In Saturday's Digital Foundry "not so high definition" feature, we talked about the technical reasons why some console games don't actually appear to be running at the lowest HD standard: 720p. We revealed that Namco-Bandai's forthcoming Tekken 6 is one of those games, but also stated that the additional graphics processing introduced at the lower resolution, surprisingly, produced a higher overall image quality than the game's in-built HD mode which actually runs in excess of 720p.

Our analysis was exclusive to the Xbox 360 version of the game, and we promised an update on the PS3 rendition, so let's get going. To put it simply, there's good news and bad news here. Let's get the bad tidings out of the way first: while there is the option to switch between 1024x576 and 1365x768 modes on Xbox 360 (via tweaking the motion blur setting between on and off), the PS3 version is locked exclusively to the lower resolution. The good news is that even so, the PS3 version still manages to command a slightly higher image quality overall if you can do without the motion blur.

Let's get the pixel measurements out of the way first, courtesy of DF contributor and image quality specialist, MazingerDUDE.

The PS3 version (top) is locked to 1024x576 in both major display modes, but the omission of motion blur allows Namco to add in a 2xMSAA filter. Xbox 360's answer to AA is to supersample 1365x768 down to 720p and lower texture filtering.

Removing the motion blur filter frees up a lot of resources, and Namco has chosen to deploy these in two different ways on each console. Xbox 360 gets an enormous resolution boost to 1365x768, while the PS3 gets 2x multi-sampling anti-aliasing. In terms of overall image quality across the two modes and two consoles, the PS3 gets the nod in "blur off" mode thanks to decent enough upscaling based on an anti-aliased image, while in default mode with the motion blur active, the 360's enhanced texture filtering gives clear image quality advantages.

So why did Namco choose 1365x768 on 360? If the dash is set to 1360x768, you don't get close-to-native resolution as you might expect. Indeed, the image is scaled down to 720p internally, then scaled back up by the Xenos GPU. Namco's methodology here is to smooth off edges by rendering at a higher resolution then scaling down – the developers have done it before, not just in Soul Calibur IV, but also in Ridge Racer 6. It's an attempt at some form anti-aliasing without needing to tile video data out into main RAM. At 1365x768 with no AA, everything remains inside the 360's 10MB eDRAM, ensuring maximum performance.

Despite that, we can conclude that Tekken 6 at sub-HD resolutions gives a better-looking display at 576p. So, what's going on, particularly in the Xbox 360 game? How can the sub-HD mode give clearer, sharper detail when it's running at nearly half the resolution of the "motion blur off" mode? Time to call in an Xbox 360 development expert, someone used to pushing the hardware in obscure directions: Trials HD lead coder Sebastian Aaltonen.

High quality motion blur consumes a lot of performance. If you want something else than camera motion based blur, you have to save the motion vectors for each pixel, so the render target memory requirement rises as well. 88 (16-bit) would be enough for 2d screen space motion vectors, but for practical reasons you need an 8888 buffer.

1365x768 resolution 8888 color + 24S8 depth = 8386560 bytes, while 1024x576 resolution 8888 color + 24S8 depth + motion vectors = 7077888 bytes

Both configurations fit well inside the 10MB eDRAM. The 1024x576 is kind of a strange choice, as it's only around half the pixels of the 1365x768 and the cost of the blur filter comes nowhere close to the performance gained from the resolution decrease, and they are not eDRAM limited either. The resolution reduction itself is not something I consider strange, but a reduction this large means they have something else going on than just the motion blur. The better texture detail you are seeing could mean they have enabled anisotropic filtering for the lower resolution.

So, as we previously discussed, sub-HD is most often used to make up for performance deficits, but with Tekken 6, Namco-Bandai has opted to effectively include two different performance profiles.

