Square Enix Starts Work on Next Generation Engine
And guess whose pointy haired mug they're using to promote it?
Posted Mar 13, 2010 at 02:09, By Anoop Gantayat
Square Enix appears to have started work on a next generation game engine. And the image they've used to promote this fact is sure to draw some controversy.
Visit the the company's recruit page, and, as of March 9, you'll see this:
Above that little strip of Cloud Strife, the text reads "Seeking the highest level of talent," and in smaller characters, "New generation game engine development project starts."
The Japanese text in the large paragraph below Cloud notes that thanks to the appearance of the PS3 and Xbox 360, video game graphics and sound have seen dramatic increases. In the future, gaming visuals and sound could meet or even exceed movie quality, demanding a high level game development environment. To meet the quality demanded of games in the coming years while dealing with costs, game development environments will need not just "reforms," but "revolution."
"At Square Enix, in anticipation of the appearance of next generation platforms, we've started development on a new generation game engine for competing beyond the level of the strong developers throughout the world, and are presently seeking a lot of talent."
Positions include game engine system programmer, 3D graphics core programmer, online system programmer, Windows application programmer, rendering programmer, server/DB programmer, plug-in programmer, technical artist and technical writer. The system and core programmer all ask for PS3 and Xbox 360 development experience, with strong knowledge of SPUs. The online system programmer position asks for knowledge of large scale client programming of the type seen in MMOs. The positions are all based in Tokyo.
[Seen at Game Jouhou]
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Reader Comments (showing 6 of 6)
lech @ 2010.03.13, 4:19
So the HD era starts now? Late to the party much SE?
anoop @ 2010.03.13, 4:35
This is for the HHD era.
EternalWolf @ 2010.03.13, 5:46
Actually this is the sub-HD era. Very very few games run in true HD resolution(1280x720 or 1920x1080). Most games have lower resolutions and are upscaled in 720p or 1080p. The 360 has zero 1920x1080 games to my knowledge, in fact I dont think it can go higher than 1280x720 and it has few games with a res that high. Instead they just upscale it in its native res to 1080p. Thats why it says on the back of the box that Resident Evil 5 can go up to 1080p on the 360 but only 720p on the PS3. The PS3 can do the same thing and upscale its games to 1080p but it doesnt say that on the back of the box because its false advertising.
There is only a handful of True HD(1080p) games(Wipeout HD being one of them) and they are only available on the PS3 and will never be available on the 360. MGS4 runs at true 720p but can be upscaled to 1080p. FF13 on the PS3 is 1280x720(true 720p) but on the 360 it is sub hd at a res of 1024x576 and can be upscaled to 720p or 1080p.
So, as of now this is the more of a sub-hd era, not the HD era.
filly @ 2010.03.13, 10:43
FFXIII looks like garbage, even on the PS3 version. The only thing that looks good about that game is the Full Motion Videos. Square Enix is the biggest failure of this generation. What was once the graphical juggernaut in gaming, is now playing catch-up to match the quality of games released 3 years ago.
Cosign @ 2010.03.14, 18:28
@filly - sure I agree that it doesn't consistently look great all the time (the lighting on the skin looks 'off' in certain areas), there are More locations in Final Fantasy XIII that look Amazing than not. The game also exhibits great visual freedom and then execution. You can think what you want but I vouch that your view is in the minority.
60Hz @ 2010.03.16, 2:38
This is not for this generation of consoles but next generation (as it clearly says NEXT GENERATION). No playing catch up here - very few companies can do the quantity of output and baseline quality that square can achieve in current gen. The production of a FF is mind boggling in itself...