@MikeB

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but here's my favorite feature: you can set your preferred resolution independent of what you've set in the dashboard. so i can pick 1080i in the dash and have gt render at 720p. hallelujah

What is the advantage of this besides a novelty factor?

@BrianK

For more static graphics (like viewing pictures) 1080i may look better, but for playing games and watching movies 720p looks better. So it's a nice option for people with a display unable to handle 1080p, but does support 1080i and 720p.

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MO Resistance is also a better game than Gears overall (I stick to my opinions no matter how many rewards Gears receives ), you actually have freedom to move around, driving fast vehicles around is great just like in Half-Life 2, a much more involving story line, small details like when you hit windows only parts fall off or holes are very realistic, a much bigger game, 40 user online multiplayer, etc.

Gametrailers.com is running a Gears vs Resistance video/contest:
http://www.gametrailers.com/index.php

I am sure Gears will win hands down, due to three main reasons, Gears has more inviting visuals overall especially the lighting, there are millions of XBox 360 users playing the Gears while only few ever got the chance to extensively play Resistance (the PS3 itself was released after Gears was released) which IMO is required to form an opinion of real substance and there has been more massive hype surrounding 'Gears of War' also Resistance may score lower in reviews as the reviewers have high expectations of the PS3, giving the game 100% (hmm.....) scores like Gears received in various reviews would create problem for reviewing later games.

But I have seen some comments from people who actually played both titles and some aspects they put forth I agree with. So luckily I am not alone with my perspectives:

"Resistance is the better overall game, by far. Gears has a little bit better graphics, but the art direction is much better in Resistance. Of course, since most people have not played Resistance, they will just vote for Gears because they have it."

"I own both consoles too and personally i didnt enjoy GEOW, thought it was boring and lasted me a few hours and didn't touch it again. RFOM on the otherhand was much longer, had better vehicles and weapons and multiplayer + it was more fun. Also the multiplayer was upto 40 people and the framerate was much higher."

"i have both games played and i noticed that Resistance has sharper graphics while Gears has better lightnings. I also noticed that Gears has problems with jaggies, it seems that the PS3 can handle better the Anti Aliasing. Gears has only the Unreal 3 engine, therefore you will see a lot of games , especially on the PC, which do look identically in terms of graphics. The PS3 does definetaly show potential in relation to the future. For me Resistance is the clear winner, because the graphics are crisper and sharper and you see huge areas and the multiplayer especially the DM options with up to 40 players is really cool."

Last edited by MikeB on 23-Dec-2006 at 08:03 PM.

@MikeB

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For more static graphics (like viewing pictures) 1080i may look better, but for playing games and watching movies 720p looks better. So it's a nice option for people with a display unable to handle 1080p, but does support 1080i and 720p.

Boy this all depends on a variety of factors. Most TVs do a single resolution. A few do 2 resolutions. Plasma and LCD typically do 770p and it's most typically better to send the signal in 720p and upconvert then have 1080i down converted. DLP sets do 720p and it's typically better to do 720p for everything. 1080i would have to be downconverted. When you convert you interduce a chance of loss and changes to the signal.

Being this user thinks this feature is just the cat's meow one would have to assume that he's tested this in depth on his 2 resolution TV. For most people doing that sort of thing is going to matter squat or actually be worse.

Thus, I go back to my statement for the vast majority of TV owners this isn't a huge exciting feature. For the market as a whole this isn't the bees knees this user seems to think it is.

More end-user pictures.

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/8682/framegty011jq5.jpg
http://www.fastm.com/misc/gthd4.jpg
http://www.fastm.com/misc/gthd5.jpg

"The framerate is solid, the environment is fully lit, with environmental reflections on your car and actual shadows when entering the tunnel midway through the course, and the crowds actually move around. The game has also been spiced up with some nice effects, like an impressive glare as you emerge from the track's tunnel, and those waving flags that PS3 developers seem to love (see MotorStorm and Heavenly Sword).

One thing we've come to appreciate with the demo is how much detail Polyphony has been able to push out. In addition to just about the finest car models out there, the track is packed with detail, from dozens (or possibly hundreds!) of animated spectators, to thick patches of trees, and even fully realized mountains in the distance. In our new videos, in addition to racing and replays, we've included a clip focused exclusively on the background scenery of the tracks, so you can see for yourself why we're so impressed. This video consists of footage that loops in the background as you wait to begin a race."

"It's worth noting that the demo runs at 1080p and 60fps."

IMO Sony was right regarding their 1080p PS3 statements and Microsoft was just plain wrong. This all bodes well for future PS3 games, a nice demonstration of things to come.

