Eurogamer's Xbox 360 vs. PS3 Face-Off: Round Seven

After a joyous yuletide spent playing Naughty Dog's supreme Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, it's back to the frontlines of the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 console war for this reporter, with the latest battery of cross-platform confrontations. You know the score by now: impartial criticism on each multi-format release is the name of the game, the aim being to supplement the original Eurogamer reviews with additional commentary relevant to each version of the game, with gameplay the primary concern.

Eurogamer compares the following games:
- Kane and Lynch: Dead Men
- TimeShift
- Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
- Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
- Blazing Angels: Secret Missions of WWII
- Medal of Honor: Airborne
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
- Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War
- Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- Clive Barker's Jericho
- John Woo Presents Stranglehold

[v1c1ous]

"impartial criticism on each multi-format release is the name of the game, the aim being to supplement the original Eurogamer reviews with additional commentary relevant to each version of the game, with gameplay the primary concern."

really? i thought the primary concern was to get fanboys riled up to get more hits and attention.

[randomGuyOnline]

Yeah, it must be a slow day for their website or something.

[picker332]

Everytime i read your stupid comment's everytime i begin to wonder if all of them are the same.You can't think of any better stuff to say.
F@cking idiot!!!

[chanto23]

He constantly bashes the PS3, saying "But if I had to make a choice it would be the 360 version, if only for the gamerscore challenges and the fact that the excellent graphics aren't diminished by the needless Vaseline effect." But looking at pics like these ones makes me wonder the objectivity of his comments because to me the 360 pics are the ones that look "out of focus"...

[achira]

yeah, i thought the same way. he talks about no AA, bla bla bla. but when you look at the picks they proove him wrong. lol, what a fanboy.

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

cod4 does this in a really awesome way, it blurs everything around your target when u manually aim. its a cool touch but im not sure if thats what theyre doing in those screenshots. the ps3 ones do look more clear.

[Ju]

I thought that, too, in the first place (and it might well, be true, but then, even the PS3 version has depth of field - just a little bit more in the distance). However, then look at the second (Graw2) shot, and you see way more details on the rocks in the background. And look at the volume of the dust below the helicopter. Just to point out some details.

Same for K&L. He complains about the AA (or actually no AA) in the PS3 version, then click on the shot and if there wouldn't be a "360" or "PS3" text printed on the image, you would have a hard time to distinguish which is which. - And both have AA.

So, well, I agree. Either this guys is just biased or he is intentionally lying. W/e. I think he disqualifies himself and the whole site is pretty pointless. This whole "lets do a comparison story" gets really old. We had that over and over again. And it only leads to threads where the green side argues with the black side forever. Useless. (I don't even know why I even read these threads, still).

[wageslave]

@4 & 4.1

What is wrong with you two? This just *repeats* everything we've heard of cross platform games.

This isnt "fanboy" bias -- it is confirmed over and over and over and over by every site. THAT is why when you goto METACRITIC, you'll find that Xbox 360 versions rate higher than PS3 versions of cross-platform games.

You people *CANT* be for real.

[robep3]

Have a look at this GRAW2 shot attached look at the doors (whats up with the 360 version) now in this article it says the screen shots are captured from the HDMI port well these pics look sharp so if the reviewer says he gets soft focus his TV must be a right piece of sh!t my PS3 looks sharp on my Hitachi Plasma!!!

Rob

[chanto23]

i own both, the 360 and a PS3, i have a new 46" 1080p 120Hz Samsung, and i have no problems with my PS3 games looking washed out...i think the media is trying to make a big thing out of nothing...i am a Sony fan, but i also enjoy some games in my 360 and i agree that when the PS3 first came out the multiplat games looked awful, but the latest games like, NBA 2k8, Kane n Lynch, Assassins Creed, CoD 4, Orange Box, Burnout Paradise etc etc i cant tell the difference whatsoever, i like the PS3 controller better and thats why im backing the PS3 more :)

[FitzDWG]

it makes him feel important and smart

zhunk....lol

foolish

[Vip3r]

The only difference, I can see anyway, is the brightness levels.

