News

Ghostbusters dev comments on distinct console differences

Usually, comparing the graphics of PS3 games with the equivalent 360 versions is an exercise in nitpicking.

Occasionally, however, a game comes along that looks dramatically different on one console. In this case, there are striking differences between both versions of Ghostbusters. The difference isn’t just visible to the eyes of graphics experts, either. Take a look for yourself:

Image
Xbox 360 Ghostbusters vs. PlayStation 3 Ghostbusters

It gets more interesting, though. Joystiq boldly asked Terminal Reality to comment on the differences. A spokesperson relayed, "For the record, the PS3 version [of Ghostbusters] is softer due to the ‘quincunx’ antialiasing filter and the fact we render at about 75% the resolution of the 360 version. So you cannot directly compare a screen shot of one to the other unless you scale them properly. The PS3 does have less available RAM than the 360 – but we managed to squeeze three out of four textures as full size on the PS3."

The resolution for the PS3 version is 960 x 540, while the 360’s resolution is 1280 x 720. As the image above shows, that’s quite the difference.

Even more interesting are the comments from more than a year ago by Terminal Reality. Ironically, the Ghostbusters IP is owned by Sony Pictures, and Terminal Reality said that led to the PS3 version being the leading version. They also said the PS3 "can do a lot more" and that development on the 360 was holding back the PS3 version.

So Terminal Reality initially says the PS3 can do a lot more but the 360 version was holding the PS3 version back, yet now the PS3 version is visually inferior? What’s really going on?