In terms of how this works out during gameplay, the motion blur itself is quite a subtle effect, but pleasing nonetheless. Blur works best as a means of making motion look smoother than the frame rate suggests, but Tekken 6 is effectively locked at 60FPS any way, so the overall impression is not as impactful as the similar systems employed in Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2. However, the game includes at least two boss-style battles that pitch your fighter up against enormous, screen-filling opponents. And in those cases, the blur is much more evident. But in truth, as effects go, we can take it or leave it.

Overall, although there's really nothing in it in the heat of gameplay, we'd take the PS3's blur-off 576p 2xMSAA picture as the best IQ option available across both versions, the realisation of which suggests that the whole game would've benefited a lot more with the more traditional arrangement of native 720p and MSAA. Screen-filling bosses aside, there's nothing to suggest that this wouldn't have been possible. It's interesting to note that even when Tekken 6 is running at an HD resolution there is the sense that the game isn't quite all it could've been visually.

So, while we're here are there any other technical issues of note? There's a lot of Soul Calibur IV DNA in here, that's for sure, extending beyond the native resolution of the Xbox 360 game. Just like Namco's previous fighting game, the PS3 game gets an "install to HDD" optional feature (around 3.6GB in our preview code) and this is well worth using – load times can be laborious without it. It is worth pointing out that stuff like disc layout issues are optimised in the final period of development so in this case, the non-final nature of the code may be an issue, but there's nothing here that we didn't experience with Soul Calibur IV too. We'll be updating from final code in a future Face-Off, but with the game just weeks away from release, we're not expecting major changes.

One thing that is admirable is that there's also obvious evidence of Namco making use of the extra space on the Blu-ray disc. Tekken 6 data weighs in at around 20GB. Bearing in mind the size of the install, it's fair to assume that the rendered movies get the benefit here. That said, in the Tekken Force "Scenario Mode", cut-scenes are generally engine-driven using in-game assets, running at 60FPS on both consoles and are of essentially equal quality. Intro and ending movies tend to get the full-on CG treatment beloved of the Tekken series, and it's good to know that Namco-Bandai has taken a zero compromise approach to them, using the maximum bandwidth available that the freedom of a 25GB Blu-ray disc offers.

Moving away from DF issues and back into "preview mode", it will be interesting to see what the reception is to Tekken 6 from the media and gamers alike. Just like Soul Calibur IV, the core mechanics of the game harken back to previous games in the series, and the sense of re-invention we had in Street Fighter IV that made the genre feel somehow more fresh does appear lacking here. That said, it is interesting to note that the Tekken Force "Scenario Mode" is the first selectable option on the main menu - clearly Namco-Bandai wants us to give this a whirl first, and to try out the traditional one-on-one modes later.

Tekken 6 is slated for release at the end of the month.

As momentum gathers for the PSPgo launch, Sony is preparing to unleash the first of its milestone releases for the re-invigoration of its handheld brand. Polyphony Digital has finally completed its much-delayed Gran Turismo for PSP, and review code was duly despatched to those deemed worthy enough last week.

Having had a taster of the portable experience at gamescom a few weeks back and coming away very impressed, I was very eager to check it out. Very little in the way of actual, tangible assets have emerged, with Sony's own E3 reveal shying away from showing the actual game, and this is rather odd, because even as a non-professional video editor, armed with around 30 minutes of raw video captures, I was able to put this trailer together, showing that - at its best - GT PSP can look quite spectacular.

What we have here is, in a sense, a bit of an experiment. Internet video is usually locked at 30FPS, but that's not Gran Turismo. This video is encoded at full fat 60 frames. Playback performance will vary owing to Adobe's rubbish Flash h264 decoder, so if the video lags for you, either click on the EGTV link for a traditional 30FPS encode, or else right-click and pipe down this specially prepared download for the full experience.

