Source: An article on social gaming site N4G, which was picked up by game-trade news site Next-Generation and other outlets.
What we heard: The PlayStation PS3 version of Madden NFL 08 came under a bit of fire this week. Many reviewers pounced on the fact that the Xbox 360 edition's 60 fps frame rate is twice that of the PS3 edition's 30 fps. While GameSpot's own review of the PS3 edition determined that the difference wasn't drastic, other reviewers were harsher in their assessment. The game was sacked by several high-profile critics, with USA Today declaring in a headline that the Xbox 360 edition of Madden "sticks it" to the PS3 version, calling the latter game "sluggish in comparison."
For hardware makers, having a major paper like USA Today complain about one edition of a multiplatform release is bad. What's worse? Having the publisher publicly admit the game is of lesser quality. That's what many this morning thought EA has done with the PS3 Madden, following a spate of high-profile gaming-press reports bearing headlines such as "EA Defends Madden PS3 Deficiencies" and sourcing the N4G article.
"In the case of the next generation consoles, many publishers have been developing titles for the Xbox 360 for over 3 1/2 years," the N4G piece read, attributing the response to a senior tech analyst. "While everyone who publishes now for the PlayStation 3 with the exception of Sony has been developing for the PlayStation 3 for only a little over one full year. The difference in the overall knowledge of the hardware is vastly different for both consoles and, as is the case with newer technology, it is very difficult to get it right the first time." The message goes on to say all PS3 football games--including EA's NCAA Football 08 and 2K' All-Pro Football 08--run at 30 fps, not just Madden.
If one assumes the response in the N4G article is genuine, it raises several issues. For one, Madden 08 is the second Madden game in the series to arrive on the PS3, although one could argue it's the first to be made from the ground up. On the other hand, the e-mail plainly says that EA Sports developers still haven't mastered the PS3's hardware to the same extent as they have the 360's XNA tool suite. That makes sense, given the fact XNA was first unveiled at the 2004 Game Developers Conference, although Sony made much of the fact it had shipped 10,000 PS3 devkits last July.
The official story: Todd Sitrin, EA Sports' vice president of marketing and branding, was quick to echo his underling's statements. "Every company making a football game this year made a decision that the best experience for the Xbox 360 included 60 fps whereas the best experience for the PS3 was 30 fps," he told GameSpot. "We certainly believe that both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of our football products are outstanding experiences and recommend that each gamer look at the entire experience, not just one aspect. We think they'll be very happy no matter which version of the game they play." Ironically, Sony senior director of communications Dave Karraker concurred with the EA support associate's response. "Their explanation of having more time under their belt on the Xbox is completely logical," he told GameSpot.
Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus--or surprising--that developers who've had their hands on one devkit for three-plus years are more familiar with it than a devkit they've had for one-plus year. Bogus that EA is openly blaming Sony directly for anything or has admitted the PS3 Madden is an inferior product in any way--despite what EA Sports' new president Peter Moore said at his old gig at Microsoft.
Source: Gamespot.com
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