Uncharted 2 to use all the PS3's power Comments by Robert Purchese

farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record farticusmaximus aka scratched record

I don't think 360 vs PS3 is much different from the DC vs PS2 because it took a long time for the ps2 to show any distance from the DC. When you look at a game like shenmue on the dreamcast its still hard to think of a ps2 game that is soo rich in textures. The ps2 underperformed for its spec for a long time and only a few developers managed to push the system. The ps3 is the same its going to end up with probably a handful of games that show some distance to the 360 but the 360 is going to have the greater range of better versions. The 360 is much easier to develop for and optimise. Software developers don't have unlimited time and resources to spend on games. I remember there was a quote that Wolfenstein took 2 weeks to get a good working engine on the original xbox but something like 9 months on ps2 and it still looked a lot worse. Admittedly the xbox is about twice as powerful as the ps2 but even the DC managed a quick conversion of Unreal where as the ps2 version was slow to develop and was slow to play with poor frame rates. On the ps2 some top coders did the Quake 3 conversion and it was excellent but still visually inferior to dc and took longer to program. Games like shenmue probably weren't even possible on the ps2. The dc had twice the video memory, 8meg compared to 4meg on the ps2 and it had texture compression which meant the 8meg went further again. The fact is the ps3 has a inferior gpu to 360 and has seven processors to get working together instead of 3 processors. The ps3 has additional support processors to aid the gpu but it sounds like an absolute nightmare getting them all working together. Memory seems to be the bottleneck in the ps3.

Personally I'm expecting the 360 to generally outperform the ps3 now and into the future. The main limitation of the 360 is disc storage. The ps3 still has the potential to do larger game worlds with more movies, music and detail. Ambitous games with large amounts of fmv are obviously better suited to ps3.

Sony are their own worst enemies as they seem to have little regard for developers. The ps3 would have been more powerful than the 360 if they had gone for a better gpu, just two main cpu cores but faster memory. I think the cell approach of 7 cpu cores is a ridiculous approach unless you can provide the necessary memory bandwidth for all 7 cores simultanously.

I remember developers complaining about getting the best out of the saturn as it was so difficult with its two main cpus. Just two cpus and they were complaining so I dread to think how difficult it is to program for 7 cores.

Don't get me wrong the ps3 is a fantastic system I have both a ps3 and 360 but I've seen enough games now to see that many developers fail to match 360 standards on ps3 and as a general rule you should think yourself lucky if a ps3 game is near enough the same as 360. You only have to look at haze to see how a developer failed to achieve on ps3. Its ended up looking like a game halfway house between the original xbox and the 360 and that was a game written from ground up for ps3. Drake's Fortune, Motorstorm, Resistance 2, Wipeout HD, Killzone 2, Ratchet and Clank show the potential to move slightly ahead of 360.

The 360 definitely takes the title for technically most impressive console overall but its only marginally ahead by the average but its still ahead and the ps3 was meant to be better.

Perhaps some game footage will tell us more than percentages.

Edit: tearing is screen-dependent. On my SD TV I had a lot of it (including slow-down and "sluggish" geometry). Had the same problem with Devil May Cry 4, which irked me because I thought the PS3 could do better. Then, I got some cables, connected the PS3 to a Samsung monitor and bam, everything runs perfectly smooth at 60Hz.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet...but I really hope they sort the screen tearing in the next version, it was a problem on both my Samsung and Sony Bravia with this game...and it really spoiled it in places !!!

"i love the way you call vanmunt a disadvantaged teenager"

Ok, how about just plain old 'moron'. That work better for you? ;)

"i dont see him playing surfs up or nuts and bolts."

Oh, so those games are only playable by children eh? What a narrow mind you have! I'm guessing you won't play LBP then.


"Is that why you wont play dead space either....tooo young to buy or it might give you nightmares."

1) I don't own it.
2) I think the controls are cack.

37 years old by the way, just in case you were wondering.

I cant wait for this game, certainly will get it. I hope they keep the original characters as they were very likeable. With regards to screen tearing, I got a bit but not lots. I do think the type of screen you have makes all the difference.

Anyway I dont have a problem with people disliking this game, but they even have to admit that the general concensus is that many more people loved the game. :)

"Sony are their own worst enemies as they seem to have little regard for developers."

That's true. It was a bad decision to release a new hardware architecture at the start of the HD era. On top of already sky rocketing development costs, developers also had to deal with something completely new which, besides the fact that people hate change they don't choose themselves, increased development costs even further. Sony should have known from the previous gen that if developers can get away with shoddy ports, they'll do it. They're in the business to make money after all and they catch every opportunity to cut corners to save some costs. And you can't really blame them. It was Sony's job, by introducing something new, to make life as easy as possible for the developers and in that they failed. They probably bet on their brand strength forcing developers to pay more attention to the PS3 but they didn't count on Nintendo's resurgence.

@ farticus
I do have lbp.. Which I try and play with my 4 year old daughter... She can't get used to the 2.5d aspect and can't get up the jumps. BUT when I downloaded the surfs up demo for her(when she was 3!) she could steer, pull off tricks and even got a medal......... That says it all.

Dead space, uncharted , et al must be a bit hard for u with more than 2 buttons.

"I do have lbp.. Which I try and play with my 4 year old daughter... She can't get used to the 2.5d aspect and can't get up the jumps. BUT when I downloaded the surfs up demo for her(when she was 3!) she could steer, pull off tricks and even got a medal......... That says it all."

Yes, it says that surf's up has solid, intuitive controls whereas LBP has very wooly, unintuitive controls. Hell, how hard can it be to do a 2d platformer? Too hard for MM apparently.


"Dead space, uncharted , et al must be a bit hard for u with more than 2 buttons."

What is it with goddamn forumites always resorting to pathetic schoolyard insults? You are obviously only going to continue with childish arguments, so I wont bother replying. I'd suggest actually trying to debate a point in future instead.

@ farticus
37? Then stop acting like a fanBOY.

Actually, at 37, that makes you a fan-man..... Which has such a sad ring to it......

@AllenSpawn
You might want to try a few of the levels created by BeardyBrave - he has created some specifically for his 3 year old to play and they have gone down well. They don't use a lot of the mechanics which would be too complex for a young child but still provide something fun for them to try. He's even trying to include some education elements in them. Interesting and innovative use of the game.

Thanks, I will...

All of PS3's hardware in its 3rd year?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm