Review: Sonic Classic Collection (DS)

If you’re anything like us here at IQGamer, you’ll be eager to get your hands on Sonic 4 later this summer. In the mean time, SEGA have treated us to a little reminder of how good Sonic games used to be. This time, on the Nintendo DS.

Developed by the Australian branch of SEGA’s Creative Assembly, Sonic Classic Collection is a compilation of Sonic’s main Mega Drive titles and includes the ability to play through Sonic 2 and 3 with Knuckles, just like the old “lock on” feature that came courtesy of Sonic & Knuckles. It would have been nice if SEGA had included Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3D, but you can’t have everything. We won’t even mention Knuckles’ Chaotix…

Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles have been nicely represented on Nintendo’s handheld system, but don’t expect much else other than the games themselves. There’s some artwork to look through and a credit sequence to watch, but that’s about all. This really is a barebones collection, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing if all you want to do is play through these old classics for the umpteenth time.

For the most past, the games have been nicely emulated for the DS, and the slightly squashed resolution isn’t really an issue. However, there is some nasty slow down at points and particularly when the action heats up. Should Sonic loose his ring collection when a few enemies are on screen, the action slows down to a nasty pace. The same annoying slow down is evident during a few boss fights too. It’s not too a big deal, but better emulation can be found elsewhere and we weren’t expecting this in a retail version of the games.

A handy save and load function has been implemented for all the games, with the exception of Sonic 3 that retains it’s own save function. It’s not a case of saving your game and loading it from where you left off though, rather at the beginning of the act you last played. Its better than nothing, but other emulators do enable you to play on from anywhere, which would have been ideal.

There really isn't anything new we can say about these classic titles, suffice to say that all the games play exactly as you’ll remember them, and nothing has been added or taken away for this collection. What was great back in the nineties retains all of its charm on the DS and the games are as playable as ever. They work really well on Nintendo’s handheld system and the save function, however limited, works well enough for on-the-go gaming.

Sonic Classic Collection is a nostalgic indulgence that’s worth picking up if you’re a fan of the series. It may not be much else besides a compilation of four games, but there’s not much else that can be done with these titles that hasn’t been done time and time again. Emulation issues aside, this is a reminder of what made Sonic great and makes us hopeful for the upcoming sequel this summer.

VERDICT: 7/10

Could This Be 360 Slim?

There have been rumours about an eventual slim line version of the 360 for a few years now, with various sources and unsubstantiated reports sighting plans for an all-in-one CPU, GPU and EDRAM chip, coupled together in one massive internal revision of the 360 console. That revision was allegedly known as Valhalla, which would see both the main processing components of the 360, along with the EDRAM, shrunk down into one power-efficient little chip, bringing down the cost of production, and allowing for a complete design makeover.

At the time, it was impossible to expect such a revision to appear for at least a couple of years, given the slow and struggling process of being able to shrink down the EDRAM in line with both the CPU and GPU inside Microsoft’s console. So much so, that only last year were the fabrication plants at TSMC were able to significantly reduce the size of the 360’s GPU, resulting in the much more reliable ‘Jasper’ revision of the hardware.

Yesterday however, two leaked photos seemed to show that those initial problems have in fact been alleviated, now allowing a combined CPU, GPU and EDRAM on a single chip, or at least on one single die containing all three separate chips, albeit much smaller in size than before. It also shows what looks like a complete re-engineering of the 360 motherboard into a much more compact form, at least one third smaller than the current design, and a glimpse into the potential release of a slim 360 console.


The two images in question were released on a Chinese tech forum, A9VG, and shows what looks like a genuine reworking of the 360 motherboard, while also revealing various other changes inherent in the basic design of the new console. The first photo above, shows the actual shape of the motherboard it self, demonstrating the new small size, at the same time teasing us with an image of a smaller combined chip underneath a stock Coolermaster cooling fan.

From what we can see, it’s pretty obvious to us, that use of an off the shelf cooling fan isn’t likely to be part of the final retail unit of this 360 slim. Instead all signs point to these photos being of a test unit, still under development and in the last stages of trialing, before being cleared for a final production to start. However what’s interesting is that the second photo clearly shows us a single CPU and GPU package on what could be a single chip, along with changes to the motherboard showing perhaps what kind of hard drive they will be using for the unit, in addition to changes with regards to the type of audio outputs available on the machine in this latest model.


This second shot shows us all of the motherboard and its features in clear view, most noticeably confirming that the CPU, GPU and EDRAM sits together on either a single chip, or more likely a single die, with the each of the three chips being separate entities integrated onto it. My reasoning behind this is that integration of the EDRAM and GPU into a single chip would actually require a major redesign in order to fit into the shader core, whilst also having to be produced on the same process node. Basically it would have to be fabricated at the same size as the main GPU, something that is still a problem at the TSMC from what I’ve been hearing.

