PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are unlikely to replicate CGI-quality visuals for quite some time, according to ex-Naughty Dog coder, John Hable.
Speaking with GamingBolt, Hable said that while Sony and Microsoft’s latest hardware are both very capable machines, it’ll be a while before they start pumping out the same quality visuals as today’s state-of-the-art CGI. In addition, he also feels that 4K isn’t going to come knocking until the PS6 arrives on the scene.
"Honestly, it is hard to say. I think it will be a very long time. The current crop of consoles is much better than the previous generation, but the trailers are getting better too,” said Hable. “If you really want to hit that level of quality then you need staggering triangle counts with really long shaders. Photoreal global illumination is very easy offline but very difficult in realtime.
“I don’t have a good answer for you, but my guess would be longer than you think. One more console generation seems too quick. Maybe in two more generations? That would be PS6 and the 5th gen Xbox? And if we need to render in 4k then add another generation which puts us at PS7 and 6th gen Xbox. It’ll be a while.”
Hable said during the same interview that he finds it hard to believe PS4 games will see the same leap in visuals at PS3 did with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – The Last of Us.