Bayonetta's PS3 and 360 iterations compared on video

by Griffin McElroy on Oct 12th 2009 3:30PM

You've likely been hearing reports about Bayonetta's graphically inferior PS3 version for quite some time -- now, you can see the two versions of the title side-by-side in a GameTrailers comparison video in order to make an educated decision for yourself. It's posted after the jump, and is rated NSFW due to brief partial nudity, blood and terrifying hair monsters.

For a more in-depth look at the game's graphical non-parity, check out Digital Foundry's collection of comparison videos as well. After studying up, let us know what you think in the comments -- provided "what you think" doesn't include any inappropriate musings on these videos' lustier segments.

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Tags: bayonetta, comparison, comparison-video, gametrailers, Microsoft, platinum-games, sega, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (199)

Honestly, I don't think that looks different enough to complain about. A couple lighting effects, a little sheen... whatever.

I never use GT to compare games, and from what I can see... The PS3 version just looks like it has the brightness turned up, just like most GT comparison videos.

It has nothing to do with a brightness setting. They dont hook it up to a TV and record it. GT uses capture cards to capture the direct feed from the system.

What you see here is directly coming out of the system.

@Ramifications

That is true, but GT has said in the past that they do not enable RGB Full-range on the PS3 (or any other non-default settings) which is why it always appears brighter and to have not as high of contrast as the 360 version. it's a bit misleading that they do not choose the best display options, but their reasons are that they 'want to show an out of the box experience'. Anyone who's ever bought an HD TV know what it looks like out of the box...

When they had the Assassin's Creed comparison, and after playing it on my PS3, it looked a lot better than the PS3 version they were showing.

well I have the demo off the Japan Store and mine isnt faded out like that at all. Just change your Tv settings. The game looks and plays great and is worth getting once you get past all the Japanese text but the audio is in English.

The only time crap like this would ever matter is if you are playing the ps3 version with someone right beside you playing the xbox version.
Its like dvd and blu ray for me... ive tried watching blu ray and I dont even notice any difference

brodo is right, except for the Blu-Ray thing. Blu-Ray is still awesome, as long as the original footage was captured in a format that can be translated to 1080p without loss.

The two versions of this game are so insignificant that it really wouldn't be noticeable unless you played them side by side. There are slight differences between Fallout3 on PS3 and 360, shown by videos and screenshots. However, we played each version back to back on my friend's TV and didn't notice any difference at all due to the 1 or 2 minute gap between games.

Now, games like Ghostbusters totally got raped on the PS3. Shot end of the stick.

Either way, whatever system, I'm just glad it's not exclusive, cause it looks so good. Everybody see that giant boot??

Well I do think the 360 does look a bit better than PS3 in this case. Some reviewers don't realize the PS3's video settings should be set to "Full" color range rather than the default "Limited". It always makes the colors much more vivid once in this is changed. That been said the 360 looks a bit cleaner too.

Oh well, certainly all games can't look like Uncharted 2, God of War 3, and Gran Turismo 5.

Well I played through the demo three times today, and my PS3 is set to full for RGB. It looks great on my Pany plasma. Nice rich colors, played really well, and was a lot more fun then I thought it had any right to be. So I don't see a reason so far to not get it on the PS3. Even though I have both systems, I would probably buy the PS3 version after enjoying the demo.

I thought the difference was insignificant until that chunk near the end where hair witch was running toward a door. The PS3 version looked laughably bad. Odd that it stood out so much in that one bit.

The PS3 version is definitely inferior, but not as much as I thought it would be.

CheeziePotato the Soothsayer

Correction, the DEMO version is better.

As has been said countless times, performance is always the last thing to be tweaked before release, the fact that this game has been done by two different developers only compounds this.
Until the final code hits, both version, this "story" is nothing more than fanboy-bait.

I thought it supposedly looked fine, but that the framerate suffered. That is what I've been hearing anyway. I didn't run into any problems like that playing the Japanese demo off of the PSN, so I don't know if those problems are at some later point in the game, or what.

