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Forums - Microsoft - Seattle Informer loves the 360 - 12 Reasons why GTA IV is better on the 360

gebx said:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/digitaljoystick/archives/138345.asp

This article is awesome, not because I agree with it,  I actually disagree with most of it.. but just because.. well.. here read on!!

12 reasons  (FOR THE RECORD - I do not agree with all these points, some I think have no reason being used for GTA IV comparison, others are just stretched out truths/half lies)

1. Higher Native Resolution : The native resolution of GTA IV on the Xbox 360 is 720p while the PS3 is 480p. A game's native resolution is the dimentions that the image is rendered at before it is scaled to match the resolution setting on your HDTV. The PS3 hype about games at 1080p is pretty much pure hype. There are no complex 3d games that run at that resolution. The graphics on the PS3 version of the game is rendered at a lower resolution and stretched more giving it a more blurred final image, while the 360 game had more pixels at the start and ends up a crisper image.

2.The ANA chip : The Xbox 360 has hardware based scaling of images to scale images to whatever resolution is needed on the fly. Since this is done in a dedicated chip this leaves the Xbox 360 CPU and GPU free to work on the game. The PS3 requires that all graphics scaling to be done in software by the CPUs. Granted it has a lot of CPU power but hardware based graphics scaling is a much more elegant way of rendering 3d images at multiple resolutions.3. More availible RAM : The PS3 opertating system is a memory hog that eats up alot of avaible memory. This means that it needs to either load a massive install on the PS3 hard drive to cache texture data or use lower resolution textures. The Xbox 360 on the other hand as a very effecient minimalist operating system (It's not Windows) that leaves a lot of memory resources left over for game developers.

4. CPU GPU architecture : The PS3 CELL architecture is great at chomping long numerical calculations but breaking down computational tasks to that many CPU cores takes a serious juggle to get them all working at an even work load. Using multiple CPUs didn't work out so hot for the Sega Saturn.

5. Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers! WOOO! - MS CEO Steve Balmer : Microsoft's first product was a programming language. Software development tools has been a major part of their DNA from day one and both the Xbox and Xbox 360 were designed to be a very effective platform for game developers. To Microsoft development tools are not something to be trifled with. The Xbox 360 game development software libraries are handsdown the best in the world from what I've read about them and the company has worked a long time in garnering a strong supportive relationship with software developers for their platform. It is easier for game developers to get results quicker using the Xbox tools than the PS3. Just look at what a major programmer on Rockband had to say bout it.

6. Faster optical disc access : Blu-Ray might be great for movies but when it comes to moving data off a disc and into RAM quickly for game DVD is a better way to go. The Xbox 360 version does not require you to hand over close to four gigs of hard drive space for an install that needs to be there for as long as you own the game.

7. Exclusive downloaded content : Microsoft probably had to wisper some sweet nothings into Take 2's ears and possibly open up their pocket book to guarentee that extra downloaded content for GTA IV would only come out on Xbox 360. We don't know if it is going to be new weapons, cars, missions or full islands but I know that it is going to rock and the only way to get it is via Xbox Live

8. In-game messaging via Xbox Live : I can hit the guide button on the Xbox 360 and see if my freind BBQ is on his Xbox 360 and send him a message inviting him to play a game right from the game. We then might throw it down in GTA IV or kick it Puzzle Fighter HD style with a cross game invite.

9. In-game network data : I can tell what level my freind BBQ is playing from looking at his gamertag. that is pretty Meta Web 2.0.

10. Achievments and Gamerscore : I can tell how far he is and if he has gotten that taxi service achievement yet.

11. On the Xbox 360 version The network code in the game does not crash the game, the multiplayer servers are actual dedicated Xbox Live servers and not GameSpy and there is no file corruption glitch in the 360 version.

12. Better controllers : There is rumble in all the wireless gamepads on the Xbox 360. The old default PS3 controller has allways feel way to light to me and I do like having rumble. GTA IV makes use of the analog triggers for driving and the 360s top triggers are much better for presision driving controls.

 

Edited (spelling): Goddam... I need to proof read my crap sometimes

How stupid are they?

1. Resolution? It runs at 640p right, and sure that may be lower than 720, but hasn't everyone come to the conscensus that the PS3 image is crisper/sharper because of better anti-aliasing? Theire first point makes their credibility get thrown out the window.

3. They have the same amount of RAM, just that the PS3 has half dedicated to processing and half dedicated to graphics.

4. He knows nothing about the CELL tech, #1 both the cell and Xenos (Xenon?) are ONE CPU, the Xenos has 3 cores, and the CELL has 1 core with 7 SPEs that help with the workload.

