Former Harmonix developer attacks PS3
- Posted October 26th, 2007 at 12:16 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 8,277 views
- 90 Comments
Jason Booth, a former employee at Rock Band developer Harmonix, has launched a series of criticisms against Sony’s PlayStation 3 console, suggesting the pubic share a number of misconceptions on a hardware level when comparing it to the Xbox 360.
Speaking in a recent entry on his blog, Booth addressed the common assertion that the PS3 is graphically superior to Microsoft’s next-generation machine, stating, “Fill rate is one of the primary ways to measure graphics performance - in essence, it's a number describing how many pixel operations you can perform. The fill rate on the PS3 is significantly slower than on the 360, meaning that games either have to run at lower resolution or use simpler shader effects to achieve the same performance.”
“Additionally, the shader processing on the ps3 is significantly slower than on the 360, which means that a normal map takes more fill rate to draw on the ps3 than it does on the 360. And I'm not talking about small differences here, we're talking roughly half the pixel pushing power.”
He then tackled the inclusion of Blu-ray, arguing that the high-definition format is slower for gaming experiences than the Xbox 360’s DVD9 medium: “Great for watching movies, but not so great for games”, said Booth.
“Getting data off the blue ray drive takes about twice as long as it does to get the same data off the 360's DVD drive. That translates into longer load times, or god forbid if your streaming from disk, tighter constraints on the amount of data you can stream.”
Booth also remains sceptical as to whether or not developers would fully get to grips with the consoles architecture over time, adding, “I suspect a small number of PS3 only developers will optimize the hardware to do something cool."
"However, this will be an exception to the rule, and will likely involved game designs that are specifically designed for the hardware and funded by Sony. If those will prove to be fun or not is another question.”
Source: PS3fanboy
Comments
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Sniperwithacause |
Sniperwithacause- 12:22pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 1
well we all knew from E3 07 that Harmonix was all over M$'s nuts!!
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FantasyStar |
Tirin- 12:24pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 2
That's interesting, and he puts up some very good points. The only rebuttle I have is what he said about Blu-Ray. I'd rather have a slow-loading experience than a fast-one that also tailors a VERY LOUD CONSOLE. Seriously, it's so loud I'm scared it'll break, plus the excess heat is contributing to the failure rate as well. I'm still am a firm believer that Blu-Ray is the Next-Gen storage medium. Trying to keep an almost 10 year old format is stupid. If we apply that logic, cassette tapes would still be around.
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mikeghtmare |
mikeghtmare- 12:32pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 4
Not good points really.
I doubt Rock Band even tried to do good utilization of the SPUs and all PS3 hardware; he is basing it in his "VAST" experience with the PS3. Also, about Blu-Ray, while this is probably true, he forgot about the HDD in all PS3s which by the way allows games to store data locally for easy access. I know that, he as a "GOOD" developer should too. -
se7enthsign |
Se7enthSign- 12:33pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 5
Regardless of what is said, so far the proof is in the pudding. PS3 games have run slower and in some cases have had lower resolution textures than competing 360 games. Until the PS3 proves that this is a developer issue and that the hardware itself is not flawed, people will continue to choose the 360 over the PS3...no matter how many times they drop the price. The bottom line is not that people think the PS3 is expensive. They think that the PS3 is inferior and overpriced. So far they are right.
After playing Madden 08 on PS3 and 360, people don't ask "Why is EA lazy?" they ask "Why does the PS3 cost more when it's not even as good as a 360?"
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Ill_Omen17 |
Ill_Omen17- 12:44pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 7
w/e i love my ps3 i im completely confident in its superiority over 360 or wii this guys just mad he went from employee to former employee
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Untildeath89 |
willmakenewonesoon- 12:44pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 8
deppends on the dev's if u get difficoult math question u can ignore it and say its hard or use 10 hour on it and make ure other 100 questions easyer.
what this dude is saying is no doubt, brd capacity is more even if it is 2x faster then dvd reading from point 0-last takes some time and if u wanna use info on them middle you should find tech, and about the slower yadayada, if you wanna overcome that u gotta push something here and something there, it should really be fun to push that wall and find a big hole behind u can put lots of things.
besides the game his talking about dont need 4gb songs and gameplay there is not much really, with the effects behind u cant possibly ask for much shadow/lightning effects just extreme effects.