Last edited by MikeB on 23-Dec-2006 at 09:56 PM.

End user playing with steering wheel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7oniODROoc

I don't think I will ever buy a PSP, but some possibilities are pretty cool such as was demoed with Formula 1 earlier on, using it as a rearview mirror during multi-player races!

@MikeB

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IMO Sony was right regarding their 1080p PS3 statements and Microsoft was just plain wrong. This all bodes well for future PS3 games, a nice demonstration of things to come

If you want upscaled PS2 games for the future, sure 1080p will be great.

It's really quite terribly unimpressive in the graphics and physics department. Now, I have to say that I appreciate a game running at 60 FPS as much as the next guy, but at the cost of detail I'd rather have it locked at 30 and looking better (but no lower than 30, thanks).

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The game has also been spiced up with some nice effects, like an impressive glare as you emerge from the track's tunnel

Yeah, it's funny how it's always overdone at first. I remember the first racing games where you could see tail lights leave a trail of light behind them. Who doesn't remember the horrid standard lens flares as well? Same thing for all lighting effects (and Gears of War is guilty of this too btw with its too glow-y look - on the other hand you could argue it doesn't aim for realism). In a few years we'll see someone do it in a subtle manner and these games are going to look "soooo 2006" . I guess it's a bit of the demo scene mentality with "look what we can do!" and them someone outdoes it by a factor of 10 and eventually it's just a minor bit of a larger scene and merely adds subtle stuff (which ends up looking more impressive).

In fact that was what I appreciated with the ####pit view in Project Gotham Racing 3 - which basically made me fall in love with the series again: All the effects are there, but they are so subtle you're not likely to notice them unless you would in the real world under the same conditions.

@MikeB

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I don't think I will ever buy a PSP, but some possibilities are pretty cool such as was demoed with Formula 1 earlier on, using it as a rearview mirror during multi-player races!

Yeah, now we just need that head extension, so it can hang in mid-air in front of your eyes

@MikeB

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i have both games played and i noticed that Resistance has sharper graphics while Gears has better lightnings. I also noticed that Gears has problems with jaggies, it seems that the PS3 can handle better the Anti Aliasing

It's not that Resistance has sharper graphics it's that they are less detailed. There's nothing sharp about square fingers holding the gun. Jaggies on Gears? It's probably the closest to CGI on a console I've seen. Resistance -- visually looks like a launch game to me. Something started on the PS2 then moved over and slighly improved for the PS3. I think Call of Duty 3 on the 360 compares favorably over Resistance for visuals.

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Resistance may score lower in reviews as the reviewers have high expectations of the PS3, giving the game 100% (hmm.....) scores like Gears received in various reviews would create problem for reviewing later games

Actually I think yo're right Resistance may have scored in the 90s or closer to 100. I think you're wrong about the reason though. While the reviewers have high expectations of the PS3, Sony claimed 2x 360 speeds, the problem was created when GoW shipped first. It's very clearly visually superior. Gameplay may be better on Resistance and that kept it in the 80-90 range insted of the 60.

Last edited by BrianK on 24-Dec-2006 at 06:00 AM.

@Trezzer

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The mountains look like high-res photographs rather than rendered to fit in with the scenery. The detail level is low.

The first sentence is a huge compliment, considering the background mountains are actual geometry (the SPEs do a good job)! And so the second sentence is very contradictionary.

Is it hard to compliment Polygon for rasing the bar?

This video shows some fly over footage demonstrating without reasonable doubt that the mountains are indeed geometry and not just some high res pictures.

http://ruliwebfile.empas.com/mpeg3/sce/ruliweb_sd_gthd_pl01.wmv

I think complaints of lack in details for creating 1920 × 1080 / 60fps games are totally unfounded, the GT HD concept demo shows details unlike any other driving game before. We will probably see some amazing games next christmas showing amazing details and effects unlike anything we have seen in computer games before and to get the most out of the visuals you'll need to see them in 1080p as at lower resolutions you will see *less* details. The Cell processor is powerful enough for this and this has been proven already only one month after the PS3's release.

@MikeB

Not when they haven't. I think there's a very good reason why they're dumping GT HD: It's already too far behind and if they want a proper PS3 GT game they need to start from scratch. And I'm sure GT5 will be amazing visually - GT HD just isn't.

Like I said it looks like it's a photograph because it doesn't look like part of the game - i.e. it looks out of place. Looking at them by themselves they look very nice. However rendering something like this takes less power than rendering them to drive through them I suppose - they are basically 2D in all GT HD videos I've seen.

@MikeB

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the GT HD concept demo shows details unlike any other driving game before.