Another thing, is that due to the photographer’s lack of removing the heat spreader, we don’t really know for sure just what is lurking underneath, or what process node the chip is on. I’m pretty sure it would have to be at least 45nm, but then it would mean that the CPU, GPU and EDRAM are definitely still separate chips housed in one die, rather than a single chip. It’s highly unlikely that the EDRAM could be processed at a 45nm; instead more along the lines of 55nm, making this part separate at least from the CPU and GPU.

Interestingly the motherboard looks to contain parts required for additional features to be present on the slim 360. Now, these are pretty much a reworking on the things which the current machine already has, just done in a different way. The first thing that comes to mind is the extra SATA connector available for use on the board, bringing the count up to two. On the current 360 the board only has a single connector, used for the DVD Rom drive, whereas here on the slim, an inclusion of a second seems to hint at an internal hard drive storage solution, or at least a new type of external connecting HDD.

An internal drive is unlikely, as it would prevent an upgrade path for arcade users, whilst also preventing Microsoft from selling larger hard drives later on down the line. However, they could in theory break free, and make a fresh start with the slim, whilst still producing HDDs for existing 360 owners. In fact, that is probably the most obvious choice, as a clean break is the only way for them to achieve a cost effect new hardware design.

Also there’s no sign of the mounting holes used to fix the existing DVD drive into the unit, and at any rate, it would not fit into the new slim design, leading me to believe that either MS are planning to give us a shiny slot loading type drive, or are simply moving its position around a bit. Perhaps they will use some kind of top-loading system for the slim, although more likely is another version of the current slot-loading drive found in the fat 360s.

Memory card readers have also been cut down to one unit now, and there is no sign of any inbuilt wireless adaptor, which is disappointing. I guess MS are making too much of a killing by selling the existing Wireless N adaptor at 60 quid, and would rather continue with their lucrative margin on accessories. However, they have seen fit to at last include an optical output on the back of the new unit, meaning the end of buying the overpriced audio dongle for surround sound when using a HDMI cable without an HDMI compatible amplifier.

From what we gather, the power supply seems to be another external jobbie, unlike the tightly integrated PSU of the slim PS3, which although mildly disappointing, at least allows the machine to be potentially much smaller than the current design. In that respect we expect the overall size of this new 360 to be smaller and more representative of its unofficial ‘slim’ moniker than with the latest PS3. You could say that from the motherboard photos it could well end up looking a little bit like the Dreamcast, just with a stylish slot loading drive instead of an outdated top-loader design.

That’s pretty much all we know right now, not being able to shed anymore light on that interesting single chip/die CPU, GPU and EDRAM combination, or to ascertain whether this latest revision of the 360 hardware is in fact a slim console, or just another revision, albeit a massively more drastic one.

All signs do point to something major happening though, with Microsoft advertising for a Motherboard Design Engineer for the Xbox console, who is being described as being responsible for "aggressive cost reduction of the console throughout the life of the product”, and at the same time, past candid statements from company execs, which detailed plans for a brand new version of the 360 console due to release at the same time as Natal.

As per usual Microsoft declined to talk about the matter, issuing the same “we don't comment on rumour and speculation” line heard many times before, but this isn’t the first time such unofficial leaked information has provided the solid background for hardware confirmation. PS3 slim was revealed in much the same way many months before it was announced and released.

Ultimately we don’t know whether this is going to be a 360 slim for sure, though all signs do point that way, and in any case, Microsoft like Sony, wouldn’t want to reveal anything too soon as not to disrupt current sales of the existing 360 console, especially many months before the new machine is ready to go.

Either way, it won’t be long before we find out even more details, and we're willing to bet that unofficial leaks will be the leading source of information long before any official announcement takes place.

PS3 3D Support Confirmed For This Summer

We’ve talked about 3D before at IQGamer, about the ramifications on how it could affect game design, as well as the possibilities in providing an experience that is literally closer to home. However this 3D revolution could actually be hitting you sooner than you might think, especially since by this summer, most of the large flat panel manufacturers will have 3D enabled displays finally on sale.

Sony are one such manufacturer, and whilst in the past there has been speculation as to when exactly the firmware update will arrive to enable the PS3 for 3D output, possibly hinting at it appearing in time for the launch of their first 3D Ready HDTV, it has now officially been confirmed by Sony themselves.

The company plans to launch their first 3D enabled TV in Japan on June 10, a 46-inch 1080p Bravia LCD screen, costing around 350,000 yen. Panasonic are also planning to launch a 3D HDTV in time for this summer. Their flagship 50 inch VT20 3D Ready Plasma is set for release in early May, right here in the UK, and is a screen which borrows some of the legendary technology used inside Pioneer’s exceptional Plasma displays. Some leaked shots of Firmware 3.20 confirmed the plan to offer PS3 owners with a 3D solution earlier this year, and now a report on Japanese site AV Watch dates its release for this June.


