Oblivion better on PS3

[ckelly79]

From IGN.com
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/762/762108p1.html

Oblivion on PS3 will run faster and has better graphics than the X360 version

on load times

The PS3 version of Oblivion isn't a simple port of the game either, although players who have picked up the 360 version will be very familiar with the control scheme. For one thing, the PS3 version has been optimized to take advantage of the Cell processor and hardware that the system offers. As a result, the game runs a lot faster than the 360 build. Entering dungeons or buildings results in a load of 3-5 seconds, compared to the 7-10 seconds or longer for the 360 version of the game. Similarly, the amount of framerate drops or hitches that cropped up in the wilderness as you accessed a new area on the 360 have been substantially reduced on the PS3 version. There is a plan to completely eradicate these issues as the game nears release, as well as fixing a number of bugs that were present in the other builds. Kiss the item duplication glitch goodbye.

on graphics

The visual presentation of Oblivion has also been significantly enhanced. While it was a beautiful title on the 360, far off environmental details often displayed low resolution textures. This has been fixed with new shaders dedicated to rendering the foreground cleanly with sharper details, so rocky landscapes now have craggy appearances instead of smooth, non-distinct surfaces. While there is still a fair amount of pop-in that occurs (which can't be helped due to the size of the world), the draw distance is farther than the 360 version. As a result, screens from the PS3 version should approach those from high end PCs running Oblivion, which is an impressive feat. We'll have more on Oblivion soon, but for now, check out these new screens.

[Slackr89]

Wow, it's good to see that developers arent simply making poor ports off the 360.

[WeApOn]

Really? Wow. All I have heard from Bethesda lately was that they were having problems with the PS3. Just yesterday there was something about not enough memory being able to load all the hi-res textures due to the 512 RAM being allocated more to the CPU and less to the video card.

Anyone else hear that?

But that's awesome to hear. It sounded like Microsoft was paying off Todd Howard to talk negatively about the PS3. It's almost hard to believe good news coming from them.


...They do need to sell the game I guess.

[Slippy]

I have this on PC, but I'll get it on PS3 also (I have Morrowind on PC & Xbox). I'm glad a multiplatform third-party developer is getting results with the system, but I think I'll still be looking at Sony to provide the great graphical accomplishments on PS3 (Heavenly Sword, GT5, White Knight Story and all the rest being gorgeous), and exclusive third-party titles (Ninja Gaiden, FFXIII etc.).

The harsh juxtapose between the foreground and background was very annoying in the X360 version, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this run with all the new content as well.

Originally Posted by WeApOn

512 RAM being allocated more to the CPU and less to the video card.

X360 and PS3 both allocate memory the same way, but more RAM is used for the OS on PS3 (for now, the amount will be (has been) reduced).

[phranctoast]

Im still waiting for this story to appear on joystiq. The site has to be the biggest meeting place for 360 and wii fanboys I have ever witnessed. Every story about Sony brings on at least 50 posts of pure hatred and hostility. It will be nice to see the 360's argueably best game (nominated or several award at this moment) be improved on by the ps3.

I already know what will be said on that site."We has in 9 months before. Have fun with the 360's leftovers" I will link the page when it happens.

[JTK]

I think the PC version is still the best. You should see all the crazy mods and expansions people come up with for these Elder Scroll games, past the official mods.

Glad to see this is getting treated with respect on the console side, though.

Even people that hate RPGs outright owe it to themselves to at least TRY this masterpeice somewhere, somehow.

[phranctoast]

I hear ya jtk. My PC is not as good (yet) as a ps3. Most games are better on the PC.

If UT3 (formerly UT2007) isn't m+k enabled for the ps3 I will be going with the pc version. I hear rumors of Epic catering to the lowest common denominator (360) to keep the versions similar.

[pretender2j]

Originally Posted by WeApOn

Just yesterday there was something about not enough memory being able to load all the hi-res textures due to the 512 RAM being allocated more to the CPU and less to the video card.

The PS3 has 256 MB of Rambus XDR DRAM, clocked at 3.2GHz. (for CPU and by way of the CPU the GFX chip)

The PS3 has 256 MB of GDDR3 RAM, clocked at 700MHz. (for GFX chip)

Also the PS3 reserves 64 MB (main) RAM at all times for XMB functions.

Can you provide a link to where the person from Bethseda said that as it doesn't make sense. eg. the GFX chip can access more memory than the CPU can.

JB

[JTK]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

I hear ya jtk. My PC is not as good (yet) as a ps3. Most games are better on the PC.

If UT3 (formerly UT2007) isn't m+k enabled for the ps3 I will be going with the pc version. I hear rumors of Epic catering to the lowest common denominator (360) to keep the versions similar.

I don't know. From what I've been reading in places like PC Gamer magazine and the rest of it? UT2007 is going to be pretty amazing.

[Amon37]

I may rent elder scrolls first. Call me old school but I don't think I could get used to a First Person RPG.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Amon37

I may rent elder scrolls first. Call me old school but I don't think I could get used to a First Person RPG.

