Ghostbusters PS3: 3/4's Quality = 3/4's Price

Why should PS3 Ghostbusters gamers pay the same price for lower quality?
Op-ed: TGS explains why PS3 gamers shouldn't pay $60 for Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Sony Gamers deserve better.

[Elven6]

Terminal Reality should apologize to the gaming community, telling them the 360 basically sucks and the PS3 is the end all be all, not even knowing the specifications of the consoles that they were developing the game for! And then they come out with this...

[CobraKai]

That was what made this a disappointment. So sad.

[Megaton]

Seriously, they look really foolish. Going on and on about how the PS3 version would be far superior than the 360 version during development, and then churning out the biggest 360 > PS3 multiplat quality gap I can remember seeing.

[Carl1412]

Yeah, they make no sense really do they?

It's worse than launch multiplatform games, which is staggering.

[masterg]

3/4 resolution does not mean 3/4 quality.
Seriously. Compare the two games not the two games specifications.

[cRaZyLeGs 93]

I can't see why it needs a price drop. This game is mainly for fans of ghostbusters. Any real fan would buy it anyway.

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

If it wasn't for Sony, this game wouldn't be getting published, hell, if it wasn't for Sony, the Ghostbusters wouldn't exist, seeing as how that movie was produced by their film studio.

And people complaining about quality obviously haven't played this game, because resolution is the least of its problems. It feels like a last gen title. Its obvious that the lead platform this game was last gen consoles. Originally, this game was also supposed to be available for PS2/Wii, and you can definetly tell it was programmed w/ that in mind.The gameplay is like a glorified version of Luigis Mansion.

Then again, I didn't get this game because I thought it was going to shock and awe me, I got it purely for nostolgia.

[darthv72]

You see, at this point I'd really like to have gotten the blu movie with the game. I know you get a trailer but maybe they should rethink this.

360 version you get the best rendition of the game.
PS3 you get the crappy version of the game but you get the best version of the movie....

To bad they already shipped them to the stores w/o the movie included.

[JOLLY1]

You are paying for the fun not the pixels.

[SuperM]

Atleast PS3 version has a stable framerate compared to the 360 version. Does that not count for anything?

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I think this illustrates a point. Clearly any company would want their product well received. I think as a small studio they just had massive issues adapting to the PS3 niche architecture. The power of the PS3 is backfiring.

They should have from a business perspective just dumbed down the 360 version and nobody would have been the wiser.

[Forest Gumps]

If us Playstation Owners where treated to a quality game from a third party developer.

Maybe it is time to try a bit harder to at least match the 360 counterpart. It is games like this that lead to articles like this...

'PS3 maxed out!'

Also, Sony got the exclusive in Europe but look what happens, the game is actually worse than the 360. Import people, import!

[Controversy]

Why should I pay the same price for something as someone else who is getting a better version of the product?

[Elven6]

Atari and the Ghostbusters cast deserve the money, the problem is douchey developers who were extremely co*ky and unprofessional during the development process will also be getting a piece! =/

[error 74]

F these developer
i love my modded 360

[gameplayingfool]

Don't know completely how i feel, but it does raise some great industry applicable questions.

[Ziriux]

WEll they got exclusivity. So in return ms had to do something to even it out.

[raiden_93]

I don't really think this is MS's fault, I'd blame the devs.

[Kushan]

I believe that would fall under the category of corporate sabotage and is highly illegal.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

or Sony's stupidity to invest into this game as a timed exclusive... lol.

[WildArmed]

oh i dunno..
the ps3 game has the movie -.-

[Elven6]

Really? I thought it was just a HD trailer? I couldn't find any source stating it was the movie, unless it was a collectors edition?

