# I'm alarmed that so many games seem to be pushing the Xbox 360 to its limits already. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464 "2008-02-13T18:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/1 "2008-02-13T18:39:50Z")
It didn’t used to be like this, did it? I’ve been playing _Mass Effect_ and _Oblivion_ recently, both released in basically the first year of the system’s life, and both games seem to be absolutely pushing the system to its limit. Terrible framerate issues, lots of pop-in, things like textures popping in even during cut scenes, constant loading screens, and both games sound like they’re just _chewing_ through the disc the entire time. What’s up? It seems like in the past, it was only toward the end of a system’s cycle that developers really started absolutely maxxxxing out the available resources to them. This is year one! And now _Lost Odyssey_ comes on **four** DVD’s…geez. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/2 "2008-02-13T18:48:55Z")
Heh, one of the reason I love my PC. It’s a bit expensive to keep up, but I can run Oblivion at settings that the XBOX 360 can’t and at a much better clip 🙂 I do agree with you on the difference in trend. Maybe the hardware wasn’t fully ready to deal with the higher Hd gaming resolutions? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/3 "2008-02-13T18:49:52Z")
I don’t care. Let it come on 100 discs. Just give me all the awesome on my 360. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/4 "2008-02-13T19:13:20Z")
I think Mass Effect just shipped without optimization or polish, it is not the fault of any 360 limitations. Mass Effect, although a great game, is filled with areas and functions that should have “under construction” stamped across them. It’s a Bioware problem, really, they write great stories but can’t code worth crap. Knights of the Republic is graphically outdated and simple, but my newer PC with high-end graphic card still chokes and slows down on it. Developers haven’t been maxing out resources, they have been publishing within resources that they don’t have the experience to fully exploit and optimize yet. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/5 "2008-02-13T19:19:49Z")
FWIW, every 360 game I have appears to spin the disk constantly. It never shuts off. Even Top Spin 2, which presumably never has to load anything once you’ve started a match. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/6 "2008-02-13T20:11:47Z")
Yeah, I would hope it’s lack of optimization. The early PS2 games weren’t that impressive compared to later ones like God of War. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/7 "2008-02-13T20:38:25Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Yeah, I would hope it’s lack of optimization. The early PS2 games weren’t that impressive compared to later ones like God of War. [/QUOTE] Or Shadows of the Colossus. Damn that game is pretty. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/8 "2008-02-13T20:43:21Z")
Wasn’t Oblivion one of the first XBox 360 games? It isn’t that it is pushing the 360’s limits, it is that the programmers had no clue how to get things to work properly in the 360. Definitely an optimization issue - one which I doubt that they will patch. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/9 "2008-02-13T20:56:18Z")
[QUOTE=Kinthalis] Heh, one of the reason I love my PC. It’s a bit expensive to keep up, but I can run Oblivion at settings that the XBOX 360 can’t and at a much better clip 🙂 I do agree with you on the difference in trend. Maybe the hardware wasn’t fully ready to deal with the higher Hd gaming resolutions? [/QUOTE] Probably this is the issue. If you were just coding for the XBox, you could target a certain disk read speed and RAM space. Once that becomes variable, by adding in desktop limits, you’re less likely to optimise for the lower abilities so long as it runs “good enough” there. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/10 "2008-02-13T22:07:23Z")
I do also think it has something to do with lack of optimization as well, which is directly tied to the ever shorter development times studios have to deal with now. Studios need more time to get it done right, publishers want money now. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-alarmed-that-so-many-games-seem-to-be-pushing-the-xbox-360-to-its-limits-already/437464/11 "2008-02-22T15:15:35Z")
As others have said, its more of an optimisation issue than anything else - same with the PS3. If i remember, the Mass Effect issues were mainly to do with the version of the Unreal Engine that they had available to work with at the time.