Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2's changes in excruciating technical detail
by JC Fletcher 
{ Oct 26th 2009 at 11:00AM } 
Digital Foundry reports that the resolution has changed between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games. Sigma runs at 1280x718, effectively 720p, while the Xbox version ran at 1120x585. The resolution boost comes with some cuts: DF says the PS3 version loses some polygons, or rather some whole collections of polygons: Sigma 2 maintains a limit of six enemies or fewer in most situations, while Ninja Gaiden 2 "revels in throwing seven or eight opponents at you at any given point." Things that didn't get cut: The lighting effects, which are noticeably more advanced in the PlayStation 3 game.
DF also has a video demonstrating a stress test of sorts (forcing as many enemies onto the screen as possible). For some reason, we don't mind the idea of having slightly fewer ninja enemies stabbing us in the back at any time. These games are at their best when Ryu is juggling a few enemies, not when he's buried in them.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
B3astofthe3ast @ Oct 26th 2009 11:05AM
Interesting...more polygons and enemies, or better lighting and resolution.
I'm not sure which one I'd rather have.
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 26th 2009 11:09AM
The one with the boobs...of course!
XBL: xGeneral DEATHx PSN: Deeth82 [Planeteer | Power of General Hostility and Angst] @ Oct 26th 2009 11:40AM
All I read from that entire article was "boob". What were we talking about, again?
Blank-Mage @ Oct 26th 2009 11:56AM
I don't remember, but whatever it was wasn't as important.
Prof. Von Manifest of the Clan McCloud (PSN: Manifest37) @ Oct 26th 2009 12:02PM
Yeah, makes you say "yay" & "aww" at the same time.
Yaww is appropriate.
mywhitenoise @ Oct 26th 2009 1:07PM
Theres no gore in the PS3 version...which was the deal breaker for me, wouldn't even buy this game if it were $10.
ant @ Oct 26th 2009 1:58PM
ill sacrifice the gfx for more enemies specially for an action game.
ZetoSanNi @ Oct 26th 2009 2:17PM
ant.. Have you played Ninja Gaiden? It's no ordinary action game..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jluv2HxFEqs
Ballistic H @ Oct 26th 2009 2:35PM
Well, it's either more fat and meat, or hotter and more beautiful.
Ballistic H @ Oct 26th 2009 2:36PM
@ mywhitenoise: So, you'd rather see more blood and guts than boobs and chicks?
mywhitenoise @ Oct 26th 2009 4:43PM
what do I need "boobs and chicks" in a video game for? If I want to see boobs and chicks, i'll see the REAL ones on cheggit.
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 5:44AM
It doesn't look like the lighting is better, it just looks more washed out.
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 26th 2009 11:06AM
Well, this just shows that a properly optimized port can do wonders.
Isn't that one of the RSX's strengths? It can handle the special effects put on screen (particle filtering, advanced lighting) better than the 360, but the 360 handles AA much better?
Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Oct 26th 2009 11:08AM
"Our new techonology make the PS3 screenshots 10% brighter!"
(I hate comparison videos. I usually see hardly any difference.)
Also:
"Sigma 2 maintains a limit of six enemies or fewer in most situations, while Ninja Gaiden 2 "revels in throwing seven or eight opponents at you at any given point."
Wow, that's some lazy coding there :/
If Valve ever releases Half Life 2: Episode 3 on the PS3 they'll probably say: "We didn't include any enemies in the game as the Cell couldn't handle that. You know it's so hard to write for. Someone hug us."
Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Oct 26th 2009 11:09AM
Also, I think I'm in a bad mood today. I'll go punch some fanboys or something. Will start with myself.
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 26th 2009 11:10AM
They had to cut the number a bit so the Cell could calculate the jiggling if you were playing as a girl.
True story.
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 26th 2009 11:12AM
*waves hand* You don't want to do that, my friend. You should punch other people. Besides me.
