New Ratchet Will Deliver Toy Story 2 Visuals For Gaming

Remember when it was rumored that the PS2 would be able to produce "Toy Story 2"-quality CGI visuals? Well, that didn't exactly come to fruition (hey, they also said the Xbox would have "no loading times"), but perhaps we've finally arrived at that point.

The upcoming Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time will be another beautiful production in the critically acclaimed franchise, and according to GameZine, Sony and Insomniac recently performed the comparison: A Crack in Time vs. "Toy Story 2," and yep, it appears as if the decade-old rumor has finally come true. This freshly polished engine for the new series entry will make everything appear more real than ever, and it's amazing how good both the cut-scenes and gameplay will look. Here's a comparison picture so you can judge for yourselves; Sony and Inomniac released it and it's indicative of what we can expect from the in-game cut-scenes. There are a bunch more screenshots available through the link above, and it only reinforces the point that A Crack in Time will be a visual feast for the eyes. No, we may not be able to recreate the latest computer-generated animation in movies in regards to gameplay visuals, but we may not be too far from that goal... And remember, this is all in an effort to show just how far the industry has come in a few short years.

Perhaps it's unfair to use an old animated movie in such a comparison but gaming has really only been a mainstream entertainment medium for about 30 years...how long have movies been around again?

Related Game(s): Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time

7/23/2009 Ben Dutka

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Comments (47 posts)

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Kiryu
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:11:30 AM
Reply

Awesome!

5 up, 0 down

OtisFeelgood
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:12:09 AM
Reply

Damn, thats nice!

5 up, 0 down

Qwarktast1c
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 6:18:43 PM

hey nice profile pic!!

its great to be a florida gator!! ;)

2 up, 0 down

Craigo
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:13:57 AM
Reply

Insomniac have worked hard on the PlayStation 3 and released great games.

"visual feast for the eyes." Lets see.

2 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:24:17 AM
Reply

I've often comment on how PS3 titles are starting to look Pixar quality. Uncharted 2 especially. I noticed how much better A Crack in Time looks too compared to Tools of Destruction last night when playing Tools.

5 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 5:17:11 PM

ditto

I've ALMOST got all the weapons levelled up; just a few more runs through the arena. It's _starting_ to lose its fun factor as I grind, but I haven't lost my enthusiasm yet.

Now if they'd just put Quest For Booty on sale for $10 or less.

I needs me some booty.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 7/24/2009 5:17:46 PM

0 up, 0 down

godsman
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:42:00 AM
Reply

I'm really enjoying PS3 titles lately. I have never been a console gamer. I jumped onto the PS3 platform for the first time because of the amazing animation visuals. Although multi-platform games felt like i'm playing a game, exclusives titles make me feel like i'm inside the game. The graphics are so stunning, I'll definitely stick to the PS platforms in the future.

10 up, 0 down

Andysw
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:49:29 AM
Reply

Funny how some people (xbots) like to delude themselves that both the xbox 360 and playstation 3 are equal in graphics, power and capabilities. Obviously this isn't true, otherwise developers wouldn't compliment sony for providing them the "most powerful game console in the market".

10 up, 1 down

mexgeo86
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 12:17:01 PM
Reply

great visuals; "Only possible on the ps3"

9 up, 1 down

King James
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 12:18:20 PM
Reply

Sweet.

4 up, 0 down

Victor321
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 12:29:33 PM
Reply

Nice!! This was my first PS2 game, and I will always remember my experience with the first Ratchet and Clank Game! I've played all R&C games ever since, and this comparison only fuels my desire for the game =D!

6 up, 0 down

Ultimadream
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 12:36:45 PM
Reply

No offense but even by that image you can see TS2 is supirior, also notice how the background is heavily blured in the R&C pic. If they can that will be fantastic, but i very much doubt the actual in game graphics will be, possibly the cutscenes even the in game graphic cut scenes to.

1 up, 12 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 12:39:10 PM

For someone who hates every movie ever made, I'm surprised you'd defend the film side.

12 up, 0 down

shadowpal2
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 1:11:09 PM

The blurred out background means nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the quality of the graphics.

For god's sake does that mean that all the zillions of movies made always had poor poor quality. Have you never seen a single shot where they blur something out just to make something stand out?

5 up, 0 down

Ultimadream
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 1:41:32 PM

of course not, focus is important, but i bet when all the architecture is in focus, it wont be as detailed as sommething in TS2. Look im sure the game will look amazing, just i doubt it will match the visual quality of Toy Story. i dont think that will be possible this gen. If they can correct me on that id be thrilled.