[user3915800]

Lets get this straight it will take almost twice as long to get to make games on the ps3 to almost the same quality as the 360, but they will never achieve that type of high standards because the 360 its superior to the BBQ Grill in every way, visual, processing, frame rate, you name it and the 360 wins hands down. What its really annoying its how Sony twist their lies as if their system its superior, such as we have 2.3 terrabites worth off floating point more than any other next gen. Although true, they dont tell you that the floating are not appropriate for gaming and that the floating points are for calculation that defit the purpose because it has share rams 256+256, While the 360 has 512 total and 10MB of memory edram therefore, the ps3 most share graphics and processing of Frame rate making it the slower of them 2 and graphics with less quality, by the way those are facts look it up. Here is another fact the cell has 8 spu and not 7 as many thinks, but the problem is that the cell its unstable and they had to eliminate one just to have a higher rate cell chip. Ok, whats the point? That 1 Spu its use for audio handling, 1 spu its use for online contents, 1 spu its use for firmware and what its remaining 4 spu its for developers to use. Results are considerable that it does not matter what Sony does their hardware and software will always be inferior to the 360 and facts are easy to see in the gaming industry, only if you are a fanboy its when you fail to realised, that the only way to go its with the xbox.

[WildArmed]

lmfao.
Im glad u got all excited about a multiplat looks better on 360.

Coz if u mention exclusive... ohh ur precious fanbox is in trouble.

@1.1
Yes, the movie is included. One of the reasons why i opted out 4 the ps3 version.

[Wriggy]

Probably not the best of investments for Sony...

[poopsack]

lagless online for free sucks so much, much rather play on wiiconnect24

[jackdoe]

To be honest, SCEE had no choice as the game is an important tent pole of their Ghostbuster celebration this year. So they had to make the investment to get the game out this year.

[Shade360]

Sony and the rest should really be ashamed...

[Deviant]

why should sony be ashamed?

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Because it was Sony, PSM, and its fans that started this whole thing. The devs just said what Sony paid them to say and then they released a next gen PS2 game for the PS3.

[glennc]

this game has become one big FAIL for sony. serves them right, nothing like a bit of karma. at least it is region free so i can buy it online.

[jackdoe]

Wow. Seriously, learn the facts.

Blame MS for the delay of Ghostbusters in Europe. After all, Atari stopped publishing games in Europe and sold the rights to Namco Bandai. However, they won't publish their titles in a timely manner due to the change of hands. Because of this, Sony decided to publish the title on their platform to coincide with the anniversary celebration of Ghostbusters. Of course they wouldn't step in to publish the game on another platform! MS and Nintendo each had the chance to publish their own versions of the game as well but they declined (with good reason, the game looks like it will bomb).

It really is frustrating when fanboys blame the wrong party for misinformed reasons.

[Reibooi]

Personally I don't really care about the graphics quality or the price and all that non sense anyone who is buying this game should not be caring about that stuff they should be caring about wanting to play a funny Ghostbusters game which all the reviews are saying delivers. So who cares who has better graphics at which price. The game is funny and it plays well lets just play shall we?

[lilbudman]

the PS3 and its powerX cell processor are capable of amazing things. This is just an example of bad porting from 360 to PS3 hands down!!

[SpoonyRedMage]

PS3 was the lead development though. So the port is actually superior somehow.

[Carl1412]

How is that even possible?

[GMR_PR]

this prove what some developer have been saying, using Ps3 as lead and then porting to x360 give better results.

[really duh]

LMAO

[Homicide]

It would be kind of funny and sad if the same happens to FFXIII.

[jackdoe]

To be honest, I doubt the developer's comments that the PS3 was the lead platform. The key phrase that stands out is that the PS3 version has 3/4 of the 360 textures at full resolution. If the PS3 version was the lead platform, it would dictate what textures are created and there wouldn't be that 1/4 discrepancy.

[PSP2]

i will only pick this up if it comes free with a slimer plushie otherwise i dont want to play ghostbusters the movies are so old i wasnte even born

[lordgodalming]

Holy sh1t. Please stop all this. I own the game for PS3. It looks fine and it's fun as heck.

[Anon1974]

Apparently, you don't own the game and it's not fun.
What the hell is wrong with those phantom disagrees? What could they possibly even get from disagreeing with a statement like that?

Mooks.

