Rockstar: Multi-platform development is limiting GTA IV

360 News | Hardware differences not not helping.

It's almost a year to the day since it was announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would be coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, yet Rockstar's choice to release the game on two platforms is now proving problematic to the developer.

According to Rockstar's Dan Houser, both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions are causing headaches.
Houser's views came out in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine, when asked whether or not the lack of Blu-ray or a guaranteed hard disk on all Xbox 360s was creating limitations. "Yes. To be honest with you, we haven't solved all those riddles yet," replied Rockstar's creative VP. He also said that "both [PS3 and 360] have enormous challenges" and that "we’ll get there with both, but both have their own particular pleasures and pains."

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47 Comments

ugh the boot

5 years ago

SUCKED IN!!!! I knew Ps3 was the best! You stuffed up Rockstar....now your game will suffer! Maybe other developers can learn a lesson from this? Develop your games exclusively for the one console and then port it! Multiplatform is always crappier!!

Now to wait for the announcement that Capcom is being hindered by the 360 for Resident Evil 5.

Man I so knew this sort of crap would happen! I'm not happy about it....but i knew it!!

Obviously there are gonna be a couple of obstacles with the Ps3 hardware....but those sorts of things can be worked around with a bit of time and effort. Things like 'not enough disk space' or 'no hdd' can hinder the game's quality regardless of the time and effort.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

I smell bs.

And not you ugh, your sporting an enchanting musky scent, i mean rockstar and the the fact the question came out in an offical playstation rag.

Can you provide a link or copy of the whole interview??

renegadesx

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

SUCKED IN!!!! I knew Ps3 was the best! etc etc sucked in rockstar etc etc

You sounded like an 8 year old on xmas day there mate

Didn't he mention that both had their pains and plesures? And i doubt he would bring up PS3 troubles in the OFFICIAL Playstation Magazine

Dont jump the gun yet. I am interested in hearing what headaches the PS3 is causing them.

Karai Pantsu

5 years ago

While I wouldn't be surprised if there was some spin added to whatever comments he made by the editor of the piece (PS3 mag and all), the lack of a certain HDD problem is very real and legit enough.

Am I worried that GTAIV will be bad though? No, I am not.

LeonJ

5 years ago

LOL, Ugh, I never considered you to be a fanboy. I cannot wait (mind you, I'm joking and don't want this to happen) till something minor happens to your PS3 (like the light stops working) and then the PS3 will be your new number one enemy

I would say GTA4 will only support the HDD verison of the 360. I can see the Blu-Ray verus DVD making a different here though.

Anyway who cares, GTA is rubbish...

*sits back and waits for the hate posts/mail*

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

Karai Pantsu wrote

While I wouldn't be surprised if there was some spin added to whatever comments he made by the editor of the piece (PS3 mag and all)

Exactly, spin-errific **** if you ask me.If oblivion can work without the hdd, gta can too.No doubt they can always just include the option to cache the info on the hdd like oblivion for ps3 does, but it's not a requirement either.

Pfft, all bs.Again, best example is oblivion.If oblivion can fit on a dvd and not require a hdd, gta will work.

Karai Pantsu

5 years ago

I tend to agree, Jibbs. I think that the problem, for them, is that they have to spend to time coding and testing the ability to play the game without the HDD - whereas if the 360 had the HDD standard it wouldn't be necessary.

A lot of assumption, ifs and buts in there though - so take it at face value

ugh the boot

5 years ago

If my Ps3 stuffs i'll probably stab some stranger walking down the road...i'll be that pissed!

The reason I posted that above was because those 2 problems I can imagine being quite significant for next-gen games....so it does sound legit. And yes I know this is in a Playstion mag....but Dan Houser has usually been pretty straight up. Also isn't the 360 version the one that's coming out first? So no reason he would favour Sony because he's already on Microsoft's payroll.

I was starting to read this before....I think it's the complete interview.

http://www.diggingtheweb.com/4280707.html

Also I hope to god I GTA:IV doesn't have the same amount of loading as Oblivion did....that would be a game breaker for me.

A13x

5 years ago

The 360 version is coming out first? I was under the impression that that had changed and instead the 360 got exclusive content.

I don't care, whichever console it is best on is the one I will get it for.

ObsoletE

5 years ago

i'm guessing one way to get an inkling of how restrictive the DVD would be relative to the Blu-Ray is seeing how close to capacity GTASA was.

given this is so much more detailed, if the low res GTASA filled the DVD, then it's quite plausible that IV will require that much more compression to ensure it runs without requiring a HDD.

perhaps the X360 version will drop some of the radio stations or something.

Gizmocreative

5 years ago

this situation reminds me of when gran turismo came out. You pretty much require a whole memory card just for that game. I think its not a massive issue, just buy a new memory expansion.

That said It brings up the issue of games being released incomplete. If I buy a game for a consle i expect to play it through without having to update it.

But it might be required to have a hard drive to improve load times etc. in that case, its an entirely different conversation all together.

LeonJ

5 years ago

I can't imagine the content differeing at all. M$ will kick Rockstar if the PS3 has better textures etc.

I don't see it being a problem, I'm sure you will just have nasty load times if you don't have a 360 HDD.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

I was starting to read this before....I think it's the complete interview.

http://www.diggingtheweb.com/4280707.html

24 pages, with about a paragraph and a half taking up each page?What an ass-about way of laying out the article.I don't have the time nor patience to click 24 times and wait for it to load.