there is no such thing as lazy dev's just dev's that don't like to explore, the more reason for them to quit.
its truely hard to work and not get anywhere but the second u get inn, its worth every sec maybe they should try it
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mikeghtmare |
mikeghtmare- 12:47pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 9
@se7enthsign,
haven't you seen R&C?... that just proves it all the way both for the graphics and loading times; I've never seen anything so crystal clear. What about Lair? although some didn't like the game play, you cannot deny the graphics are superb with no annoying loading time. -
Platypus409 |
Platypus409- 12:52pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 10
This dude is posting his opinion all over the amazon.com message boards! What is this guys deal? Is he being paid to talk crap about PS3? Get a life man!
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wiggsj
- 1:07pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 12
I think alot of this is just Xbox propaganda - but I will say we need more great games and Sony needs to stop "f"ing things up ie: Warhawk update, R&C glitch,EOJ copy card cheat, and they need to do ALOT more to help 3rd party devs so the ports are better. Nothing more frustrating than a better Xbox version!!
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TekkenLord |
HitMan00- 1:09pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 13
wow, stop the hating dude. Will this ps3 hating ever stop.
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AGB217
- 1:21pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 14
Honestly, I can give 2 s**ts less about what some herb loser M$ employee has to say.
I have been gaming for 21years. To all you little kids on here listen clearly.
Buy Games. Don't worry about anything graphical. PS1 PS2 have proven themselves. PS3 will too.
Also if there is a game you enjoy, like LAIR, if you read all the articles about it being bad, just rent it. If you enjoy it, than buy it.
Also all i want to know is when does HAZE come out.
I seen CALL OF DUTY 4, I truely believe HAZE is way better. Graphic wise, and even play mode, the things you can do is sick, dont believe me, check out www.gametrailers.com they have sick videos of it.
Also i have pre-ordered Assassin's Creed, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and HAZE. just they guy at bestbuy didn't give me an exact date for HAZE.
ALSO I DONT BUY FROM EB GAMES OR GAMESTOP. They suck
Also I pre-ordered a PS3 Dual Shock 3. Play-asia is out of stock. But i got my from California.
thats where i got mine.
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Clarky-132 |
clarky-132- 1:21pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 15
I wonder how much Microsoft paid Jason Booth to say this?
And why would they get some random guy from a crappy development team to say something like this? Would it not be better to get someone with a little power to say it?
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gingo |
gingo- 1:35pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 16
psn id: gingo.... hmmm yeah so infinity ward were lying when they said Call of Duty 4 looked better on the ps3, NO!!!!!! dont be stupid whoever you are not many people say the graphics on xbox are better anyway and that doesn't really matter because look at the ps2 and xbox, xbox had superior graphics but got absolutely mauled
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robep3
- 1:56pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 17
I will some it up in a few words
HE HAS A BEARD!
No main reason TO rubbish PS3 he gets thousands of hits on his blog plenty of evidence on the net that the PS3 can do what it claims, R&C,MGS4,GT5,KZ2 I mean did Naughty Dog NOT say 30-50% power useage for uncharted!15-20% of power used in MOTORSTORM and has it not been said that UT3 AND COD4 will be better on PS3 than 360 AS FOR Blu-Ray WHAT ABOUT GTA 4 was dvd for 360 to cramped for storage the guy is an @55 the more he writes the bigger an @55 he becomes!!!!!!!!!
Rob
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Fullgore |
DKell- 1:56pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 18
I have just as much confidence in my ps3 as anyone else but too many people are saying to much crap about the system and sony has yet to prove anyone wrong...with all the delays ( i mean alot of delays) , developers saying how difficult it is to develop a game with the ps3 and games not on par with the 360s. Im starting to get really pissed off.....I think we deserve some official answers from sony and soon
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youseeme_us
- 1:59pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 19
.If sony has developed a system that is inferior to the xbox 360, and they have been charging way more all this time, this guy is either full of crap. or we have all been screwed.
If what he said was true, then how come microsoft hasn't been bringing up these points before?
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Supra2JZGTE
- 2:01pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 20
I know a few developers and they are saying the same thing as this guy, that the PS3 is hard to develop for and blah blah, but they are saying that the hardware does have streignths just like the 360. But they are also saying that Blu Ray with a 2X speed drive is slow. All this means nothing to me, what I need right now are exclusive high powered games!!!!