[lordgodalming]

For some reason lately I've been accused of being a 360 fanboy (I don't actually own a 360, but I don't go out of my way to hate people who do). I'm guessing that's the source of the disagrees.

The other possibility is that I consistently call for peace in the console war, and I'm starting to realize people here WANT to fight. I used to think N4G's reputation as a cesspool of fanboyism and flamewars was undeserved, but this is no longer a fun or safe place to talk about games and gaming.

[celldomceen1]

Enough with these articles already sheesh!

[FunkyBunch]

No kidding, when more than half the article is an example using cars and not about the game at all is pretty sad. It's flame-bait pure and simple.

[really duh]

Why would people make devs pay for PS3 hardware issues?

Quality is very important but its not like they didn't put in any work on the PS3 version. Whats next?! PS3 gamers should pay more if the devs struggle and spend more money and time on the PS3 version and even more if the devs go through what I said above and got the game close to the 360 version.

[GMR_PR]

You know sales on the PS3 are going to be affected by this. Its a shame.

[STK026]

it has been proven in the past that the PS3 can do as good and sometimes slightly better than the 360 with multiplatform games. However, most multi platform games run slightly better on the 360, mostly due to the complexity of the PS3 hardware, these problems were usual a few years ago, but recently, most devs were able to pull out about the same quality on both platforms.

This time, the devs were unable to do so, sent us back to the day the PS3 games HAD to be inferior and, worst of all, put the blame on the PS3's "lack of RAM", while it's a known fact by now that both the 360 and the PS3 have the same amount of RAM, however, the PS3 needs some more work to use it, since it's not unified RAM. However, the amount is the same.

TL:DR The dev was unable to make the game run correctly on the PS3 and blamed it on the lack of RAM, despite the fact that the PS3 has as much RAM as the 360.

[Elven6]

People are blaming the devs because of all the crap they spewed during the development process.

http://www.vg247.com/2008/0...

Look at how much he is praising the PS3 over the 360, you would consider all that would have meant better or equal for PS3 owners in the end. Not to mention he got this hardware specifications wrong, cores are not processors!!!!

[really duh]

So you're saying PS3 fans feel shame because the devs praised their console and the game ended up lackluster and the 360 fans are saying you said one thing and did another(or couldn't) so to speak.

You're one of the smartest members on this site why are you posting the obvious. PS3's hardware caused this and Sony's power of the devs because of this franchise made all this a hot mess.
Still why should devs take a hit when they did everything in their power to make a good game fanboy rules based on feelings do not apply to their reality. They said the PS3 doesn't have enough RAM.

[Rifle-Man]

Well, if we're having this dumb argument, technically it should be 56% of the price.

[San Frandisco]

but doesnt the game come with the blu-ray ghostbusters movie??... so still $60 isnt that bad if thats the case.
if not then i might just rent it and then buy the movie seperatly.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Hey I didn't know Sony still supported PS2 games for the PS3, I though they tanked backwards compatibility.

[Stryfeno2]

LMFAO!!!! Hahahhahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Bubbles+++

[PirateThom]

Here's my view:

PS3 was, obviously, at no point lead platform for the game. There's no way a game developed on PS3 and ported to 360 would look that much worse.

Due to Sony owning the Ghostbusters IP, Terminal Reality obviously felt the need to "big up" the PS3 for, probably, IP security for any future games.

Sony seem to have been more or less forced into publishing due to potential revenue loss and Atari's inability, not to screw 360/Wii owners.

Their "less RAM" reasoning is absolute nonsense and proof they haven't a clue what they were doing.

This game could have been handled so much better if they devs hadn't been incompitent.

[SpoonyRedMage]

You know I've actually hear ads for Ghostbusters exclusively on Playstation on the radio so Sony's actually advertising it as an exclusive(and advertising more than a lot of their exclusives) So I'm a bit sceptical now about them taking the publishing over for Europe.

[PirateThom]

I hadn't heard about any advertising drive, but I'm not surprised. Sony (as a company) want to push Ghostbusters because of the IP and licence. Ghostbusters on any platform is money in Sony's pocket.

