Ghostbusters dev: Xbox 360 is holding us back

144 Comments by Kyle Orland Apr 30th 2008 10:30AM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

Sony fanboys looking for absolute proof that their system is technically superior to the Xbox 360 got a boost recently when Terminal Reality president Mark Randel told VideoGaming247.com that a PS3-exclusive version of the developer's Ghostbusters game would be more technically impressive than the version being tuned to work on both systems. "If we made a PS3-only game, for example, you could double the amount of objects on screen that you're seeing," Randel told the site at a Sierra event last week. "The PlayStation 3 has seven processors and the 360 only has three, so seven versus three means you can do a lot more on the PS3."

Of course, Microsoft fanboys with a conspiratorial bent are likely to pick up on Randel's casual mention that "Ghostbusters is the property of Sony Pictures." Sure, it's possible that Randel is just badmouthing the competition to get in good with the rights-holder on his current game. Just as it is also technically possible that the 3DO will suddenly make a huge comeback this year ...

Tags: console-wars, ghostbusters, microsoft, sony, terminal-reality

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

xFenixKnightx: Apr 30th 2008; 10:35AM

*grabs popcorn

Captain Skyhawk: Apr 30th 2008; 10:38AM

*cooks popcorn on 360 wrapped in towel

copa: Apr 30th 2008; 10:48AM

* Realizes he could have rendered twice as much popcorn if he had cooked it on a PS3

Glen: Apr 30th 2008; 10:49AM

*forgets popcorn and runs out of theater to avoid inevitable explosions.

xFenixKnightx: Apr 30th 2008; 11:03AM

You guys managed to turn my simple popcorn comment into a flamethread. Crazy I tell ya.

I guess I can add something about this story. Umm, who is this guy again? o_O

Jon: Apr 30th 2008; 11:48AM

Who gives a rats ass about a ghost busters game ?? with all the great 360 games how can they blame the 360 .. its just a excuse for there stupid game

whistlepig: Apr 30th 2008; 1:24PM

one of the best comments all week lol

superaktieboy: Apr 30th 2008; 2:52PM

lol your comment and the first 3 replies made my day lol xD soo awesome xD

mr mobius: Apr 30th 2008; 10:35AM

Better system, good graphics make does not.

baby sea tuna: Apr 30th 2008; 10:40AM

Good call there, Yoda.

Wes: May 1st 2008; 5:48PM

The number 7 is greater than the number 3. So its better. Yes. 7 better more so than 3. Me Smart. Me Ghostbuster developer. 7 better than 3 so two times as good at objects and stuff. Objects good. Objects on the screen come from processor now adays and not video card? Yes I think so. Me ghostbuster developer. Me smart about polygee thing.

Paul (PSN: heypaul): Apr 30th 2008; 10:37AM

In before in before jokes.

Lone Starr: Apr 30th 2008; 10:38AM

Damn it, you just divided by zero.

Zertoss: Apr 30th 2008; 10:57AM

Oh shi-

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force): Apr 30th 2008; 10:40AM

WHO CARES?!?

If they can make the game running comparitively on both systems, golf claps all around. Let's wait to see what they can do.

Worst Review Ever: Apr 30th 2008; 10:40AM

I don't know about you guys, but I have no idea who Mark Randel is. If he can make a Ghostbusters game that can get higher than a 6.5 metacritic rating then maybe I'll start caring about what he has to say. Until then, he should stop talking and start making Ghostbusters a good game.

copa: Apr 30th 2008; 10:52AM

I have to agree. Much better developers than Terminal Reality have struggled with the PS3 development environment, and translating 'double-the-processors' into 'double-the-performance' hasn't worked out so well in reality (see: complexity of parallelism).

If this came from a developer at Infinity Ward, Epic, or Valve, this would mean a lot to me. Coming from an exec at Terminal Reality, not so much.

Haggard: Apr 30th 2008; 11:35AM

Valve have stated the opposite - http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/11/valves-gabe-newell-says-ps3-a-waste-of-time/

deepthought: Apr 30th 2008; 12:12PM

true- make a good game then we'll care.

also, wasn't gabe talking more about investing in learning how to program for the ps3? less on the relative power of the systems?

