Today was kind of a slow day for announcements and news, but fear not! I did run into a few interesting tidbits to share. First up, the video of the day.
Wolverine deflecting rockets with his claws in the new X-men Origins: Wolverine game trailer:
[gametrailers 46511]
Resident Evil 5: PS3 vs Xbox 360 Comparison
EuroGamer (with the help of Digital Foundry) put together a fairly comprehensive Resident Evil 5 comparison. The bottom line? The Xbox 360 version edges out the PS3. The differences aren’t enough to sway me from the PlayStation 3 version simply because of the online co-op component. For those of you who’re wondering why the Xbox 360 version is slightly superior, I give you this final quote from the article:
In terms of just why Xbox 360 has the edge technically, it seems to be all come down to the set-up of the graphics hardware. Capcom itself rates the triple-core Xenon CPU as being about equal to a dual-core 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition CPU. Not a bad processor as such, but no match for the raw computational power of Cell. However, Capcom has made extensive use of the 10MB of ‘EDRAM’ that is directly attached to the Xenos GPU in order to maximise its visual effects. With virtually unlimited bandwidth, effects can be processed enormously quickly. The Cell/RSX combo doesn’t this advantage, although ironically, the PS2’s graphics synthesiser does – one of the reasons why full software emulation of the older console is difficult on the PlayStation 3.
What is clear is that while first-party developers are pushing the Sony hardware to new graphical heights for this generation, third-party multi-format game-makers are still having issues replicating Xbox 360 performance. That we should see this from a developer as accomplished as Capcom, whose home market sales are so reliant on PS3, is both surprising and a touch disappointing.
Xbox Live! Arcade File Size Limits Mean Nothing
Some of you may have noticed that the latest “high profile” XBLA and PSN release of The Watchmen: The End is Nigh weighed in at just over 1 GB in size. ArsTechnica noticed as well and decided to ask Microsoft about their XBLA file size restrictions. Are they still active? Do they mean anything? This is what they had to say:
“We have set Xbox Live Arcade game file limits as a general guideline. An important part Xbox Live Arcade is easy access, and keeping file size down is a vital part of that,” Microsoft told Ars. “Equally important is offering titles with superior gameplay. We weigh both considerations on a case-by-case basis, and will make exceptions when it makes sense to ensure the best customer experience.”
So essentially, this rule means nothing now? Well, it means nothing if you’re a third party developer who is releasing a downloadable product on both the PSN and XBLA markets. Microsoft will certainly waive any limits that could potentially cause bad PR for them. Thank goodness for third parties.
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