Squilliam on 23 July 2008
| Hyams said: So, you compare two games in detail, both of which happen to be better on the 360. This demonstrates nothing apart from the fact that those two devs are better with the 360 than they are with the PS3. All this really reveals to me is your bias: why didn't you compare the versions of, say, COD4 or Burnout Paradise? If I had more data for CODIV I would have. I had the most data on those two games, so I compared them. But really, does how GTAIV run prove that the developers from rockstar are incompetent? So you'd perfer to call them morons for not being able to deliver as much performance on the PS3 version as the Xbox360 version? . And of course, even comparing multiplatform titles in the first place really isn't the best way to compare the comparative strength of the two consoles, as the different strengths and weaknesses of each console are different, meaning sacrifices have to be made in most multiplatform titles. Because of this, multiplatform titles don't represent the best of what a console can do. GTAIV was coded by a seperate team on the PS3 - Thats as close to using the comparitive strengths of the PS3 any developer can get in a multiplatform game. Furthermore - its extremely difficult to get a fair and balanced comparison between different exclusives as I mentioned earlier in the thread. Of course, all of this is meaningless as you've redefined the strength of the console to incorporate how easy it is to program for, putting the PS3 at an immediate disadvantage. Of course, this also means that the Wii’s technology is superior to the PS3’s in some respects too, if you carry the logic over. Its not just how easy it is to program for - The Xbox1 is easier than the Xbox360 because of the OOOE in the X86 CPU, but if the underlying architecture like the Memory, GPU and CPU all perform at a higher level then you will get a better result from your games. But yes, an easy console to develop for is relevant to discussion because developers in the real world have a fairly fixed budget of time and money in which to deliver a game in. The problem with including ease of development in your assessment is that this value fluctuates, from dev to dev and over time. Insomniac, for example, don't appear to have any trouble developing games for the PS3, whereas some other devs do. And we've seen how devs have been getting better at using the PS3 (just compare the quality of multiplatform titles at the beginning of its life to now). Because this isn't a definite, in-the-stone number - like something like RAM is - you can't really include it in your assessment. After all, a year or two down the line and we may find that devs find developing for the PS3 just as easy as developing for the 360. It does help that Sony will refuse to allow a developer to release games that are not up to par in comparison between the Xbox360 and PS3 versions. So a developer with a weak PS3 version can do a combination of Delay both, delay the PS3 version, and Gimp the Xbox360 version to make the PS3 version better. Lastly have you heard of the 80/20 rule? 80% of your results will come from 20% of your effort, if we haven't seen the performance by now then we may never see it.Most Developers aren't going to be spending 3+ years and a huge budget if they aren't going to get the returns on that investment. Only 1st parties can do things like that. No, the best way to figure out which console is strongest is to compare exclusive games, as they'll present the best of what the console is capable of. But as you quite rightly pointed out, that is very hard to currently do. There isn't a big enough difference in the quality of the exclusive games, making it very hard to judge, especially against the backdrop of different art styles. Well the best bet for comparison is probably Insomniac and Epic on their respective GeoW2 and RFOM2 games. They have similar development time, they are both considered masters of engine development and the art style isn't too far off from each other. But we won't know until November or December at the latest how they really compare. But in saying that there are still huge issues with making such a comparison and I'll leave it to the unbiased minds of the people in Beyond3d - they are some of the best bets for that. In the end, you’ve demonstrated nothing. |
Tease.