Gran Turismo PSP at 60FPS. Any frame drops you see here will be from Adobe's poor h264 decoder. Get the download if you have playback issues.View this video on EGTV

Polyphony Digital has taken a number of measures to accommodate Gran Turismo on the PSP, without sacrificing the core elements that make the game what it is. First up, the game uses the smallest frame buffer available to the unit, resulting in a stippled, dithered look to the visuals. Any one who has played Ridge Racer or its sequel on the handheld will know exactly what I'm talking about. This format means lower memory usage, lower bandwidth requirements and frees up a lot of fill-rate - all essential in getting GT running at 60FPS. Next up, the tracks have been pared down - most notably through the use of lower resolution textures. The impact on the image quality here very much varies from track to track: the detail-rich cities look a bit odd, whereas the rest of the courses look fine. Crucially however, the actual geography of the circuits is absolutely authentic to the original console versions.

GT PSP remains a technical marvel, for a number of reasons. First up, Polyphony Digital's love affair with the automobile is undiminished when you see the love and care that has gone into the vehicle modelling: it's frankly excellent. Secondly, the sheer amount of content in the game is staggering - all of the circuits from GT4 are in there, along with a car roster that appears to be just as comprehensive as its PS2 predecessor, if not more so, with the inclusion of the likes of Ferrari, Bugatti and Lamborghini. There's evidence of other, smaller tweaks that gamers will welcome: the ability to play your own MP3s from memory stick during gameplay, for example. The ability to install the game to memory stick if you're running from UMD is another. Tweaked colour profiles specific for the integrated display and the TV-out is another interesting bonus.

Perhaps the most crucial element brings us back to the point of this blog entry. It's unequivocably 60FPS (albeit with occasional tearing), and as such the handling model feels just as good as it did on PS2. It might be four years late, but in terms of the way it plays, this is indeed the portable Gran Turismo driving experience as was promised so long ago.

But over and above the technical achievement, is the game any good? How have the exhaustive gameplay modes been repurposed to accommodate the handheld market? Sony's review embargo lifts tomorrow at 5pm BST, and as I write, Tom is hard at work on the review. Be there.

Turn 10 Studios has announced that the hugely anticipated Forza Motorsport 3 has "gone gold", meaning that the codebase has been locked down and the final disc image has been dispatched for duplication. To celebrate, the developer has released details of the forthcoming playable demo along with a 60FPS gameplay capture, showing a 2004 "Yellow Hat" racing Toyota Supra in action on the Sedona Raceway Park circuit.

Having played the demo at gamescom, I know that this is a beautiful-looking game, and a worthy rival for the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5. However, the new video released by Turn 10 features a very significant performance upgrade over the previous GC sampler: sustained 60FPS gameplay, no matter which viewpoint you choose to use. At gamescom, all of the external views ran at a beautifully smooth frame rate, but the in-car dashboard view was savagely cut-down to a mere 30FPS. The look was different, the feel was different; it just didn't work. It wasn't quite Forza any more.

Frame rate analysis of the gameplay sections of Turn 10's new video confirms the good news: in-car gameplay with no performance penalty. In fact, the only dropped frames we see occur when the player changes the viewpoint, so hardly intrusive on the gameplay. It's interesting to note that the same thing happens in Forza 2 as well.

The gameplay section of this new Forza 3 video gets the full frame rate analysis treatment, revealing only good things...View this video in HD

Analysis of compressed video like this sometimes introduces a small element of error. In a pure digital HDMI capture direct from the console, a dropped frame is zero per cent different from the previous one. Compression artifacts in an internet download skew the threshold much higher than the usual baseline, meaning that "potential" dropped frames need to be double-checked by eye. However, with assets like this one where the whole screen is updated so quickly with so much new information, the dropped frames stick out like sore thumbs and are easy to isolate. Not only that but there are so few of them here that they can easily be double-checked manually too. This is the real deal: Forza 3 is butter-smooth.

Over and above the frame rate, the intro scenes and the dashboard view give us some clean edges to look at, and it seems that native 720p with 2x multi-sampling anti-aliasing is confirmed. Based on both my gameplay experiences, and this new video, the game also appears to be v-synced too.

