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Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2: PS3 Gets Visual Boost Over 360

By MazingerDUDE

Initial media for the PlayStation 3 rendition of Ninja Gaiden 2 suggests that the game has undergone significant retooling since its launch on Xbox 360, but the full extent of the improvements aren't quite as far-reaching as we might have hoped for.

The Xbox 360 code was interesting in that ran at a sub-HD resolution - specifically 1120×585. This resolution was chosen in that it allowed Team Ninja to cram a 2x MSAA processed image into the Microsoft console's 10MB of EDRAM that's attached to the Xenos GPU. What is curious is that based on the media released for the game so far, it looks as though the PS3 version of the game is running at the same sub-HD resolution - interesting in that the Sony console does not have EDRAM.
7ero H3LL - contributor
Published: 226 days 22 hours ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
 
 

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Killjoy3000 - 226 days 22 hours ago
1 -
Well, if this isn't obvious, I don't know what is. If it's being released Fall 09', it damn well better have better visuals than a game released more than a year earlier.

But even if it didn't, I'd be fine with it. Online co-op beats any improvement to this game. Well.. Accept the crappy camera.
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- Ghost of Sparta - - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.1 -
They tweaked the camera too.

Oh and http://img172.imageshack.us...
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IdleLeeSiuLung - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.2 -
Co-op is welcome, although it isn't for the story mode, just specific missions ala mission mode.

I don't care about the resolution, but man the lack of blood will be something I will visually miss! It is extremely satisfying to see the carnage left behind with bodies everywhere and blood splattered on the walls and on the street.
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Lariat - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.3 -
The only thing that I see is a marginal improvement in the detail for Hayabusa's costume. The blood though looks like a massive downgrade. That was the best thing about NG2.
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7ero H3LL - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.4 -
going by all these pics is does look like the violence is being toned down and being replaced by some sort of purple haze. also none of the body parts are being severed when cut.

http://www.computerandvideo...
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solideagle1 - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.5 - why
its always playstation version blurry or foggy? i have noticed this from the era of PS2 y cant it produce crisp images like PC games? i dont know the technical stuff but 360 seems not blurry while PS3 screens does. anyone can explain?

thanks
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Aquanox - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.6 -
Indeed, it seems Sigma looks better than NG2, but it's CLEARLY related to optimization and not hardware as many will automatically suggest.

Unfortunatelly, NG2 was not the visual juggernaut on Xbox 360 that its predecessor was on the original Xbox. There were many other better looking games around, Devil May Cry 4 for example... which looked better virtually the same on both consoles... Xbox 360 having a slight edge due to MSAA vs Quincunx on PS3.

For the look of things, it seems that NG2 was rushed in some way looking at the framerate problems and the lack of detail in the environments. Usually, one goes gets cut in favor of the other but in this case both performed pretty poor on Xbox 360.

I don't doubt about Itagaki's ability to squeeze hardware at max so I can only presume this title was rushed in some way in the xbox 360.
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jackdoe - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.7 -
Quincunx AA causes a slightly blurry screen. However, depending on your TV, you may or may not notice such blurriness.

-edit-
@Aquanox: DMC4 is debatable about whether it looked better on the 360. Some things were better on the PS3 (ice effects) and others on the 360 (AA & some background mountain textures)
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eagle21 - 226 days 22 hours ago
1.8 - @solideagle1
Have you played Ninja Gaiden Sigma? The crisp graphics should be emblazoned in your mind!
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MAiKU - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.10 - Aquanox
What.... if it's for optimization then isn't it hardware as well? If it's being optimized the ps3, then it's being optimized for the hardware so i guess... wouldn't that mean by default it's hardware?
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Ghoul - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.11 -
"going by all these pics is does look like the violence is being toned down and being replaced by some sort of purple haze. also none of the body parts are being severed when cut."

nope the gore is still there it was just removed for gdc presentations. dont worry.

guns and swords
dont forget that dmc4 has ps3 motion blur only hence some weird blurs on still image comparisons, especially the firedemon
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solideagle1 - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.12 - @eagle21
naaaaa man i dont have a PS3 yet....you know i live in Pakistan and prices are here ridiculous....one game costs 5000Rs and my whole pay for the month is 16000Rs u get my point.....i m waiting Sony to drop the price of PS3 which is here like 54000Rs and damn HDTVs are like 100,000Rs so i think my days of being gamer are numbered. hehehehe
here 360 is pirate and is at affordable price but cant afford the RROD. u know limitation after limitation. hahaha this is LIFE.

on ur comment: i will gladly play it if it will be in my reach.
thanks
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blindfromthesun - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.13 - regarding optimization
People seem to forget that NGII and Sigma II run on entirely different engines. NGII for the 360 runs on the same engine as the original Xbox with enhancements. NG Sigma ran on the Sigma engine, created for the PS3. Sigma II also uses the Sigma engine and is being optimized. Therefore we can expect 60 fps and 1080p when it comes out.
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GameOn - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.14 - Yo Ghoul
quote from Hayachi : "Violence is not going to be one of the key selling points of this title... It's not all about how bloody it is."

