backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 86 comment(s) - last by Gzus666.. on Nov 26 at 9:41 AM
Performance difference is credited to faster CPU in 2G touch

The iPod touch and iPhone are typically considered to be twins with the obvious exception that the touch lacks the phone hardware. Games and applications for the iPhone are usually able to play on the iPod touch as well.

Thomas Fessler, CEO of Handheld Games Corp., says that the 3D performance between the platforms is far from the same, according to Touch Arcade. TouchSport Tennis from the company is one of the most demanding game titles for the platform and according to Fessler; the performance of the game is very different between the iPod touch and iPhone.

Significant performance differences are seen between the generations of the touch device and iPhone as well. Fessler says that his company had to modify its game to run well across all platforms and that the 2G iPod touch is by far the highest performing platform for mobile gaming from Apple.

For play on the iPod touch 2G, Handheld Games used two players with 1,500 polygons each and 32 bones and were still able to get fluid gameplay. The original iPod touch wasn't able to run the game with the same settings, and in some instances, the iPhone wasn't able to get the game to play either. The company had to reduce the polygons to 800 per player to get fluid gameplay on some platforms.

The reason the performance difference is so noticeable on games that push the hardware is that the 2G iPod touch has a processor running at 523MHz, up from 412MHz. The iPhone and the iPhone 3G along with the first generation touch all run the slower 412MHz processor speed.

Fessler says that the GPU in the new touch may have been tweaked as well, but there is no evidence making that change concrete at this time. Those with a first generation iPod touch may not be able to run some of the more hardware intensive games coming to the market.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
A joke of a portable gaming device
By TerranMagistrate on 11/24/2008 12:44:07 PM , Rating: 3
No matter how hard Apple tries to push the ipod touch/iphone as a legitimate competitor to the DS and PSP, they're destined to fail. It's like comparing a flash-based internet game to a console game.




RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 11/24/2008 12:58:14 PM , Rating: 1
I really don't care what they aim it at, but as a gaming platform -- I love it.

I have a 32GB iPod touch 2G and I used it to play quite a few games (mostly puzzle games) but it's a good time waster:

Cubes
Uno
Solebon Solitaire
Touch4
X-Plane

I, however, can't wait until Sim City comes out next month for it. I probably play Uno and Cubes the most, but the real beauty in the iPod touch is that it's a do-everything, take everywhere device. I pop it in my pocket where it doesn't even make a dent in my pants, hop in my car and hook it up to my aux-in and jam to some tunes. Then whenever I get where I'm going, I can play some games, surf the net, check my email, or do any of hundreds of other things with apps from the App Store.

I don't think that many other devices come close to offer a "total package" with such storage capacity and game/application options in such a small form-factor.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By quiksilvr on 11/24/2008 1:16:38 PM , Rating: 1
The price is still too ridiculous for my taste. I'd rather just get the Archos 5. Much more functionality and a more realistic price.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By Chaser on 11/24/2008 2:36:18 PM , Rating: 2
The Archos is big for a pocket, its pricing for functionality misleading and it's not a phone.


By quiksilvr on 11/24/2008 7:15:04 PM , Rating: 3
...we're weren't talking about a phone, we were talking about the iTouch.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By michael2k on 11/24/2008 2:41:47 PM , Rating: 1
Where can you even buy an Archos 5? The Archos store lists only the Archos 7, and for over $400! How is that cheaper than an iPod touch? 32GB is less storage, yes, but the iPod touch is also more portable!

Amazon lists the 120GB Archos 5 for $389, and much larger too. The Archos 5 won't fit in your pocket.

So it's the old "Creative Nomad with 3.5" HDD vs iPod with 1.8" HDD" all over again.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By Gzus666 on 11/24/2008 5:05:00 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
So it's the old "Creative Nomad with 3.5" HDD vs iPod with 1.8" HDD" all over again.


It would be quite the feat to fit a 3.5" HDD in anything but a normal tower computer. Last I checked even much larger laptops use 2.5" hard drives, how would it be possible this music player uses a hard drive that is larger than the device itself?


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By michael2k on 11/24/08, Rating: 0
RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By Gzus666 on 11/24/2008 7:28:32 PM , Rating: 3
Or maybe you have no idea what you are talking about?

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/tom,review-12-11.html
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/tom,review-12-13.html

Looks like a 2.5" to me. Also says it is and it is is 6GB. Also it had USB 1.1.

