Why did the console bit wars end? During the 32 bit era, PS1 and Saturn were 32 bit systems, and Nintendo was boasting about having a 64 bit system. The last time console makers boasted about bits in their system was the sixth generation, with the Dreamcast, GameCube, and PS2 being 128 bits.

Question

Why didn’t the bit war continue into the seventh generation? Why didn’t the amount of bits double to 256 bits like they did in past generations? Any insight into this would be appreciated.

In: 609

Answer 1

There’s one more negative to using 128 bit over 64 bit (and 64 over 32) that I didn’t see mentioned.

It instantly doubles the size of all the references/pointers. In addition unless you take special measures it also doubles the size of all integers.

So just by increasing the size of the default memory unit, you instantly increase memory use of your game, often around 50% without any other changes.

That’s why in the years past you’d see recommendations to run the game in 32 bit modes if you had low memory in your PC.