Vanquish Engine Designer: PS3, 360 Versions Almost Identical
VanquishPlayStation 3 fans well remember what happened with their version of Bayonetta. Platinum Games made it on the Xbox 360, then let Sega handle the porting-to-PS3 process. Blech.
But the developer learned their lesson and flipped the tables for their latest project, Vanquish. They've said in the past that Sony's machine would be the lead platform for the game, and they've also learned that both versions need to be great so as not to leave a bad taste in people's mouths. For more information check out the latest entry over at the Platinum Games blog; Hideaki Nakata, the guy in charge of the game's engine and overall engine tuning, has a few interesting comments. Firstly, he says director Shinji Mikami wanted the game to "look unlike anything else out there" and he also wanted the "battlefields to have the overwhelming feeling of a real battle." Secondly, "quantity" is a big focus; more enemies, more bullets, more explosions, more, more, more. Thirdly, they've implemented a new technique not found in the Bayonetta engine known as "deferred rendering." Fourthly and lastly, the following-
"We also tuned the title so that if you play Vanquish on the PS3 or the Xbox 360 you should notice little to no differences. Even the developers on the Vanquish team have a hard time telling the two versions apart at a glance… So no matter which console you have, you have nothing to worry about!"
The developers themselves can't really tell, huh? We're not children. Just because we got an inferior version of their last game, we don't want Xbox 360 owners to suffer that same fate with Vanquish. If it has to be multiplatform, designers can at least give everyone the same experience, yes?
Related Game(s): Vanquish
Tags: vanquish, platinum games, bayonetta, vanquish ps3
8/25/2010 9:02:01 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (36 posts)
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:22:01 PM
3 up, 0 down
Mamills
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:03:05 PM
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too many blockbusters i have to reserve cash for
0 up, 0 down
StangMan80
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:05:36 PM
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Now how much longer will it take for the PS3 version to be better like it should be?
5 up, 0 down
shadowscorpio
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 12:19:30 AM
0 up, 0 down
Orvisman
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 8:48:02 AM
Unlike last gen when devs would go back and redo the Xbox port of a PS2 game and improve the graphics, this gen it is all about parity.
I'm guessing M$ft cut some pretty sweet deals with multiplat devs to get them to gimp the PS3 versions of games.
1 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:14:14 PM
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Truth will be told once the two versions are put under the microscope.
At the least, their statement helps ensure that we shouldn't see a significant difference between the two versions. Only guys like me will want to dig a little closer to get the final say.
When will we see multi-plat games that consistently struggle to keep up with PS3 versions?
Resources are out there for devs to make use of PS3's unique strengths.
From what I've read, the excellent SPU driven edge smoothing process (GoW3, and Saboteur) can be easily implemented. This would be an instant plus for PS3 multi-plat titles. Really, the usual advantage that 360 has in multi-plats is their more frequent use of 2xMSAA. Something that can now be easily wiped away with Sony's newer AA formula.
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:20:27 PM
Not as long as the 360 is still supported.
2 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:27:48 PM
If the usual 360 advantage is because of the more frequent use of 2xMSAA, wouldn't it make sense that if devs would simply start making use of the MLAA SPU process ( an overall superior method) that there would no longer be an advantage for 360 versions of the same games?
Right now, I'm playing Assassins' Creed 2 for 360 because of two reasons, my friend let me borrow it--the biggest reason--and, as a preference, it has a better form of AA.
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:35:50 PM
1 up, 0 down
shadowscorpio
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 12:23:35 AM
0 up, 0 down
Jawknee
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:15:44 PM
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I agree with stangman though, the ps3 version should be better.
Last edited by Jawknee on 8/25/2010 10:17:19 PM
1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:17:07 PM
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Not trying to flame the 360 crowd(I own a Elite Deluxe 250GB 360), but shouldn't the PS3 version be better, seeing how the PS3 is a better machine, and that they keep telling us that they're making the PS3 the lead platform, and that Vanquish will be the best it can be for each console????
Maybe Digital Foundry will wind up checking their claims.
Just curious....
Last edited by BikerSaint on 8/25/2010 10:18:45 PM
1 up, 0 down
Jawknee
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:31:40 PM
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:38:35 PM
0 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:41:28 PM
Memory (RAM) allocation was a major issue for early multi-plat games that were moving over from 360 to PS3.
Simply put, the way game data was stored on 360 wouldn't always store the same way on PS3's versions of the same game.
Reading interviews with devs taught me that it was a mess when trying to force the port over to PS3 (look at Bayonetta as a recent example). Picture trying to make a triangle fit in a square slot.
It makes more sense for devs to to start with the PS3's memory layout, and then, create the game on 360's more flexible memory architecture.
Today, we see very few major differences between versions because of this simple change in process. (There are a few other less significant reasons but I wont go there)
But we still don't see enough devs going out of their way to PROGRAM (usually a more expensive time consuming process) specific code for the PS3's strong processing abilities. Basically, the overall graphic presentation should always look better on PS3 because the processing benefits of the platform can augment their look.
2 up, 0 down
NoSmokingBandit
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 11:24:44 PM
0 up, 0 down
aaronisbla
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 1:10:31 AM
In a perfect world, multiplats would all be built from the ground up for each console and we would see more identical multiplats, and in some cases the ps3 version would be better.
In a lot of cases, the differences are pretty minor. I'd take the ps3 exclusives and a slightly inferior port of multiplats over 360's exclusives and multiplats since the 360's exclusives are slim right about now
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:19:24 PM
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At any rate, I am curious as to how this will sell since 360 shooter lovers only buy games with online multiplayer, and the whole over the top explosions and bullets and men in hulking suits genre kinda belongs to them.
0 up, 0 down
Jawknee
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:33:11 PM
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:38:04 PM
0 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 4:30:17 AM
But I'm glad this game is purely single player and they're focusing on it.
0 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 1:39:01 AM
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0 up, 0 down
Xombito
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 2:38:36 AM
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0 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 4:28:39 AM
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Ah well, demo drops in next week!!!
If the demo gave me a good feeling, I'll get this for sure.
0 up, 0 down
___________
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 5:22:45 AM
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2K originally said the same about mafia 2 till the demo released!
ill download the demo, but its going to have to be absolutely mind blowing, pants exploding good to make me buy it!
0 up, 4 down
Jawknee
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 11:10:59 AM
0 up, 0 down
tanner1
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 6:52:45 AM
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0 up, 0 down
smileys_007
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 8:15:24 AM
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0 up, 0 down
Imagi
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 9:12:52 AM
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0 up, 0 down
Amazingskillz
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 1:31:15 PM
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2 up, 0 down
Alienange
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 3:22:38 PM
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I hear "You're getting the 360 version."
0 up, 0 down
FlyingKickPunch
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 5:57:15 PM
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2 up, 0 down
orangpelupa
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 1:32:22 AM
but if we look from different angle, both 360 and ps3 being used to its each potential. Thats why the developer can make the game look identical.
Example:
on ps3, the dev use the SPE/SPU optimally to help PS3 GPU, on Xbox the dev use eDram to help post process.
Last edited by orangpelupa on 8/27/2010 1:33:01 AM
0 up, 1 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 9:35:47 PM