God of War II 'not' in HD on PS3, just 480p

by James Ransom-Wiley { Feb 12th 2007 at 10:45AM }

IGN's God of War II review is so ahead of its time that it (admittedly) fails to provide feedback on two key features of the retail edition of the game -- neither of which apparently would affect the review's overall score (9.7/10). The first is simply a bonus disc bloated with fanboy fluff (behind-the-scenes doc, etc.). The second, and more significant, is that God of War II will run in 720p (HD) resolution when played on PlayStation 3. The question for PS3 owners with HD displays, who are still holding onto their PS2s, becomes: is now the time I trade rumble for a sharper image? (PS2 owners wondering if this is the reason to upgrade to PS3 should know that it's not.)

Update: Doh, IGN got mixed up: "we've gotten word from an SCEA representative that the game will support 480p on the PlayStation 3 but not 720p. Our error was due to crossed information and we're sorry for the confusion." So when does Sony announce PS3 is packing its own 'Ana' chip? We want upscaling!

[Thanks, jonathan]

Gallery: God of War II

Tags: 720p, GodofWar, GodofWar2, GodofWarII, PS2, PS3, SCE

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Vidikron @ Feb 12th 2007 10:52AM

Well this is certainly good news, but it does beg one question... if the PS3 can scale this PS2 game to HD then why can't it do the same for other PS1 and PS2 titles?

sheppy @ Feb 12th 2007 10:57AM

Well, it's more than likely hard coded into the game itself. Hopefully the March 23 firmware update will support upscaling.

friktionn @ Feb 12th 2007 11:00AM

stupid ps3. I hope that ps3 games have rumble built into their code so that when sony gets their act together, they can bring dual shock back again.

comtar @ Feb 12th 2007 11:04AM

Dear Sony,

Please do this with Shadow of the Colossus and I will be the happiest man alive.

Comtar.

AG @ Feb 12th 2007 11:14AM

Awesome news!

I cannot wait for this game and with the fact that this will probably be the last ps2 game that I purchase as I will be getting a PS3 soon, it being in HD makes it that much sweeter!

AmericanNinja @ Feb 12th 2007 11:16AM

Quote:
"(PS2 owners wondering if this is the reason to upgrade to PS3 should know that it's not.)"

uh yes it is a reason to upgrade.

Sir Josh @ Feb 12th 2007 11:17AM

i'd say its almost time to get a ps3. they just need to put out a few more exclusives

jayg0023 @ Feb 12th 2007 11:17AM

Awesome news...finally a major plus to trading in my PS2 for a PS3. You could almost say this makes GoW2, a PS2 game, the killer app for PS3...

Crono @ Feb 12th 2007 11:23AM

jayg0023,

Only if I can then ridicule you for haveing a last gen game be your killer app for next gen.

daddycool @ Feb 12th 2007 11:23AM

I think I'l go ahead and get my PS3 now. At least with this I'll have two games instead of one. It's kind of ridiculous because I have a PS2, but it'll be in 720p, and will probably be the best game on the system for a while. Does the first God of War look better on PS3 too, or the same?

ShortFuse @ Feb 12th 2007 11:26AM

IGN says: "it will run at a true HD resolution of 720p"

I thought TRUE HD was 1080p?

IslandLife @ Feb 12th 2007 11:28AM

@Crono

Oh yeah, sorta like that Zelda game, huh.

bwq @ Feb 12th 2007 11:28AM

so gow2 will be in proper 16:9 unlike how gow1 is stretched in widescreen mode?

Game Artist @ Feb 12th 2007 11:31AM

Wow. The 360 has only done that to every xbox 1 title that it runs since day one.

Vader582 @ Feb 12th 2007 11:33AM

(PS2 owners wondering if this is the reason to upgrade to PS3 should know that it's not.)Pleasant...*rolls eyes*

I'm glad to see GoW2 may actually live up to the hype! This could be a great send-off for the PS2 and a welcome addition for PS3 owners.