Motorstorm does take to long to load. Sadly, since I dont play around, I sold the game because of this. Got way to anoying. But the game itself is sick! Shows what the PS3 is capable of once developers get into gear.
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Vaughn |
undacovabrothe- 2:18pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 21
Does anyone take into consideration that the ps3 is NEW ground bracking technology, the cell engine and blue ray. OFC its harder to use its f8kn new! I rather have a system that devs are having problems using at first because its advance than a system that has almost out dated technology that will be obsolete in 2-3 years. I buy things that last longer and are superior ps3 wins both cases. The reason why we have lower frame rates are from crappy ports, which is due to lazy devs. Just because something works good on 1 system doenst mean u can just bring it to another system and it will run exactly the same. I think win Unreal Tournament 3 comes out it will show how obsolete the 360 will become in 2-3 years. Also this guy is a former dev for a reason go get a f8kn life.
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stennex |
stennex- 2:30pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 23
If Ratchet and Clank is not enough proof of what Sony's PS3 is capable of doing then you need to stop playing video games. I love the playstation brand and what they do for the videogame industry. The PS3 is not even one year as yet and it is pumping out games such as R&C, Heavenly Sword, Drakes Unchartered, UTIII, and RFOM. PS2 would have loved to have these kind of quality titles earlier on instead of the end of its lifecycle. PS3 has more to offer. Next year is ours. P.S. To spend 70 billion dollars on research and produce a crap box, i dont think so. IBM has even made pdf files about the cell chip and what it is capable of doing. Incredible stuff. The RSX chip is specifially built to controll all the graphic work. That punk needs to leave the videogame world.
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PS3-The Ultimate Machine
- 2:31pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 24
And thats why he is a FORMER Harmonix dev.
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Sunshine_Killer |
SunshineKiller- 2:33pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 25
he is just a crappy developer that needs to vent on his failures. Rock band... wow who gives a crap. He probably gave up on developing for the ps3 cause he doesnt know how. what a lame blog post. f'n ms supporter.
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viperbills
- 2:33pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 26
Next, I would like him to explain how games like Gran Turismo 5 (the demo alone is amazing), MGS4, and Killzone 2 are done...I can wait
Then why others are not doing it.
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ldksparda21 |
Karamo- 2:44pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 27
Well how can i beleive somethng like that when Oblivion loads faster on the PS3, and i hear COD4 performs better on the PS3, and with game like killzone 2 being possible on the PS3. Dude the games that you made need not much power from either system, and you are used to making games on the 360, so let the pro talk about, stop acting like if gamers were ignorant even though some of them are.
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Dathrill2398 |
Dathrill23- 3:15pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 28
to be completely honest, I believe the guy to an extent. however, I also think it's just a matter of time and patience. The ps3 is a great machine, but doesn't appear to be devoloper friendly. The only reason I haven't bought an xbox, is because they're are only two games I really want that are exclusive. (and it is LOUD!) Anyway, I just hope Sony comes out with more tools to help the devolopers that are "lazy" or just may not have enough time to make great games.
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debamf
- 4:01pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 32
Remember he's an ex-employee, his work would have involved around PS2 and maybe 360, he's probably only had a glance at the PS3's hardware? I looked at his blog and there are 152 comments many saying how he doesn't know what he's talking about and they try to explain what this and that means.
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Random1448
- 4:07pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 33
and we all know the high level of technical expertise to expect from harmonix. Seriously the only people who are critizing the PS3 are people that suck at making console games. Survival of the fittest guys, you can't keep up, you'll get left in the dust.
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AGB217
- 4:10pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 34
You all are fools. The reason why developers make a easy copy for the 360 first and delay the ps3 is because they are lazy.
The architect who made the CELL (he isn't from sony) said "the reason why 360 games are better because the developers are too lazy to work with the cell, it's just easy to work with the 360 and port to PS3.
As for other devs. That's why UBISOFT wanted ASSASSINS CREED to be PS3 EXCLUSIVE.
DEVS LOVE THE PS3. Just wait till ONE NONE LAZY DEVELOPMENT TEAM (ala Naughty Dog, Slant Six, Factor 5, Insomniac) crack up every possiblity for the PS3 to make the sickest games ever.
