Maybe scramble is a poor choice of word, but if more than 4 cores becomes a requirement for next gen games, they have nothing in their mainstream lineup and would probably introduce a new socket to run whatever $200 8 core they release, potentially rendering the Z87 boards obsolete.
Right now Intel have the best CPUs for gaming, but that may change when the new consoles arrive. Since they'll be using AMD 8 core units, it's possible that paralleling workload across 4-6 cores could become the standard in game code development, leaving Intel scrambling to release CPUs with more than 4 cores.
Aside from power savings, Haswell offers little over Sandy and Ivy unless you care about onboard graphics (which don't matter if you're installing a discrete GPU). It's why I'm still just overclocking the piss out of my trusty old Clarkdale i5- waiting to see where game development heads in the next year before I commit to a socket and CPU style.
Digital Foundry (always an amazing source) did a great write up on this very subject, and many developers are recommending AMD for future proof CPUs. Read more here:
Eh, maybe. Lets not forget this is the same company who talked about a "used game fee", which it turned out didn't even exist. Their PR people obviously have a huge disconnect with the tech department, and any question they don't know the answer to gets spun. Still waiting.
I acquire all my games via Steam, and if I happen to buy a PS4 or XB1 I would also go digital. A lot of people won't, however (data caps, etc), and allowing installed play without disc swapping will be appreciated (or at least should be, judging by all the whining about FFXIII).
An online check is a sensible requirement if you're going to allow people to play games installed from the disc without the disc loaded, a convenience that Sony isn't offering people unwilling or unable to download all their games at 10-20gb a whack.
You can do it with digital downloads, not disc based games.
@mandude:
If Sony lets people buy a disc at GameStop, install it to their HDD and then play with no disc in the tray and no online registration then I'll eat my hat. Either the disc IS the DRM or online checks are needed. If neither happens, piracy will run rampant on PS4, and one retail copy of CoD will get passed around every high school in the country for kids to install an play free.
Yep. But despite Sony's rocky start, lack of games and perceived arrogance, they still ended up neck and neck with MS in this generation.
If Sony survived that and all the associated memes ($599 US DOLLARS! Get a second job! Cell powered refrigerators!), anyone who thinks the XB1 will flop because of E3 is kidding themselves.
After how badly they've communicated everything else, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if a phrase like "When the disc isn't in the tray" was left off there unintentionally.
With all the talk of the cloud, the bits, etc, all their statements seem to be pertaining specifically to disc free gameplay.
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