[DJ]

But remember, they said that had the game been PS3 exclusive, the PS3 version would have been a lot better than the 360 version.

But only if it had been PS3 exclusive.

It seems like the majority of the people on this site somehow remember a statement that never happened. It's obvious that multiplatform development was just too much for them to handle.

[pangitkqb]

You have hit the nail on the head.

[DragonWarrior_4]

Anyone who bought this day one is an idiot anyways. Im sure that this game is fun, but there are so many games out that deserve your money much more anyways, so why even bother talking about this? Just dont buy the game.

[lordgodalming]

Wow, I guess I'm an idiot. To me it looked like more fun than other games out right now, and I am having fun with it. What else are games for?

[TheMART]

Its not even 3/4, its like 56% as we've just read.

They should just cancel the PS3rd version and make it a 360 exclusive, that way it would be an allright game.

[digger18]

Or make it a PS3 exclusive like the Devs wanted, then they could have used the SPE's like first/second party devs do.

98% of all multi-plat games will come out slighty better on the 360 because of its better GPU.

When using a multi-plat engine, dev's can't use the SPE's as the coding wouldn't be transferable at all. So instead they code the graphics just for the GPU's and available memory for it, as this is common ground and saves money/time.

PS3 exclusive games use both the GPU and SPE's for graphics, doing this it takes quite a bit of load off the GPU, plus it makes use of the much faster memory (3.2ghz ram) as the SPE's use it. Thus making more ram available.

Fanboys can disagree all they like, but this is cold hard facts. You only have to look at PS3 exclusives compaired to the 360's.

[ApocalypseShadow]

that 360 gamers will continue to hold onto multiplatform games that are poorly coded for ps3 as proof of 360's power.

but when they see that uncharted 1,2 have better textures,better lighting,longer draw distances and more going onscreen,they have nothing to say.

when GT5 has double the cars on the road and at a higher resolution,they have nothing to say.you can say forza3 looks better,but...

1080p/60fps/16 cars>720p/60fps?/8cars

8=/=16

when they see last guardian or gow3 or any ps3 exclusive like killzone2 or mlb09 that best any game comparable on 360,they have nothing to say.

long dev times on ps3?BS

you can't make a better looking game with supposedly "inferior hardware."

you can't make a better looking game with supposedly "less ram."

keep holding onto multiplats 360 fans,while ps3 gamers will continue to see better looking games,and watching the online total go from 40 to 60 to 256 to whatever.

apocalypse...................

[Man_of_the_year]

Not sure why the price even matters to PS3 owners, they don't buy games anyways.

i know i know poor taste in comments. I apologize.

[Gue1]

That's not the point... But yeah, keep showing your stupidity. =D

[-MD-]

It's true though they really don't buy games... 24 million consoles and AAA games sell under 2 million? Somethings wrong there.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

If the title said "Ghostbusters The Movie + free game" it would be the biggest selling game on the PS3.

[-MD-]

LMFAO so true.

[thereapersson]

Yeah, I know, right? PS3 owners like more value for their money. That's why they choose the PS3; they get more in the system for their hard-earned dollar.

I mean, who WOULDN'T choose a movie/game combo? Paying the same price for twice the content? What's wrong with that?

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

I guess that makes sense.

[DragonWarrior_4]

Dont take what a bunch of idiots say on this website when it comes to ps3 exclusives. Its just their way of compensating for other things they dont have. You can use your imagination with that one. As for forza and GT5, numbers dont mean anything, and neither do graphics if its really not obvious.

Im playing god of War 2 on my ps3 and I think the game is so freaking awesome. Just because its only 480p does that mean that its not better then most games out there? Hell no. Just let these little kids do what they do best, and thats running their mouths. Its all they have to live for. AT least give them that.

[Stryfeno2]

Look how the tides has change...Bu, bu, but teh cell.

[Obama]

Changed what? This is one crappy looking game, and the fact that it looks slightly worse on the ps3 is because of the incompetent devs, not the cell. Are you that stupid?

The 360 still hasn't produce a game that looks better than killzone 2 lol.