They already are with Resistance (all that explosion with no lag right on release of the PS3
Ratchet & Clank (everything about it)
Uncharted (seems to be from what i read all over the internet one of the sickest games to come out this year)
LAIR (hated in the USA loved in JAPAN, regardless you cannot deny its breathtaking beauty of visuals).
SO GET OVER IT. SONY WAS, IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE KING OF GAMING (took over nintendo's crown, nintendo is just warming the chair until our return in 2008)
SONY KICKS B(_)TT in 2007
Resistance: Fall Of Man - Brand New Exclusive Game At Launch Date of PS3 (new title)
Motorstorm - Best Visual Racer to Date
LAIR - Visually a beautiful game (only problem is the controls which can be patched fixed)
HEAVENLY SWORD - ABSOLUTELY A MUST HAVE (mix of Sega's Shinmu and Dynasty Warriors combo mash)
WARHAWK - Must have - I have flight SIMS. But boy does this make me love em
UNCHARTED - I have it pre-ordered (enough said)
HAZE - From what i have read it looks to be visually a masterpiece. The gameplay i watched at gametrailers made me pre-order it 2 days ago. For me its this before CALL OF DUTY
TIME CRISIS - Finally the return of the gunco
Assassin's Creed is a MULTI Meaning STILL LOVES PS3
SONY RETURNS IN 2008
SOCOM
God Of War
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy
Killzone
The Agency
Little Big Planet
Grand Turismo
Eight Days
Afrika
GTAIV (its multi meaning STILL LOVES PS3)
Resident Evil 5 (still loves PS3)
Devil May Cry (Like the other two above they were born on PS3, so they are staying with PS3 also..multi)
L.A. Noire (still only labeled for PS3)
The Getaway
Plus many other titles in the works, including that ROCKSTAR ALL NEW PS3 EXCLUSIVE.
So now for you guys to know, the main reason people talk mass s**t about SONY PS3, is because M$ needs to ruin SONY on FALSE FACTS and BAD SPOTLIGHT (anyone good can look bad in the wrong light, and vice versa)....before it explodes with games and flys off the shelf,
Why do you think M$ had a jump start on NEXT GEN GRAPHICS AND LOVE TO MAKE BIG DEALS ABOUT GAMES GOING MULTI????
ANSER: because they DO NOT HAVE any good games BESIDES halo and gears of war, and because since they have no games, they needed a reason to sell systems, hence all the talk ABOUT GRAPHICS and not a list of atleast 20 BRAND NEW XBOX EXCLUSIVES
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tom ass
- 4:12pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 35
picking apart sony seems to be the never ending trend. whatever its just that. a trend. when the original playstation came everybody said cd's suck cause of loading. ff7 changed EVERYONE's opinion (that i knew) of cd's. then with ps2 its was dvd's. "its for games not movies, they don't need that much space for games."then came mgs2, boom all my friends were hooked. those were the arguments i always heard from the n64 and dreamcast people. in the past sony has been the company to set the standard when it comes to gaming. now i don't about all that pixel this shade that mumbo jumbo what this guy failed to mention is the realism factor. ps3 games have so much stuff going on on the screen compared to that other console, which i will never say its name again.
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reccodog |
reccodog- 4:21pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 36
O.k After a wile people get realy anouying with the " PS3 sucks, The ps3 is a crapy console." The truth is, there just mad because they couldn't wait for the ps3 to come out so they got a 360. There just mad because the ps3 is better in EVERY way possable. There just mad because there use of microsoft giving them realy cheap and crapy tools for realy cheap and crapy hardware for realy cheap and crapy games. There not use to realy good hardware and a challenge, thats why people like halo so much, because its not challenging. There just mad. It is always the smallest minds (and the dumbeist) that fall for microsofts tricks. Think about it for a xbox 360 elite it cost 499$ pluse 170$ for the hd dvd you have to pay 70 $ a year for xbox live. And don't forget the games and other cheap hardware you wanna get for the 360. Over time that adds up to over 1400$ With the ps3 you pay 500$ for the 60 gig and thats all you have to pay for. The internet is free, Blu-ray comes with the system, and wireless internet conectivity or Wi-Fi! Thats up to about 500$ so, which one is more expensive? And as graphics are conserned the ps3 wins!
