PGR3: 720p or not confirmation
Again our friend BlimBlim at Xboxyde has come through in our time of need. There were rumors that it seems Project Gotham Racing 3 is not being rendered internally by the Xbox 360 at the full 720p resolution of 1280x720, but only being rendered at 1024x600 and upscaling.
The source was an anonymous poster on Bizarre's forums, but Blimblim has confirmed their findings, screenshots output via a devkit Xbox 360 from the framebuffer during photo mode are rendered at 1024x600 with 2XAA. Screenshots output from menus or when viewing saved photos later are rendered at a full 1280x720 w/ 4XAA. The game outputs to your TV in 720p and 1080i just like every other 360 launch title.
So it definitely appears to be true, now the questions are, how much do all those missing pixels affect the game, is Microsoft lying by saying all games will support high definition and what does this mean for the Xbox 360 as a whole? Let us know how you feel about the situation.
Personally I'm up and down on the issue. You all know I'm about the high definition only, and 1024x600 no matter how cleanly upscaled is not high definition. But I'm also a gamer, and while I will lament my missing pixels, motion blur effects, cube mapped reflections and high dynamic range lighting are going to do quite a bit to make the game look more realistic.
It's still on my must-buy list, because anyone can see that it is possibly the most visually impressive racing game ever made, and at its best on a high definition TV. Will PGR3 still be as spectacular after Playstation 3 launches, or even in just a few months when Test Drive Unlimited comes out, (hopefully) featuring high definition graphics? We will see.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CV @ Nov 20th 2005 2:28PM
It's just a bad sign when they're not sticking to their own standard right out of the gate. It makes it seem like the hardware isn't up to snuff. Everything I've read makes it seem like such a kickass system, but then it can't handle rendering PGR3 at full resolution? That just seems wrong. Maybe developers need more time to coax out more of the theoretical performance, but that doesn't mean it's okay to cut corners in the meantime. I've already bought my copy, and I'm sure it'll look great. It's just sad that Microsoft would let Bizarre Creations get away with this, when they had to know people would find out and use it to show how limited their hardware is, even with launch games.
b @ Nov 20th 2005 3:21PM
Is it me, or is that still HD, considering standard definition is 480.
Dan @ Nov 20th 2005 3:22PM
It is sad... to claim all xbox games at 720p min. when this is not. It still looks great but what are standards if they are not kept... I hope bizarre comments on this...
I am still stoked to get my 360 on tuesday.
Peter @ Nov 20th 2005 4:10PM
Does anyone know why this is happening? It is out of order for microsoft to say that every xb360 title will be made to support at least 720p when this happens.
Richard Lawler @ Nov 20th 2005 4:23PM
Thats not exactly correct Peter, their site states every game is made to output in 720p and 1080i, which it is. It will be interesting to see how much what resolution games are rendered at internally becomes an issue now that it is something people will be paying attention to.
Raoul Duke @ Nov 20th 2005 6:08PM
constant framerate vs true 720p? maybe they'll patch it and fix it, who knows. they made new track packs for PGR2 for about 8 months, I could definately see a performance patch for the game coming out if alot of people cry about it. (Or if Bizzare just wants to make it right)
Mintz @ Nov 20th 2005 8:41PM
"The game outputs to your TV in 720p and 1080i just like every other 360 launch title."
So... what's the problem here?
badbob001 @ Nov 20th 2005 10:28PM
What's next? Engadget will announce that all CRT HD televisions are not truly HD due to overscan?
Davy Fields @ Nov 20th 2005 11:07PM
It's pathetic that their own inhouse game on their own system can't even run 720p..... Microsoft is going to get toasted this generation because nobody's biting on this system.
e2 @ Nov 20th 2005 11:53PM
In the end, it's still one of the best looking next-generation games released to date. And it is in high definition.
Henning Hoffmann @ Nov 21st 2005 9:22AM
No it's not. Just like a DVD you play in an upscaling DVD player isn't in high definition either. Upscaling doesn't make something high definition any more than painting strips on a horse makes it a zebra. Technically it's Enhanced Definition, upscaled to HD resolution.
Henning Hoffmann @ Nov 21st 2005 9:23AM
That said, of course, I still want to play the game, and it'll still look great. :)
zelig2 @ Nov 21st 2005 12:46PM
So basically we're all saying 600p is better than 480p but not as good as 720p. Maybe the developers felt that in order to get true 720p they'd have to make the game look worse. It's very likely that the internal video scaler that takes the images to what ever output format you need actually does a good job. That interpolation might actually be near the quality level of true 720p.
Everyone who's played the game in HD has said it's beautiful so it's not like the game is horrendious to look at.
D Dub @ Nov 22nd 2005 5:05AM
It was already stated that PGR3 was developed non "hd" due to the fact the early dev kit they started the game with isn't the same dev kit ms is supplying now. When the new dev kit was shipped to developers they were already in the midst of development. For them to make it true 720p, they would have to start development over from scratch. Costing way too much money and also missing the launch date.
Richard Lawler @ Nov 24th 2005 2:49AM
After having it for a couple days: Uh, it doesn't matter. I'd say more, but I'm going to play some more.