Make of it what you will.
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Aquanox - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.15 - MAiKU -
All pieces of hardware have limitations, from the basic office PC without a 3D accelerator to the highest end machines. All of them have a limit. The problem is how you use your available resources to display a piece of software - a game in this case - by distributing correctly the processing and storage so it looks and runs properly.

For example, the PS3 has unparalleled CPU processing power in an strictly controlled environment but it have its bottlenecks in terms of memory and bandwidth here and there. However, when well optimized, the results can be awesome. In the Xbox 360 case, it seems that the GPU is one step beyond the CPU technology, so in many cases, the GPU helps processing effects that in the PS3 case are probably being processed in the Cell.

Gears of War 2 and Resident Evil 5 have proven that the Xbox 360 is capable of running visuals much more impressive than those seen in Ninja Gaiden 2, so the logical conclusion is that either the developers weren't skilled enough to know how to squeeze this power (which I doubt after Itagaki's work with NG1) or they were limited by a strict deadline without which, in other circumstances, Team Ninja might've reached similar levels of optimization with the Xbox 360 as in the original Xbox against which Sigma would have serious trouble surpassing.

A good example of an Xbox 360 game that needed an awful lot of optimization on PS3- which pushed Irrational to look for external help from Imsoniac - to achieve similar results is Bioshock.
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IdleLeeSiuLung - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.16 - Regarding Dismemberment and @aquanox
'The mag [Playstation magazine] has a quote from Hayachi saying, "Violence is not going to be one of the key selling points of this title... It's not all about how bloody it is." Instead they're going for "a much cooler, cleaner, sleeker look". So you won't see great big spurts of blood, but clouds of purple essence when enemies get dismembered.'

source: http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Sounds like dismemberment will be there, but why remove blood if you aren't going to remove dismemberment?

@aquanox:
See blindfromthesun comment. Essentially NG2 was made on an old engine, they really should have redone the engine for the 360.
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Ghoul - 226 days 21 hours ago
1.17 -
ok now im confused, i read earlier they only removed dismemberments and blood for the demo presentations.

i mean i could care less i dont need it to love it. played every ninja gaiden on xbox1 360 and ps3 expect ninja gaiden2.

EDIT::

ok seems it was a quote from yesterday, i still hope they keep the gore from ng2, at least add it for the fans in te options.
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Giriath - 226 days 16 hours ago
1.18 - @IdleLeeSiuLung
Notice how Eurogamer wrote that there will be purple essence instead of blood, and not Hayashi? They probably just took his quote, looked at the GDC footage and figured that's what he meant with less violence.

NGS2 will most likely have dismemberment and lots of blood, but it won't color your whole screen ridiculously red.
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MAiKU - 226 days 16 hours ago
1.19 - aquanox
Well your theory does seem plausible.

But then games like MGS4 should be a no brainer for the 360 eh? Regardless of what the developer said.

see what i did ther? bwahahaha.
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SL1M DADDY - 226 days 5 hours ago
1.20 - @ Killjoy3000
Not necessarily true. We are talking about two completely different platforms and two different teams. The team working with Sigma 2 made Sigma look awesome a while back. I think that they have an understanding of the hardware and know how to push it and make it look better. I don't think time has much to do with it, or at least not as much as you might think.
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Leio - 226 days 22 hours ago
2 -
Yeah whatever but focus more on the camera thats where the weakness is
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MURKERR - 226 days 22 hours ago
3 - if it looks better and that seems to be the case who cares
about the technicality of resolution, i dont sit there playing a game thinking about the resolution, i believe what my eyes are showing me regardless if a game looks good or bad
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XxZxX - 226 days 22 hours ago
4 -
which mean Cell can do better if developer put more time into it.
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ultimolu - 226 days 22 hours ago
5 -
...*faints*

I'm so excited for this game. o.o
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Avenged Sevenfold - 226 days 19 hours ago
5.1 -
The disagree fairy strikes again!!!!!!!!!!! I want this game too!
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Jaces - 226 days 22 hours ago
6 -
Sooo basically this proves that the PS3 is in fact more powerful.

I mean it already looks so much better than the 360 version, no excuses this time M$.

Just imagine what a Gears game would look like on the PS3 revamped.
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IdleLeeSiuLung - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.1 -
That is like saying Street Fighter IV (a game released at the same time) was better on the 360 and therefore the 360 must be superior to the PS3. A game released more than a year later and is more or less a port should look marginally better. It would be a blow if it looked worse. Either way it is minimal and most people probably don't care.

source: http://www.lensoftruth.com/...
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Blink_44 - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.2 -
Are you kidding there is barely a difference between the two in those screens!
6.3 Why dis | 226 days 22 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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ultimolu - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.4 - Blink
Yes there is.
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Jaces - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.5 -
*sigh*

Sigma was made exclusively for the PS3 as the original Ninja Gaiden was made exclusively for the 360 both taking advantage of the consoles power.

Unlike most multiplat (say Street Fighter IV) games made at the same time for the same console, there is a difference.