Noshino: Apr 30th 2008; 12:26PM

well then, take it from Carmack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFUw29U4J8

pretty much agreeing with what Randel said, if you are going exclusive and putting effort on it, then you can do more...

mr mobius: Apr 30th 2008; 10:41AM

The irony at looking down two posts (yes one of those GTA IV posts - of which there are many).

darthviper107: Apr 30th 2008; 10:42AM

Wow, what a retard. For one, it's not 7 'processors' each core isn't equal to a processor. And from what I understand, the cores on the PS3 aren't equal to the cores on a 360 so it's not 7>3 since each PS3 core isn't equal to each 360 core. Although overall the PS3 processor is better.

I mean, really, would you expect to only pay $400 for something if it actually had a processor with 7 full cores?

And really, how can he speculate at how well it would run as a PS3 exclusive.

DangerMouse: Apr 30th 2008; 11:02AM

Dedicating development to one system can greatly increase the quality and the out come of the game. While a lot of games look incredible, i bet some hold back from it's full potential to make sure they're compatibile on both systems.

I don't doubt that the objects on screen can double, but at what cost? Low quality textures perhaps? Good luck with those ram limitations.

kevinski: Apr 30th 2008; 12:01PM

Yeah, this guy's an idiot. I'm not doubting the power of PlayStation 3, but I really think that there's a reason that games that have really, really impressive graphics generally need to run at a lower resolution than the 1080p that Sony touted so much.

onan: Apr 30th 2008; 1:49PM

The PS3 actually only has 1 core, while the 360 has three 3.2ghz cores. From the same manufacturer and at the same speed, mind you. Sony makes up for these with their proprietary 7 floating point coprocessors (SPEs). (Not that they actually have access to all of these, mind you, one is reserved for the PS3 OS use, so actually only 6 SPEs are available.)

It's really comparing apples to oranges, but ultimately they're still fruit. Microsoft just got an almost off-the-shelf processor that matches up performance-wise to something Sony spent millions developing.

LameDuck: Apr 30th 2008; 5:11PM

THANK YOU! You saved me a rant.

How much of the Sony koolaid has this guy drank? Call me a retarded midget pornstar but seems to me that anyone with a 2 year degree in almost any hardware/software field can tell you that the cores in the PS3 are not like the cores in the 360.

Like the doob above me said, they are just fancy floating-point processors. Remember the DSP chips in the PS2? They are just like that, except with more memory and a bus controller. Read up before you start programming for the system. That is the best way I can explain them without going in to /geek mode.

I'm not putting down the PS3, it made me and a friend go halfs on it, but lets be real... It's not like Sony is giving us a chip with 7 PPC cores. Gaw...

Jomolungma: Apr 30th 2008; 10:45AM

So what this guy is saying is that Ghostbusters is going to be more technically impressive than GTA IV. Because GTA IV runs pretty frakkin well on the 360 and R* figured out how to do that. So either Ghostbusters is more impressive than GTA IV, or he just admitted that he and his company are idiots and don't know how to code as well as other developers. Don't blame the system dude, blame your coders.

deepthought: Apr 30th 2008; 12:12PM

well- I think he's saying that, if R* used all the ps3 power it could have the gta4 on ps3 could have had more objects in it. i'll always prefer the 360 to wii graphics, but i'd have to see the ps3/ 360 difference to decide whether i care.

Tim The Enchanter: Apr 30th 2008; 12:30PM

I think they should all just quit and work for 3D0

Jomolungma: Apr 30th 2008; 12:40PM

Granted, it appears that GTA IV *might* have been held from being all it could be by the 360, but what it actually is is a technical milestone. So, regardless of what the *theoretical* power of each system is, Ghostbusters only has to worry about it if it is more technically impressive than GTA IV, which I highly doubt. Even if it is only "as good" as GTA IV, then it should have no problem on the 360. See GTA IV.

HEY!!!!: Apr 30th 2008; 10:45AM

someone needs to tell this guy that the PS3 has 6(because 1 is reserved for the OS) spu's not processors.

FOXHOUND: Apr 30th 2008; 10:45AM

Honestly, I just want the effin' game to be released already... thus, I don't care which console it's coming out upon(much like the GTA IV argument).

I was hyped with the Zootfly attempt as is(and still to this point, it was looking like a better game than TR's in-progress shots). But hey, it's still slightly early.

ArcticFox: Apr 30th 2008; 10:45AM

WOW 7 PROCESSORS!!!!!

What a goon.

Each console has 1 processor, the PS3 has 1 physical core and 7 spu so 7 threads, the 360 has 1 physical processor split into 3 cores each with 2 threads so 6 threads.