[Man_of_the_year]

"This is one crappy looking game" - not sure what game you are looking at but this looks great on the 360...

[ambientFLIER]

Obama, if you're here, then who's running the country???

[Obama]

I understand how 360 fans have low standards when it comes to graphics since the machine isn't capable of producing stellar looking games.

[Man_of_the_year]

Hmmm...looking at the MAJOR differences between ghostbusters on the PS3 and 360, it looks like its the PS3 that can't compete graphic wise to the 360...any other multiplat game you wanna compare, FNR4 perhaps? Since we will never be able to compare exclusives since they wouldn't be exclusives if they were on both consoles we will never know...well i guess we could compare Bioshock...it was exclusive on the 360 then a year later on the PS3...how did that turn out? Same situation with Lost Planet...how did that turn out? If KZ2 was also on the 360 or MGS4...going by the pattern, i would say the 360 would have won....again.

[Obama]

Why can't we compare exclusives??? The FACT is that 360 hasn't produced a game that rivals the graphics of GOW3, UC2, killzone2 etc. Stop using muliplatform game in ur argument since it make you look dumb. You think a machine capable of producing games like UC2 and GOW3 isn't capable of making ghost buster as good as the 360 version? Obviously it's the devs' fault.

[glennc]

idiotic article! it is not about the graphics or every wii game would be $20. the internet is just getting dumber and dumber.

[celldomceen1]

no its always been this dumb.

[Bladestar]

lol!

"Terminal Reality should apologize to the gaming community"... right... if it was the PS3 with the best version you wouldn't be saying that.

If the PS3 was the best version Sony leg humpers would be using it to promote the PS3 superiority over the xbox 360 hardware.

This game look and play better than lots of PS3 games and you didn't b!tch about it.

It's true that the xbox 360 version is better but this does not mean that the PS3 version is the worst looking game on the PS3. hell this game looks better than Socom and the Socom is 1st party PS3 game.

So, it's not that the game is low quality and the worst the PS3 have ever seem that is pissing Sony leg humpers... it's the fact that the xbox 360 version once again shows that when it comes to multiplatform games is a better environment for developers.

Sony is the one to blame for making a platform that makes it difficult and expensive for multiplatform developers and the only way to make games for it is the expensive rout which is make the game exclusive to the PS3 or don't bother.

You see there is no point on making the most powerful car and completely forget about making it accessible to the driver.

We always Sony leg humpers talking about how 1st party developers and other titles that Sony funds or support during the development cycle to prove their point.

Well.. it's obvious that lots of 3rd party developers are/were having problems with the PS3... so, I guess Sony intended for non 1st party studios to have problems since it seems like they build the PS3 without considering the 3rd party multiplatform community.

I understand if this was an isolated case.. but way too many multiplatform games show this pattern.

[Elven6]

I assume you're replying to my comment which is in the other zone? I have the game on the Xbox 360, but the fact that Terminal Reality acted in such a odd unprofessional manner during development only to have this happen is inexcusable. I don't care about the technical superiority of one title over the other, I'm more pissed about the way Terminal Reality handled PR during development.

[talltony]

Just give it up. We know your roll so please just shut your mouth. I am more excited for sony's exclusives than micrsofts, The PS3 is the most powerful console on the market if the spu's are used correctly. Bubububu this looks bbbbetter than socom! lol first of all no it don't second of all the best looking ps3 game looks better than the best looking 360 game! So eat it face the facts and SHUT THE F UP!!!

[bunfighterii]

I can't believe this late into the hardware cycle lazy ass devs still can't make multiplat titles on equal footing.

We know that its possible, we've seen it. So why the feck can't these idiots do it?

[davidadrake]

I can't believe that this article was even approved

[jimineyscrickets]

It seems to make some sense to me. Hey, i've been wrong before, but it does seem ridiculous to pay the same amount for something that is lesser quality than the other guy is getting.

Say we both go to a deli and order the same sandwich. When they come out to us, yours is 44% smaller than mine, but you paid the same amount. Like most people that work hard for their money, you would probably feel a little screwed.