Do you enjoy being wrong all the time or do you just not know better? The fact that you thought it was a 3.5" drive is amazing, they are like an inch and a half thick on their own. This just makes it even more clear you know all of nothing about anything electronic.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By michael2k on 11/24/2008 7:50:54 PM , Rating: 2
You're right! Now I'll have to correct all my future posts on the Creative Nomad Jukebox.

And just so you think I'm right sometimes, I measured a 3.5" HDD on my coworker's desk. It's only 1" high, or 25mm if you're metric, not over an inch and a half. Point for me, yay.


By Gzus666 on 11/24/2008 7:58:06 PM , Rating: 2
You should refer to my use of "like" an inch and a half. This is called an estimate, cause while I have a 3.5 sitting here, I don't have a tape measure near. An estimate serves perfectly fine, as it is not really the issue. Surely an inch thick is not the point that makes it usable in the device, so the estimate is moot.


By Darth Farter on 11/24/2008 1:18:00 PM , Rating: 2
I fully agree. I'm by no means an apple user or fanboy... a while back I actually preferred a Zen xtra as mp3 player.

However 3rd party support and especially the mobility of the touch (bought last year) and the 3G that I have now (while my GF is getting addicted to poker, puzzles and "pets" on the touch in her free time) gave me lots of respect to the platform.

you basically take it anywhere, and when you have to wait in line, are bored at work, if there's a power outage, or just for productivity (messenger, scheduling, to-do lists, stocks, mailing, etc) I found this device extremely handy when jailbreaked.

anyway, I've never even used a mac, cause I love being able to run everything on my pc's.. but this is also the very same reason the Touch and especially the iPhone as they are extremely handy when jailbreaked (and since firmware 2 with the app store too)

appz:
Beejiveim, fring (skype-ish), things, mail, weather, stocks, safari, winterboard, dynolicious, converter, spore, cycorder, mxtube(youtube downloader), tunewiki, Holdem poker, maxefinger, igotchi, asphalt4, facebook, taptapRevenge, bejeweled, Icanhazcheezburger, gpsphone(good gameboy emulator!!), linerider and iphysics can entertain me for days without the need to actually use my pc.

note: I didn't pay anything for these as there's lots of places to get appz for free instead of paying for them ... though if I would be able to from my location I'd prolly pay for some of those for respect.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By kmmatney on 11/24/2008 4:47:51 PM , Rating: 2
I have a DS, with an 8 GB memory card, which is a great system for games and music. Maybe not the best music player, but the games are great (I have SIM city...), and as a music player it works well enough, and the memory is easily expandable. A nice gaming/music system for less than $150.


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By michael2k on 11/24/2008 4:59:14 PM , Rating: 1
Yes, but your DS doesn't have a phone, so you will still need to carry a phone AND a DS around.

The logic here is that I have an 8GB iPhone that only cost me $199 up front, has a great music player, is good for games, has plenty of memory, and has lots of other functionality on top of that.

Your DS with 8GB... isn't that hacked? Or does the new DSes have the ability to integrate with MicroSD?


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By StevoLincolnite on 11/24/2008 8:38:39 PM , Rating: 2
Not everyone needs or wants a phone, Might sound crazy but I hate phones, I always leave mine at home, I just can't bear the thought of going out to lunch with someone only to spend the whole time on the phone sending text messages or talking to someone. - Then again I live in the country, which I find is less reliant on such devices.


By michael2k on 11/25/2008 6:47:29 PM , Rating: 2
More people need phones than gaming devices, however :)


RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By michael2k on 11/24/08, Rating: 0
RE: A joke of a portable gaming device
By omnicronx on 11/24/2008 1:25:18 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
The iPhone/iPod have 412MHz GPUs and CPUs and OpenGL support. Essentially it's a DreamCast in your pocket.

How many times do I have to tell you these numbers are not comparable? The OS on a console is basically a bootloader that barely takes up any resources coupled with the fact that the processors(cpu and gpu) are optimized to be used specifically for gaming use.

The playstion was only 33MHZ, yet to emulate a playstion game on a PC, a 450MHZ-500MHZ processor with a good 3D accelerator is required.

You are not comparing Apples to Apples, and who cares about OpenGL support when comparing to a DS, it obviously has its own API designed specially for the platform, (which is always more efficient than a crossplatform API such as OpenGL)

I'm not knocking the iPhone as a gaming device, it think it has potential, but a 333Mhz PSP will outshine the iPhone pretty much any day in terms of performance.