In short, the evidence of the gamescom demo, combined with the new video, suggests that Turn 10 has extracted excellent performance and some stunning visuals from the Xbox 360. We'll be able to see for ourselves when the demo hits the Xbox Live Marketplace on September 24, bringing with it the full, unabridged Camino Viejo circuit and five cars:

• 2007 Porsche #80 Flying Lizard 911 GT3-RSR
• 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro
• 2009 Ferrari California
• 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR
• 2009 Mini John Cooper Works

The full game arrives at retail almost a month later, on October 23.

Polyphony Digital mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi has confirmed that the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5 features support for head-tracking via the PlayStation Eye camera accessory.

According to Gran Turismo resource GT Planet, the feature was first mooted on Polyphony's website during gamescom and was recently confirmed by Yamauchi during an interview with Italian gaming site MultiPlayer.it.

The head-tracking feature is restricted to the in-cockpit view within GT5. Employing facial recognition, the PlayStation Eye scans the position of your head and adjusts the viewpoint in the cockpit accordingly, effectively replacing the use of the right analogue stick on the DualShock 3. Your display stops being a flat 2D representation of a 3D world and effectively becomes an interactive window into the game experience.

Want to see how close your opponents are to catching up? Turn your head and look at the wing mirror. Want to see which gear you're using? Look down at the transmission and see for yourself as you would in a real car. Want to check out the racing line beyond the next corner? Look beyond the turn just like real drivers do.

To get some idea of how the display's perspective adjusts when head-tracking is in play, there's no better example than Johnny Lee's original YouTube video based on reverse use of the Wii remote's infra-red sensor. Sony's technology - assuming it works well, of course - goes far beyond this in taking infra-red out of the equation completely. Head-tracking looks set to be integral component of Project Natal to the point where the self-same Johnny Lee is now working under NDA with Microsoft, but the inclusion of the feature in Gran Turismo 5 will be the first time we've seen it deployed properly in a current-generation console game.

Going forward, it also has big implications for the forthcoming PS3 motion controller, which also works in conjunction with the existing PlayStation Eye accessory, suggesting that Sony's plans in this area go beyond using feedback from the "wand" alone...

There's a very real sense that Wolfenstein is something of an old-skool style of shooter, and this extends from the gameplay to the base tech: it's an enhanced version of the classic idTech 4 engine, which dates the core rendering code to 2005 and with it, the release of Doom 3. With that in mind, the game has a somewhat dated look and feel, particularly in the over-high use of glossy texture embellishments; even the character skintones are particularly "plastic". The tech here is older than the Xbox 360 itself.

There are a range of small-scale enhancements to the engine though: shadowing is more advanced, animation is better, some scenery is destructible, and the outdoor environments are detail-rich, although impactful on performance when it comes to screen tear in particular. A lot of the game's improved look and feel is down to the implementation of the Havok physics technology. However, other limitations of Carmack's last-gen code are still in effect: while the game is native 720p, there is no anti-aliasing whatsoever, and the PC enthusiast sites reckon this extends to the home computer version too.

Performance analysis of the Xbox 360 version of Wolfenstein, with excerpts from the single-player mode. Tech annotations provided by Digital Foundry's Alex Goh.View this video in HD

Performance itself is basically acceptable, but not hugely remarkable. There are some ambitious scenes in there, and the old Doom 3 limitation of showing a maximum of three characters on-screen at any given moment is not an issue here: bearing in mind that the old ATI 9800 Pro was state-of-the-art back when idTech 4 was devised, it's interesting to see what the additional horsepower of Xenos does to enhance the old engine.

Combat can be pretty intense, but the fairly solid 30FPS frame-rate takes a remarkable dive when certain special effects are in play. The transition sequence when supernatural weapon "the Veil" is in play is hugely impactful on the smoothness of the game, for example. Screen tear averages out at around 10 per cent of the captured clips in the video, but varies dramatically in any given scene. When it's good, it's good, when it's bad, it's hugely impactful on the image quality.

Overall then, performance here is seemingly as average as the game itself. With idTech 4 seemingly pushed to its limits here, it'll be interesting to see how the engine performs on PS3. Keep a look out for that in the next Face-Off.