Derek @ Feb 12th 2007 11:37AM

If 720P is in the code that means the PS2 should also produce 720P if your using the correct hook ups (ie. component). the PS2 can do it. if not I hope at least I can get 480P out of it. don't want a ps3 yet.

AG @ Feb 12th 2007 11:38AM

With this game being in HD on the PS3 and the lineup of games coming out at the end of Feb. and all of March for the PS3 it looks like it is a great time to upgrade!

The link below has the list of games coming out for the PS3 in Feb. and March ...

http://ps3.ign.com/index/release.html

Vidikron @ Feb 12th 2007 11:38AM

[13. @Crono

Oh yeah, sorta like that Zelda game, huh.]

SNAP!

Christopher7xii @ Feb 12th 2007 11:41AM

"10. jayg0023,

Only if I can then ridicule you for haveing a last gen game be your killer app for next gen."
--- You do realize that Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess... Wii's killer app is a gamecube game with bad controls, right?

"12. IGN says: "it will run at a true HD resolution of 720p"

I thought TRUE HD was 1080p?"
--- For those not understanding... They say True HD because it's coded at 720p... Meaning textures, models, etc. There is NO UPSCALING involved in this. So those asking "why cant they do this with every other PS1/PS2 game?!?" - its because this is being PROGRAMMED to run at 720p, it's not being upscaled.

b @ Feb 12th 2007 11:44AM

14. Wow. The 360 has only done that to every xbox 1 title that it runs since day one.

too bad xbox games are no longer being developed;)

Pal @ Feb 12th 2007 11:45AM

ShortFuse: "I thought TRUE HD was 1080p?"

I'm thinking that IGN means that it's not scaled, but is actually in HD.

HD is just a tag given to anything above the old standard, which was 640x480.

Remember that digital cameras can pump out many more pixels than 1080p (a 3 megapixel camera has higher resolution than "true" HD). So what is "true" HD? It's either the highest megapixel camera or life itself.

Jake @ Feb 12th 2007 11:47AM

Taking one out of Nintendo's playbook. This way, it can sell to tons of PS2 owners as well as be marketed as another reason to get a PS3. Tack on some tilt functionality and it is just like Zelda TP Wii.

Great, now I have to listen to Sony fanboys brag about this awesome PS3 game the same way Ninty fanboys touted their Wii because of Zelda. Meanwhile, I will quietly have played both of the games on my last gen hardware.

Is this a sign of things to come? It probably isn't very hard to essentially upscale a PS2 game using a computer program, then hardcode it into the game. Basically, it is doing what the 360 does for every Xbox game, but since the PS3 can't upscale (I think) PS2 games to 720, they are taking this road.

Noshino @ Feb 12th 2007 11:47AM

"14. Wow. The 360 has only done that to every xbox 1 title that it runs since day one."

yah, with how many games? and how many of them are even worth playing? :)

Grog @ Feb 12th 2007 11:48AM

"So what is "true" HD? It's either the highest megapixel camera or life itself."

While I tend to agree with you, Sony has declared that only 1080p is "true HD" in an attempt to one-up Microsoft. Personally, I think you should just be happy with getting a fun, nice-looking game (particularly if you're talking about the many "fake HD" games Sony has put out), but that's the party line.

Rich @ Feb 12th 2007 11:50AM

"Please do this with Shadow of the Colossus and I will be the happiest man alive."

Ditto

Rich @ Feb 12th 2007 11:52AM

"Please do this with Shadow of the Colossus and I will be the happiest man alive."

Yeah, what comtar said!

Slaziman @ Feb 12th 2007 11:53AM

Don't compare Zelda to this, an increase in resolution and reworked control schemes aren't the same...

But anyway, awesome game, I'll be playing it on my PS2 though.

b @ Feb 12th 2007 11:54AM

14. Wow. The 360 has only done that to every xbox 1 title that it runs since day one."

yah, with how many games? and how many of them are even worth playing? :)

how many of them even work on the 360 lol

Foil_Goon @ Feb 12th 2007 11:54AM

God of War sucks and the only people that care about it are 14 year old boys. There, I said it.