[Panthers]

Well yea this is a fanboy story.

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

but..

look at the games your comparing.

besides LEGO STARWARS (which i`m completly addicted to right now)

who cares?

[P4KY B]

Lego Starwars is fantastic.

Can't wait for Indiana Jones and Batman.

[mintaro]

lego jones, and lego batman?

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

lego batman and jones are coming theres trailers for lego batman.

and there is also a lego MMO, where you can build you own houses and stuff is in production.

hooray for LEGO.

[AceLuby]

I live w/ my gf and another friend who is a girl, and though my gf likes to play games, my other friend has never liked them. Yesterday morning I woke up to her playing Lego Star Wars for the second morning in a row. LOL! Who woulda thought? I also bought my siblings the first half on PS2 and they play it more than any other game they got this x-mas.

But yeah, you're right, all those other games are crap anyway.

[sheng long]

The sad thing out of all those titles, only a few of them can be considered good.
GHIII, GRAW2, Lego Star wars and maybe Stranglehold.

[BBBut the Cell]

BBBut the Cell

[sheng long]

you know what, you're right! you should go buy all those games ASAP, (if you already haven't) not just because they're better on 360, but because it will increase your E-go, you're looking at over 10000 gamer points right there. stop wasting time son.

[Zhuk]

your words say it all, bubbles for you sir

[Raptors]

The interesting thing about the article to me is the amount of games on the ps3 that is running at sub HD resolution. I personally do not and will never have a problem with this. Case and point: COD 4. The game is beautiful, runs beautiful, and is so much fun. Yet, when Halo 3 came out it was the greatest crime known to man by ps3 accusers. The irony...
Anyhow as an owner of both systems I've always felt for multi platform games I will opt to buy the 360 version and buy exclusives for their respective systems. The only time I'll change my decision about the multiplat games is when programmers get the hang of programming for the ps3. At this point I'm beginning to think how much longer can we really keep holding up that theory...

[digger18]

I have to agree, the 360 has the slight edge on those games, but as time goes on, I can see the new games looking better on the PS3. When combining the Cell and RSX together for the graphics, it is far more powerful than the 360's GPU. Most, if not all of those games use only the gimped RSX GPU on the PS3.

Before everybody hits the disagree on this, please don't be just a fanboy and just tell me why you disagree.

[etownone]

as time goes, just like in every gen, both PS and Xbox will learn how to make better games with their hardware. do you really believe the 360 has reached its limits? c'mon now

[Ju]

To be perfectly honest, I would have expected more from the PS3 in the first place. But that is, maybe, because some things are wishful thinking, and others are reality. I am surprised - and this is IMO a compliment - that the 360 can keep up that well. It has an edge in the implementation of straight forward known software paradigms. The EDRAM was a genius move by ATI, combined with 3 cores gives the 360 a lot of power (and leaves all 3 cores to the game - except if you need to pack a lot of data onto a DVD and need heavy power to decompress on the fly).

The PS3 needs to "emulate" a lot of that in multiplatform titles, unless the middleware is abstracted in a way, that the actual game does not need to worry about the underlaying HW. This goal is not always met, as it seams, which leads to the seen results.

Still, I am expecting more improvements in the next 12 month for PS3 titles then I do for 360 titles. The CELL has more untaped potential then the 360, IMO, but its still there for the 360 as well.