This report has since been officially confirmed by Sony themselves, and just yesterday, Sony engineer Ian Bickerstaff, in an interview with Gamasutra, speculated on what kind of initial uptake to expect, and how development studios themselves were planning for a potential 3D revolution.

"I think (3D gaming uptake is) going to depend on the uptake of 3D televisions. We're not going to spend crazy, crazy amounts of money (on 3D games) expecting everyone tomorrow to have 3D TVs, clearly. But, we believe this is the future, and three or four years from now, you won't be able to buy a television that doesn't have a 3D capability."

"To be honest, we have not had an internal project to throw at people to make their games in 3D, yet there are loads of games in 3D, like MLB 10, Super Stardust HD - that looks fantastic - and so on," he said. "And that's really just because of the enthusiasm from the developers themselves."


He also added that Sony as a company were taking the cautious approach, but were very optimistic with the potential by going down that particular (3D) route. By the same token, he also stated that it would take time for 3D to really take off in the home, boiling down to how fast an uptake there is with people buying 3D TVs.

How fast will it take for 3D to finally hit the mainstream? Well that all depends on the price of entry, as well as the ability to buy a 3D TV in a smaller screen size, such as a manageable 32-inches, or something similar. Currently all 3D offerings are at least 42-inches or above, with pricing starting at over £1000, not something anyone will be able to rush out and buy. However, with 120hz accepted input and 3D support likely to be integrated into all new HDTVs in the future; it’s perhaps only a matter of time before it becomes another standard check-box feature to tick off your list.

We look forward to finally getting our hands on at least one 3D enabled display at IQGamer. You never know, hopefully someone will be kind enough to let us to sample the mighty Panasonic VT25 upon release, but we doubt it.

Tech Report: Anti-Aliasing In God Of War 3

Looking at any of the full resolution screenshots from the final release code of God Or War 3, you could be forgiven for thinking that what you are seeing is nothing more than supersampled bullshots, shots created for the purpose of making the game look good when blown up several times its original size for magazine printing. However you’d be very wrong indeed, because although some have speculated that these latest direct-feed grabs of GoW3 are downsampled images like most of the screens released for the demo, we at IQGamer can confirm that they in fact showcase the game’s unique Anti-Aliasing method in action.

That method in question is MLAA, or Morphological Anti-Aliasing, another form of edge smoothing done using the SPUs on the PS3 rather than the RSX GPU. We only heard about the game’s somewhat exciting AA solution a couple of weeks ago, after it was revealed in an online interview with one of the developers working on the title. It seems that whilst the original plan was to use the usual 2xMSAA method of jaggies reduction – and that was present in the recent PSN demo – that all changed at some point this year, in which a programmer at Sony’s Santa Monica Studio found a way of performing a much better method of AA on the CELL, whilst in turn saving the use of precious GPU and memory cycles in the process.


Just take a look at the screenshot above. The AA is absolutely amazing, far better than anything the 4xMSAA 360’s GPU can manage, and in some places matching perhaps what you expect from a high end PC gaming rig performing 16xMSAA. Either way, it is the best example of Anti-Aliasing on any console game to date, bar none.

In addition, the developers themselves at Sony’s Santa Monica Studio stated that they managed to increase both performance and quality of the AA used, along with other effects in the game, by offloading tasks normally done on the GPU to the SPUs on CELL.

“AA on the cpu is MLAA Morphological Antialising. We saved 5-6 miliseconds by moving it off the cpu's. Many props to our coder Cedric for making this happen and it looks way better!”

Of course the benefits of having better AA isn’t just dealing with jaggies reduction, but also reducing aliasing caused by certain shaders, such as specular aliasing for reflections and transparencies, whilst also eliminating texture shimmering caused by a lack of AA, bringing a stability and smoothness to the image allowing the art design to really shine. Its importance is usually only ever compromised due to the lack of available memory and bandwidth available on both systems. On 360 it’s having to fit the final framebuffer into the 10MB EDRAM, while on PS3 it’s dealing with just a lack of available bandwidth altogether. The use of MLAA can alleviate some of these issues providing a more even split of resources, which can then be used to improve other graphical aspects of the game.


The above screenshot demonstrates how well this use of MLAA works on gameplay scenarios. Notice that every single pixel in the shot is covered by the AA, without any extensive blurring of the detailed textures, even smoothing off edges that are small and far off into the distance. Everything remains clean and sharp, minus the parts of the scene which feature the engine's depth-of-field effect, used only on specific areas of the scene. You can see this happening on the botton left of the image, in which the scene is slightly blurred, whilst on the right, just above Kratos, all details are sharp and clear as day, even in the distance.