No wonder you said 'starting to read'.I cbf finishing it either.

renegadesx

5 years ago

nihilcreative wrote

this situation reminds me of when gran turismo came out. You pretty much require a whole memory card just for that game..

I remember that, I also remember Animal Crossing was the same, which is why they bundled a free memory card in with the game.

realitybites

5 years ago

Easy don't design the game for Xbox 360s without hard drives.

Geez Nintendo did that to N64 owners with the additional memory pak.

Also gets back to an old argument don't have two different machines on the market. It just causes more problems that it solves.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

realitybites wrote

Geez Nintendo did that to N64 owners with the additional memory pak.

That's an excellent point.**** the tard pack owners.Don't make a habit of it, like making every second game only for hdd users, just ones that require them.

iorkara

5 years ago

Sweet, this is the best news ever!. XBOX Owned lol.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

The interview starts on about page 11 for anyone that's interested. Also it was like the 3rd or 4th article I found after doing a search....so i'm sure there are much better ones out there.

Just kinda busy at work or I would find another one...

the doag

5 years ago

I think, as was previously mentioned, that this will be an on-going issue with games development. The blu-ray capacity is a strong selling point and PS3 at this stage have backed a real winner.

EvilHayama

5 years ago

I really hope a time comes when games require the hard disk, it's ridiculous to force developers to work around the stupid core pack!

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

Article quote---

Quote

OPM How has team found cross developing for PS3 and Xbox?

DH It’s a challenge

OPM on Ps3 you’ve got a guarantee that every machine is going to have a hard drive and, with blue ray, you’ve got plenty of storage, whereas on xbox 360 there’s no guarantee of a HDD and you’re working with a DVD format. Does that create limitations?

DH: Yep to be honest with you we haven’t solved all those riddles yet. Both of them have enormous challenges. Again, that’s been an advantage of having the guys at SD who are freakishly clever and full time dedicated to us, but we’re not there with either (format) yet. There are problems on both. We’ll get there with both, but both have their own particular pleasures and pains.

And that equates to 'Xbox 360 is limiting GTAIV'??

That quote is the only part of the entire article that touches on the issues surrounding a ps3/360 release, which clearly states that 'Both(ps3 and 360) of them have enormous challenges.'

I think palgn has realllyyy used some of that magic journalistic leeway and interpretation(maybe palgn are trying to throw in the odd 'negative 360 article' to even up the supposed bias the site has against the ps3 and sony;trying to even up the scores in a way) but saying that the 360 is limiting gtaiv is pushing it too far.

Quote

OPM on Ps3 you’ve got a guarantee that every machine is going to have a hard drive and, with blue ray, you’ve got plenty of storage, whereas on xbox 360 there’s no guarantee of a HDD and you’re working with a DVD format. Does that create limitations?

DH: Yep

^^Selective reading.Like how a bad movie will quote a movie review that says 'two thumbs up'.....while the whole movie quote should read 'two thumbs up......if you like braindead, plothole ridden garbage'.

In this same fashion, the 'yep' doesn't infer the 360 has limitations, it relates to a broader answer 'Yep to be honest with you we haven’t solved all those riddles yet.Both of them have enormous challenges.'

Read in this way, it's clear to see he says both have problems that need adressing.End of story.

Myth busted.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

If they actually outlined a couple of the Ps3's problems it would make things a bit cleared but something like no hdd and not enuff disc space actually sound like big problems and he makes a note to single those 2 out and they just so happen to be on the 360.

It just seems like Palgn has taken the most important part of that paragraph (the part which actually goes into a little bit of explanation) and used that.

I really hope neither of them have any limitations because I see this hindering the progress of either game! As it is though...I am leaning towards the Ps3 version.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

The interviewer, of an official sony mag was the one who bought up the 360 specific questions, not the director slash developer, whatever he is.

I'm sure if the mag was an official xbox one it could have just as easily read

Quote

OPM on 360 you’ve got a guarantee that every machine is going to to take standard dvd's which are cheaper to manufacture whereas on ps3 your working with a substantially dearer disc format, bluray.Does that create cost limitations which could lead to certain game features having to be skipped/sacrificed to meet set budget and release date targets?

It's all in the wording.And the hips.

The Brett

5 years ago

Jibbs wrote

Karai Pantsu wrote

While I wouldn't be surprised if there was some spin added to whatever comments he made by the editor of the piece (PS3 mag and all)

Exactly, spin-errific Bulls*** if you ask me.If oblivion can work without the hdd, gta can too.No doubt they can always just include the option to cache the info on the hdd like oblivion for ps3 does, but it's not a requirement either.

Pfft, all bs.Again, best example is oblivion.If oblivion can fit on a dvd and not require a hdd, gta will work.

Actually Oblivion WAS also limited by the hardware. Alot of textures and tree skins had to be overused again and again in order to counter-balance the lack of HD/ storage space.

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Grand Theft Auto IV

Pre-order or buy:
PALGN recommends: www.Play-Asia.com

Australian Release Date:
  29/04/2008 (Confirmed)
Standard Retail Price:
  $119.95 AU
Publisher:
  Rockstar Games
Genre:
  Action
Year Made:
  2007

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