Darc Requiem said:
Origin, I understand you are playing the devil's advocate. The good games are coming argument is still quite flawed. Developers have already began to hedge their bets as far as the PS3 is concerned. Developers that were firmly in Sony's corner are already waivering on their PS3 support. Exclusive games are going multiplatform. Instead of continuing to have the majority of their development teams focus on the PS3, they are shifting that focus on to Sony's competitors. You are going to start seeing more and more multiplatform games on PS3 that are substandard in comparison to the 360 version. The smaller userbase means that PS3 multiplatform ports are going to be done on a shoe string budget. The PS3 is going end up with the crappy ports that the Gamecube got last gen. |
Just a little trip down memory lane:
Need For Speed : Hot Pursuit 2 Released Sept. 2002...almost an ENTIRE YEAR AFTER THE XBOX CAME OUT.
After almost five years, the true sequel is finally here in Hot Pursuit 2 for the Xbox, and it gives players all the car-chasing, roadblock-blasting action they can handle. But it also pales in comparison to the PlayStation 2 version...
...What makes playing the PlayStation 2 version of Hot Pursuit 2 so addicting makes the Xbox version incredibly annoying. Out on the track, car control is far too floaty and unresponsive. It becomes especially apparent when you're going through a set of S turns and you're unable to keep the tail end of your car from swinging out. It's also far more difficult to feel the differences in handling between the various cars. There's a handbrake available that will allow you to perform something similar to powerslides, but it's only required in the hairpin turns that pop up infrequently...
...Technically speaking, the Xbox version of Hot Pursuit 2 is a train wreck. All the special effects that make the PlayStation 2 version look so sharp -- like volumetric fogging and excellent lighting -- are completely absent. Gone are the sandstorms that would completely blind you or the way the cars glow with yellow light as you drive past large fires. The textures are incredibly blurry and the colors are washed-out and bland. Despite the sacrifices made on the technical end of things, the game can get quite jumpy when there are several cars onscreen at once. This drastically undermines the game's sense of speed -- one of its major selling points...
...The cars themselves are modeled fairly well with some pseudo environmental mapping applied to them that give them a nice reflective surface, though the cars in the Xbox version lack the detailed undercarriages found in the PS2 version. This is apparent when catching huge air because the camera will pan around your car to give it some emphasis.
Despite it's dilapidated state when compared with the PlayStation 2 version, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 for the Xbox is still a fun arcade racer. It's one of those games where it seems like the most illogical thing that can happen regularly does (like a car coming in the other lane at the exact wrong time), but the adrenaline rush from the police chases keeps you coming back for one more try. It's no technical marvel, but with plenty of cars and tracks to unlock and high-speed thrills it's worth a look. But if you own both systems pick up the PlayStation 2 version instead.
This game came out A FULL YEAR after the Xbox Launched. Was the Xbox weaker than the PS2? No.
It's all up to the developers coming to grips with the hardware so they can exploit it. A full year after the Xbox came out, and developers were still learning the hardware. EA is the world's largest Third Party, with the most resources to make their games shine, and a full year later, even they couldn't make the Xbox version as GOOD as the PS2 version.
The List of multiplatform games looking better on the inferior platform (PS2) continued over and over with other games ported poorly to the Xbox like Metal Gear Solid 2 : Substance, Onimusha, Medal of Honor, and others.
It didn't help that EXCLUSIVE XBOX games looked worse than EXCLUSIVE games on PS2 as well (with the exception of Halo), Azurik, Nightcaster, Blood wake, NFL Fever, and more looked pale in comparison to Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X, Twisted Metal : Black, Zone of the Enders, and Gran Turismo 3.
Other games that were initially exclusive to PS2 looked fantastic against the Prior Xbox Launch, games like Metal Gear Solid 2, Baldur's Gate, Silent Hill 2, and even the Dreamcast Port, Resident Evil Code Veronica X.
Of course, over time, it became apparent the Xbox was indeed more capable, but it took time to exploit the hardware to outshine the PS2....even though the PS2 was harder to code for.
As for the sales, the PS2 almost sold 20 million the first year it was out, as of now, you have to add up the total number of 360s, Wiis, and PS3s combined to come close to the number of PS2s sold the first year, and you have to take into account that the 360 has been out for over a year. The real question that should be asked is why aren't people dedicating themselves to new consoles?
