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By the end of this year, both Sony and Microsoft plan to launch their next-generation video game consoles: The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, respectively.
The new consoles represent a generational advance for both companies, and with that advance comes a major visual upgrade. With the leap from PlayStation 2 to PlayStation 3, visuals went from standard definition (480p) to high definition (720p and up). A similar leap occurred with the PlayStation 4, which produces 4K visuals - the next step up from HD.
With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the biggest visual upgrade is due to a new technique called "ray tracing," which makes light look more natural - and worlds more realistic - than ever before.
The term "ray tracing" sounds like jargon because it is jargon, but what it actually does is relatively simple.
"It essentially simulates the path of light traveling from a light source in a game, like a light bulb, fire, or the sun, more accurately than conventional video game lighting," my colleague Antonio Villas-Boas wrote last year. "The result is more realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows in a video game."
Simply speaking, ray tracing makes representations of light in games — whether we're talking about shadows, reflections, light sourcing, or whatever else — look more accurate.
Here's a look at ray tracing in effect, care of Square Enix's "Back Stage" demo from last September:
Both Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Sony's PlayStation 5 are confirmed as using ray tracing tech, but Microsoft's already showing off what it looks like. Here's an image of "Minecraft" with Ray Tracing turned off:
And here's the same image from the game, but with ray tracing turned on:
Here's one more with ray tracing turned off:
And the same scene with it turned on:
The difference is staggering.
The room immediately feels warmer, and more realistic — yet it's still full of blocky "Minecraft" visuals, of course.
"Shadows cast from objects soften or harden depending on how far away from the object you are, while lava gives off a warm orange glow that dissipates over distance and reflects off of minecart rails," Microsoft's blog post about the change says. "Even the moon casts its own rays, streaming down through cracks in the walls and reflecting off particles in the air."
In addition to revealing the internal specs of the Xbox Series X this week, Microsoft worked with tech vlogger Austin Evans to release several videos of new features in action. Here's a closer look at ray tracing in "Minecraft":
More than just interesting, these videos offer a first look at a critical component of next-gen visuals.
Eurogamer's Digital Foundry, a well-respected site that focuses on technical aspects of video games, similarly worked with Microsoft for a deeper dive into "Minecraft" with ray tracing — that video is right here:
