Pre E3 2006: 360 and PS3 about equal?

PS3 News | Chronicles of Riddick developer spills the beans.

Starbreeze blew onto the scene in 2004 with the startlingly good The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on the original Xbox. They showed that they knew their stuff by producing an incredible-looking game that was also notable for being the first game to use normal mapping, a texturing technique that is currently considered the future of high end graphics. They're currently working on The Darkness, a first person shooter for both Xbox 360 and PS3. So when these guys comment on what each console's hardware is capable of, we listen.

In an interview with IGN about the upcoming game, the Starbreeze design team was asked the question everyone wants an answer to - just how much more capable is the PS3 than the Xbox 360? In particular, IGN asked what each console had as strengths and weaknesses, and how the two versions of their game would differ visually between the two platforms.

Magnus Högdahl, Starbreeze's technical director answered the question in a more general manner: "The PS3 will have a content size advantage with Blu-ray and a CPU advantage for titles that are able to utilize a lot of the SPUs. The Xbox360 has a slight GPU advantage and its general purpose triple-core CPU is relatively easy to utilise compared to SPUs. I expect that it will be near impossible to tell Xbox 360 and PS3 screenshots apart."

Now this is only one developer's opinion, but as one of the first open comments from someone with their hands on both dev kits, it's not to be taken lightly. Only the future will tell, but perhaps the PS3 'advantage' may not be as great as some are making out? We're sure we'll hear more on the subject [understatement of the century - Ed].

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12 Comments

wobbler

6 years ago

Funny, the xbox was supposed to be so much easier than the ps2 to write games for, but sony has a good 30% more games available. so if one system is easier to write for why are less games written? To be honest I cant really tell the difference between screen shots of ps2 and xbox so its not that suprising that there wont be that big a difference between the 360 and ps3. People will always say that their system is superiour than any other because they have to justify to themselves the purchase.

realitybites

6 years ago

Ease of programming will give the games the best results.

Saying that the Xbox 360 should be "easier" in the beginning hence I think for sometime the PS3 and XBox 360 should be similar in terms of graphical prowess.

Later in the life cycle I would expect the PS3 to edge the Xbox 360 out.

Having owned both a Xbox and a PS2 the major graphical differences were really in the treatment of textures and fluidity (or average frames per second).

The PS2 version of RE 4 was very good. Which highlights the fact you could produce very good looking games with simple tricks on the console.

Sin Ogaris

6 years ago

But the PS2 version of RE4 looks like a pile of dung, and not just any dung, elephant dung (IMO).

I wasn't really expecting any real difference between the PS3 and 360 anyway so I'm not really surprised by this statement, didn't know about Riddick being the first game to use NM, so at least I came away from this article with something.

MIkes

6 years ago

[quote="wobbler"]Funny, the xbox was supposed to be so much easier than the ps2 to write games for, but sony has a good 30% more games available. so if one system is easier to write for why are less games written?quote]

Because more people buy Playstation cos of the brand, and as more people buy the PS games on that system have a higher potential buyer rate.

I thought the RE4 on PS2 was sh*te, too. Nothing compared to the GC. Playable, sure, but lacking polish.

Jellyfish

6 years ago

Eh, all it's saying it the PS3 and 360 will have similar graphics power. But if you're pushing those SPEs into graphics what happens to the basic stuff like AI and Physics? Will next-gen games turn into super-models now (all looks not gameplay)?

plufim

6 years ago

Like I said nearly six months ago, the PS3 and xbox360 will be the gamecube and xbox of the next gen. When the developer knows what they're doing, the differences will be pretty small.

k1dcharm

6 years ago

Of course PS3 & 360 graphics will look similar on a multiplatform game.

plufim

6 years ago

Pretty sure that's not what I meant. I'm just saying a dev house who knows what they are doing could make games for each system that look equally good, not because they'd be forced to because of them being the same game, but because both systems are relatively equally capable. Like Burnout 2 on cube and xbox.

It's a good thing though, because it means that with little difference in system capabilities, the choice all comes down to the games.

Jim Dash

6 years ago

I can't see the differences being huge. Yeah, the PS3 will be more powerful, but by how much?

As long as the 360 isn't too far behind, I don't have a problem. It can produce some pretty graphics.

admeister

6 years ago

"Like I said nearly six months ago, the PS3 and xbox360 will be the gamecube and xbox of the next gen"
What's that supposed to mean, I guess the Wii is non-existant?

People never seem to count it in to the next-gen talk, I guess it's not the most next-gen machine, but it still deserves a place.

DancesInUnderwear

6 years ago

admeister wrote

"Like I said nearly six months ago, the PS3 and xbox360 will be the gamecube and xbox of the next gen"
What's that supposed to mean, I guess the Wii is non-existant?

People never seem to count it in to the next-gen talk, I guess it's not the most next-gen machine, but it still deserves a place.

The PS2 wasn't in there, either, I guess thats not current gen?

He's saying that the PS3 and X360 will be just like the XB and the GCN because while the former of each pair is supposed to be more powerful, once developers get use to the sytem, both will end up looking pretty much the same.

Wii is the equivalent of PS2 - it'll surely be very pretty, but not in the same category as the PS3/360 / XB/GCN.