What's wrong with the PS3 BioShock demo? A lot, according to some people who have given the demo a spin. Ripten brings us side-by-side screenshot comparisons of the demo for the upcoming BioShock which seem to demonstrate that the graphics for the PS3 are fuzzier, more pixelated, and overall sub-par when compared to the Xbox 360 version. Initial screenshots posted online showed a texture problem with a downed Big Daddy. 2K Games acknowledged the issue, but claimed it was a slip-up missed in QA for the demo. The company promised fans that the PS3 game itself would have the same graphics quality as the Xbox version.
Ripten, naturally, didn't let it end there. It posted a follow-up with even more screenshots, and sure enough, the PS3 graphics don't look like they are equal to the Xbox 360 graphics.
But other BioShock and PS3 fans have left comments pointing out some flaws in the comparison. They say that any blur is most likely due to the anti-aliasing on the PS3, and any actual graphical differences aren't going to make a bit of difference in either sales of BioShock ... or of new PS3 consoles.
It's the same old story, isn't it? For every game that's released on multiple platforms, there will be critics who claim it looks better on one console, while others will claim the opposite. In the end, however, minor graphical differences won't make much of a difference: BioShock's sales will be determined by game play and audience reception. Screenshots of a demo aren't going to convert fans from one platform to the other.
Image via Ripten
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Comments
Looks better on my PC. ;)
haha your PC is no competition to Ps3! It may not seem like that now..but during 2009 youll see games with graphics that youve never seen before in your life!!! Oh all this with just a shity suposed RSX 7800..
Pfffft thats what you think!!
Cell and RSX = equal over 2TFLOPS and if im not mistken your PC with the latest and greatest couldnt match that power!!
RSX = "Multi-way Programmable Parallel Floating Point Shader Pipelines".
which basically means multiple pathways through a grid or array of Shading processors.
This describes a "Unified Shader Architecture!" not a "fixed function pipeline"
RSX Supports full 128bit HDR Lighting. Same as G80's and 90'S etc..
From as early as Feb 2005 at GDC Sony has announced that PS3 (RSX) would use OpenGL ES 2.0. At the time 2.0 wasn't out, so they wrote feature supports of RSX into OGL ES 1.1 including Fully Programmable Shader Pipeline and call it PSGL. Khronos Group took anything that could be done in a Shader out of the Fixed Function Pipeline (including Transform and Lighting) streamlining it for future Embedded Hardware. What does that mean?
At least for OpenGL ES 2.0 devices (not PC version) it becomes a unified shader model and remember RSX is fully compliant. OpenGL ES 2.0 will only run on advanced hardware just like DX10.
In fact your next Cell Phone or PSP Phone will run on OpenGL ES 2.0 with GPU's like PowerVR SGX = 720P capable for Blue Tooth display to HDTV. Unified Shaders, Shader4.0, and with OpenKode support Play DX10 games!!! So if PS3's RSX can run the same API, it's NOT a G70 and no way will anything but a mainframe out power a PS3..
Seriously...are they comparing gfx of a port to the original?? Is that how desperate Xbox fanboys are now that they have to compare a port's gfx to the original?? Lame. Go look at gameplay for Uncharted, Heavenly Sword or MGS4, then show me an Xbox game that comes close. Didn't think so.
Besides...Bioshock is an FPS, so really who cares? I mean...if you like FPSes, you're probably a PC gamer. If you like FPSes but don't have the scratch for a top notch rig...then you're probably an Xbox gamer.
...and if you don't like FPSes...you probably have a PS2, PSP and/or PS3.
But comparing screenshots of a port with it's original is just beyond lame. Beyond. Lame.
Actually, from those screenshots above, I would say the PS3 version looks like it shows more detail. The lighting is more natural - less cartoony. The bloom shader (lighting glow) is better too. Just my opinion. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.
Notice how on the PS3 shot, the texture mapping is breaking up into cubes (the "domed" area on the right shows this the best). The cubic textures on PS3 are surprisingly bad. I don't mind the lighting, but the XBox version does seem to "pop" a lot more.
I'd rather it look a little different playing it on PS3, then have my 360 RROD after ten minutes of playing Bioshock (this article is just as blown out of proportion as my comment is) This is just another way for fanboys to defend their sad devotion to a poorly made console with a temporarily larger yet SUBPAR lineup of games.
Ahem. The RROD isn't a bug; it's a feature. Seriously, though, the PS3's biggest problem is the price. I don't care what the graphics look like in comparison to the Xbox 360; I care that I can't afford it. They can't kill the PS2 because people are still buying it since it's CHEAPER. It's depressing that all the consoles essentially suck for one reason or another and we have to dec ide which sucks the least.
While, yes, there is no denying that 2K screwed up with the texture of the big daddy, (I have played the demo and observed it myself) the poster of the screenshots has deliberately made the ps3 screenshots look worse by adjusting the brightness shoddily. When I played the demo, the big daddy had the same bronze-ish colour as in the X360 screenshot.
P.S. Sorry about us stealing all your exclusives, Microsoft. Have fun with... uhhh... Viva Pinata =D
I'm not a fanboy one way or another, but I do believe the PS3 has a superior graphical capability over Xbox 360. That being said, I was extremely disappointed that this port of BioShock came out so badly on the PS3. Aside from the texture snafu they're showing here, the graphics look blurry and washed out compared to the 360 version. On the Xbox 360, this game looks sharp and colorful. Also, while playing through the demo, I noticed there was a "border" that appears on both the bottom and right side of the screen. It's the kind of anomaly that happens when upscaling goes badly. Obviously, 2K Games cut every corner they could in programming for the PS3. I had no choice but to cancel my preorder and buy the game on the 360.
The game is brilliant, however, and graphical issues aside, the game will sell very well on the PS3, and may even move some consoles off the shelf. The PS3's lineup for the rest of 2008 and 2009 looks incredible!
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