5. Yeah, the dev kits for the Xboxes are easier to work with than the Playstations, why? BECAUSE M$ IS A SOFTWARE COMPANY!!!! The Xbox was easier to develop for than the PS2 and the 360 is easier to develop for than the PS3. We all know this, but that didn't stop the PS2 from wiping the floor with the 360 and nor is it stopping the PS3 from gaining the momentum it has now.

6. I know this is a blog post, but there's confusion over read speeds and it's something I don't know too much about, so I don't want to say something, then get owned for being totally and completely wrong:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/profile/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=23916169&user=skektek

7. Did he really use the words "I know" and "GTAIV downloadable content" in the same sentence? I wish I knew that it would "rock" because millions of consumers don't even know what the hell it's going to be. And David Reeves recent hint at DLC for the PS3 version makes this all a little moot. Speculation about what the 360 is getting vs. Speculation of the PS3 even getting DLC.....all speculation and you shouldn't publish anything about that.

8. In-game XMB fixes that....but I'm sure he neglected to look up the fact that Sony is working on that.

9. I can go over to my friends list in the XMB and see what game he/she is playing......once again, the writer negelected to mention that.

10. "I can tell how far he is and if he has gotten that taxi service achievement yet." If that isn't the dumbest reason to say that one version is superior, then I don't know what is. Anyway, Ive said this before with achievements...you can do the exact same tasks on multiplatform games, you just don't get a blip on the of the screen. For example, hypothetically, if Gears was on the PS3. There's an achievement for killing like 10,000 people.....you could do that online also if it were on the PS3. How about GTAIV. There's an achievement called "One Man Army"....you can do the same task on the the PS3.

11. I know there have been problems, but I for one have not had any crashes with my GTAIV....and how dare he make it seem like there are no crashes on the 360 version! It's happened on both platforms. As for the Xbox Live servers....just keep gripping at those straws about Live, until it goes down again, and once again, you won't be able to play ANY games online. When GTAIV went down online for the PS3, I just popped in COD4 and had a great time...can't say the same for anyone with a 360 when something like that happens. When one game goes down on the PS3, one game goes down. When one game on the 360 goes down, ALL games go down.

12. Opinion......was this an actual article or an editorial? But with actual regards to controllers, I've played with the dualshock interface for 12 years now, and have no problems. And I actually did consider the 360 controller superior before I got a PS3 (but that was only because I only fell in line with what many people said, which in actuality were Xbox fans flooding a certain game, like when Madden was shown to be miles better on the 360) but after having my PS3, and playing multiplatform games on it, then going back to the 360 controller, I like the PS one better. Once again, that's just opinion though, not FACT

I'm glad gebx came out in the beginning and said he didn't agree with this, cause that would have put his 360 love meter above that of even starcraft's, and that's saying something
 

 



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Rock_on_2008 said:
Flame thread alert.
The whole article is complete utter garbage. So many lies in it and so anti-PS3 and so bias towards the 360. It sickens me. I want this thread locked immediately.

I hope you're being sarcastic...

Didn't see how every pro-360 users said the article is moslty crap and inaccurate.. didn't you read the start in bold font??

This is when I pull a LordtheNightKnight, insult you and get banned...



Proud Member of GAIBoWS (Gamers Against Irrational Bans of Weezy & Squilliam)

                   

TheBigFatJ said:


(2) Only affects users who don't have a TV that does scaling and doesn't accept 720p.



that's not correct...every HDTV has a scaler...and virtually no TV accept a 720p without the need of scaling (it's just a question of numeber of pixel...so you have 2 alternatives:

1) give 720p to your TV (or whatever, different from native resolution but still compatible with your TV) and let the TV scaler do the rest of the work for you (usually not a great idea as TV scaler are usually low quality...and this way you might in fact do 2 scaling )

2)scale in HW (depend again on the quality of sources's scaler)/SW (possible performance and quality issues) from the source and give TV its native resolution.

 

having said that ANA chip is regarded as a good scaler (better than the majority of the scaler integrated in TV)...if this is a key-advantage for X360 in visual quality is yet to determine though.



2008 year end sales (made in January 2008):

44.2 M 27.1 M 20.8 M

Well, I was going to reply seriously but then I read this

Digital Joystick: Video Game News & Views
video gamesmovie reviewsvideo culturedigital gamesjoystickscontrollersSeattle
Editor's note: This is a P-I Reader Blog. P-I Reader Blogs are not written or edited by the P-I. They are written by readers, for readers. The authors are solely responsible for content. If you see any posts you consider inappropriate, please send us a note at newmedia@seattlepi.com.
· Want to blog for the P-I?



-------------
I'm sorry, I dont like to comment on blogs.



