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Could and should Sony use Direct X in the PS6?

Would the new PSVR be backwards compatible with the older PS4 titles had they used Direct X?
In other words, would it have allowed multiple hardware rather than the one specific to the PSVR?
 

marquimvfs

Member
Would the new PSVR be backwards compatible with the older PS4 titles had they used Direct X?
In other words, would it have allowed multiple hardware rather than the one specific to the PSVR?
Retrocompatibility is not so software (API) dependent nowadays, given that there's s enough horsepower to emulate the different layers of software. If the developers have enough incentive to do so, literally everything is possible if the hardware is strong enough.
 
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Retrocompatibility is not so software (API) dependent nowadays, given that there's s enough horsepower to emulate the different layers of software. If the developers have enough incentive to do so, literally everything is possible if the hardware is strong enough.
What I'm asking is, had the PSVR used some sort of API, Direct X or Vulcan or whatever, Would that have allowed them to use different hardware (headsets) with the older software?
Would a VR API have made that possible? NO emulation or any of that jazz.
I'm asking this because I'm sour on VR because Sony is unable or unwilling to bring the older VR titles to the new PS5 headsets.
Not using a standard API like Direct X is causing older titles to be locked to older machines. Now you are forced to bring up emulation. Thats the problem, API should help solve that issue.

That has nothing to do with Directx.
Thats why I'm asking, If API has nothing to do with VR then maybe it should.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
Thats why I'm asking, If API has nothing to do with VR then maybe it should.
They should, they could but they won't. I thought they would do it, but I was wrong. The games already run on PS5, and nothing stops them from allowing you play them in PSVR2 but lots of those games are coded to Move control scheme and that's one reason why I think they don't want to put in the effort to. They want a clean break from PSVR 1.
 
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I'm a consumer, its not relevant to me what API is being used to make the game I am playing.
I used to think this until I got my Steam Deck, Now I have to research all this stuff and make sure I have the best version of Proton for a game.
Not fun. Ok maybe it's a little fun.
 
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I used to think this until I got my Steam Deck, Now I have to research all this stuff and make sure I have the best version of Proton for a game.
Not fun. Ok maybe it's a little fun.
I used to spend a lot of time researching this stuff as well, would engage in console warring, etc --- but I don't know, in the end it doesn't make a big difference to me. I just want to play videogames and have fun.
 

marquimvfs

Member
What I'm asking is, had the PSVR used some sort of API, Direct X or Vulcan or whatever, Would that have allowed them to use different hardware (headsets) with the older software?
Would a VR API have made that possible? NO emulation or any of that jazz.
Not, it wouldn't. To answer your own question, just look a the number of classic games (DirectX compilant) that refuses to work on newer versions of Windows. And you don't need to look at very old games, games launched on previous versions sometimes fail to launch on recently launched Windows versions. DirectX itself is not an guarantee to infinite (or even longer) retrocompatibility.
 
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The question more than if Sony would adopt it would be if MS would want to implement and allow DirectX on PS and Switch. But they won't because they want you buy an Xbox instead.

Sony wouldn't use it because they have a better solution more optimized for gaming and consoles, generating less overhead to provide a little extra performance and allowing devs 'code to the metal', while DirectX has another approach more designed to use it on a wider range of hardware.

Nowadays most devs don't care because they don't touch it because unlike in the past now it's more common to use external game engines like Unity or Unreal who are the ones who interact with DirectX and similar. Or even in the case of AAA companies who build their own engines, or in the UE/Unity teams there's a specific team for these things so most of the other devs don't care, it's transparent for them. And the ones working with these things would choose the most optimized possibility in terms of performance/memory usage/etc., which pretty likely would be platform specific solution instead of the other solution that supports a very wide amount of different hardware.
Actually I think Microsoft would be happy for Sony to use it. You would have thought the same thing that Microsoft wouldn't want to help Sony by letting them use Azure servers for the streaming service, yet here they are.
I don't even think MS makes any money off DX. I'm nor sure how that all works.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
Actually I think Microsoft would be happy for Sony to use it.
Actually, you don't know what you are talking about. Have you considered that Directx for the most part is a suite of proprietary APIs that runs on proprietary windows kernel. Consider that Microsoft would also have to provide all that proprietary information to Sony for their windows kernel, drivers etc. Unless in your head you imagine Microsoft, who has not created a Linux version would create a DX fork for Free BSD.

