PS3 Hands On – Hot or Not?

The fine folks over at Kikizo have managed to get their mitts on not one, not two, but three PS3 developers titles. Reactions seem to be mixed with some criticism of the PS3’s proposed form factor, and some questions as to the final nature the PS3 controller as well (control was handled using a USB controller with standard DualShock 2  mapped controls). The article covers high definition gaming, the PS3’s graphics chip (“RSX”), the CPU, (“Cell”) and the fact that while the PS3 is apparently not a generation ahead of the 360, it’s capable of generating more of everything on screen at once.

“Unlike Xbox and PS2, where Xbox had a host of built-in effects that were a generation ahead of PS2, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are same-generation machines. One doesn’t have additional effects over the other – 360 can do the same effects, just not as many of them simultaneously and with less geometry [because of the speed difference], but memory bottlenecks can kill part of the PS3 speed advantage anyway… the overall visual difference it makes will depend a lot on the developer’s skill, and how much time and money the publisher spends on a game.”

Full article after the jump.

We’ve all heard the rumors that the PS3 might be falling behind schedule, that the first batch of titles  will soundly whip what’s on the Xbox 360, and more recently that we might get a teeny peek under the hood at the other TGS (that’s Taipei Game Show for those of you in the back), but now we finally get some solid information… sort of.

The fine folks over at Kikizo have managed to get their mitts on not one, not two, but three PS3 developers titles. Reactions seem to be mixed with some criticism of the PS3’s proposed form factor, and some questions as to the final nature the PS3 controller as well (control was handled using a USB controller with standard DualShock 2  mapped controls). The article covers high definition gaming, the PS3’s graphics chip (“RSX”), the CPU, (“Cell”) and the fact that while the PS3 is apparently not a generation ahead of the 360, it’s capable of generating more of everything on screen at once.

“Unlike Xbox and PS2, where Xbox had a host of built-in effects that were a generation ahead of PS2, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are same-generation machines. One doesn’t have additional effects over the other – 360 can do the same effects, just not as many of them simultaneously and with less geometry [because of the speed difference], but memory bottlenecks can kill part of the PS3 speed advantage anyway… the overall visual difference it makes will depend a lot on the developer’s skill, and how much time and money the publisher spends on a game.”

So will we see Killzone quality visuals, or should we resign ourselves to less graphically impressive titles like Eyedentify? It turns out the answer lies somewhere in between:

“Everyone knows that the Killzone trailer was rendered to reflect what the developer thought they might be able to achieve on PS3 architecture, but some of Sony’s most talented studios will be questioning the ambition they showed nine months ago. In hindsight, there was some stuff that looked decidedly more like what we’ve been playing now – UbiSoft’s Killing Day seeming like it was a good, honest estimate.”

At any rate, it seems like gamers will just have to hold on a little bit longer for their first true glimpse at just what the PS3 is capable of. With E3 a few short months away, and the upcoming developers Devstation conference, Sony can’t sit on the secret much longer.

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