Another recent release, Metro 2033, due out this Friday, also uses a custom form of AA done specifically on the CPU, but this time on Xbox 360. It’s called AAA, Analytical Anti-Aliasing, and works by finding all the pixel edges, rendering samples of them in a higher resolution, before then downsampling those samples for use in the final 720p framebuffer. Effectively the only performance hit you get, is a slight one caused by having to render a small amount of pixels in a higher resolution, and the end result is another AA solution which allows for the same effect as using 16xMSAA. However the developers still managed to save 11MB of memory by using this technique instead of regular MSAA, which was their original choice, memory used for other visual effects taking up precious space in the framebuffer.

So God Of War 3’s impressive use of AA is just one of an increasing amount of games looking for a more flexible AA solution than the out of the box MSAA fix found on both consoles GPUs. By exploring these other areas, and by doing things differently they can ultimately drive forward better image quality, whilst focusing more on things such as art design, which has always been more important that raw technical prowess.

Lighting is another area in which GoW3 proves this notion of thinking.

“We built our engine around being able to use up to 20 dynamic lights per game object. The light can be big or small, it doesn't matter. In the end, I believe we support up to 50 dynamic lights per game object. We are not using a differed lighting scheme. Our lead programmer Vassily came up with this amazing system during pre-production, us artists love it!!! We can place lights in Maya and have them update in realtime in the game on the PS3, its like being able to paint with lights.”


Again, this is Santa Monica Studio thinking up a solution that isn’t right out of the box, but is technically at the forefront whilst also being very much in consideration with just what their artists were looking for. It’s exactly this kind of attitude and understanding that is driving forward the use of alternative AA solutions, at the same time providing increased graphical fidelity, whilst saving on performance, and making development easier for future titles. This is especially important with regards to memory related issues, which generally keep coming up in every console generation, and in which working smarter, not harder is really the only way in pushing forward console performance years after launch.

From a developers point of view, now has never been a more exicting time to be involved in console gaming, in which both tools and innovation are coming together setting the new standard of videogames production. Anti-Aliasing is of course just one part of the picture, but in GoW3's case, it could be its defining one.

IQGamer will be performing our in-depth technical analysis on God Of War 3 this weekend just after the game’s release. Be sure you check it out, as it will be filled with interesting technological reveals about some of the development process behind the game, and the ever more innovative steps that developers are taking to push the visual envelope forward.

Tech Analysis: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3 vs 360)

Final Fantasy XIII has been having a rough ride in the press recently, with both fans and journalists alike quick to critise the linear and almost on-rails nature of the majority of the game. And while we much of their criticism is well justified, we can’t hep but feel that the new Paradigm Shift mechanic, combined with a faster variant of the Active Timer Battle system, make up for the tightly controlled nature delivered in the first 25-30 hrs of gameplay.

One area in which we feel deserves all the criticism being flung towards it, is with regards to Square Enix’s pitiful attempt at cross platform development, simply quick porting across the PS3 code to the 360 without any optimisations, or consideration for the hardware. In that respect FFXIII is nothing short of a travesty, and a disservice to not only Xbox 360 owners everywhere, but also the development community as a whole. Given that the release date for both North America and Europe was pushed back significantly in order to allow for a 360 version to be available on the same day as the PS3, we have every right to expect a far better conversion than what we eventually got.


Also, for this latest Technical Analysis come Head-to-Head feature, we at IQGamer, have decided to cut the fat down just a little, feeling that our exemplary Bioshock 2 analysis was far too long winded for it’s own good. So in that respect, for our latest tech feature, we’re going to be far more concise and straight to the point. All the details of course will still be present and correct, picked over with the same fine toothcomb as before. But unlike in the past, it’s not going to be presented in the way of a 3000 plus word dissertation on the subject. More like our quick, clear, and thoroughly in depth Halo Reach analysis.

As always, we’ll start by stating the rendering resolutions used for both versions of FFXIII, before moving on to cover texture filtering, use of framebuffer effects, etc. You know the drill by now.

Final Fantasy XIII renders in full 720p (1280x720) on the PS3, using 2xMSAA (Multi-Sample Anti Aliasing), whilst on 360 it renders in a meagre 1024x576p, also using 2xMSAA. The outcome of this has a devastating effect on overall image quality and screen clarity, hiding away some of the more detailed textures used, whilst blurring the entire image.

On the 360 version the game renders in little more than Standard Definition resolution, and then is upscaled by the internal game engine to 720p, with the HUD elements being added after the scene has been completed. The scaling on offer is slightly worse than found in upscaling original Xbox games via the 360, creating mildly fuzzy edges on geometry, and blurring many of the finer details clearly visible in the PS3 game. Why Square Enix (SQE) didn’t decide on using the internal scaler found on the Xenos GPU is beyond me, as it definitely does a better job of things. Maybe they were using that particular part of the GPU for something else, or found that it was simply easier to use their own engine for the task.