HighFiveJesus @ Oct 26th 2009 11:11AM
is it capable of doing 1080p like the first one?
also the detail is nice, but the point is to have a better play experience. i heard they lowered the amount of unfair boss battles, and added a bunch of extra content.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Oct 26th 2009 11:20AM
It can display in 1080p, but I believe it's just upscaling the native image.
RKN @ Oct 26th 2009 11:33AM
It is confusing to customers when they see on the back of their 360 or PS3 game box listing 1080P as a display resolution when the vast majority of games run at 720P and below, they are just upscaled to 1080P.
Oh well, marketing speak.
Hydrophobicfish (PSN: HydrophobicFish) @ Oct 26th 2009 12:07PM
Yeah, the current systems, especially the xbox don't have the power to do anything really in 1080p.
Sure, you can do stuff like what you get from the PSN, or live arcade... but those aren't very graphically intensive (like for instance, Eden on the PSN, it's pretty much a monotone game, but it runs at 1080)
On either system, if you were to try and run like, Uncharted 2, or Gears of War 2 at actual 1080p, the thing would pretty much explode... or would at least have terrible framerates.
Levi @ Oct 26th 2009 6:58PM
actually, I was under the impression that if it says 1080p on the back of a PS3 game box, it renders in 1080p, due to the fact that most games DON'T say 1080p on them, and the few that do actually do look better, like Dead Space.
AUS_JD @ Oct 26th 2009 11:25PM
Levi, Sony used to do that, but have since changed to displaying the upscaling modes capable as on the 360 disks.
Everready @ Oct 26th 2009 11:13AM
i wonder how a wii port will do
baby sea tuna @ Oct 26th 2009 11:51AM
I dunno, but here's what it'll probably look like: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doa/doasaturn4.jpg
ManekiNeko @ Oct 26th 2009 12:22PM
Har har.
Sebby @ Oct 26th 2009 1:06PM
Lol @ Dolphin safe tuna
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Oct 26th 2009 11:16AM
Im a whore for all things relating to Mr. Hayabusa. When my budget allows for a PS3, Ill probably pick this up. NG2 on 360 was awesome.
Oh, and both those screenshots are way off base, that cutscene was way ligher in the 360 version, even lighter than the PS3 screenie. Im not denying the PS3 has better lighting, but someone needs to turn up the brightness on their TV or something.
Fighting hordes of enemies was a blast, but it was hard and did cause framerate issues, which is probably why they cut it back.
Jason Statham (Has a ps3 now) @ Oct 26th 2009 11:16AM
Is it just me or is Sigma 2 (after playing the demo) much more censored than the original version for the 360? I noticed whenever I cut the heads off of enemies, a blue light emitted from their bodys. I don't remember that happening in the 360 version ( I could be wrong though).
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 26th 2009 11:19AM
They cut out most of the over the top blood. When you decapped a guy in NGII, blood went everywhere.
captainprotonx @ Oct 26th 2009 11:20AM
This is actually the BIGGEST change in the game. Besides all the technical crap worthy to send fans burning and rioting, the Sigma edition greatly reduced the blood to...I don't know...make Sony happy? No idea why.
Tecmo-Lite.
captainprotonx @ Oct 26th 2009 11:18AM
I bought my copy new for $10 at BB months ago for the 360. And I STILL haven't played it.
So...yeah...TITS!
Jason Statham (Has a ps3 now) @ Oct 26th 2009 11:26AM
That's ummm good for you?
You want a cookie or something?
captainprotonx @ Oct 26th 2009 11:38AM
I want a 360 jiggly patch.
thevagraunt @ Oct 26th 2009 11:19AM
Also, people have to realize that no matter what the 360 was able to put on screen, it lagged A LOT. Framerate hiccups were constant, several short bursts of loading for no apparent reason (and not always consistent). The picture being displayed? On the 360 ran at less than 30 fps.