One good example is UT3 (and UE3). I think its the best UE3 based game I have seen on the PS3 so far (and maybe the best version of the UE3 engine). But if you switch back to UC, then you "feel" immediately what's missing. I have no insight, how much special PS3 features the last UE3 uses, but I would be surprised if it does vertex optimization like UC does thru the SPUs. And this is visible. I doubt the UE3 engine, because it would need to abstract the vertex reduction in a way, the game won't see it. This is usually very deep embedded into the rendering engine. Now, if you would do this multiplatform, this might well be a challenge. The same goes for the render backend, which does AA. On the PS3 version, this needs to be done thru the SPU (and different buffer handling), while the 360 might do that thru the EDRAM. These are two fundamental differences which might be difficult to hide from the actual game implementation and thus will usually break down at some common level. This is also a reason, why exclusive title can use the full potential of the specific platform, without cutting back on that common layer.
None the less, these cut backs seem to become smaller and smaller, and eventually they might even disappear (who knows). Latest multiplatform titles show this already, but again, UC shows, what potential the PS3 has (and that includes physics, AI and rendering) - no matter if you like the game itself or not.

But, besides that, I think it is just your personal choice. Choose what you think is best for you. Why not? Everybody has his/her personal preference.

[JBaby343]

That games ported from 360 to PS3 don't run as well as on the intended console. Who couldn't actually predict this before these games came out. Developers need to get a clue. Naughty Dog, Infinity Ward, Ninja Theory, and Insomniac have all shown that great things are possible on the PS3 when you don't just port it from the 360. Same goes for Burnout being better on PS3. I understand developers making multiplat but can the "this version is better than that one" stop already.

To Fanboys like Zhuk: Don't start the 360 more power/PS3=garbage talk. This is not a hardware problem it's poor software. Any problems with any games are solely on the developers at this point. The above mentioned games all prove PS3 can run excellent games without problems.

[Genuine]

It is most definately a hardware problem.

[Genuine]

If all of this "superior" hardware is so "superior", why is it that 90% of games look and perform better on the so called "inferior" 360? It's simple really, despite all the horse sh*t sony has fed you gullible people, the 360 is a better game machine. You can spout Cell this, Tflops that, Folding hit me with a wiffleball bat til' your blue in the face. The FACT, that is there right in front of the whole worlds eyes, is that the 360 outperforms the ps3 at being what it's supposed to be, a game machine. Hey, I'm truly sorry some of bought into sony PR "smoke and mirrors", they managed to let me fool myself into thinking the ps2 had superior hardware last gen. But honestly, ask yourself, "how long can I deny what is proven and right in front of my face?" Man up for Christ's sake, and stop letting sony bullsh*t you into lying to yourself.

@the brainwashed kid below me

lol a few, try over 100 titles. If you pointed at the moon and and said "there is the moon", and some guy beside you got pissed ,started cursing you and said "no that's a bologna sandwich". Would you not think that person to be embaressingly stupid? At this point, sony worshipers are trying to get everyone to believe that the moon is a bologna sandwich in the sky.

edit- 10-15? There are over 10-15 EA titles alone that are better for 360.

[heyheyhey]

christ i cant believe you xbots are still comparing the two machines based on a few half-assed ports- they dont mean anything and we are already seeing multiplat games that perform better on ps3- take burnout paradise and DiRT as an example of things to come

@ brainwashed kid above me

100 titles? do you actually believe that ALL multiplat games run better on the 360 LOL and you're calling me brainwashed- no its only about 10-15 or so multiplat titles that have significant technical hitches on the ps3 and even those are being corrected with patches and whats all this rubbish about sandwiches i guess you were hungry and had run out of valid things to say so you decided to go for a phail metaphor and as one last point i urge you to read this:

http://ps3forums.com/showth...

[etownone]

will be great when MGS4 comes out even if it is 12 months later but looking better on 360. That would be classic!!!!...PS3's flagship game running better on the 360 hahaha hey, it happen with your precious exclusive VF5 and soon with GTA4 (because of the exclusive content)

[eagle21]

PS3 has the upper hand now with no more ports. 2008 multis blow 07' away. Plus the best developers third party exclusives are on PS3. 2008 means 2007 is over. fhuk-a-zhuk, excuse me, but I had to write it.