Pete C @ Feb 12th 2007 11:57AM

#19:
"--- For those not understanding... They say True HD because it's coded at 720p... Meaning textures, models, etc. There is NO UPSCALING involved in this. So those asking "why cant they do this with every other PS1/PS2 game?!?" - its because this is being PROGRAMMED to run at 720p, it's not being upscaled."

Where is your proof of this? It is so easy to mislead when it comes to resolution. Friggin Pac-Man is in 720p on the Xbox Live Arcade.

BadVermin @ Feb 12th 2007 11:58AM

Still leaves me out in the cold. My 65" HDTV (which makes my 360 games look amasing) can't do 720p. There is no way I can justify buying a new HDTV just for one game system.

When is Sony going to fix the scaling problems?

maximus @ Feb 12th 2007 12:00PM

To 29, you sir are an idiot.. i suppose you also believe the only people who play on Nintendo consoles are kids. There, i said it.

Tyler @ Feb 12th 2007 12:01PM

While it's not gonna make me go buy a PS3, I know that when I eventually get one, despite what games might be out, I'll probably pop this back in on Day 1 to see how it looks. I'm extremely excited for this game, and I give much kudos to Sony Santa Monica for sticking with the PS2 for us poor folk :-p

Baby21 @ Feb 12th 2007 12:01PM

Like 24 The Game, it have 720p in the screen setting.

I bet it will do the same as GOW2.

Jose_ @ Feb 12th 2007 12:03PM

@ 29_ Dude/Lad, If you don't like this type of game then go ahead and just don't play it. We don't expect everyone to like all the genres. BUT it is a Fact that within the same type of games THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST (or the best)... Mayority has spoken...

Jake @ Feb 12th 2007 12:03PM

If the PS3 could upscale PS2 games, and the PS2 commonly did widescreen, this would be automatic for every PS2 game the same way it is for every Xbox game that actually runs on a 360. This is not a big reason to upgrade from PS2 to PS3. The game will not look that much better if your TV can already upscale, and only a bit better otherwise. It is a nice tidbit of info for PS3 owners that were already getting this game, but is hardly huge news. It isn't like the game is built to take advantage of the PS3. They could have put a 480p widescreen mode into it and that would have been about the same.

It is still a last gen game. A great game that I have already pre-ordered for my PS2, but not a reason for me to get a PS3. I need a price drop or two and at least 5 AAA PS3 titles, mainly because I already have a 360.

Finn @ Feb 12th 2007 12:04PM

I hope they NEVER do this with Shadow of the Collosus, because then I'll have to actually buy a ps3... something I didn't want to do for a LONG time

Christopher7xii @ Feb 12th 2007 12:05PM

"27. Don't compare Zelda to this, an increase in resolution and reworked control schemes aren't the same... "

Zelda doesn't have an increased resolution on the Wii... Well, I guess they included Widescreen, but so does God of War... A ton of PS2 games offer widescreen, I wouldn't necessarily call that "increased resolution" though. And reworked control scheme? I think a warped control scheme is what you mean. Cube version of Zelda plays better, but sadly no 16:9 ratio, so i'm stuck with the Wii on my HDTV.

Wish I knew what a curse HDTVs are. They play my Xbox 360 and some DVDs beautifully... But then some movies get cropped to shit (Die Hard and Die Hard 2, adds horizontal and vertical bars as opposed to cropping them out, without an upscaler anime looks like shit... And all my last gen games look like ass (had to move my PS2 to my old 24 inch TV because Final Fantasy XII and .hack//GU look like jaggy pieces of shit on my 50" DLP HDTV...)

Oh well, win some, lose some.

steve @ Feb 12th 2007 12:07PM

The PS3 can now handle the proper upscalling to 720p on all movies, games since system update 1.50. This covers all current ps1 / ps2 games as well.

Finn @ Feb 12th 2007 12:09PM

@ 38

the wii Zelda was 480p the gamecube was 480i

also I think your review of the controls on the wii Zelda game must be from some of the previews from about 3-6 months before the game came out... but it is out, and your wrong most people like the wii controls better, some (like myself) by alot.