720p 2xMSAA


576p 2xMSAA

In the above two screenshots you can see those differences we’ve just mentioned and the effect it has on the final look of the game. The PS3 game remains pin sharp, as it’s native 720p with nothing else going on, whereas the 360 game is significantly blurrier as a result of upscaling from 576p. The only consolation is that the use of 2xMSAA on the 360 version allows it to be upscaled with fewer jaggies being visible than if no AA was present, giving cleaner looking edges with less artefacting.

It seems that SQE has resorted to using 576p on the 360 in order to fit the framebuffer into the 10mb EDRAM available whilst still using MSAA, and to avoid titling multiples of that 10mb into main system RAM. Having the game render in 720p with 2xMSAA would mean titling to system memory, whilst incurring additional performance hits with regards to objects present in both titles, so to speak.

With regards to texture filtering, both versions are identical. Neither one uses any kind of AF (Anisotropic Filtering) solution, instead going for the more common Trilinear approach. No doubt this was done to converse the memory footprint so precious when working with the PS3. Although since PS3 effectively features nearly double the amount of texture units on its GPU than compared to 360 – meaning that AF is almost a free commodity – it’s somewhat surprising to the a lack of AF being present on that build.


In addition, the PS3 version appears to not only have more detailed textures than the 360 game, it also features additional texturing not found anywhere in Microsoft’s butchered port. The next screenshot further down shows exactly what is missing in some scenes, and all signs point to it being more than just a case of poor upscaling of a lower resolution image. Although, we did find that many textures are also identical across both platforms, with the 360’s upscaled image hiding some of the detail.

To test out this theory of additional texturing, we actually played the same sections on the PS3 with the console’s video output set to 576p over HDMI, letting our Plasma do the upscaling work. The result was although we had a blurrier image than the 360 game – due to the 360 upscaling the game better than the TV – we also could see that the textures were still more detailed on the PS3 despite the poorer quality upscale.


One area however, which is like for like across both platforms, is the use of Alpha to Coverage (A2C) for transparency effects and particles. When using A2C in order to render transparencies, instead of rendering a whole transparent texture, the A2C produces an interlacing style effect, creating an almost dithered look to things. It’s kind of like a mild screen door type effect, used to half the amount of bandwidth needed for such effects. The advantage is that you can render full resolution transparencies with lower cost than if you were rendering them as a whole solid effect.

All of the transparent elements of characters facial hair, except eyebrows are rendered using A2C, including the hair on their heads, and even eyelashes too. Also, numerous particle, and smoke effects are rendered this way, though not all, to keep bandwidth under control.

The screenshot below shows the A2C at work on both version of the game.


Unfortunately, the 360 version not only uses A2C in order to fit the framebuffer into EDRAM, it also renders lower resolution transparencies as well, due to the reduced overall rendering resolution, making the effects look even worse on that build than they should. The PS3 has no such issues, other than the interlacing style look to anything see-through, because all these effects are rendered in 720p. Quite how SQE couldn’t take advantage of the 360’s near limitless amount of bandwidth to deliver full resolution transparent effects is unknown, but we feel it’s a case of why bother, rather than how, given the short conversion time and rushed approach to 360 development.

In terms of framerate, both versions manage to stay at a mostly stable 30fps. However, it is the 360 build which has a slight advantage here, with us noticing less drops than with the PS3 game. While both drop down to around 20fps at times – without any equipment to measure framerate, we can’t be any more specific – it’s the 360 version which seems to maintain 30fps in close-ups during the in-game engine cut-scenes, whereas the PS3 version tends to slow down slightly. Both versions seem to slow down at similar points in battle sequences, though again, the PS3 slows down slightly more.

Any differences we found between the two were very slight, certainly the PS3 game, when it drops, does so by only a few frames more at worst than the 360 game. This seems to be the only area in which I would say the 360 version hits parity with the PS3 one. Oh that, and the use of 2xMSAA.

Despite these issues, Final Fantasy XIII actually manages to be a very pretty game. In some situations it looks almost stunning to behold, with various HDR lighting effects, reflections, and particles being pushed around on screen. Plus at the same time, featuring some of the most detailed gigantic creatures we’ve ever seen in a game. Lost Planet aside, obviously. In this regard SQE have produced a visual wonderment in which art design is equally important as technical precision, and that goes a long way in constructing its visual impact. Naturally the 360 version also benefits from this too, as the post processing, lighting effects, and beautiful art style, helps in keeping the image clean whilst being upscaled to 720p.

Moving on from in game assets, and into the realm of CGI cinematics, I honestly didn’t expect the 360 version to fair as badly as it did against the PS3 game. After all, if you’re gonna be putting the game on multiple discs, then surely you’d have enough space for some high quality video sequences. Unfortunately not, and SQE have once again taken the quick and easy route in porting the meticulously produced, almost Blu-Ray quality CGI video sequences and transcoded them rather poorly.