When it's done this well? Trust me: You can.

Besides: These games let you click a button and switch to a third person view anytime you want and you can zoom that in and out almost any way you want.

So you literally can avoid first person view entirely if you want.

That's what's so great about these games: Maximum choice. Play it the way you want.

[Amon37]

I wasn't aware of that. Well with all the games coming in march and Blu-ray movies I may rent it and then buy it later. I'll still have the saved gamed on the PS3 HD.

[WeApOn]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

Im still waiting for this story to appear on joystiq. The site has to be the biggest meeting place for 360 and wii fanboys I have ever witnessed. Every story about Sony brings on at least 50 posts of pure hatred and hostility. It will be nice to see the 360's argueably best game (nominated or several award at this moment) be improved on by the ps3.

I already know what will be said on that site."We has in 9 months before. Have fun with the 360's leftovers" I will link the page when it happens.

Haha... Funny you say that. I have been waiting myself for that. There's where I always see the negative news about PS3, and yes there is SO much hate thrown around. It would be nice to see them put this up there.

[WeApOn]

Originally Posted by JTK

I think the PC version is still the best. You should see all the crazy mods and expansions people come up with for these Elder Scroll games, past the official mods.

Agreed. I have it for PC and without the mods this would be a DIFFERENT game. It is ESSENTIAL to have most of those mods(hi-res textures, Landscape LOD, etc..) However, they said they fixed the pop-ins and far-off texture oddities, which is really the only negative thing for Oblivion coming out of the box.

Originally Posted by pretender2j

Can you provide a link to where the person from Bethseda said that as it doesn't make sense. eg. the GFX chip can access more memory than the CPU can.

JB

I just dug it up- http://ps3.qj.net/Bethesda-PS3-techn...g/49/aid/81701

This was just one of the many negative things they have been talking about. Check out the comments for all the people talking negative about the PS3. That guy Devise jumps on every thread from that site and bad talks the PS3, but he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Here are some specifically about the Memory:

"Here is the bandwidth comparison between PS3 and 360. The 360 has 5 times more memory bandwidth.

http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/arti...g_2812545.html "


..."The Xbox 360 has 22.4 GB/s of GDDR3 bandwidth and a 256 GB/s of EDRAM bandwidth for a total of 278.4 GB/s total system bandwidth.


Why does the Xbox 360 have such an extreme amount of bandwidth? Even the simplest calculations show that a large amount of bandwidth is consumed by the frame buffer. For example, with simple color rendering and Z testing at 550 MHz the frame buffer alone requires 52.8 GB/s at 8 pixels per clock. The PS3's memory bandwidth is insufficient to maintain its GPU's peak rendering speed, even without texture and vertex fetches.

The PS3 uses Z and color compression to try to compensate for the lack of memory bandwidth. The problem with Z and color compression is that the compression breaks down quickly when rendering complex next-generation 3D scenes.

HDR, alpha-blending, and anti-aliasing require even more memory bandwidth. This is why Xbox 360 has 256 GB/s bandwidth reserved just for the frame buffer. This allows the Xbox 360 GPU to do Z testing, HDR, and alpha blended color rendering with 4X MSAA at full rate and still have the entire main bus bandwidth of 22.4 GB/s left over for textures and vertices. "


"There are three critical performance aspects of a console:

* Central Processing Unit (CPU) performance.
* The Xbox 360 CPU architecture has three times the general purpose processing power of the Cell.
* Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) performance
* The Xbox 360 GPU design is more flexible and it has more processing power than the PS3 GPU.
* Memory System Bandwidth
* The memory system bandwidth in Xbox 360 exceeds the PS3's by five times. "


There's a bunch more in there but I don't want to flood this thread. Check them out if you want. Actually all the one's I pasted were from that guy Devise.

[phranctoast]

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/07/ig...icer-than-360/


I even got thanked for the story. Let the Fanboy BS begin!!!!!

[JTK]

Random example of cool user mods:

Elder Scrolls III Morrowind had a lightsaber sword mod. Star Wars sound effects included. The works.

They generously have this thing availabe to you from the beginning of the game, so if you have a character that has even a modicum of swordfighting ability...hell, even if you don't...you're picking this bad boy off the table in a room at no cost and you're loving life.

^^ I want a lightsaber for Oblivion!

[WeApOn]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/07/ig...icer-than-360/


I even got thanked for the story. Let the Fanboy BS begin!!!!!

Haha awesome.

[Casey]

anyone know if this game is gonna be in 1080p/i???

i hope so otherwise im stuck with 480p

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by Casey

anyone know if this game is gonna be in 1080p/i???

i hope so otherwise im stuck with 480p

Very possible. 2 of Segas recent titles (Sonic and Virtua Fighter 5) for the PS3 are 720p games, but play in 1080i and 1080p. So the software IS available to do it, just not sure if everyone is on the same page with it.

[phranctoast]

was I wrong. More people on the f'in site found that to be bad news rather then good.

I think I even predicted most of the comments.