Halo 3 not HD: runs at 640p, pixel counters claim

Bungie released the info that they actually use 2 frame buffers at 1152*640 in order to create better HDR lighting. I've played Halo 3 in 1080p. It's amazing. I'm personally more pissed with the whole split screen non widescreen thing.

You know, It looks great to me. Doesn't look pixilated at all. Of course, it could be because of the TV and 360 Elite. No, I don't have the same 360 as launch. I never had a problem with that one though... I just wanted an Elite

The latest Bungie Weekly Update has Luke Smith confessing that in fact, Halo 3 doesn't run natively at 720p like all other Xbox 360 games:

Halo 3 uses not one, but two frame buffers – both of which render at 1152x640 pixels. The reason we chose this slightly unorthodox resolution and this very complex use of two buffers is simple enough to see – lighting. We wanted to preserve as much dynamic range as possible – so we use one for the high dynamic range and one for the low dynamic range values. Both are combined to create the finished on screen image.

Looks pretty good 2 me

First off, how can developers do this on the PS3? PS3 doesnt even have a dedicated scaler like the 360 does, which is why you can only play 720p PS3 games, ONLY at 720p. So Im calling Bull on anyone saying developers on PS3 do the same thing.

Second, Why the lack of AA? Isnt the 360 GPU designed to be able to do 4x AA without a hit to the perfomance?

I mean Im not a tech junkie, but according to Wikipedia...

"Thanks to the daughter die, the Xenos can do 4x FSAA, z-buffering, and alpha blending with no appreciable performance penalty on the GPU."

What the hell is going on then?

Well that sucks.

Who cares, I have a 27" 1080i T.V. and it looks just fine running at 640p... although I did notice the jaggies the second time through the game T_T

The only thing that matters is gameplay, story and online play, and they nailed all 3! Besides it may not be the best looking game on the 360, but you can't tell me it doesn't look good either.

It's like a shinier, more realistic version of Halo 2, and that ain't bad :D

pwnd - flagship title isnt HD for the HD gen - noobs! - we arent next gen yet... HALO 4 HD FTW

Heh. Sony better keep supporting the PS2. It's the only thing that's keeping them afloat right now.

The point is, this is halo 3. not halo 2. not halo 1. halo 3. on the 360. it should not look like last gen. if it is your big game, make it that way. it IS bungies and it IS MS's fault. thy made it and there is no doubt they could have made it better.

Some people need some SERIOUS lives.

Seriously...who but a Halo fanboy gives a damn? From what I've seen of it, the game looks pretty good as is. So can we FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND KITTENS get back to our lives here?!?!?

Okay, I just want to ask something here: Who effing cares? There's a reason games like Mario Kart, Chrono Trigger and Super Smash bros are still played to this day, and it's not because they look pretty.

I'm sick and god damned tired of this fixation everyone has with graphics. As we've seen from so many of the mediocre games on the PS3, good graphics does not a good game make. Why do you think the Wii is so popular? It's fun to play.

Oh, and to Hotnutz, I have one thing to say: Shove it, fanboy. HALO 3 is a damn fun game to play, even if the storyline IS sort of weak.

darn

i mean come on guys its just fucking graphics i remember when pong looked like the shit. over all halo 3 had a awesome story line and the ps3 crash/overheating rate is higher than the Xbox 369 and the wii was made for ages 12 and younger.. i know your all going to post "wow that kid know nothing","what a loser","where do you get your info?". but to my knowing more than 75% of you here never touched or tried an xbox 360 but me being me, i attempted to play the ps3 then it over heated after 10 min of intense play. the wii made me feel like a retard. The Xbox 360 out of customization and everything takes the win

let me list things that you can do with the Xbox 360
1.have weekly updates !THAT WORK!
2.down load you own themes from the market place
3.buy add ons to you game from the market place
4.have fun with xbox live compete or just chill with friends
5. use msn messenger from in game or on the dashboard
6.had a new dashboard instead of sony reusing the psp dashboard
7.can download trailer's and red vs blue videos from the market place for free!
8.interchangeable front displays
9.turn on 360 from controller
10.friends list
11.tech support that really helps you
12.own one of the most popular consoles on the market
13.talk to friends in game and out using via private chat
14.removable HDD that is way better than a memory card
15.www.xbox.com where you can log on to you xbox live account to manage it from there
16.video cam + xbox live + girls :D

***so next time you want to post a derogatory comment about something first try it and use all its features.***

woah woah woah, the box says it does 1080p, does this mean its upscaling 640p to 1080p? or is that just for the 720p res? I mean, who really cares about 720p, you don't even get the true sense of HD until you hit 1080p.

wow good job bungie. you cant optimize the game to run at a decent framerate, so just lop the resolution down to sub HD levels!!! what a great solution!!!

"Its nearly impossible to tell the difference" my ass, the game has so manny jaggies it looks like someone took a shit on my screen

Came across this article and think most of you guys are quite sad.. been gaming for years have loads of different platforms and got halo 3 for 360. It's fantastic and you'd wanna be the most cynical and jaded gamer on the planet not to see this. i can recognize the importance of the three halo games to gaming over the last 5 to 6 years. and cant for the life of me understand the mentality of the people giving out about the so called 'missing' pixels
shut up and go play something else.
your worse than train spotters seriously! at least they have some purpose
Peace