Terminal Reality has issued a new patch for Ghostbusters: The Video Game on PS3, which squashes multiple bugs, also sorting out "localisation issues", game freezes and audio/subtitle sync problems. Curiously, the press release also states that the game has received a visual upgrade, namely "an increase in resolution to match that of Xbox 360".

This was something I was rather curious to see. The launch version of Ghostbusters was pegged at a native resolution of 960x540, according to Digital Foundry's expert pixel-counter, MazingerDUDE. That's a massive gulf in detail level compared to the native 720p (1280x720) of the Xbox 360 version of the game. Engine performance in both versions was hardly super-smooth, so for the PS3 to maintain its current performance level in concert with a relatively enormous increase in resolution would've required an intensive, dedicated effort in optimising Terminal Reality's rendering tech.

In actuality, that effort hasn't fully materialised, and while the patch does take a couple of measures to improve image quality on the PS3 version of the game, our analysis is pretty much confirmed at a minor resolution bump up to 1024x576. This is still miles away from the Xbox 360 version, but Terminal Reality has also re-worked its anti-aliasing technique in order to significantly improve the clarity of the image. So, the NVIDIA Quincunx AA technique has thankfully been given the boot, helping to eliminate some of the Vaseline blur that blighted the launch PS3 version. In its place, Terminal Reality appears to have incorporated the same type of 2x multi-sampling AA (MSAA) used in the 360 game. In short: a definite improvement but still a disappointment.

If you want to see how this translates into pure image quality, look no further than this battery of comparison shots. In each case, you'll find the launch PS3 version on the top, the patched rendition in the middle and the full-res 720p Xbox 360 game on the bottom.

Resolution comparison between the launch PS3 build, the patched version and the Xbox 360 game show that despite improvements, PS3 still haven't delivered proper 720p.

Performance of both console versions of the game is immensely variable, with plenty of dropped frames and a lot of screen tear, and the patch does nothing to improve this. Furthermore, the savagely hacked down textures in the PS3 version of the game remain just as they were in the initial release build.

Terminal Reality make no claims for increased performance or improved textures in the new build, and indeed the visual quality in this respect remains unchanged.

Overall then, we have a somewhat ambivalent opinion of this new patch. The good news is that Terminal Reality has indeed made an effort to improve the look of the very disappointing PS3 build of Ghostbusters and in that respect, they do deserve some credit. Overall clarity gets a tangible boost thanks to the binning of Quincunx anti-aliasing in favour of MSAA, and the minor resolution bump adds to the effect too. However, dispatching press releases which promise parity with the Xbox 360 version when it is clearly still sub-HD is somewhat bewildering.

Last week BioWare demoed a short 15-minute sampler of Mass Effect 2 at gamescom, and the overall impact of the game is hugely positive, with a far more confident and impressive implementation of the Unreal Engine 3 technology in place.

The litany of technical issues found in the Xbox 360 version of the original game is expansive. For instance, the game had clear texture-streaming issues whereby gameplay would slow down or even freeze when the DVD drive was unable to keep up with the demand for new data - an issue that an NXE hard disk install would only marginally improve.

There was also the sense that original Mass Effect was somewhat too ambitious for the Unreal Engine 3 technology that powered it, with some serious frame-rate issues both in the cinematics and during gameplay.

"The nice thing about it, and why we've really been able to advance it so much is that we had the existing game, so we knew where we needed to fix it," BioWare's Heather Rabatich told me at gamescom. "The guys on the dev team made a list of everything they wanted to improve and they just sort of checked it off: the elevator loads, the texture pop-in... you can see the advances in the visuals."

Indeed you can. It was the Xbox 360 version that was on display at the convention, and in both the role-playing and shooting sections there was very little discernible evidence of any kind of texture streaming problems. Resolution was definitely locked at 720p, and while just about all the LCDs in use at gamescom were very badly calibrated (with ultra-harsh contrast making analysis difficult) it does appear that Mass Effect 2 features 2x MSAA anti-aliasing too.

