Well with the fall of HDDVD, I broke down and bought a PS3. But now I’m stuck with the biggest decision of my life: do I buy GTA 4 for my trusty 360 or for the shiny new PS3? There’s really no “reliable” journalistic source on the web that will blow-out the differences… perhaps because they don’t really know. All I have to go off of is horrible fanboys on forums, and you guys. Not that you all are really connected, but feel free to humor/delude me.
Here’s what I can gather as of yet, but might need some reassurance:
- There’s no tremendous difference in graphics, 360 has slightly brighter colors but the PS3 has better anti-aliasing. Is that really all though?
- 360 will have downloadable content right out of the gate, but will the PS3 have anything on the disc? (I’m guessing not)
- Obviously the PS3 will have a “install” feature to greatly reduce load times, but with the faster DVD drive access on the 360 load times might be negligible… right?
- 360 version has those achievements I’m addicted to. But will the PS3 have the trophy system that Sony’s been pimping?
Here’s what I’d like to know:
- I know they can milk around 9gig out of DVDs for the game, but will the PS3 version have any differences because of the greater blu-ray capacity? (and I’m 99.999% sure the 360 version is on one disc instead of two or more like forum dickheads have said)
- What the hell exactly is the downloadable content?!
- Can I play my music on my PS3 through the game via a “station”? The 360’s trusty mp3 control panel comes to the rescue on that version… I hope.
12 days to go, and I don’t have it reserved yet! I don’t know what to do! God help me.
Sounds to me like you bought the PS3 because it’s a cheap Blu-ray player more and a video game console less (with exception of a few exclusives maybe). Not that it’s bad or anything, alot of people have done the same. So quick answer I’d tell you, probably go with the 360 version.
But I dunno for certain since I’ve never been a huge enthusiast of the GTA series anyways and therefore my knowledge limited only to what I’ve read or listened to. I personally don’t own either console, but my personal experience lies more with a 360 than a PS3. Though my impression seems to be that every 360 is a ticking time bomb and could red-ring before or shortly after you buy GTA 4. (Happened to my friend shortly before Halo 3) I also keep hearing that some analysts are speculating this is the year of the PS3 since there may be a drought in noteworthy 360 titles coming this summer and the obvious closing gap toward Blu-ray dominance as existing and recently released HD-DVD movies are phased out.
You know the ideal answer anyone will probably tell you is to get both if you’re really thinking hard about this. At least you’d have a backup.
My roomate apparently took Devil May Cry and compared the load times after the initial 20 minute PS3 install to the 360 version and claimed roughly a second faster than the 360 version with side by side tests. I doubt it was scientific but he seemed to think it was negligible .
There may be an exception or two to the rule that the 360 isn’t the superior version but I’d preorder it for both consoles and cancel the preorder and place the money towards the game you’re purchasing. I know Game Crazy allows you to that. Also I think (don’t quote) you can play your own music on a radio station on GTA4 on the 360…
Either way I have a feeling the differences are going to be really minor and you might consider things like which controller you like better for said game. I doubt (although its always entirely possible) that one version will really screw you. My guess is this will increase my entire 360 collection to six games.
Most games are still being developed for 360 mainly and then adapted for PS3. One of the exception I should consider possible would be just GTA4… but I’m not sure about that… I know Burnout is… but that’s a different beast.
One way to get an indicator is to see if previews mention what version they were shown by Rockstar themselves…. chances are high that would be the version they’re most satisfied with
I don’t think it will be that long before developers shift to the PS3 as main development platform though… since it’s well on its way to pass the 360 in consoles sold… even if the 360 on average sells like 4 times as many games per console…
..anyway I’m just rambling.
I’m not gonna buy it right away myself. When I buy it later this year I’ll have a PS3 and the reviews should have pointed out which version is superior.
Thanks for the help, guys. What the PS3 version has going for it is the free multiplayer (I’m not subscribed to LIVE Gold), the controller (I’m used to the Dual Shock for GTA) and the sheer fact that I’m liking the PS3 more and more… and I want to justify it a little on the gaming side.
Though, I’m a total goon when it comes to achievements on the 360. Not that those should matter a whole lot, but they do. That and I can listen to music during gameplay on the 360 via that console… I’ve never played GTA using a custom sound track so I have no clue how the custom station would work on the PS3.
I don’t know, a FAQ or something needs to be created by IGN or Gamespot to help stupid people like me. When IGN is making Ninja Gaiden 2 FAQs, you’d think they’d throw one together for GTA.
Out of the box the two games should be exactly the same. Load times shouldn’t be a problem for either since there’s only one initial load in the entire game. Both versions output to 1080p scaled up from 720p. Yada yada.
Fuck the nerd bullshit. Get whatever version you feel good about. I’m getting it for the 360 because downloadable content is something I’ve thought GTA was created for since GTA3. Also I don’t have a PS3 yet, though I’d love to play it on my beloved Dualshock controller.
On the other hand, everybody should get the 360 version so you can shoot at people with me.
Thanks for the help, guys. What the PS3 version has going for it is the free multiplayer (I’m not subscribed to LIVE Gold), the controller (I’m used to the Dual Shock for GTA) and the sheer fact that I’m liking the PS3 more and more… and I want to justify it a little on the gaming side.
Though, I’m a total goon when it comes to achievements on the 360. Not that those should matter a whole lot, but they do.
I think you summed it up nicely there.
If I’d owned both systems I would probably go for the PS3 flavor, just to have some decent games for that platform. Plus the PS3 is silent.
But I don’t own both systems. So I’m getting the 360 version. The PS3 will have to wait until after our wedding, I guess. So far, it still haven’t coughed out enough exclusive titles for me to run out and get one.
At least you’d have a backup. 