Either way, the difference is probably negligible.

Oh, and the hair monster is awesome (not sure if it's sexy though. Kinda? Sorta? )

When you actually PLAY the PS3 version the last thing you worry about is whether it looks better than someone elses version. It looks fine on my screen. Slight tearing but it's no where near as bad as many other games. Not once did I find it slowing down except for summoning the hair dragon to kill the giant boss, which I'd be surprised to NOT see a few lost frames, otherwise it was a full 60fps for every moment I was in control. There's nothing here for any PS3 owner to be ashamed of, which ever system you buy it for it's going to be a worth while purchase.

the wii version looks better

I'm not going to lie but when I was playing the PS3 demo without ever seeing footage of the 360 version I though the game had its problems and looked blurry on my HDTV.

eNrique's post on the bottom included a screenshot and it sure looks that way.

Wait nvm I fail, that was wolverine... why the fuck is he comparing two completely different games?

As long as the game is fun, graphics shouldn't really matter. Plus they can always patch the game like how they did with Ghostbusters if its such a huge concern.

where is everyone getting this demo from? Did it hit the US store and I just missed it?? Or is it a preorder/international PSN thing?

@ eNrique

Is that for real? That's one of the funniest things I've seen all week.

Don't know why I'm acting surprised though - I stopped visiting GT like 2 years ago because they had a habit of talking out of their arses...

I figured something was "off" during the slow-down during cut-scenes that use the character models.

Give em a little more time and they should be able to polish it up. Not too worried at this point.

naw. they wont.

If they don't, then that's why I own both systems. I bought both for the exclusives, and I pick and choose for the multi-platform.

It's coming in a little over 2 weeks. I'd say that it'll be pretty hard to fix this without requiring some sort of patch for the PS3.

Doesn't it come out in Japan only for 2009? I thought the release date in NA was in 2010.

GT is still trying to prove, 3 years later, that PS3 continues to produce shitty looking ports. We get it; porting xbox built games takes a hit converting it to the other system. whatever. idcare

Weird how developing a game for 360 then porting it to the ps3 causes the game to take a hit, but developing a game with the ps3 as the lead system then porting it to the 360 makes a better game... Why can't companies just start on the ps3 then port it to the 360, it will result in a better game for both systems...

I don't think they are trying to hurt your feelings. But for people who are trying to choose a multiplatform release, this is helpful information.

Three years later, and we are still seeing the pattern: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bayonetta, Ghostbusters, etc... Major multiplatform releases where developers are turning out better-looking games on the 360.

@Doreo

Much like in the PS2 days, the PS3 is harder to develop for than it's console brethren.

If you start on the PS3, development costs are higher, but you get a more consistent look across both platforms.

If you start on the 360, it's a whole lot cheaper since you can build it around DirectX, something most devs are used to thinks to Microsoft Windows being the dominant OS for the last 15 or so years.

It's more than possible to make breath taking games on the PS3, just look at games like Flower, God of War, Killzone 2, and a lot of the other more graphics oriented games. It just requires a different approach, and more CPU use from what I understand.

It's just a lot cheaper to port a game than it is to rewrite the entire engine from scratch for a new platform, and it makes future games running the engine a lot cheaper as well if you make it port-able from the start.

@copa

adding Batman to the fray invalidates your argument. save for the exclusive dlc, there's virtually no difference between either version of that game. and even if you noticed something with a magnifying glass, it's certainly not at the level of difference between Ghostbusters or Bayonetta.

yeah, seriously, my PS3 version of batman looks amazing...

Yeah it's not as big a deal as it used to be ... look at EA for example - leading all their stuff on the PS3 then switching platforms during the development cycle. As a result both versions are damn near identical with cmall advantages to either side some of the time.

The platforms are just so different that developers need to lead on the ps3 or they risk this type of bad publicity and people thinking they don't care. Bayonetta is a bad example because this port wasn't even done in house as it was actually shipped off to be ported by another developer. So in this case you can certainly say it was laziness.