Over and above that, the game is v-synced, which can impact frame-rate at times, but this only seemed to be noticeable during the cinematics, and even then, it was still a big improvement over the first game.

The boost to performance during gameplay is also especially impressive bearing in mind that BioWare is intent on giving these sections more of an action bias, with a definite emphasis on making it a credible shooter. More bling and more bangs usually entails a bigger load on the engine, but once again, ME2 acquits itself very well indeed.

As for the elevator loading sections... yes, they're still there, but they're clearly quicker than they were in the first game, with a computer-style series of vector images displaying your ascent (and presumably, descent), helping to make the wait more bearable. The overall sensation - certainly in the demo we were shown - is that the whole process is a lot less painful this time around.

Look out for a detailed Mass Effect 2 gamescom preview elsewhere on Eurogamer soon.

Conspicuously absent from the Sony press conference, Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 appeared on the show floor in a specially prepared demo build that showcased the game's damage model for the first time.

The demo itself gives you an HD version of an old track – Toyko R246 – and a Subaru Impreza WRC rally car to drive, and initial impressions are that the core technology that powers GT5 hasn't been that much improved over what we've seen in the Prologue. It's still 60FPS, with a 30FPS replay mode, and the level of tearing is again approximate with what we're used to in the existing GT5 preview.

The damage model itself is an obviously welcome addition, but somewhat limited. There is no actual deformation of the cars taking place – body panels remain totally pristine. Instead the Sabura is outfitted with a number of removable parts: front and rear bumpers, doors, the bonnet – these are the elements of the vehicle that work loose then fly away leaving just the barebones of the car. In this sense it is somewhat "last gen", very similar to Burnout 3 if you're looking for a direct comparison.

Some off-screen replay action from the gamescom GT5 demo, showing off the damage model.View this video in HD

It also means that smaller collisions, such as side-swiping scenery or other cars, leave your motor completely unscathed with no scratches to the paintwork or any kind of subtle indication that your vehicle has seen "action". It wasn't until I saw a flapping driver's side door in-game that I realised that the technology behind the demo build had progressed at all from Prologue. Right now there's no debris, no impact damage, and no breaking glass. Combined, this says to me that the implementation is on its early stages.

Another telltale sign is that it appears that your car is the only one to sustain damage. On the plus side, the consequences of a shunt aren't only graphical – the car's usual top speed of around 200kph on this circuit dropped down to a pathetic 115kph after a series of impacts, but even here, there was no indication that location-centred damage causes any specific effects.

So, in all, an interesting demo, but far too little was shown to allow for any kind of feeling on just how much more advanced the final game will be and as such, it was probably a wise decision not to include this in the original press conference.

By contrast, the PSP version of Gran Turismo, running alongside the monster-sized PS3 pods, was nothing short of glorious – looking and feeling similar to GT4 on PS2. Just one track in this one, but it was one that counts: the legendary Nurburgring. I had the chance to take it on with two wildly different cars: an almost uncontrollably fast Audi A8 Race Car, and at the bottom end of the scale, a Peugeot 206 (!). Impressions here are hugely positive. It's locked at 60FPS (both in-game and in the replays) and while there has clearly been a drop in resolution and texture detail (not to mention a reduction from six track cars to four), the fact is that finally Polyphony Digital is making good on its promises of bringing a credible Gran Turismo to the handheld.

The only negative element in the demo was actually nothing to do with Polyphony's code at all. Sony is choosing to demo the game on the PSP-3000 (actually the first time I've used one) and the interlacing/scan line issue is very problematic. On fast action, particularly panning, it definitely looks like the 480x136 resolution you would expect from interlacing the native 480x272 display. Play it on a non-3000 model though and all will be well. Great stuff.

Sony has confirmed that the changes made to the new PS3 Slim SKU are not just cosmetic: additional features have been added, and OtherOS functionality has been removed.