Davinche @ Feb 12th 2007 12:13PM

Wow, Joystiq.

I mean every time I go in this site I agree some Sony fans royally do complain about any added negative spin Joystiq puts on a piece of news. But this is just does not make sense.

Why add that little bit at the end? Come on, how could you not SEE that was not needed. You don't think Playing an amazing game in a better resolution impossible on their current piece of hardware is not enough reason to upgrade? Who gave you the right to tell other people its not good enough reason to upgrade.
Did you review the game? I didn't think so either.
I know some people get annoyed with supposedly all the Sony fans been pieved at "every little thing" but if it that comment was attached to Zelda Twilight princess and joystiq said "The game is on Gamecube so don't bother getting the wii to play it" Would you think that was okay? Just because the wii offers a different control scheme with it, and the ps3 offers better graphics with it, doesn't make the theory non applicable.

All I ask is that Joystiq does not try to convince other with what they should do. Make an opinion, say you don't think its that great, but don't say this is not a reason for ps2 owners to upgrade, because as far as i'm concerned you don't know what people want from their next console and this very well could be what moves people to upgrade.

Also nice that you focused on stuff like that when really you missed the fact that the game got an incredibly high score of 9.7. Instead of maybe I don't know, talking about how the game seems to be very good from this review, you focus on another little nitpick for joystiq to in the end say it "does not really matter"

If its not 'bias' then I guess its bad journalism/blogging or whatever the fuck you lot want to call yourselves.

Thats all i'm saying.

Slaziman @ Feb 12th 2007 12:21PM

@38

I never said Zelda had an increase in resolution, lol. And having played both versions I find the Wii controls drastically better, camera control is overrated.

Stumper @ Feb 12th 2007 12:22PM

"so gow2 will be in proper 16:9 unlike how gow1 is stretched in widescreen mode?"

Actually, GOW1 does display in proper 16:9 when you change the video settings...only the cutscenes are stretched.

DrXym @ Feb 12th 2007 12:29PM

@20, and I'm sure Barbie Horse Adventures looks great in HD. Microsoft chose to put half-assed emulation into the 360. I'm sure it's nice that what scant titles they support sometimes get hi-def edges but that doesn't excuse the abysmal backwards compatibility they put in to begin with.

Sony chose to support near total backwards compatibility in their console. In the first instance that was achieved by hardware, but it is possible that God of War II is utilising software emulation to have a higher resolution.

Which may indicate that Sony is very close to releasing software emulation for their entire back catalogue of titles and disabling the EE+GS hardware altogether.

Irrespective Sony obviously care far more about backwards compatibility than Microsoft ever did.

4ham @ Feb 12th 2007 12:39PM

I don't get the circle-jerk over rumble. As a person who plays games on PCs, consoles and handhelds I've come to see it as a novelty at best, and an annoyance at worst. Before someone spouts that I don't play pc games with a controller, I do. Still use my PSXUSB dongle to connect my extra PS2 controller. Turn rumble off in any engrossing game and you won't notice it after 5min. Yeah SONY f'ed up without having rumble in the SIXAXIS, but it's not going to prevent me from buying a PS3.

Dave @ Feb 12th 2007 12:40PM

DrXym: "Irrespective Sony obviously care far more about backwards compatibility than Microsoft ever did."

Well, they should--since PS2 games are the only decent games for the console. Also, that's an interesting claim to make when they obviously didn't even bother testing the quality of the video output before release.

Dave @ Feb 12th 2007 12:42PM

By the way, there are currently 297 backward compatible XBox games for the 360.

Foil_Goon @ Feb 12th 2007 12:54PM

No, I think GoW completely sucks, the only people who care about ultra-violent video games are retarded teenagers. You are the same idiots who have bought 3 different GTA games that are all the same, terrible story, terrible graphics, and terrible game play and act like they are the best games ever because they are so shocking. Grow up, these games suck, you just like blood and gore. GoW was the worst "twitch" type button mashing game play ever, and I don't think GoW2 will change that.

Grow up, these games suck, they only sell some much because idiot kids like shock value.