Soriku (Feb 10/08): In 5 years the PS3/360 will be dead.

KH3 bet: "If KH3 comes to Wii exclusive, I will take a 1 month of sig/avatar by otheres open a thread apologize and praise you guys' brilliance." http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?start=50&id=18379
Original cast: Badonkadonkhr, sc94597 allaboutthegames885, kingofwale, Soriku, ctk495, skeezer, RDBRaptor, Mirson,

Episode 1: OOPSY!
selnor
: Too Human I even expect 3-4 mill entire life and 500,000 first day. GoW2 ( expect 7 - 9 million entire life and over 2 mill first day), Fable 2 (expect 5-6 million entire life and 1.5 mill fist day) BK3 (expect 4 - 5 mill sales entire life and 1 mill first day).. Tales/IU/TLR should get to 2 or 3 million! post id: 868878
Episode 2:
Letsdance: FFXIII (PS3+360) first week in NA = 286K
According to pre-order rate in week 13 (post id: 2902544)
kingofwale said:
Well, I was going to reply seriously but then I read this

Digital Joystick: Video Game News & Views
video gamesmovie reviewsvideo culturedigital gamesjoystickscontrollersSeattle
Editor's note: This is a P-I Reader Blog. P-I Reader Blogs are not written or edited by the P-I. They are written by readers, for readers. The authors are solely responsible for content. If you see any posts you consider inappropriate, please send us a note at newmedia@seattlepi.com.
· Want to blog for the P-I?



-------------
I'm sorry, I dont like to comment on blogs.

well, if that was just random fanboy nonsense, and not a paid writer's work, then I just wasted 10 minutes



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meh x360 fanboy desperation is my opinion. the funny thing is they have nothing to be desperatbe about tho because the game is selling better on that system



Spectrumglr said:
TheBigFatJ said:


(2) Only affects users who don't have a TV that does scaling and doesn't accept 720p.



that's not correct...every HDTV has a scaler...and virtually no TV accept a 720p without the need of scaling (it's just a question of numeber of pixel...so you have 2 alternatives:

1) give 720p to your TV (or whatever, different from native resolution but still compatible with your TV) and let the TV scaler do the rest of the work for you (usually not a great idea as TV scaler are usually low quality...and this way you might in fact do 2 scaling )

2)scale in HW (depend again on the quality of sources's scaler)/SW (possible performance and quality issues) from the source and give TV its native resolution.

 

having said that ANA chip is regarded as a good scaler (better than the majority of the scaler integrated in TV)...if this is a key-advantage for X360 in visual quality is yet to determine though.


 Actually the ana chip doesn't do any scaling at all, it's the GPU that does the scaling and no it's not software based it's a hardware scaler but located in the GPU no the ana chip, the ana chip just handles the video output.



The article is just some N00b's opinion. It is not worth looking at it. Clearly he does not know what he is talking about. It is just a Blog entry, a very unreliable source.



jake_the_fake1 said:
Spectrumglr said:
TheBigFatJ said:


(2) Only affects users who don't have a TV that does scaling and doesn't accept 720p.



that's not correct...every HDTV has a scaler...and virtually no TV accept a 720p without the need of scaling (it's just a question of numeber of pixel...so you have 2 alternatives:

1) give 720p to your TV (or whatever, different from native resolution but still compatible with your TV) and let the TV scaler do the rest of the work for you (usually not a great idea as TV scaler are usually low quality...and this way you might in fact do 2 scaling )

2)scale in HW (depend again on the quality of sources's scaler)/SW (possible performance and quality issues) from the source and give TV its native resolution.

 

having said that ANA chip is regarded as a good scaler (better than the majority of the scaler integrated in TV)...if this is a key-advantage for X360 in visual quality is yet to determine though.


Actually the ana chip doesn't do any scaling at all, it's the GPU that does the scaling and no it's not software based it's a hardware scaler but located in the GPU no the ana chip, the ana chip just handles the video output.


the chip scales from GPU-rendered resolution (the native resolution of the game) to output-required resolution.

 

EDIT: you're right...sorry..it's just for DVD/video upscaling :)

 

EDIT2: maybe not..and you could be wrong afterall:  http://arstechnica.com/articles/headstart.ars/2

 i must conclude...it's debatable



2008 year end sales (made in January 2008):

44.2 M 27.1 M 20.8 M

lol is all i can say, its a load of lies.

ive said it before and il say it again, the overwhelming majority of reviewers say the ps3 version looks and runs better

why dont they just accept it and move on



...not much time to post anymore, used to be awesome on here really good fond memories from VGchartz...

PSN: Skeeuk - XBL: SkeeUK - PC: Skeeuk

really miss the VGCHARTZ of 2008 - 2013...