You would have thought the same thing that Microsoft wouldn't want to help Sony by letting them use Azure servers for the streaming service, yet here they are.

Azure is a commercial cloud platform that anyone can use. Nobody is letting anyone use anything, people are paying for a service. Moreover, Sony does not use Azure, they signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to collaborate.
I don't even think MS makes any money off DX. I'm nor sure how that all works.
That much is clear. DX is their graphics API for windows, Microsoft makes money off windows OS.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Not, i wouldn't. To answer your own question, just look a the number of classic games (DirectX compilant) that refuses to work on newer versions of Windows. And you don't need to look at very old games, games launched on previous versions sometimes fail to launch on recently launched Windows versions. DirectX itself is not an guarantee to infinite (or even longer) retrocompatibility.
I guess there is a lot of confusion out there in terms of just what an API is and what it does, because people seem to think that the existence of the DirectX API solves all these problems in terms of compatibility and going forward. When in reality, the API solves these problems because MS chooses to use the API to solve them. It’s not magic. MS intentionally says, “we are going to keep compatibility so we need to engineer the API to keep compatibility.” If they don’t, stuff breaks. We’ve started to see more breakage over the years as MS has moved away somewhat from their previously ironclad focus on compatibility, because in the end that focus on compatibility is not cost-free. Which is why other companies like Apple don’t focus on it in the same way and as such break stuff with new releases constantly.

Likewise, back to the original question, if Sony were to adopt DirectX they would essentially be adopting MS’ entire approach for their own, like it or not. If some API change is good for Windows but bad for PlayStation, tough shit. That’s the downside of not being in control of your own platform.
 

yurinka

Member
Actually I think Microsoft would be happy for Sony to use it. You would have thought the same thing that Microsoft wouldn't want to help Sony by letting them use Azure servers for the streaming service, yet here they are.
I don't even think MS makes any money off DX. I'm nor sure how that all works.
Yes, MS would be happy to see Sony using it for PS but Sony first would always prefer their own stuff without the extra overhead that DirectX adds from the other versions, and also being Sony's stuff don't depend on somebody else to do stuff, and also saves them from having to share certain critical stuff in terms of security with an external company -and this case their direct competitor- like MS.

Also, the engine programmers who work on PS from Sony and the other publishers who make their own engines and the guys from the commercial game engines would always choose the most optimal, more optimized in terms of performance option. And I assume it would always be the option console specific one made by the console maker, in this case Sony.

Regarding MS making money from DirectX they don't make it from it directly. DirectX makes easier to develop games for Windows and Xbox, so they make DirectX to make sure there are more games published on Windows and Xbox. MS gets money from people buying Windows, Xbox, buying games for Xbox and their PC store and from GP. So the more games are there, the more money they have.
 
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Md Ray

Member
No, it should be the other way around. Microsoft should adopt Sony's GNM or whatever the PS5's low-level API is, and use it on their Xbox and PC.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
If a dev wants DirectX like API the PS5 has AGC(X).
If they want to go closer to the metal they have AGC.

Why would Sony want to leverage another API when their low level API works better than DirectX and their highlevel API is basically an equivalent to DirectX?
So, DX12 on Xbox is not as low level as Sony's API?
 
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Duchess

Member
Remember, the reason the Xbox exists is because Microsoft wanted Sony to use Windows / Direct X in the PS2. Sony told them to go jump in a lake, so MS made their own console.

100% true*.

(* - actually not, but not entirely false either)
 
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