[stonecold3]

is missing the water and the smoke affects and the picture is alot darker they are not worth buying

[ElementX]

Paying less for a lower quality? What if a PC owner has a mid-range system and can only play the game on medium settings? Should they only pay half price for the game?

Yes, I know the PS3 and 360 should have multiplatform games with the same graphics, however it doesn't mean that if one is worse the owners should pay less than full price.

[Silly gameAr]

Just play the game.

[TheDeadMetalhead]

What about the Wii version? :O

[gamingisnotacrime]

We deserve better than half efforts for our $60. Lower quality, lower price!!!!

I am not thinking of buying it, I just hate to see the gaming community being treated like left overs

[TheTruth89]

Less Price because of the ZERO PIRACY.... this is going to happen with all games.

[gameplayingfool]

Games should be priced according to value, like cars, wine, or gems, not by some ridiculous pre-set evaluation of $60.

[cyclindk]

STEAM for the PC has Ghost Busters listed for 29.99.

[blakstarz]

this whole situation feels like Haze all over again....this was real stupid on their part to put out a title that is a Sony production none the less only to be sub-par.

[madkrazygames]

Please stop with these Ghostbuster articles...what the hell

[Figboy]

i own the Playstation 3 version of the game, and honestly, it looks and plays fine. but hey, it doesn't matter what i say here, because sheeple, being the sheeple they are, will simply look at a few screenshots and videos, instead of playing the game on their OWN setup, with their OWN optimized settings and make a decision.

personally, the game doesn't look blurry or fuzzy on my 40" Samsung 720p.

i'm not saying the 360 version of Ghostbusters doesn't look better, it probably does, but what i AM saying is that the game looks rather impressive on the PS3.

i guess at the end of the day, i'm enjoying Ghostbusters, and people that haven't even TOUCHED the game on either system are not.

[pangitkqb]

This isn't saying the PS3 version isn't fun-because it is still an entertaining game. But having played both versions on the same 1080p Insignia and simply switching inputs, the difference is quite shocking.

The article isn't trying to bash PS3. (Note that the guy really talks up Killzone 2 and Uncharted.) The article is simply bringing up an interesting aspect of the video game industry in general. Whereas lesser quality means a lower price in most industries (lesser quality TV = lesser price, lesser quality diamond = lesser price, lower quality fast food = cheaper than sit down place) the video game industry remains stalwart on set prices, regardless of comparative quality.

Is the PS3 version fun? Sure!! Does that make it okay to charge the same price even when it is noticeably a lesser version of the product? If you and I both bought the same meal and paid the same price, but yours was 44% smaller, you would probably feel a little screwed. Is the food still good? Yup! Did I get more and better for the money all around? Yup! How is that fair to you then? Don't you deserve better?

Of Course! That is the point of the article. Legions of loyal Ghostbuster/Sony fans are paying the same amount of money for a lesser product. They are more than welcome to, it just kinda makes sense to pay less for the lesser version. Is it still though, of course!

[Bubble Buddy]

That's like saying why Wii owners have to pay 5/6 of the price when they get 0.5/6 of the quality on msot games :P

[DNAgent]

Since we are hyping multiplatform movie games by mediocre developers how about next we hype up G-Force (the only difference is that the developers making G-Force have actually made good games in the past).

[free2game365]

It's not the developers fault sony used a weaker GPU and a worse memory structure with a more bloated operating system.

[Rowsdower]

are a bunch of whiners

grow up

[Tron_Rocks]

I think this game came down to this.
You have the same amount of time and budget to create the same game on both platforms. Given the track record of Dev Tools for the PS3 it is very hard to get the same quality under the same constraints. This overall is the fault of Sony for not supporting it DEV's more by giving them tools that work anywhere near as good as the ones for the 360.

[JJFNIGHTS80]

I buy games for my PS3 so I don't think what anyone else thinks PS3 owners doesn't buy games for their system. Use it both ways. And let everyone enjoy playing Gossips game period.