Ghostbuster's Image Quality Suffers on PlayStation 3

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Ghostbuster's Image Quality Suffers on PlayStation 3


There's no easy way to put this so I'll just come right out and say it: In a head-to-head comparison with the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 version of Ghostbusters [http://www.ghostbustersgame.com/] looks like crap.

Let's get this out of the way right from the start. There's no anti-Xbox 360 [http://www.playstation.com]. It's a simple fact: The visuals in the PlayStation 3 version of the recently-released Ghostbusters: The Video Game look terrible next to the Xbox 360 edition.

Lens of Truth put the two versions of the game together and the difference is really quite stunning. The texture quality on the PS3 is noticeably inferior and also suffers from "serious compression" that resulted in banding and blockiness. Some effects are missing from the PlayStation 3 version, such as shadows and burn marks on walls. The difference is visible in side-by-side screen captures but even more dramatic in roll-over images that clearly illustrate the graphical superiority of the Xbox 360.

"The texture quality for the PlayStation 3 left us shaking our heads in disbelief. This went beyond the traditional consoles rendering textures differently, as we've seen in other Head2Heads," Lens of Truth said of the comparison. "The PlayStation 3 seemed to have 1/2 the texture quality of the Xbox 360 and in other areas, even less. This was present on all the PlayStation 3 textures, normal maps, spec maps, light maps, etc. Even the dynamic shadow maps looked blocky and half the quality of the Xbox 360."

Making matters even more baffling, according to the site, is the fact that Mark Randel, president of developer Terminal Reality [http://www.terminalreality.com/], had bragged about the studio's PS3 technology, saying, "We're one of the few developers who love the PS3 and have a great time with it. We have great technology for the PS3 and we want to show it off."

What went wrong? Speaking to Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/ghostbusters-on-ps3-lags-behind-360-version-developer-explains/], a Terminal Reality rep said, "For the record, the PS3 version [of Ghostbusters] is softer due to the 'quincunx' antialiasing filter and the fact we render at about 75% the resolution of the 360 version. So you cannot directly compare a screen shot of one to the other unless you scale them properly. The PS3 does have less available RAM than the 360 - but we managed to squeeze 3 out of 4 textures as full size on the PS3."

Yet other new releases don't seem to suffer so badly in comparison, so it's a bit difficult to take that explanation at face value. The bottom line is this: If you have the choice, get the 360 version. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself at lensoftruth.com [http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=10974].

Via: Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/06/ghostbusters-graphically-youll-want-to-stick-with-the-360.ars]


Permalink
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Maybe the PS3 is just too difficult to code for?

Or maybe graphics is what the PS3 lost when us PC owners lost multiplayer?
 

mikecoulter

Elite Member
Dec 27, 2008
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That's pretty strange. Maybe they just got confused by the PS3's coding? Or, they're massively lazy, half witted programmers who don't care for their work...
 

GodsOneMistake

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Jan 31, 2009
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How come most games seem to be fucked up somehow when they go to the PS3, the most recent examples are Prototype and this...

Not trying to be a troll or nothing just pointing that out
 

Sparrow

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Feb 22, 2009
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Wait, I thought the PS3 had better graphics than the 360?

In that case, ouch. Something obviously went wrong there.
 

Cpt_Oblivious

Not Dead Yet
Jan 7, 2009
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When you're playing a game
On your PS3
When the gameplay's fine
But it don't look good
Who ya gonna call?
 

Lord Krunk

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Mar 3, 2008
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GodsOneMistake said:
How come most games seem to be fucked up somehow when they go to the PS3, the most recent examples are Prototype and this...
Sony purposefully made the console hard to develop for. I can't argue with their logic, because there's none to argue with.
Sparrow Tag said:
Wait, I thought the PS3 had better graphics than the 360?
Actually, I've noticed that several PS3 games have terrible anti-aliasing in comparison to both the PC and the 360. I don't know if that applies to every game, but the few I've played have had that problem.

You'd think, with all that processing power that they'd actually use it...

Heh, venting more PS3 hate than usual...

I'll just cut to the chase. Sony's made some terrible decisions.
 

Sir Ollie

The Emperor's Finest
Jan 14, 2009
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So the PC gets no multiplayer and the PS3 gets slightly crapper graphics so what does our 360 owners get?

*Waiting for the horde of fanboys to arrive*

Honestly someone messed up, shame on you Terminal Reality! and Sony of course.
 

hypothetical fact

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Oct 8, 2008
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Ollie596 said:
So the PC gets no multiplayer and the PS3 gets slightly crapper graphics so what does our 360 owners get?

*Waiting for the horde of fanboys to arrive*

Honestly someone messed up, shame on you Terminal Reality! and Sony of course.
The 360 gets a genuinly fun, albeit short game.
 

Neonbob

The Noble Nuker
Dec 22, 2008
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The Political Gamer said:
Cpt_Oblivious said:
When you're playing a game
On your PS3
When it all plays fine
But it don't look good
Who ya gonna call?
Indigo Dingo
pffahahah!
Thank you for brightening my day. That was perfect.
As for the story, that is interesting...but the textures part does seem to be a recurring thing.
 

yeah_so_no

New member
Sep 11, 2008
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Wow, there was a huge quality difference. The only thing that PS3 version seemed to have going for it was that it was noticeably brighter than the X-box version... but that's something you can just change the TV's contrast for.

I am seriously unimpressed with the PS3 version.
 

oliveira8

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Feb 2, 2009
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In the end VALVe is right. ^^

What? Someone had to mention! xP

But anyway it sucks from PS3 users.
 

Symplify

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Jun 13, 2009
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I've seen a couple games (couldn't name them) where the PS3 had lesser graphics rendering than the 360. I think, however, Oblivion might be prettier on the PS3 :p

I couldn't get their rollover pics to work...
 

Jamash

Top Todger
Jun 25, 2008
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Could this be the reason behind why Sony bought the publishing rights in Europe?

Now it doesn't seem so bad that European 360 owners will have to wait for another 4 months for it to be released...I know if I had both consoles and actually wanted to buy the game, I would rather wait 4 months than buy the PS3 version (imports notwithstanding).

Congratulations Sony, that's a great looking 'exclusive' you have there, you must be feeling very proud.
 

person427

New member
May 28, 2009
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the ps3 one doesn't look too bad compared to the wii. the 360 one is definitly the best though.
 

cleverlymadeup

New member
Mar 7, 2008
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i don't know some of those things actually looked better on the ps3

i'll have to check on mine and see how it look but i'm pretty sure i could see all the stuff they claimed not to see
 

SenseOfTumour

New member
Jul 11, 2008
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/puerile

Was it just me who read 'quincunx' and thought it a fine term to use for 5 piece manufactured boy or girl bands?

/end puerile

On a more 'topic' note, some games look better on 360, some on PS3, and...sheesh, yes, all of em look better on PC, IF they come out, and IF you have money to burn.

PS3,PC,360, all great systems with great games that look great and all three a great opportunity to join the gaming community and enjoy life a bit more.

Next!
 

scarbunny

Beware of geeks bearing gifs.
Aug 11, 2008
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Symplify said:
I've seen a couple games (couldn't name them) where the PS3 had lesser graphics rendering than the 360. I think, however, Oblivion might be prettier on the PS3 :p

I couldn't get their rollover pics to work...
They take a while to load, and my god is there a differance. Its terrible.
 

MrPop

New member
May 14, 2009
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Meh. I wasn't gonna get it anyway but still a surprise if Terminal Reality said
We're one of the few developers who love the PS3 and have a great time with it. We have great technology for the PS3 and we want to show it off.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a surge of fan-boys yet though.