Seeing as the both the 360 and the PS3 have full support for allowing for HQ video encoding, it’s a complete mystery to me as to why they didn’t take advantage of that fact. Instead they’ve gone down the route of using much lower bit-rate compression, resulting in a rather poor image. During quick pans, and overall fast motion, the 360’s CGI sequences are filled with macro-blocking and other artefacts, dissolving any fine details to be found.

At least the CGI cut-scenes are rendered in 720p on the 360, which is more than could be said for the actual game itself, although they don’t feel that way.

By contrast the PS3 version features what looks like full 1080p (1920x1080) cinematics, all encoded using far better compression schemes. And whilst they aren’t quite BR quality, due to the lower bit-rate used, they don’t suffer from any of the issues facing the same footage on 360. In fact, on PS3 detail is superbly clean and sharp, with no artefacting.

Arguably, it’s such a shame to see such a disrespect taking place with regards to keeping FFXIII’s trademark cinematics at a high quality. If nothing else, all those long-winded CGI cut-scenes are as much the lifeblood of the franchise, as are the actual turn-based battles, or resilient level grinding seen throughout much of the series. And to see them here, butchered up to make way for a quick and easy multiplatform port, isn’t really fair to the fans, which are ultimately the ones who allow the series to carry on flourishing.


In the end, it’s the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII that shines in every area, losing absolutely nothing over the badly butchered 360 port. Not so surprisingly, I’d put 360 FFXIII alongside Tekken 6 and Bayonetta on the PS3, as one of the worst multiplatform developments released by a Japanese software house to date.

However, despite all the technical shortcomings, Final Fantasy XIII is still the same game on 360 as it is on PS3. You’ve still got the lovingly crafted, and utterly captivating storyline to get your teeth into. The battle system, whilst being geared towards newcomers to the RPG genre, also contains numerous depth, making up for the faster pace, and linearity of much of the game. In addition, you also have what could be considered the most polished of all the JRPG’s released so far this generation, especially on the 360, which has seen it’s fair share of failed attempts to reinvigorate the genre.

Even if you only have the option in picking up the 360 version, it is definitely worth doing so, as all those graphical shortcomings won’t tarnish the overall experience for most people, and there’s a whole lot more to Final Fantasy XIII than just how it looks.

Given the choice though, the PS3 version is the one to get, any day of the week. Its full resolution, 720p output, makes it a far more accomplished animal graphically, allowing its art to shine far brighter than on Microsoft’s console. Also, when you are talking about a game that relies so much on visual presentation to carry everything else that goes along with it, you don’t really want to be making any compromises with that on a visual level.

Hopefully, Square Enix will be able to move on from this debacle, putting a greater emphasis on future cross-platform development, whilst taking their time to creating decent multiplatform tools and a versatile engine to go along with them. Because by the looks of it, this is where the industry is heading, and you either keep up or get left behind.

For a rather unorthodox look at Final Fantasy XIII, head over to Beames on Games. It's not quite what you'd expect, making for an entertaining read.

PlayStation Move: The Complete Report

Motion controls are definitely being seen as the next big thing to embrace videogaming this decade. Driven by the success of Nintendo’s Wii, both Sony and Microsoft are now attempting to steal away some of the Big N’s dedicated fan base with their own attempts at motion control. While Microsoft are pursuing a controller less system of body and movement tracking, Sony are playing the head to head game with Nintendo, featuring a wand-style controller design, along with head tracking and more advanced movement in conjunction with using their PS Eye camera.

At GDC10, Sony revealed a near finished version of what they are now calling the PlayStation Move, previously known by the codenames of Gem, or more recently PlayStation Arc, and originally referred to as simply, the ‘PlayStation Motion Controller’. Two individual parts making up a complete set of controls for the device was shown, one recognising various movements and actual screen positioning, and the other used as a secondary option for games also requiring more traditional controls in addition to motion recognition. Both serve as Sony’s higher end tech approach to Nintendo’s Wii Remote and Nunchuck.

Sony first showed off the ‘Move’ at E3 2009, in which audiences were presented with a device not too dissimilar from the Wii Remote, but featuring a more curved ergonomic shape, and a round glowing ball on the end. On first impressions the Move looks much like a highly modified Microphone controller for use with Singstar, but with the glowing Ping Pong ball attached. However the device is flatter on the underside, and features an array of buttons found on the Dual Shock 3 and Sixaxis controllers. The controller also features the full rumbling capabilities of the Dual Shock 3, and vastly superior motion handling compared to the Sixaxis.


On the underside of the Move, near the end, you have one analogue trigger, whilst on the front you have the main ‘Move’ button, surrounded by the ‘square’ and ‘cross’ buttons on one side, and ‘triangle’ and ‘circle’ on the other. Below this sits the iconic ‘home’ button with the familiar ‘PS’ logo on it. Further down sees a Sony logo placed above the small and familiar, square-shaped red light, used to indicate power and connection of the controller with the PS3. The Move itself is fully wireless, featuring a built in battery just like the standard Official PS3 controllers, and is charged by using the same USB cable as those. The port for this sits underneath the bottom of the Move controller directly, just where on the Wii Remote the Nunchuck would plug into.