Barely a difference....not likely. Guaranteed when Sigma 2 comes out this fall it will be more than "barely a difference".
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tatical - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.6 -
Although the PS3 screens are better, its only because Techmo took a finished product & tweaked it for the PS3. If both versions were released at the same time there wouldn't be much difference between them.
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Jaces - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.7 -
Ok true about the NG being released at the same time on both consoles, but why didn't M$ tweak what they had of their finished product to make it look that much better than what it is now?
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GUNS N SWORDS - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.8 -
"Sooo basically this proves that the PS3 is in fact more powerful.

I mean it already looks so much better than the 360 version, no excuses this time M$.

Just imagine what a Gears game would look like on the PS3 revamped."

no it doesn't really mean that, and bioshock is the only UT engine game that was in the same situation and tested on both consoles, 360's version still came up on top.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...
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jackdoe - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.9 -
@Tactical:
That is true. But in the end, NGS2 will still look better than NG2 and even though it mostly isn't hardware related, that fact would be rendered moot as most people don't give a sh!t about their console d!cks. End result is everything.

It's like even if you have a larger d!ck than another guy, if you can't get the woman to orgasm, then your d!ck size means sh!t.
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Jaces - 226 days 22 hours ago
6.10 -
Wasn't Bioshock just ported over?

If so then again there's a difference between that and actually taking the game and tweaking it to make it better than what it previously was.
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tucky - 226 days 21 hours ago
6.11 - grrr
Personally, I prefer the 360 version... and actual 360 games are so much better -> the conversion is very poor (and it's one year later !!!)
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GUNS N SWORDS - 226 days 21 hours ago
6.12 -
"Wasn't Bioshock just ported over?

If so then again there's a difference between that and actually taking the game and tweaking it to make it better than what it previously was."

didn't 2k games say that ps3's version was "Genetically Enhanced"

http://gamer.blorge.com/200...
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IdleLeeSiuLung - 226 days 21 hours ago
6.13 - @jake
NG2 was made on an old engine from the original Xbox. The same on that the original Ninja Gaiden was released on. Take what you want from that.

Nobody is saying that NGS2 isn't going to look better than the current 360 version, that is a given. That still doesn't prove PS3's (or 360's for that matter) power, games like KZ2 (or Gears of War 2) does....

This is really an exercise in futility. People will see what they want.
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Jaces - 226 days 18 hours ago
6.14 -
@GUNS: Well if it was supposedly "Genetically enhanced" then they did a shltty job. :)
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GUNS N SWORDS - 226 days 18 hours ago
6.15 -
so let me get this straight, ps3 can't do 360 games UNLESS the developer starts the project over again up to ps3's specs, right?

ok lets say that that's true, how many developers are willing to go back and take such pains taking measures do this?

btw, (Jaces) they did what they could, converting or reconstructing a game isn't an easy job.

edit to below,

graphically wise NG2 isn't up to bioshock (which ran at 60 fps with the frame lock off, and dmc4 which ran at 720p with 2xaa) so if 360 can run those games exceptionally. so who do you point the finger at, 2k for making the game so well on 360 or tecmo for not puting more time into NG2 (ng2 was rushed to compete with msg4 in sales)
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Jaces - 226 days 17 hours ago
6.16 -
My point is that the PS3 can do 360 games better. IMO.

I'm not saying they should tweak and reconstruct every game that's ported over to the PS3, just that if they take the time they can make it so much better graphics wise.

btw, I don't believe they did what they could if the developers for NG2 were able to polish and tweak it better than the 360 version.
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7ero H3LL - 226 days 17 hours ago
6.17 -
true, ninja gaiden2 was rushed on 360, cause of metal gear solid 4.

ninja gaiden sigma 2 looking the way it does doesn't necessarily mean that the hardware is better, it's mostly the fact that tecmo perfected the game's engine a lot better. in my opinion tecmo should have payed attention to the engine than on the release date.
6.18 poopface1 | 226 days 16 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Reibooi - 226 days 22 hours ago
7 -
The game is still a ways out but Team Ninja has said the game will run in Native 1080P its possible the game just has not yet been able to do that or that the trailers were not complete.

Either way Ninja Gaiden II was a great looking game and any way they can improve it will make it that much better so I really don't think there is much to be worried about.
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theox2g7 - 226 days 21 hours ago
7.1 - Need proof
where is your source? Ninja Gaiden Sigma wasn't in 1080p native, what makes you think a more intensive Sigma 2 would be? I think 720p is a little more realistic, even then the first footage is at the same rez as the 360 version so it's likely they're aiming to use that instead

I'd prefer it that way, Prioritize a stable framerate over native resolution, At a fast paced 60 fps, your eyes can't really nitpick those missing pixels, I don't see the big fuss on sub-HD,

Note, upscaling is different from native, Sigma upscaled to 1080p but it was 720p native

Source

http://forum.beyond3d.com/s...

Ninja Gaiden: Sigma = 1280x720 (has weird scaling to support 1080p)
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anubis12 - 226 days 22 hours ago
8 -
good game you guy should enjoi it

edit.. OO and i don't really see any differences
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suunyd - 226 days 21 hours ago
8.1 -
ok theres not that big of a difference but dude, open your eyes. its different enough for you to notice the ps3 version is better than the 360 version.
9 Why dis | 226 days 22 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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