In this press release, the company confirms that support for the Linux platform has been completely omitted in the new unit, but also reveals that perhaps more usefully, the new unit now interfaces directly with Sony's own Bravia HDTVs, allowing users to take control of the XMB via their television remotes. It also allows you to turn off both display and PS3 using just a single press of the standby button. All that is required to utilise this feature is for the new PS3 to be connected to the display using the standard HDMI connection. The new functionality essentially makes the PS3's enviable media-playback facilities that much more accessible and user-friendly to those who also buy into Sony's range of screens.

The omission of Linux is a little more puzzling, but perhaps not completely surprising. Actual take-up of Linux amongst the core audience has been slight, and perhaps some of the blame for this lies with Sony itself: installing the OS is time-consuming, the partitioning system on the internal hard disk is a bit of a pain, and access to Linux once it is installed is annoying to deal with, as there is no easy way to switch quickly between the PS3 GameOS or the installed OtherOS. The fact there is little to no meaningful access to the RSX graphics chip has also frustrated Linux users.

Sony's blurb states that the focus of the PS3 Slim is "on delivering games and other entertainment content" and that this is the reason for OtherOS omission, but the fact is that Sony's business lives and dies on its installed base buying games for their new hardware, and a PS3 bought exclusively for running Linux does the company no favours from a financial perspective. Right now, the PS3 Slim is still more expensive than buying an entry-level Dell which would perform better with the OS, but with console hardware in general and PS3 Slim in particular, the only way is down price-wise, and sooner or later PS3 would become an irresistible prospect as a cheap desktop PC, or even server... uses which sound cool but won't boost Sony's bottom line.

What the axing of Linux does mean however is that interesting projects such as the CodecSys h264 video encoder will not work on the new PS3 SKU, and any similar projects aimed at utilising the Cell CPU in a project not licensed and approved by Sony are now less likely to make it to the public. However, from Sony's perspective, the removal of OtherOS functionality also has other benefits. For example, it means that the PS3 can now no longer be used to rip Blu-ray movies to hard disk...

And so the gamescom madness kicks off with the first triple-A trailer: a fascinating developer insight into Xbox 360's forthcoming psychological thriller, Alan Wake. The vid ran exclusively on Eurogamer TV yesterday, and today, Digital Foundry adds its tech annotations courtesy of contributor Alex Goh.

Impressions on the video are positive; it's genuine, it's real-time, there's a ton of actual in-game action (in addition to the engine-driven cut-scenes) and it is curious to note that the v-sync issues the game currently has have not been corrected in the final, released video as is mandated in the Xbox Live Marketplace video specs. Technology-wise, Remedy is certainly going for it with the volumetric lighting, and the dynamic nature of the lighting scheme and the shadows is superb.

There's also much to love in the game's atmospheric approximation effects, manifesting not just in the "haze" enveloping each scene but also in elements such as the cloud rendering. Performance in the final game should be interesting; graphics technology really has its work cut-out dealing with transparent alpha textures, and Alan Wake seems to be employing them in spades. The level of post-processing involved is also noteworthy in that, combined with the muted colour scheme, it works well in reducing the instances of edge-aliasing.

The latest Alan Wake trailer, complete with Digital Foundry technical analysis.View this video in HD

On the not-so-impressive side, even in this specially prepared showcase video there is some low resolution geometry, and the texture filtering sometimes isn't brilliant, but none of this has anywhere near as much impact as the screen tear. Yes, it's exaggerated somewhat owing to the 30FPS nature of the video source (if you need reminding, in such cases, torn frames are on-screen for twice as long as they should be, or they are completely removed), but regardless, clearly it's an issue, so it will be interesting to see how the final game stacks up in comparison.

Overall though, this is an excellent trailer and we're very excited about the game itself. Light as a weapon and a safety net is a neat concept, and it'll be interesting to compare it to Gears of War and its Kryll creatures, and the story elements sound intriguing. And as a kick-off to the expected riches of gamescom, this presentation will do quite nicely...