Don't forget about the sound.

The ps3 has already produced amazing sounding games. Heavy rain, mgs4 and the clarity of the sound track in both Uncharted games is amazing. The ps3 really shows sony had it's origins in hifi equipment.

However it's about time somebody used the HD sound capabilities. Uncompressed 5.1 and 7.1 sound is already a big improvement over dolby digital. But so far everything out only supports 44/48khz 16 bit sound. Pretty much the same cd sound quality we've been listening to for the past 30 years. (with 3 to 5 extra channels ofcourse)

The hdmi settings on the ps3 also list 96kzh/192khz and 24bit sound available for sound encoding. My amplifier has 192khz 24 bit dac's per channel. Somebody please use them.

I'm aware humans can't hear much beyound 20khz. But sounds are waves and the more data points you store of the waves the less chance of distortion and unwanted sound artifacts. 10 years ago I had a dvd with a few demo tracks in 96khz stereo, and yes it does sound more clear. So far the HD revolution has just managed to bring CD audio quality to movies. You'll have to really look around to find any blu-ray with hd sound.

A pixeljunk game with a soundtrack recorded in and sound effects in 24bit 196khz audio would be prefect.

@ SvennoJ

> Don't forget about the sound.

Agreed, the Cell's SPUs can also function like DSPs for superfast realtime audio and video processing.

2 cents! really? that was more like 1m bucks and spot on!

yea wht he said. all these things add to wht goes into all great games.

@ Squilliam

Of course different (kinds of) games show different kinds of game complexity. And yes thus a game like Infamous 2 or GTA IV which sport a big open world environment are significantly different in terms of requirements compared to a linear game in terms of complexity.

It's also possible to create an awful game based on a great game engine. Art direction also plays a crucial factor with regard to the end result. Although I agree most first party PS3 game developers are second to none I don't think Rockstar is for example incompetent or lacks resources with regard to their game development capabilities. As infamous 2 looks a whole lot more technically advanced than GTA IV did with its MLAA, special effects and complex boss fights. I don't think Sucker Punch is so much better or resourceful than Rockstar is.

For example Uncharted 1 did good HDR, good anti-aliasing in high definition, something we haven't seen any of the 360 games so far, nomatter if a linear game like Alan Wake (which was created by competent developers). The difference in technical showcasing for a game like Killzone 3 is of an entirely different level as for example seen in the Call of Duty series and those devs do have talent and resources as well.

It goes without saying someone can create an amazing looking game on the PS2 (like God of War 2) or the Wii (like Super Mario Galaxy) through great production values. But you can easily judge they are PS2/Wii games regardless, the HD remake of God of War 2 of course does look worthy of being a current generation game, but the gap with God of War 3 is still incredibly huge from a technical perspective (but one can personally prefer the art direction of the two earlier games, but that's clearly something else than what this thread is about, for example I still prefer Mario64/Super Mario World over Super Mario Galaxy despite the latter is clearly technically superior).

I thought this was talked about to great depths in the past and is all rather too obvious to include in the OP. 

Great thread as usual Mike B.

Great read. Thanks.

@OP

Do you see the PS3 dropping in price to a more resonable price point anytime soon.

As a gamer I would love to start playing the PS3 back catalogue but the price in the UK at 250 GBP (390 USD) is just too much for me to pay.

Surely as the PS3 gains more and more revenue SONY can look to enter the sweet price point market.

What about AI? Are there any PS3-exc;usive shooters coming out where my computer controlled team-mates aren't incompetent? Graphics are nice, but I'd like to see Cell get used to improve AI in 2011.

I have yet to see an AI btetter than what we have in Killzone 2. If someone can show me the way where to look for...

Oh yea I remember F.E.A.R, they had a really good AI too, it was sometime raging to see enemies being so intelligent. xP (same as what happens in Killzone 2) but Halo Reach I dunno, I played the MP more than the SP (I don't own the console, so I play my my friend put :p)