This guy is talking out of his rear end.

SoulBlade: Apr 30th 2008; 10:53AM

Yea you're absolutely right.

"Randel told the site at a Sierra event last week. "The PlayStation 3 has seven processors and the 360 only has three, so seven versus three means you can do a lot more on the PS3.""

The dude doesn't go on to say that the seven processors are a bit underpowered compared to the three the 360 offers - they're SPUs.

It's pretty funny though.

Matt B: Apr 30th 2008; 11:24AM

From wikipedia:
"Note that the relationship between cores and threads is a common source of confusion. The PPE core is dual threaded and manifests in software as two independent threads of execution while each active SPE manifests as a single thread. In the PlayStation 3 configuration as described by Sony, the Cell processor provides nine independent threads of execution."

Please quit getting your info from the vast amounts of idiots on Joystiq. Non researched FUD is the most hilarious of all. Not as hilarious as the people who voted you up as a truth sayer.

LOL

LaughingTarget: Apr 30th 2008; 12:06PM

Insulting a Joystiq poster by referencing Wikipedia, classic joke in the making right here.

riggs: Apr 30th 2008; 12:30PM

damn....just got writers block.

FOXHOUND: Apr 30th 2008; 12:33PM

Everytime I see wikipedia referenced as source online or in-person, I'm reminded of that PennyArcade comic with Skeletor editing the wiki entry for He-Man; which is that lexicon's unfortunately biggest flaw...

Skeleton mages shouldn't be allowed to edit posts. And the way this dev' describes it, the PS3 sounds like it has 15x the "blast processing" the SEGA Genesis has. LoL

ThePremierAssassin: Apr 30th 2008; 12:46PM

THANK YOU!

Repeat after me sony fanboys "B-R-I-B-E"

Matt B: Apr 30th 2008; 12:55PM

Once again proving the 360 fanboy creed that misinformation > fact.

ArcticFox: Apr 30th 2008; 1:11PM

Once again proving the Sony Defense Force that not praising the PS3 = You are a 360 Fanboy.

FOXHOUND: Apr 30th 2008; 1:45PM

More people should consider buying all three. It's like a neopolitan ice cream that's worth buying, horf horf.

Michel: Apr 30th 2008; 10:47AM

Terminal Reality also let Uwe Boll make two BloodRayne movies...
And they made BloodRayne games in the fist place.
I don't trust their opinion on anything but how to suck.

FrankTheCrank: Apr 30th 2008; 10:48AM

Duh!

The PS3 came out a whole year after the 360. Of course it's technically better. This years computers are faster and better than last years computers.

Of the three next gen consoles the 360 is the OLDEST. But don't tell that to the XBOTS.

DWells55: Apr 30th 2008; 10:52AM

"Of the three next gen consoles the 360 is the OLDEST. But don't tell that to the XBOTS."

----

Saying this only weakens your argument. Had you stuck to just comparing the 360 and the PS3, your ridiculous "newer = better" argument might've at least held some water with the uninformed. But by saying "the three next gen consoles," you bring the Wii into play. So according to your logic, the Wii is technically superior to the Xbox 360. Don't get me wrong, I like my Wii, but I've played it enough to know it's not surpassing the 360 in terms of power anytime soon.

FrankTheCrank: Apr 30th 2008; 10:57AM

I purposely kept the Wii out of the argument because everybody knows it's a different animal(Gamecube 2.0). But if you lay out the specifications, the PS3 is technically superior. From it's optical drive to it's processor. Apples to apples, it's got more packed into it than any current XBOX.

mr mobius: Apr 30th 2008; 11:14AM

1. You said newer is higher power.
2. You said three next gen consoles.
3. Wii is newer and is a next gen console.

Anyway, we all know Wii is underpowered in graphics but had far better motion sensing capabilities than the Xbox360.

deaftly: Apr 30th 2008; 11:15AM

What about the PS3's inferior GPU? I guess you didn't get the memo on that.

xFenixKnightx: Apr 30th 2008; 11:31AM

Deaftly dont forget the RAM

FrankTheCrank: Apr 30th 2008; 11:57AM

So explain why the developer said what he said? How could something that's superior in your opinion deliver half the power?

And second generation PS3 games are looking extremely nice, some better than third generation XBOX games. Look at games like GT5P, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted...those games look amazing.

Just sayin'.

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