Using different sphere colours for each controller, up to four Move controllers can be tracked at once with the PlayStation Eye. At the GDC Sony showed off demos for the PlayStation Move using one Move motion controller, as well as some which used two motion controllers, where the user hold one in each hand. Initially, Sony has stated that all launch titles for the device would be playable with just a single Move controller, with additional options for use with multiple motion controllers. This is being done to minimize the cost for the user, to make it more appealing for the casual gamer, and to allow a faster uptake of the device, otherwise hindered by an additional expense of buying several controllers.

The other part of the Move experience is the Sub-Controller, which looks very similar to the Move itself, having almost the same rounded, ergonomically designed shape, but featuring a slight downwards curve on the underside at the front. The Sub-Controller is essentially Sony’s Nunchuck companion to the main Move device, and is used to facilitate the duties usually carried out by the Dual Shock 3 controller.


Around the font, and at the top of the controller, sits a single Dual Shock 3 style analogue stick. Below this sits the ‘cross’ and ‘circle’ buttons, whilst a traditional d-pad is situated directly below these. Just down from this is the ‘home’ button, marked again by the ‘PS’ wording printed on top. Like with the Move controller the ’Sub’ also features a printed Sony logo at the bottom, along with the power and sync light. Lastly, on the underside of the unit, situated at the front, you’ll find both an L1 button, and L2 analogue trigger. Unlike the Move controller the Sub has no rumble or motion handling capabilities. It is unclear whether this is the case due to either a lack of software using these features, or simply, that the controller just lacks these abilities outright.

These two separate parts, and the use of the PS Eye make up the complete overall motion experience that is PlayStation Move. In many ways usage of this system should be almost identical o that of Nintendo’s Wii. Certainly judging by the early reports from GDC 10, this seems to be the case, although one single element sticks out from Ninty’s system, and also borrows a chunk right out of Natal. This is the Move’s ability for accurate body and face recognition features in addition to the standard motion controls available.

By using the PS Eye camera’s ability to track head movements in combination with the sensors inside the Move, and through the ball on the end, allows the system to track basic body movements in a 3D space, much like how Natal does. However the Move and the PS Eye system in combination can operate within just 1 or 2 frames of additional lag, meaning that at best only around 66ms of lag will be present on the console side of things. Most decent HDTV’s will add around 15 to 38ms of lag on top of that, which in total is on roughly on par with what games like Halo 3 are providing, minus additional lag via the TV. In worst case scenarios total lag is likely to be around 150ms including HDTV lag, in a fully optimised title. This however is still much better than the kind of lag most Natal titles are having to deal with, but sadly, there was nothing software-wise remotely finished enough at GDC to make any solid technical statements to back these up, other than the raw factual data about how the Move operates.


So the Move can handle at least basic body recognition, and is extremely accurate with very little control lag. But how does it do this, and why does it have the potential to work so well?

Well, we’ll start off by explaining how the actual Move wand works itself. The glowing ball on the end of the controller glows in a range of colours using the built-in RGB LEDs, these colours serve as a marker of sorts in which the PS Eye can track along in its image plane. The rounded shape of the ball, and the size of the light, allows the PS3 to determine the distance of the controller from the PS Eye via the light’s image size, enabling the controller’s position to be tracked in three dimensions, with a great deal of accuracy. This sphere-based calculation method, allows the controller to operate with minimal processing lag compared to other ways of image processing via the camera. Which is why there is expected to be slightly more lag when using the PS Eye to help track body movements, even though is likely to be no more than around 2 or 3 fames at most.

In addition to this, the Move also features a range of internal sensors to also help with movement and position tracking, especially in situations in which the device is hidden from the PS Eye camera. A pair of inertial sensors inside the controller, along with a three-axis linear accelerometer, and a three-axis angular rate sensor, are used to track rotation and overall motion of the device. In addition to this, an internal magnetometer is used for calibrating the controller against the Earth’s magnetic field to aid in correcting cumulative errors, or drift, if you will, in the inertial sensors. All these sensors can be used to track the position of the controller when obscured from the camera, such as when held behind the player’s back, or behind another player in the same room. Meaning that the Move isn’t completely reliant on the PS Eye in order to function correctly at all times.

In terms of the level of precision this system provides, Eye Toy creator Richard Marks stated that “the sphere's position along the camera's image plane can be resolved at a really sub-pixel level”, which in terms of accuracy, allows for some pin-point adjustments and subtleties not available to either Natal or the Wii Remote with Motion Plus enabled. This means that one-to-one recognition will be available as standard, and will be easier to achieve than on Nintendo’s Wii Remote and Motion Plus. Also, that this kind of accuracy should be available when talking about the full body tracking made possible by using the PS Eye.


