This is a question that has been on many gamer’s minds since the PS3 launched. Gamers have been arguing over this very topic for two years now and there is still no clear answer if the PS3 is truly more hi-def than the Xbox 360 or vice versa. However, early games seem to indicate that the Xbox 360 might have been easier to develop HD games.
“True hi-definition” became the industry buzzword during 2007, similarly to the way LittleBigPlanet became the buzzword for 2008. It became such a key topic; Microsoft even added a HDMI port to the Xbox 360 just so that they could say the console was truly hi-def.
As many of your may know games do not have to be in 1080p to be considered hi-def, but at some point the silly term “true hi-definition” was coined by Sony to push the PS3 for its HDMI and Blu-ray capabilities. Of course Microsoft who shrugged off the importance of hi-def gaming early on, later jumped on the bandwagon by shouting, “me too.”
I would say for the most part that around 98% of the multiplatform titles have the same resolution on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. However, there are several games where the resolution doesn’t quite reach hi-def quality.
Ported Games
Here are just a few games analyzed by the graphics gurus over at Beyond3D by pixel counting. These guys were the first to break news that Halo 3 was in fact 640p and not 720p before it was verified by the developers. They were also the site that broke news that GTA IV was 640p on the PS3.
Xbox 360:
Dark Sector = 1280×720
MX vs ATV = 1280×720
Grand Theft Auto IV = 1280×720
Fracture = 1280×720
PS3:
Dark Sector = 1152×640
MX vs ATV = 1024×576
Grand Theft Auto IV = 1152×640
Fracture = 1152×648
Oddly enough it seems that there are a few games that the Xbox 360 is capable of outputting at a higher resolution than the PS3. Considering that most of these games are Xbox 360 ports, it seems likely that it is more difficult to port games over to the PS3 at the same resolution.
However, that doesn’t seem to always be the case. There are a couple of games that were not hi-def on the Xbox 360 but became hi-def once ported to the PS3, but these were rare instances.
Xbox 360:
Tomb Raider Underworld = 1024×576
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion = 1024×600
PS3:
Tomb Raider: Underworld = 1280×720
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion = 1280×720
For the most part, it seems that the PS3 version suffers greatly when games are ported from Xbox 360. Considering that development is easier on the Xbox 360 than the PS3, chances are smaller studios may go this route to save cost. This will mean that if the developers do not put extra effort into porting the game over to the PS3, games will continue to suffer on that platform.
1080p Games
Despite all the hype over 1080p, there really are not that many games in that resolution. There are practically no multiplatform games that are in 1080p except a few sports titles.
However, it looks like Sony has been pushing more native 1080p games than Microsoft.
Here is a list of PS3 games that are only 1080p on the PS3 (including exclusives):
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 = 1920×1080
Wipeout HD = 1920×1080
Go Puzzle = 1920×1080
GT5 Prologue = 1920×1080
Lair = 800×1080/1600×1080
Ridge Racer 7 = 1920×1080
NBA07 = 1920×1080
NBA08 = 1920×1080
Blast Factor = 1920×1080
Calling All Cars = 1920×1080
Echochrome = 1920×1080
Elefunk = 1920×1080
High Velocity Bowling = 1920×1080
Locoroco Cocoreccho = 1920×1080
Mainichi Issyo = 1440×1080
Pixel Junk Monsters/Racers/Eden = 1920×1080
Rub’a'dub = 1600×1080
Snakeball = 1280×1080
Stardust HD = 1280×1080
Sudoku = 1920×1080
Super Rub-a-Dub = 1600×1080
Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection = 1920×1080
Currently the only Xbox 360 exclusive to be pixel-counted to be native 1080p is:
Boogie Bunnies = 1920×1080
One could deduce from looking at the list, that when games are developed independently, the PS3 might be easier to develop 1080p games than the Xbox 360. However, I believe this may be because Sony’s emphasis on 1080p games might have contributed to these studios pushing the games to that resolution.
In conclusion, it seems that most multiplatform developers are not willing to push games to 1080p and there is also a slight chance that an Xbox 360 port might have a lower resolution on the PS3. If this development paradigm continues, the Xbox 360 might have a very small edge over the PS3 in hi-def gaming by default with the ports. Although, to be clear for the most part, the vast majority of the multiplatform games have the same resolution on both systems.
However, fortunately for PS3 owners many third party developers such as EA, Activision and Ubisoft have indicated that they will use the PS3 as the lead development platform (Prince of Persia, Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space to name a few). The net result of using the PS3 as the lead platform seems to be that ports to the Xbox 360 looks identical to the lead platform in resolution and quality.
So the reality is, most games will probably never be in 1080p and most multiplatform games will look identical in every way. It is really up to the first party developers to push hi-def gaming because studios like Infinity Ward and Treyarch seems to be satisfied with offering 600p games.
The Final word - Are hi-def games overrated? Yes they are.