... on a PlayStation platform.

Personally I am looking forward to cards for the PC and later platforms like PhysX, which will definitely bring new levels of play to games. Aegia already has 120 pc games supporting this card and the cool things it does. Having this capability on the consoles would be great as well..

Ageia PhysX Site

note Gears of War is mentioned on this site..

Also the PCI card in PC form factor is only $199 at bestbuy.com

Last edited by DonnieA2 on 24-Dec-2006 at 01:08 PM.
Last edited by DonnieA2 on 24-Dec-2006 at 01:05 PM.

@DonnieA2

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Ageia PhysX Site

It is a neat idea. $200 for a add-in card is a bit much if you consider it's not the videocard but an accelerator for the videocard. One has to wonder how much better is this card then doing Dual SLI videocards in a system. Also, this thread is about $300-$600 systems comparing a $1K computer + $200 card is a bit unfair from price performance. There's little doubt that the PC will be better for videogaming power the question is at what price does the user want to enter the field.

The Ageia code has been licensed for all 3 consoles.
http://www.ageia.com/physx/titles.html

Read some reviews of the card. It's more impressive sounded then in daily performance. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/19/is_ageias_physx_failing/

PCs are going dual core and quad core. Current gaming isn't multithreaded enough to take advantage of this. But, we will get there as the 360 and PS3 need multithreading.

I think dual SLI w/ quad core on a PC along with highly threaded games will make the add in Ageia moot.

@MikeB

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I think complaints of lack in details for creating 1920 × 1080 / 60fps games are totally unfounded, the GT HD concept demo shows details unlike any other driving game before. We will probably see some amazing games next christmas showing amazing details and effects unlike anything we have seen in computer games before and to get the most out of the visuals you'll need to see them in 1080p as at lower resolutions you will see *less* details. The Cell processor is powerful enough for this and this has been proven already only one month after the PS3's release.

Please refer to my 2 previous messages, to understand exactly what we mean by 1080p and details. Also, it's not the Cell processor that is doing the rendering, it's the GPU.

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@AMiGR

The Cell can do some graphics work better than the GPU can and take load off the GPU.

@ Thread

A better approach than Nintendo Wii-mote?

"The current Eye Toy allows you to be in the spotlight of the game, captures movements, and has video messaging capabilities. A high definition one will probably allow much more detailed input signals to be captured, and allow much more interesting applications in gaming experience, such as PS3Focus’ idea of using movement as input instead of controllers (kinda like Wii, but without having to grab the Wii-mote)"

For things like Tennis, Bowling, Boxing, etc I can imagine good potential. At least you won't mistakenly kill a remote or throw the thing into someone's face... Maybe this would even be safer for our little ones?

@AMiGR

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Two options are available in that case. Either you reduce the quality of that effect or you only run it at 720p.

So both Sony and MS were wrong to go for high res and Nintendo was the only one who really saw that you don't need high res for next gen?

I don't see your point.

@jiyong

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So both Sony and MS were wrong to go for high res and Nintendo was the only one who really saw that you don't need high res for next gen? I don't see your point.

I'm just saying that I believe that 720p is the sweet spot for the current generation of consoles, for both the PS3 and XBox 360. The Wii is not a next-gen console in the graphics domain (don't take that in any weird way, I've bought one ).

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@MikeB

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The Cell can do some graphics work better than the GPU can and take load off the GPU.

Like? Vertex Shader work? Because I seriously doubt that the Cell is better than the GPU for Pixel Shader work. Remember that the original PS3 design was to have the Cell handle everything, but it turned out that it could not handle the GPU work and hence the GPU was added. (I need to find a quote for that).

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A better approach than Nintendo Wii-mote? "The current Eye Toy allows you to be in the spotlight of the game, captures movements, and has video messaging capabilities. A high definition one will probably allow much more detailed input signals to be captured, and allow much more interesting applications in gaming experience, such as PS3Focus’ idea of using movement as input instead of controllers (kinda like Wii, but without having to grab the Wii-mote)"

I have the Wii and the controller works really well. I somehow seriously doubt that you can get anywhere near this kind of accuracy with a camera and image and movement analysis techniques. However, if they do manage to pull it off, it will have some interesting possibilities, as the number of sensors needed for full body motion would be reduced from ####loads to one.

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For things like Tennis, Bowling, Boxing, etc I can imagine good potential. At least you won't mistakenly kill a remote or throw the thing into someone's face... Maybe this would even be safer for our little ones?

I seriously can't understand how on earth people have managed to tear the Wii-mote wristband from flicking too hard.

Last edited by AMiGR on 25-Dec-2006 at 12:41 AM.

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