Ray trace in games

One of the most important functions in rendering is the Ray trace, this function enables the most realistic environments in rendering.

One of the problems with the ray tracing, is the long process it involves because the simple calculus of the ray trace is heavy and consumes major part of the processing. This can be noticed in programs like 3d Studio Max, one of my favorites in rendering Architectural models, in which the simple task of render one frame takes a long time.

In consoles of current generation like the PS3 or the Xbox 360 both are capable of render real time raster renders, but Ray trace is far more complex, but it seems that the first console capable of real time ray trace could be the PS3, this is pretty daring considering that no actual console uses real time ray trace but it seems that the Killzone 2 engine is the first one in using raytrace, one of the debates about if the PS3 uses or not ray trace it's because no one believes in the raw power of the Cell processor, but we have to remind that the core of the Cell is a core designed for multitasking, and ray trace can be optimized for multicore processors, and the Cell is not fully optimized yet, we need to see what's next for the PS3 and see if it's possible that this console be the first in using this technology.