John Carmack sets the record straight which is better PS3 or Xbox 360?
Uh oh, I sense a fanboy war brewing yonder! Ok folks, another week, another video game controversial statement made, you can’t say you are surprised, right? Famed Quake and Doom creator John Carmack stirred things up recently by setting the record straight on which console he believes is better out of the PS3 and the Xbox 360.
John Carmack recently came out onto the QuakeCon floor and said the PS3 version of Rage will look better than the Xbox 360 version. Why? Because of disc space. Apparently Rage will be one terabyte in fully uncompressed form, but after compression id team will be able to fit it on a Blu-ray disc. However, It seems id Software is having difficulty fitting it on a dual layer DVD.
So in a recent interview with Eurogamer Carmack spills the beans on which console he thinks is the best. Carmack clearly indicates the Xbox 360 is so much easier to develop for it’s practically developing itself.
“What you can say really quite clearly and not get into too much argument about it is that the 360 is much easier to develop for, it’s easier to get the performance out of it that it can deliver..”
So what about the PS3?
“You could design a game where the PS3 would be the superior platform, but you’d have to go out of your way to do it.”
Carmack indicates the PS3 does have untapped potential but it’s like pulling teeth from a saber tooth tiger.
“If you were doing a whole lot of simulation, you can in theory get more performance out of the Cell processor than out of the two other dual-thread processors on the 360, but that’s a big ‘in theory’,”
So it seems the PS3 is superior in ‘theory’ only and the Xbox 360 is superior in realistic development processes, which makes sense considering Carmack isn’t the first developer to complain about the iron tough architecture of the PS3.
The Sony folks could have done a better job by making the architecture like the Xbox 360 if they wanted to make life easier for the developers, but it seems like they don’t care too much about what the developers want.
id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead indicated not all is good with Microsoft either because all of the blame doesn’t go to the size of the game, it shares the blame with Microsoft’s requirement that two gigs of space be used for Microsoft essential stuff. I am guessing all the Xbox Live related stuff mandatory for all games.
Obviously id software is not a fan of the PS3 architecture but they do feel Sony did one hell of a job future proofing the system.
“I think the blu-ray strategy and some of the other things they’ve done in terms how (the PS3) is positioned as a home entertainment device, shows that (Sony) is placing their bet on the PS3 as a marathon runner not a sprint and Microsoft was a little more focused on the short term goals.”
ohh… sounds like them fighting words. All jokes aside seriously all third party games will be similar aside a few textures here and there nothing to cry about the fanboy flame wars are silly however amusing it is to watch it.
I leave you with some wise words from id Software I whole heartily agree upon.
The winner is:
“both really good”. “That’s why any time that people make comments one way or the other about the consoles, it’s easy to leave aside of the fact that it’s the best that it’s ever been in any generation in terms of support capabilities and all that.”
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18 Responses to “John Carmack sets the record straight which is better PS3 or Xbox 360?”
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August 1st, 2008
cop out!! give us a winner, we demand blood!!
August 1st, 2008
uh oh, time to run before the bots and cows get her
August 1st, 2008
there is no way 360 and ps3 are the same…so they cant be both good…there are pros and cons, but one is worse and one is better……dont give us this “no winner” bull crap
August 2nd, 2008
Oh these developers all talk shit. How many times have we heard this crap about space on a DVD and everytime the developers jump the gun and shoot off their mouth about it and then microsoft comes along and says here lets teach you about compression and then the game comes out looking great and at most times better looking then the PS3 Version of the game. I’ll wait till the game comes out and I bet you this idiot will be swallowing his words. By the way, what the Hell is Rage? I have never heard of this game in my life, so does it really matter what this guy has to say.
August 2nd, 2008
Developers knead to stop complaining and just get on with the job. i hate to use a clechy from a honda advert but ‘Difficult is worth doing’ , and it is there no point in giving up just because you found it was to hard. this is not only applied to the PS3 buy the £60 as well. if you cant understand the PS3 then learn. IF squeezing the game on to several DVD is to hard then you’ll have to make it work if you want to make the game. RAGE is sounding life a very interesting game , it was last year when OPSM were taking about a new game form ID but i never thought it was this. Think Fallout with out VATS and drizzle a bit of Mad Max and Borderlands and you’ll have RAGE but ill bet it goes of on a bender at the end trying to explain the fuckups without mentioning radiation.
August 2nd, 2008
Yeh CAD, I agree, these developers don’t have a clue what they are talking about. By the way, what the Hell is Quake? Or Doom? These guys have no credibility.
August 2nd, 2008
Why does Bourne want winner?
August 2nd, 2008
Because this argument rages all the time which ones better, especially on sites like this, it would be refreshing to get another developer POV.
August 2nd, 2008
Yeah but why would winner have the deciding factor? I think he’s funny and all, but I don’t think he’s a developer.
August 2nd, 2008
I half laughed, half cried at that joke hairy.
August 2nd, 2008
Thank you Royzy! At least my humour isn’t completely lost on this site.
August 2nd, 2008
Harry,
Wasn’t that your first attempt at humor? I like puns. Good job.
-Arvis
August 3rd, 2008
Actually I think it was. Normally I am just feeding trolls here, but that sometimes loses it’s appeal.
August 3rd, 2008
it’s what we’ve been saying all along. the ps3’s power is in theory while the 360 shows it’s power time and time again.
360 FTW! Carmack has spoken.
“Sony did one hell of a job future proofing the system. ” – dammit, Mike. stop putting words into Carmack’s mouth. he NEVER said that.
August 3rd, 2008
Kev man you really do love your 360. I bet you you look at all these blog sites just to trash talk as much as possible so you so you can appease that inner MicroSoft spirt. Dose it hurt that much to hear that the PS3 might have been a better choice in the long term that your incite in to this industry might have been cheated. Or maybe you are right the PS3 witch I doubt you have actually played your self is weak in comparison to the all mighty 360. I’m thinking your reacting to emotion and pathetic fear that you are incompetent when it comes down to making an investment instead of being an intelligent human being who would be able to admit that they might have made a mistake and there might be a better product out there to invest in. You come on to these blog sites and post your ignorant rants basically proving that you have no confidence in the xbox360 being able to satisfy your future gaming desires.
August 4th, 2008
mindsucker – i’m sorry i couldn’t here you and your ps3 rant.. you too far back in last place…..
August 19th, 2008
Seriously guys, learn to spell. This is like reading letters from a pack of juvenile delinquents. And I’m not just talking about the queens English, I’m talking about American as well. I know Americans spell things differently from the English/Irish but you aren’t even getting that right. How can I take the opinion of someone seriously if they are clearly uneducated. Rant over.
Read the official interview with Carmack and not snippets. He clearly says that the Xbox 360 at this time is superior to PS3 and PS3 only has giggs (Disc Storage) going for it. This guy should know as he has been at the top of the game making industry before most of you were even born and is considered a guru of the FPS genre. Bottom line, you will be hard pressed to notice any difference between the games anyway, so just enjoy the game on whatever system you own and grow up.
August 30th, 2008
OMG the person who wrote this only showed the good things he wrote but the ps3 and the things tht make the 360 worse. he said the only advantage ps3 has is blu ray. and that http://www.cubed3.com/topic/32414everything else is better basically on 360.