Seriously, Arkham Asylum? Thats grasping for straws. Hell even though Ghostbusters looked way worse it's not sooooooo baaaaaaad that it's going to kill the experience.

even if you could notice something wrong with the ps3 version of batman, the ps3 version is still better to own if you have both consoles...

I didn't see anything wrong with Arkham Asylum, but then again, that's probably because The Joker Challenge was sucking up my time and attention. Since I've started playing Demon's Souls again (my Amazon pre-order finally arrived!), it'll be a long time before I'll have the time to take another look at Arkham.

My copy of Uncharted 2 makes every statement that, "The 360 just looks better" invalid.

Yeah, I played demo on my 3 and it was def smooth.

Where is this frame rate drop they speak of?

There's little doubt that the X360 version just has better lighting, better transparency maps, and it seems to have higher quality more detailed textures as well. While the game isn't due out quite yet, it's hard to see them fixing what would appear to be such basic issues anytime soon. *WHY* some companies have such a hard time pulling the goods out of the PS3 is unknown, Uncharted 2 is flat out spectacular, but then again that's the difference between a game truly coded for the PS3's power and a mere X360 port. Oh well, I have both consoles so I'll just score the X360 version when it's released unless they really tweak it to bring it in line.

No, we've known why since the PS3 launched. The 360 is a much more straightforward architecture, and a more powerful GPU (While the PS3's CPU is more powerful) So it's easier, especially coming from developing on the PC platform, to make a game for the 360.

Sony knew it was a tradeoff when they launched the console. The cell architecture is costly and more difficult to program for, but when someone does it right (Like Naughty Dog) it's breathtaking. But when development teams are trying to develop for both platforms, they usually don't put the time and dedication Naughty Dog did into making the PS3 version. They might spend the same amount of money on it as the 360 version, but they need a lot more optimizing before they reach the same level graphically. Most multiplats are always going to look better on the 360, but the PS3 has more "potential" when developers put the extra dev money in.

Jesus, this was explained at the start, how do people still not get it?

explained though it may be... it's 2009, not 2007. You would think by now that they would have figured things out a little better than that. A year or two that reason would hold water, now.. not so much.

Well, in that two years of learning the PS3 architecture, the devs continue to learn the MS architecture as well. so for the most part there will always be a difference between multi plat games.

all that said I'm glad the PS3 is uses a different architecture other wise everything would be the same and I might not have had the chance to beat uncharted 2 the weekend.

The Cell architecture took its principles from the Emotion Engine, as in, you're not supposed to be storing anything in memory at all. Seeing as how most 3rd party developers have learned to abuse the Emotion Engine, I'm kind of curious as to why they threw that know-how out the window when it came to the PS3's Cell architecture.

Arkanaloth, I think they have things figured out just fine. Granted, there are some differences in there, but it doesn't look unplayable based on those differences. I'm sure the amount of resources and time they spent on the game are based on the amount of money they believe they're going to be making on said game, not based on "does it look as good as that version?"

Wasn't it said recently that the Cell & Xenon were simular power..
How much of the 360 core are 'we' using?, last I heard it was 2 of the 3 cores and not even touching the SMT..

@Mazrael:
You're thinking of the wrong things. The PS3 has one Power Processing Unit (PPU) which is the main CPU and 8 Cell Synchronistic Processor Units (SPU) which are support/sub-processors to the PPU. One of the SPUs is shut off to improve chip yields and another is locked/reserved specifically for the OS/kernel. This leaves 1 PPU, 1 RSX video card and 6 SPUs for developers to play with unless Sony somehow activates the unused SPU or opens up the locked SPU (or both) to the developers.

Only thing I really notice is the lighting is darker on the PS3, though that's a good if you like a darker game.

I like my darker screnn, but I like good shadows, I think if I was actually playing the game, I wouldn't even notice the difference

Yep i agree the PS3 version sucks. i love sony but they seemed to really messed up alot with the PS3, in pricing and now gaming

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Bayonetta's PS3 and 360 iterations compared on video

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