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DaSaint |
DaSaint- 4:46pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 37
I think he is bitter cause he got turned down for team Konami and Free Radical...lol...no for real though....After seeing uncharted, Heavenly Sword, and Liar, R&C game of great production value, within the first year of the PS3 , he cant tell me @#$%, he needs some better evidence to support his claim, cause right now the PS3 is looking dam good.
And what if the blu-ray is "slow", thank God for the included hard drive huh. Real devs dont make excuses, they man up and showcase their skills. I mean thats what they get paid for right
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Scarecrowi |
Ifrit99- 4:59pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 38
lol@first comment :D
Can he PROVE what's he's saying.Go to h*ll and go suck on Bill Gate's balls again.
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Nosferatu
- 5:46pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 40
SInce he said getting data off of blu ray takes twice as long than the 360 dvd drive then um why are most rpgs for the 360 3 discs and 4 discs. Like if mistwalker completed lost oddessy for ps3 it would fit on 1 disc no problem. But since its a microsoft backed and owned internal studio its not coming to the ps3 and the ps3 doesnt need it.
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UnasFortuna |
Unas_Fortuna- 6:21pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 42
He is just bashing... that is all. The only rebuttal is in what Sony has coming up....but that is the kicker...they are not here yet. Sure they have a couple of good games that start to show what the PS3 is capable of...but until Sony helps release the "flood" of quality games... people are going to believe anything people say when they don't know anything about the system. I personally believe EA especially has MS's interests up their behinds and purposely put out bad ports so crap like this can feed the fodder of xbots such as this guy. It does say he is a former employee...probably got fired for not being able to comprehend the PS3's architecture and now is just trying to get attention.
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Lithgow
- 6:36pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 43
The funny thing about that is how many 360 games run at 1080p right now? How about halo 2.5? It ran at 640p because of lighting? And that's what he's trying to attack the PS3 about? Get a life, man, and stop advertising for M$ for a blowjobb from Bill Gates.
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eXcalibursk8er |
fptsk8er- 6:57pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 45
dont think i need to say anything....already been said in almost every comment above..
except...Jason Booth just got OWNEDDD!!!!!
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bnolan56 |
snowy311- 7:01pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 46
Has he ever heard of streaming? Last time I checked Resistance and Rachet and Clank have faster loading times than Halo3. And after what I saw from Killzone 2 this guy can go get fired from another game company. I will admit Graphically the 360 has a slight edge, but its soon to change. Until then I like playing both systems and people like this guy and Gabe Newell are just hidebound idiots.
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Aratacus
- 7:03pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 47
THE WORD "FORMER" says it all...... what if his buddies who still have a job love the PS3 arcitecture?...... besides, i havn't even heard yet that rockband is on 360, is it?..... we don't hear about the devs that like the PS3, cuz there busy WORKING.... M$ has made is so easy to SH!t out games, devs are losing the whole point of making games...... i miss the days when gaming was art......
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chimmy
- 7:07pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 48
well this has got people fired up. At this stage it is difficult to assess which system is truely superior, the facts are the Xboxes Xenon GPU (ATI) is more advanced than the PS3s RSX (Nvidia), how much the Cell processor can compensate for the difference is unknown. The PS3 with it's Cell CPU should be more powerful (AI & physics), but currently developers say they find it easier to access the 360s 3 cores than PS3s 7(accessable) cores. So it becomes a question of not just raw power, but how much power can be utilised simultaneosly. MS will release quieter/more reliable SKUs in time as chip fabrication moves to smaller processes, but in the end the games will do the talking. This is the longest I've sat on the fence before jumping into the next gen, maybe the physical immersion experience may help to decide too, if visually there isn't enough to seperate the systems... I hope DS3 uses real force feedback/touchsense, rather than basic rumble, as reported.
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Lithgow
- 7:13pm BST - October 26th, 2007
- 49
Umm, the processor doesen't have to make up for anything. It's just the way the PS3 was made.
This is an argument from almost a year and a half ago. I don't even know if these specs are still right. It's kinda like how some developers complain that they can't understand the PS3's ram architecture but the makers of Killzone 2 said that the levels are well over 2 Gb each and it doesen't even load once throughout the level. You just gotta know how to work the PS3.
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