More information was forthcoming at Sony's GDC press conference, with David Coombes, and Anton Mikhailov showcasing a number of technical demonstrations, many of which showed audiences the Move's pinpoint precision and low latency. Along with these, they also discussed how the Move supports full body tracking, showing a demo of an on-screen puppet being controller by the use of the Move and PS Eye, not unlike similar demos for Natal.

Like I mentioned earlier, body tracking is made possible by the combined use of the Move and the PS Eye’s head tracking abilities. According to the GDC presentation, the PS3 will also be able to detect faces, identifying individuals through face contour and feature detection. It will also be able to recognize gender, age, smiles and when eyes open and close, in addition to tracking movement. All of this is also done with minimal processing lag, hopefully allowing maximum responsiveness on the users end.

Coombes explained during the presentation, that all the calculations to do with the image processing are done by the Cell CPU, which is perfectly suited to the high levels of floating point calculations needed for such a task. Apparently the raw data taken from the Move and PS Eye can be processed in “under a frame” in optimum circumstances to around one to two fames in most others. The amount of memory usage for the whole process is also only around 1-2MB of system memory, which Mikhailov described as being truly “insignificant”.

Essentially what this means, is that the Move when used with the camera, can not only handle direct one-to-one motion tracking, but also what amounts to augmented reality applications too, all with extremely high levels of accuracy, without too much impact on user control or fluidity. Of course it will be down to the software, and developers to make sure everything is implemented and optimised in a way in which to take advantage of these advanced features. If they do so, the Move could well be an impressive solution to handling some of the controller less type games so integral to the Natal experience, whilst also providing a platform for ‘core’ gamers to enjoy the benefits of motion control.

Unfortunately, Sony failed to show off any unique, or particularly polished software at their GDC press conference. Most of the titles simply featured merely serviceable levels of motion control, with noticeable lag being present, or in some cases a complete lack of on-to-one motion handling at all. Some of the Sports titles displayed seemed to rely more on gesture-based systems than the high end tracking available with Move.


However Sony did manage to demonstrate two or three games, which used the Move in the precise ways shown in their technical demos. The first of these was the newly revealed SOCOM 4, which used the Move in combination with the Sub-Controller exactly like Resident Evil 4, or Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii. The Move device handled all the aiming and shooting, while the Sub-Controller was used for moving your character around amongst other things. Sony showed a demo of SOCOM 4 in action, using the two-controller set-up. The difference being that the pointer precision was far more accurate than on Nintendo’s console, and the motion detection seemed to have a greater range of sensitivity; The second was another in-house Sony product, titled Motion Fighters, a boxing game showing off the full body tracking capable by the Move, and lastly, camera-enabled real time 3D interaction in Move Party. For each of these demos the Move was shown to be incredibly accurate, with regards to response time and tracking. However the software had a number of glitches, and Move support was obviously very early, leading to problems with lag and calibration issues.

So far, what has been revealed, shows off a tantalizing potential for Sony's Move device, producing a one-fits-all controller which could well become the new standard in motion-based gaming. However despite this, Sony had very little in the way of real polished software, certainly nothing screaming out as essential as to buying the Move, plus, as of now, there are still far too many questions left unanswered. We still don’t know if the Sub-Controller has any motion capabilities, and nothing concrete was revealed on the pricing structure, or if any solid bundles featuring the PS3 and the complete Move package would be available at launch.

Sony did confirm that they were looking into providing something along these lines, though obviously subject to change at the moment.

- A basic starter kit, which includes a PlayStation Move controller, along with a PlayStation Eye and a demo disc, for no more than $100. This seems to be the basic entry package.

- A pack which includes a PlayStation 3 console, DualShock 3, PlayStation Eye, and PlayStation Move motion controller.

- Lastly, a bundle with a PlayStation Move controller with selected games.

Other than the rough $100 entry package, no other specific pricing details were revealed, and disappointingly there was no mention of a complete package with a Sub-Controller, leading me to believe that you may well have to buy it separately. On top of the above options, you can expect to be able to buy extra Move controllers, and Sub-Controllers separately. Though again, no pricing details were announced at this time.

It is believed that Sony will be making a full unveiling of the PlayStation Move, along with pricing and more polished software at this year’s E3 expo. There we shall be able to see if they’re on target to deliver some of the initial promises of actually having the most accurate, and most responsive motion control system this generation. We shall also will be able to see how the Move stacks up against Microsoft’s Natal, and to see which one provides the user with a greater range of motion controlled gaming experiences.

You can expect a fully featured tech article at IQGamer later on in the year, along with a full hands-on with both Controllers. Until then, we’ll be sure to fill you in on any details passing our way.