2 up, 6 down

BlinkBoy
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 2:05:31 PM

they are not talking about the in game/real time graphic looking the same quality as Toy Story 2, they mean their cut scenes, their CGI will be same quality of Pixar's Toy Story 2.

6 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 3:52:45 PM

The blur in the background is more than likely a result of an extremely shallow depth of field effect on the 'camera' lens used in the sequence. You can see the same effect in many animated features where the animators use a specific depth of field top isolate characters amidst a background. The varying focus creates an illusion of depth. Often for character close-ups, a shallow depth of field results in very out of focus backgrounds with sharp focus on the featured characters.

ToyStory2 arrived in 1999 and was animated using state of the art (at the time), custom built render farms and software. The fact that you can even discuss whether Insomniac has truly managed to achieve TS2 quality in their new R&C game is testimony to just how far PlayStation 3 moves that bar for games.

Even if it's not a complete match in capability, games like R&C are now capable of being visually on par with animated movies. We can quibble with some lighting or particle effects. But in broad terms some games are indeed meeting the standard set in CG movies of only 10 years ago.

5 up, 0 down

sobleck
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 8:40:08 PM

I personally think ratchet and clank looks better

0 up, 1 down

shadowpal2
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 1:07:55 PM
Reply

Toy Story 2 graphics? I thought they were already on Ratchet and Clank: Future - Tools of Destruction. I remember it was always mentioned by the press that it seemed as if Pixar had come to gaming for once.

NICE JOB INSOMNIAC!!

7 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 3:56:30 PM

IIRC this new R&C game is based on Insomniac's fourth generation render engine for PS3. There should be a considerable increase in quality over and above the stellar presentation in R&C Tools of Destruction.

4 up, 0 down

N a S a H
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 1:31:25 PM
Reply

R&C has always been my favorite game series over the years. It's just really witty and fun to play. Can't wait for the new one.

5 up, 0 down

RadioHeader
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 2:10:27 PM
Reply

When will movies catch up to Uncharted 2's visualz?

8 up, 1 down

ThePearlJamer
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 9:53:30 PM

James Cameron's Avatar...lol

2 up, 0 down

kevinater321
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 2:19:41 PM
Reply

Good to hear, when i saw the e3 demo's you could really tell that insomniac went all the way with this AAA title. Insomniac games is the reason i play games, they are just my all time favorite devloper. Right up there with Naughty Dog and Konami.

8 up, 0 down

jdt1981
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 3:01:13 PM
Reply

First party and exclusive PS3 games built to take advantage of the PS3 are really starting to separate from games on other consoles graphically and in other areas such as animation, physics and A.i.

3 up, 0 down

Dustinwp
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 3:14:10 PM
Reply

Sorry to sound crazy, but I'm actually looking forward to this more than any other game, including Uncharted 2. R&C games just have a strange fun factor that I just can't find in any other game. Man, I can not wait to get this game!

Last edited by Dustinwp on 7/23/2009 3:15:13 PM

7 up, 0 down

RadioHeader
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 5:15:30 PM

*checks for craziness*

Nope!

2 up, 0 down

NoSmokingBandit
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 3:42:05 PM
Reply

Insomniac is so freakin talented. Too bad a lot of people still see R&C as "a little kids game."
Hell, even if it is a little kids game its more fun than half the crap out there.

3 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 3:53:21 PM

That little kids game is regularly rated T for Teen.

3 up, 0 down

chicko1983
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 5:35:50 PM

thats beacuse the last R&C game on ps3 was too easy, I played if for an hour and almost fell asleep at the controller. This one will have a difficulty setting so I might buy it.

1 up, 2 down

Kangasfwa
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 6:06:19 PM

I would think the subtitles alone would show that R&C is not a "little kid's" series.

1 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 5:19:09 PM

I like that it's easy, but Chicko's got a point.

0 up, 0 down

godsman
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 5:28:53 PM
Reply

Toy Story characters are all made in round and smooth plastic material. The characters in Ratchet and Clank, you can see the fuzziness in their fur. It's a bit more detailed. I say Insomniac definitely matched Toy Story 2, but no way near Finding Nemo yet.

0 up, 0 down

chicko1983
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 5:34:10 PM
Reply

Looks good but does "in-game cut-scene" mean in-game engine i.e. the same look as gameplay?

I might pick this game up as I heard that this one will have a difficulty settings. I didnt buy the last one as I played it for an hour and it was too easy.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 11:33:21 PM

Yeah, they use their game engine for the cut scenes. There were many games on the PS2 that used the in-game engine for cinematics.

Of course now we're on PS3, and the hardware is a lot more capable. Remember the Killzone 2 TV commercial? The one with the 'bullet time' effects? That was rendered by the in game engine using in-game assets.

