SanjeevRules

We expected the PlayStation 3 to ship with several games that first appeared on the Xbox 360, similar to how the Xbox 360 had a lot of Xbox ports at launch. And the PS3 did indeed arrive with a good number of games that originally shipped for the Xbox 360. This gave us the perfect opportunity to compare the graphics on both systems with several cross-platform games. You'd think that the PS3 versions would be exactly the same or slightly superior to the Xbox 360 versions, since many of these games appeared on the 360 months ago, but it seems like developers didn't use the extra time to polish up the graphics for the PS3. We found that the Xbox 360 actually had better graphics in the majority of the games we compared.

Need for Speed Carbon

Both systems have fairly similar graphics in Need for Speed Carbon, but the Xbox 360 has better lighting while the PS3 has sharper textures. The 360 has better high dynamic range lighting in the Camaro image. We're not sure if the PS3 version blurs the background tree leaves on purpose, but it's another noticeable difference. The lighting in the street shot appears more realistic on the 360, but the building textures are sharper on the PS3. We also seem to be missing some lighting and a few landmarks in the rearview mirror of the PS3 version.

Mouse over the default Xbox 360 image to see the PlayStation 3 comparison shot.

Call of Duty 3

Call of Duty 3 has made its way onto just about every major console, but it definitely looks best on the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 comes in a close second, but the 360 is the clear winner. The textures have less detail on the PS3, and the game looks a little washed out. Between the overly bright visuals and muddy textures, the PlayStation 3 can't match the 360 version's gritty look.

Mouse over the default Xbox 360 image to see the PlayStation 3 comparison shot.

NBA 2K7

Both consoles deliver a solid ballin' experience with NBA 2K7. Small textures like the logos on the court and the jerseys on the players look crisper on the PS3. The same textures are slightly blurrier on the 360, but the Xbox 360 makes up for it with better framerates.

Mouse over the default Xbox 360 image to see the PlayStation 3 comparison shot.

Fight Night Round 3

Fight Night Round 3 was one of the first games to really show off the Xbox 360's graphics power with fantastic lighting and incredibly detailed player models. The PS3 still has great looking player models but the crowds are less detailed and the lighting effects are definitely inferior. If the graphical losses weren't enough, the PlayStation 3 version takes almost twice as long as its 360 counterpart to load into the menu screen, and a third longer to load a quickplay.

Mouse over the default Xbox 360 image to see the PlayStation 3 comparison shot.

Tony Hawk's Project 8

The Xbox 360 is more subtle with the HDR in the opening garage area of Tony Hawk's Project 8. The asphalt and mulch textures in the second image set have a higher resolution on the 360. We also saw better framerates in the Xbox 360 version.

Mouse over the default Xbox 360 image to see the PlayStation 3 comparison shot.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07

The Xbox 360 and PS3 both display beautiful greens in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07. Without direct screenshot comparisons, we wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two versions, aside from a slight variation in crowd size and placement. However, with a direct screenshot comparison, we notice that Tiger's belt buckle stands out and his shirt texture has better visibility in comparison to his attire on the PlayStation 3. The trees on the PlayStation 3 version of Tiger look fuller compared to the 360's trees.

Mouse over the default Xbox 360 image to see the PlayStation 3 comparison shot.

Conclusion

The Xbox 360 had better graphics in almost all the games we examined. The 360's biggest victories were in Madden 07 and Fight Night Round 3, where the differences in texture detail and lighting stood out in our comparison shots. We couldn't capture this in the screenshots, but the Xbox 360 games generally offered better framerates too.

We're going to give the PS3 the benefit of the doubt in this initial round since developers might need more time to figure out how to maximize performance from the Cell and the RSX। If you look at the Xbox 360's first Madden game, Madden 06, you'll notice that it doesn't offer very realistic stadium shadows, either. The trouble with buying a console at launch is that you often have to wait for the second or third generation of games for the system to fulfill its potential. The PS3 didn't beat the 360 in this first comparison, but the games do look fine for first-generation titles. The real graphics battle will likely come next year.

Xbox 360 Elite vs. 60 gig PS3: Xbox 360 arguably the best value

If you compile all the costs of the 360 Elite vs. the 60 gig PS3, souping up each to meet the experience offered by the other, the 360 Elite is cheaper, even including the $179 cost of the HD-DVD player on the 360 side.

That’s right, a fully souped up 360 Elite (base price $479) matching all that the PS3 offers costs $849.95, while a fully souped-up PS3 (base price $599) matching everything the Xbox 360 Elite offers costs $857.70. The 360 Elite is cheaper by about $10. Factor in the new $179 price point of the HD-DVD drive, and you get a $829.95 price point, making the 360 Elite “complete package” $30 cheaper.

The fact that you’ve got to toss an additional $400.00 into each system to reach a point of equality demonstrates just how strategic Sony and Microsoft’s choices were in manufacturing these boxes — they’re hedging their bets about what consumers want. And off the bat, Sony decided that the Blu-Ray was non-negotiable — at significant cost to the consumer, and to the significant benefit (albeit possibly temporary) of Sony’s own Blu-Ray DVD format. (We’ll see if the console wars level out as PS3 adoption continues, or if the benefit seen to the format since the PS3’s release continues.)

Of course if you ditch the goal of making “exactly comparable” gaming systems and simply get the eminently playable 360 Elite, with 120 gig HD on its own, and purchase a 12-month Gold Card for Xbox Live, your total is $529.98. The PS3 has only a 60 gig HD, but has the Blu-Ray player — and it costs you $599.99. There, the 360 Elite–certainly as good a next-gen game console as the PS3–is $70.01 cheaper. Moreover, for the large bulk of us (like me), the 360 Premium is perfectly fine: VGA offers full 1080p HD content, beautiful on my 47″ 1080p LCD HDTV, and without the copy protection that HDMI imposes on you (that’s arguably good thing, and adds flexibility), albeit at a[n] (almost unnoticeably) slight diminution in sharpness. And the 360 Premium goes for approximately $365.00 on some online sources, adding in the 12-month Gold package for a total of $414.99, or $442.71 cheaper than the PS3 60 gig “complete package.” Now of course I recognize different people buy different attachments, and that the Live membership is a yearly cost — but that’s something I certainly have no problem paying, given the quality and breadth of Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.

Having slowly begun using the Live Marketplace video offerings, I’ve really come to enjoy being able to quickly download movies and TV shows and begin watching them a few seconds to about 15 - 20 minutes (for very large HD movies) later. I’m quite happy having that access to HD content, and while I did purchase the HD-DVD add-on for the 360 (to be offered at a $179.99 price point), I rarely order HD movies from Netflix — there just aren’t that many available. The Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 is nice, but as MS correctly contends, it’s not that big of a player in the market yet.

So I still count the 360 as the winner. Being the slow starter and beset with many delays, the PS3 has much ground to cover to catch up (despite Sony Senior VP of Marketing Peter Dille’s laughable comment that the 360 is the one catching up). Good luck to Sony, though, because it’s all about, in the end, pushing prices down and getting the best tech to the consumer. A more-even playing field in next gen consoles can only be a win-win situation for us gamers, pushing down prices for consumers and getting better tech to us faster.

And lest I leave it out, the 20 gig PS3 (now discontinued?) sells for a base $549, still some $70 more than the 120 gig Elite. For truly cost-conscious shoppers who still want the next-gen experience, the Core 360 still sells for a reasonable $299.

Cheers,

Lime out

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