[BIoodmask]

Seems like some emotions run high when people are debating about a piece of plastic. Funny how Zhuk's post is reported as SPAM and this post isn't. This is probably the most hateful post I have ever seen on N4G and is a clear violation of the guidelines.

Titntin-"You know, its posts like this one, and the countless others that Zhuk and his other brain dead compatriots continually spam over this site, that make me want to simply throw away my 360 and pretend I never had one. I feel 'dirty' for owning one when so many totally brainless morons do too.
The situation is not much better on 'the other side' where equally moronic fools have styled themselves on this fools ramblings to spam the site with counter arguments. I wish you would all die - horribly."

Titntin- "I wish you would all die - horribly"
Titntin- "I wish you would all die - horribly"
Titntin- "I wish you would all die - horribly"

N4G Guidelines: Personal Attacks on other members will not be tolerated and may result in removal of your speech bubbles and/or temporary or pemant ban of your account.

I guess wishing death upon someone "Zhuk" or fans of certain consoles is a mature and reasonable way to debate something. Not to mention the countless other people who launch personal attacks against Zhuk just because "they don't like what he has to say." I do not see him personally attacking other members of this website.

Once again--Titntin- "I wish you would all die - horribly"

Titntin thanks for displaying the types of behavior and maturity that you deem acceptible for N4G. I have taken a thumbnail image of this and post 1.5 and sent it to administrator.

[ban fans]

I'm not a Sony fanboy (see my name), but this crap gets so rediculous that I find need to comment.
Yes, 360 games do look better at this time. I agree. Let me say that again, I AGREE 360 GAMES DO LOOK BETTER IN GENERAL. But I would like to point out that Sony's machines have all been difficult to program for and always improve by leaps and bounds as time goes on. Put in any 1st gen PS1 or PS2 game, then put in one made 3 or 4 years later and you will huge differences. Before people jump on that comment, that's not to say PS3 owners will have to wait 3 or 4 years to reach 360 quality, it is just to point out the huge differnce in 1st vs 3rd or 4th gen games. PS3 is on 1st gen games, 360 is on 2nd or 3rd gen games. PS3 will see improvements over the next year or two and at least be on par with 360.

You can argue back and forth about GPUs and what not, but most of us (including the people making these comments) don't even know what they mean when the whole thing is put together and working as a single machine. Arguing about "power" is a just stupid because neither system has hit full potential. Game for game, 360 is on top right now. Time will tell if it stays there.

[etownone]

goes the same with xbox games...look at the games from the first year compared to the last. Splinter Cell 1 compared to 3 or even Halo 1 compared to 2.

just as PS3 games will look better in time so will 360's.
just as PS3 continues to get price drops, so will the 360

[wageslave]

I am *tired* of repeating this.

The "1st gen ps3 vs. 2nd gen. xbox 360" idea is *W*R*O*N*G*.

It is not reality. See, the DEVELOPMENT kits and the DEVELOPMENT STATIONS shipped *ON TIME* and at the same time as the Xbox 360 Kits.

Get it?

When Sony DELAYED the PS3, it was only the customer who waited.

NOT THE DEVELOPERS! They have had their PS3 Development Kits JUST AS LONG as the Xbox 360 Developers have.

STOP BRINGING UP THIS BULLSHIAT RED-HERRING!

[m9105826]

Actually, finalized dev kits weren't received by developers until well into 2006, after the 360 was already out. System specs were still being finalized well into 2006, if you care to check the past headlines. That's why many developers, including those for Heavenly Sword, did 90% of the games on mega-high-end computers, and were delayed because of porting to the actual dev kits when they arrived, which proved to be more time-consuming than originally thought. Read any R&D fact sheets from companies like Guerilla, Naughty Dog, or Insomniac, and they'll talk about these things in detail. In fact,

http://www.insomniacgames.c...

