Now on to 2009. For the first half of this year, SMGamers found that, on Metacritic, 54% of multiplatform titles were rated higher on the PS3, 35% scored better on the 360, and 11% were tied. This is a dramatic turn of events, considering the lackluster numbers 2007 posted. It is evident that the high-profile PS3 games that released in 2008 really had a deep impact, as 3rd party developers such as EA and Ubisoft really began to explore the idiosyncrasies that make up the PS3’s architecture, and began to develop higher quality games.
It is evident that 2008 was a turning point for the PS3’s game library in terms of technical quality. This was the year we saw the phenomenal Metal Gear Solid 4 being released, which unanimously blew critics away. Resistance 2, although not as universally accepted as its predecessor, still delivered a strong, cinematic experience.
2009 multiplatform titles such as Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Fight Night Round 4 and Resident Evil 5 have all fared better on the PS3. Even though all of these games were better on the PS3 only by a few points, the mere fact is that developers are really beginning to turn things around for their PS3 audience.
This is 2009, and there is no room for excuses. Lazy and/or incompetent developers that don’t put the time in to understand the PS3’s architecture, and instead choose to port directly from the 360, consequently end up inferior versions that just don’t sell as well as they could have. And it’s not like Sony isn’t trying to help developers, as they recently reduced the price of their development kits to a mere $2,000. Furthermore, longtime Sony supporters Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog have been sharing their source code and techniques with the 3rd party development community for quite some time now (1)(2). And it’s important to note that Sony’s generosity isn’t a recent fluke; their EDGE Tools have been available for years.
The once tried-and-true claim that the PS3 has no games, or that PS3 games are graphically inferior to those of the 360, is over. Multiplatform games aren’t as bad as they were, and the PS3 is really beginning to separate itself from the competition, with spectacular 1st party software and games from 3rd party developers that are really learning to appreciate the console. The only question left unanswered is whether or not multiplatform developers will start to make their games more advanced than the 360 versions in order to keep up with the high calibur of Sony’s 1st party gaming lineup.
