature? Nintendo would never do such a thing, but what about MS or Sony? Linking 2 systems together for extra power would allow for even more graphical fidelity, better frames rates, etc for those who want it. Those who don't can still game just fine playing their games as they always have.
Click to expand...


Research Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X.

Nintendo 64 with the expansion pak so you could play Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong.

Research my friend, you'll find it isn't such a niche idea after all.
 
Rolf NB said:
HDMI 1.0 bandwidth: 3.96Gbps
HDMI 1.3 bandwidth: 8.16Gbps
Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth: .... yeah

If you want to drive a single display from multiple consoles, how exactly would you connect them?

edit: you could probably squeeze 720p30 through a Gb Ethernet link (661Mbps w/o audio). Or possibly even 1080p30 half-frames (1920x540; 746Mbps). Theoretically...
Click to expand...

Doesn't HDMI 1.4 feature Ethernet LAN in itself? No idea about bandwidth or uses though.
 
Z_Y said:
what am I saying that is not true?
Click to expand...
I was addressing this statement:

Developers would have to develop their games for the 13 people who might try it. Time and money that would be spent on a very small number of consumers relatively speaking.

It seems you didn't read the rest of my replay. Developers right now and for years have been developing games that support multi GPU configurations from 2 different hardware vendors. On top of that they are making games for 3 different hardware platforms. So in conclusion if Sony supported multi system rendering, developers wouldn't have a very hard time supporting it. Now, how appealing this would be from an user stand point is a different matter.

Z_Y said:
You're not just going to connect two 360s up via a USB and double your frame rate. That would take development time and money. Time and money that would be spent on a very small number of consumers relatively speaking.
Click to expand...
I don't even know why you chose that example. USB would be too slow if we are going to use one game for multi rendering. A most faster interface would be necessary. Anyway, like i said above if the feature is supported from the design phase of say the PS4, implementation wouldn't take much dev time and extra money.
 
woodypop said:
Why the hell is there a cleaning cartridge in there?! Does it even work as a pass-through?
Click to expand...


Maybe the picture taker was trying to be funny...turning this Sega machine into some transformer compound type ish.
 
Refreshment.01 said:
I was addressing this statement:

Developers would have to develop their games for the 13 people who might try it. Time and money that would be spent on a very small number of consumers relatively speaking.

It seems you didn't read the rest of my replay. Developers right now and for years have been developing games that support multi GPU configurations from 2 different hardware vendors. On top of that they are making games for 3 different hardware platforms. So in conclusion if Sony supported multi system rendering, developers wouldn't have a very hard time supporting it. Now, how appealing this would be from an user stand point is a different matter.


I don't even know why you chose that example. USB would be too slow if we are going to use one game for multi rendering. A most faster interface would be necessary. Anyway, like i said above if the feature is supported from the design phase of say the PS4, implementation wouldn't take much dev time and extra money.
Click to expand...
Post pretty much nails it.
 
Rolf NB said:
HDMI 1.0 bandwidth: 3.96Gbps
HDMI 1.3 bandwidth: 8.16Gbps
Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth: .... yeah

If you want to drive a single display from multiple consoles, how exactly would you connect them?

edit: you could probably squeeze 720p30 through a Gb Ethernet link (661Mbps w/o audio). Or possibly even 1080p30 half-frames (1920x540; 746Mbps). Theoretically...
Click to expand...
They don't really need heavy bandwidth since the consoles just need to talk to each other to know which parts of the scene to render.
 
You can do it. It'd be ridiculously costly since the hardware/firmware would need to handle it and it's not something most people would use. Software implementation would likely be too slow and no dev will be doing that. Thunderbolt would be more than enough from an interface perspective.
 
32X much?

In any case, this will never happen. Devs go out of their way to make sure multi-plat titles look as similar as possible (because of the incessant flame wars that erupt when they don't). Those that want it to look as nice as possible under whatever they define as a reasonable budget have long ago jumped to PC gaming.
 
I'm not sure of the "how" part , but I figured it could be done. People who wanted to could play uncharted 3 in glorious 60fps, full HD etc with something like this rather than providing a multi GPU solution in a small box.
 
DonMigs85 said:
They don't really need heavy bandwidth since the consoles just need to talk to each other to know which parts of the scene to render.
Click to expand...
Except for the part where these individual parts need to be combined onto a single display.

All multi-console link features to date revolved around driving multiple displays with different viewports. Not provide more fidelity on a single display.
 
Yeah, this wouldn't be very hard to implement on the development side.

But I hope it never happens...I already have enough boxes under my TV and I won't be able to resist an upgrade in power.
 
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