There you go, take a look at the early posts, and even the more recent ones, yourself. Certain hardware the existed on their high-end systems were replaced by software emulation on the RSX, and they had to learn how to replicate certain techniques such as creating effects using bezier curves, and certain ambient occlusion and sound occlusion algorithms that lacked hardware support that the original development platform had. Get your facts straight before you call others out on their's...

[Domer25]

still believe that ps3 has hardware issues. not easily remedied. Again time will tell.

[Jeppe]

Is Zhuk (11.8) or this author lying about the RSX memory access capabilities?

"What's interesting to note: even though the PS3 has destinct memory for the Cell CPU as well as the RSX GPU, this memory is somewhat "unified" in a way that the RSX can access the different memory areas rather fast with a peak of 20 GB/s. In that sense, the PS3 architecture combines the best of both worlds, separated memory areas for CPU and GPU (no concurrent access issues), still being able for the GPU to use the respective other memory area for its own purposes."

Frankly i would say the author of the article provided below knows a whole lot more and he even provides sources for his claims. And he doesn't bash the the other system..

Here's the whole article "The beauty and the beast". A must read for all technical interested out there:
http://playstation-disorder...

[m9105826]

The single biggest problem in using the Cell and RSX concurrently is that, due to latency, anything that is processed from one to the other will have a one frame lag. Not a huge deal, as a game running 30 or 60 frames per second makes this imperceivable to ANY human, but it does present technical problems, but those have long since been overcome by several development studios, and the information for fixing the problem is freely available to anyone who wants to see it. See the link I posted above to real all about it.

[wageslave]

@11.9 digger18 above

Here is what IGN said in their Hardware shootout:

"CONCLUSION: When you break down the numbers, Xbox 360 has provably more performance than PS3. Keep in mind that Sony has a track record of over promising and under delivering on technical performance. The truth is that both systems pack a lot of power for high definition games and entertainment.

http://xbox360.ign.com/arti...

It is *ONLY* you PS3 apologists who arent getting it yet. Sony *ALWAYS* sells the Playstation as a fighter-pilot-AI-nuclear-react or-controller-mega-space-time-s uper comptuer -- and AGAIN AND AGAIN they UNDERDELIVER!

You ONLY need to look at the games. The cross platform games perform, look and play better on the Xbox 360 (goto METACRITIC and see for yourself!) and the exclusives look, play and get BETTER REVIEWS! (goto METACRITIC and see for yourself!).

You PS3 apologists are FAR FAR too emotionally involved in this situation -- it is clear as a spring-day; the Xbox 360 is a more powerful box, with a MUCH better design for developmers. It is selling much better (over half of this generation's dollars are being spent in Xbox 360 products, with Wii & PS3 splitting the other half...).

You people should really see the writing on the wall.

[m9105826]

You're an idiot if you think the Wii isn't raking in more money than the other two combined. The PS3 most likely isn't making any money per unit sold yet, although they may if the blue diodes have dropped in price, I haven't checked in a while. Microsoft's game division has NEVER seen a profit, and are still covering the deficit from the days of the original Xbox. The Wii, on the other hand, makes 50-75 dollars in profit for each unit sold. Consider that the Wii has already overtaken the 360 in terms of sales, and it's very clear that Nintendo is rolling in money at this point. The Wii, combined with the DS, is making Nintendo enough money to buy the Earth at some point in the near future...

[Jeppe]

@wageslave
Very funny. You must be joking, right? That article by Douglass C. Perry is from may 20, 2005 with figures straight from Microsoft. It's seriously flawed and very old. They even managed to get the 360 cpu core count wrong.. "Xbox 360 has three general purpose CPU cores" I thought it had 3 dual core units = six cores. They have no idea of what the PS3's 7*SPE's are capable of. They got 360 figures wrong (how the h*ll did they manage?). How could they possible understand the PS3 hardware when they don't know their own?

Quoting from last page (3/3): "So, that's Microsoft's analysis. What do you make of it? Tell us what you think on the boards."