I'm pretty sure that the majority of the cut-scene visuals in tools of Destruction were rendered using the in-game engine, and this one should be no different in that respect.

Rendering using the in-game engine is far cheaper and more flexible than using pre-rendered sequences.

0 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 5:25:50 PM

There were (I think) about 12 pre-rendered cinematics in Tools (the ones you could unlock and watch again), but the others were all in-engine. You could tell because the in-engine ones were the ones you could skip.

Aside from a little sheen, they looked about the same. Nothing like the difference in, say, FFXII (aargh, jaggies!).

OPEN LETTER TO ALL DEVELOPERS: PLEASE ALLOW US TO PAUSE AND TO SKIP ALL CINEMATICS. THERE ARE DOZENS OF EXAMPLES OF HOW TO MAKE THIS WORK; IT SHOULD BE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEUDRE BY NOW.

1 up, 0 down

CrazyIrishBoy
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 5:35:00 PM
Reply

"more real" is a funny way of putting it.

2 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 7:18:16 PM
Reply

We need more platformers!

Go Ratchet and Clank!
Will get this!

One thing I love 'bout animated platformers like this one is the amazing animation put into it. The dialogue, the quality, everything is so....fantastical!

2 up, 0 down

Jordahn
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 9:25:07 PM
Reply

To clarify things, SONY never said that the PS2 was capable of Toy Story graphics in-game. They only referred to that in CGI cut scenes such as in the original Onimusha. Now it was Bill Gates that claimed that the original Xbox was capable of in-game Toy Story graphics. And the Xealots (Xbox fanboys) continue to use false info to fuel their agenda. Thay are not gamers.

0 up, 0 down

Qwarktast1c
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 9:48:23 AM

totally

onimusha CGI was pretty damn good back when it came out

0 up, 0 down

LastHour
Sunday, July 26, 2009 @ 11:16:37 PM

Hey...that's not fair. Not all Xbox 360 gamers are Xbots. I hate people that say 360 is better than PlayStation 3. I hate people who say PlayStation 3 is better than 360. They both have their good and bad qualities. They both have different things to offer. That's why you can own just one, you need both to get all the great games. To say that Xbox 360 gamers are not gamers is an insult to more than Xbots. It's an insult to real gamers too.

Basically what I'm saying is that I like Gears of War and Halo, but I also really enjoy Ratchet and Clank and Killzone. So just because I don't have a PS3 yet, and play on 360 doesn't mean I'm not a gamer. It means you're ignorant.

0 up, 0 down

ThePearlJamer
Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 9:54:21 PM
Reply

TS2...best movie of my childhood period...I'm 18 and I still am excited for TS3 lol

1 up, 0 down

OriginalSin
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 2:18:44 AM
Reply

You know what I will never forget when I first played R&C:Tools Of Destruction as a Go between game, as I was waiting for some specific game to come out (can't remember)... anyway i was so surprised then at the actual quality and addictiveness of that came. I thought it looked pretty damn good even then. So the new (Crack in Time) I will pick up on day one...

It looks really good all round.... can't wait to see what weapons they have for us this time round...

Imagine they make a R&C RPG with this visuals all round, traveling through space to various planets and all that but just on a 120 hour scale.... I'd definitely buy it.

1 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 9:42:02 AM

An R&C RPG? Oh yeah, I'd buy that.

1 up, 0 down

___________
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 3:41:58 AM
Reply

hmmmm judging from all the previews ive read this game looks exactly the same as future tools of destruction.
not that i care, this could look like a ps1 game im still getting it day 1.
but sony are pretty fecking stupid to release this 12 days (thats what ive been told release date is 24/10/09) after uncharted 2.
most people are still going to be playing uncharted 2 i know i will be, and most of our money will be gone.
they should of released this in september.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 9:59:46 AM

Insomniac are on record (IIRC) describing how their engine has gotten incrementally better from Resistance to R&C:TOD, then R&C:Q4B, on to Resistance 2 and now R&C Crack In Time. Although the characters may look similar (they were very good already), I think that we'll find in practice that this one will look sharper and play even smoother than the first one on PS3.

Certainly Quest For Booty had specific improvements to the engine over and above Tools of Destruction. We're now one full iteration of the graphics engine beyond that.

0 up, 0 down

oregonshon
Sunday, July 26, 2009 @ 12:07:54 PM
Reply

this comment in the article cracks me up "how long have movies been around again?"

This is an idiotic statement at best as regular movies and video games do not compare. The true comparison should be CGI movies and video games.

0 up, 0 down

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