PS5’s Loading Times May Not Be Improved Despite SSD, Warns Remedy Entertainment

[Tsing]

A lot of the hype surrounding the PlayStation 5 thus far has revolved around the console's inclusion of an super-fast SSD, but Remedy Entertainment's technical director thinks gamers should tone down their expectations. In a recent interview with PlayStation Official Magazine, Mika Vehkala warned that loading times may not be any different due to the nature of game development and how things are always getting bigger and bigger: "...more data can be now used there can also be cases where production might be cheaper and faster when not optimizing content, which will lead into having to load much more data, leading back into a situation where you have about the same loading times as today."

It is almost the same as with CPU and GPU enhancements. You could do things faster or you could add more content and run things the same 30fps as before; often times it is the latter. We game developers can make 60fps games even on PlayStation 1! It’s always about compromise: are you focussing on visuals, physics, AI, and such things or purely framerate? The new PS5 hardware will be powerful, yes, but also expectations are that graphics will be even more detailed, more destruction, etc and it’s always a compromise as to where we focus.

 

[Brian_B]

Yeah... Mika Vehkala, the new Captain Obvious.

He's not wrong, but he isn't exactly preaching a new revelation either.

 

[ThreeDee]

well .. I WAS going to get a PS5 ..

Really?

...no .. not really ..

 

[Uvilla]

Translation: hardware gets better and better so we optimize less and less.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

I've actually been shocked as to how many different benches are out there for storage. Unless Sony can very fimly lock down how games are made some will always show advantages over others. Small files, large files, cache sizes, bursts, etc., there's always a catch.

Even with good ole' fashioned SATA 3 you can see some impressive bursts for caches until the pipes get full. No matter how fast new tech gets it's going to eventually show the same if they follow a similar model/architecture.

edit: Not just shocked how many benches but also how many different designs there are. It's not just SLC/MLC/3D whatever but also controller chips and some other factors. A lot more to consider if speed is the only consideration. File types, sizes, need to be considered as well.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

I'll still be looking at a PS5 next winter but will likely begin a 3750x build by then instead.