[ApocalypseShadow]

the reality is that ports are always going to be inferior if not programmed better for the other console.but ps3 games have gotten better over time and it's only been 1 year for ps3 compared to 2 years for 360.

but ZUK,you fail when it comes to exclusives and the hardware.and that's where ps3 excells and beats 360.

still looking for that 360 game that's 20 vs 20 multiplayer like resistance.if 360 was more powerful,we would have seen it already.

still looking for 1080p/60fps on 360.if the system was so powerful,more games in 360's second year would be 1080p/60fps after the firmware update.they're not.bioshock is not.halo 3 is definitely not,mass effect is not,pgr4 is not.i could go on and on about 360's top games not hitting 1080p.and games like forza 2 had to be downgraded in background detail to hit 60fps.

and speaking of forza2,i thought 360 had that extra memory for getting rid of jaggies.but forza2 and halo3 are littered with jaggies all over the place.where is that extra power and ease of development again?

seems so far that that extra memory and 1080p was a lie on microsoft's part.

let's look at the FACTS:

one system can play games-ps3
one system can play bluray movies without an add-on-ps3
one system is used for science and folding at home-ps3
one system can be clustered and create raytracing.even one ps3 game is doing raytracing by itself-GT5
one system can be turned into a computer with linux-ps3
one system can do remote play with a portable from anywhere in the world.
one system can be upgraded(hence the future proofing without add-ons),dvd upscale,hard drive swapping,bluray disc is jumping from 25 to 50.and in the future:100.can't do that with 360.
one system has a camera that does 120fps and does things like this:
http://www.gametrailers.com...
http://www.gametrailers.com...

and if you think the vision cam can do that,you're mistaken.and anyone that has played OPERATION CREATURE FEATURE with the PSEYE(DLB doesn't show you,but you can move the start button,options up and down just using your hand)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=...
know that sony is attemping to create this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=...

so i'm trying to see where 360 has this extra power and extra threading.i just don't see it.i see good games.but not extra power.if you can prove my post wrong with FACTS,i'm waiting.

mag lev.........give my bubble back...............because the train is rolling with truth.

[Pika-pie]

Theres definitely 2 more grains of sand on the 360 comparison of Airborne. BWBAHAHAHA 360 Pwns again!!

Regards,
Sarcasm

Seriously, I cannot see any difference in these pictures.

[InMyOpinion]

360 > PS3

[bizi6498]

There are now worthless coders in this industry and the 360 is clearly their favorite platform. That's fine as long as they don't compete with the real programmers. Is that a contest for the worst port job by game programmer wannabes?

[Solotov]

Interesting Eurogamer article... they showed a lot of 360 games that had anti-aliasing (better quality) and the PS3 didn't (jaggies).

[Salvadore]

Why does this matter?

[InMyOpinion]

It matters to everyone who's interested in platform specific exclusives. It shows what console that has the best versions of multiplatform titles.

[Gamefan12]

I said it before and I will say it again, all fanboys are idiots. Though there are some bad sony fanboys, the xbot fanboys are for worse and far more of them.

[moujahed]

He's only upset because he spent sh!t loads of cash on a system that's coming close to it's 3year life-span. Don't worry Zhuk, once you get butt-f*cked by MicroSoft a couple more times, you'll soon realize you wasted your time and money.

[shadowfish]

Are these comparisons REALLY needed? Can't we just stick to our systems and keep our comments to ourselves?

Really, we shouldn't be alowed to talk to each other [Fanboys], it does a lot of harm to the industry.

[bigtoe1986]

Eurogamer must think im stupid! Whats the point comparing crappy, lazy ports from the 360 to the ps3? We aready know which one is going to come out on top! (360)
How about they compare two exclusives PS3 - Uncharted, 360 - Halo 3.
Just to see which platform can pump out higher res, better graphics, better lighing and finer textures and framerates. Then see what comes out on top or better yet compare a game the 360 had out in its first year It wont even nearly match Uncharted

[Testo]

~