Also, Joystiq's final comment is not the remark of a person who can't handle a lot of enemies and thus are not "up to the challenge." I agree wholeheartedly. In Sigma 2 I felt like I was always just doing attacks to decapitate or cut of some limbs and Obliterating constantly because there were just too many enemies. There was no room for personal style or experimentation or just to have fun with various other moves because if you wanted to survive that's what you had to do.
MrXile @ Oct 26th 2009 11:26AM
The age old Button-Smasher Technique is all we had eh :(
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Oct 26th 2009 11:37AM
I...have to disagree with you. On your first playthrough, maybe I can see, but even then once you get about 1/2 way through the game you should be decent enough to be able to purposefully do things like izuna drops and ultimate techniques. Yeah, some parts got you panicing and button mashing, but what good fast paced action game doesnt?
And on the second playthrough you have plenty of room to mess around since you get to reuse your character.
Jtenma @ Oct 26th 2009 12:23PM
"...once you get about 1/2 way through the game you should be decent enough to be able to purposefully do things like izuna drops and ultimate techniques..."
funny how you just proved his point.
Izuna is one of the safest combos in the game, not to mention it hurts other enemies around you. So, you sort of HAVE to do that combo.
Also, "ultimate techniques"--as in ultimate ninpo? ...*facepalm.
NaeemTHM @ Oct 26th 2009 11:26AM
"DF says the PS3 version loses some polygons, or rather some whole collections of polygons: Sigma 2 maintains a limit of six enemies or fewer in most situations"
Probably for the best. There was a part in the 360 version where you had to battle nearly 50 enemies AT ONCE. As you can probably imagine, things slowed to a crawl.
Would have been awesome if it wasn't for the slow down.
eNrique @ Oct 26th 2009 2:16PM
Yeah, I remember a LOT of frame rate slow downs, speacille with multiple enemies or with parts with lots of explosions, but It was overall, one of the best experiences I had on the rrod-machine.
E @ Oct 26th 2009 11:27AM
Even as a hardcore player, I'm simply not into poly counts, resolutions, processing HP, and the like. I just wanna play a good game, period. That being said, I look forward to purchasing Sigma 2 on PS3 when budget allows.
commen-cents @ Oct 26th 2009 11:27AM
lets cut to the chase... its the same in all these articles. the ps3 version is lighter, simple fix? contrast button. but honestly it all depends on the setup. they have youtube videos of uncharted 2 with guys who have their brightness and contrast way too light and it even makes that game look bad which i thought was impossible.
RKN @ Oct 26th 2009 11:32AM
I really enjoy Digital Foundry's technical comparisons of multiplatform games, very detailed and well written.
Cody @ Oct 26th 2009 11:40AM
"Digital Foundry reports that the resolution has changed between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games. Sigma runs at 1280x718, effectively 720p"
That's just laughable to me, given all the stress put on pixels by PS3/360 fanboys. Almost 2010 and we are barly at true 720p resolution in videogames. Get over the resolution wars.
AUS_JD @ Oct 26th 2009 11:29PM
Yeah, 1280x718 screen resolution. LoL.
It takes me back to 2000.
ManekiNeko @ Oct 26th 2009 12:19PM
Man, those pictures are like the inverse of Bayonetta.
tynam @ Oct 26th 2009 1:09PM
the graphics on this game are underwealming anyway
Lookhappy @ Oct 26th 2009 12:25PM
I don't really trust anything eurogamer publish.
This game looks good on both consoles.
Maverick Saturn (Igor) @ Oct 26th 2009 12:42PM
Which Ayane looked sexier?
Well I think the pictures spoke for themselves, I'm sure ya'll are thinking of the same one I am.
Deuce @ Oct 26th 2009 12:43PM
The big difference in terms of actual gameplay:
NG2: Lots of enemies with pretty simplistic AI.
NG2 Sigma: Fewer enemies, tougher AI.
Any given enemy is far more likely to block your strikes than in the original version.
For my money, I prefer Sigma, though I do have to admit that the near-complete absence of enemies in the waterborne sections is a little disappointing.