March 10, 2013

PS3 vs PS4 Early Graphics Comparison

Gameranx compares a few of the launch titles for the PS3 and PS4.

Originally released in 2006, the PlayStation 3 has become the de facto standard for limitations in video games. While it was cutting edge way back in the day, games have had to be scaled back to cater to the aging device and its counterpart, the Xbox 360.

The PlayStation 4 has much to offer to video games, not just in terms of social functions as Sony likes to hype, but in terms of how gamers think it should matter—in graphics and gameplay. Its release at the end of this year will allow game developers to ramp up their games and scale it to the next-gen console's technological specifications without having to limit their titles as they did before. The hardware it contains will allow developers to scale their games to the PC and get as much juice as they can out of the system.

To that end, we've decided to put together a series of comparisons of the launch titles available to the PS3 over six years ago and the games that are coming out for the PS4 upon its launch.

PS3 vs PS4 Face Tech

First up is a facial graphics comparison. On the left, we have Alfred Molina, whose likeness was used to show off the real-time processing power of the PS3. And on the right, David Cage showcased the head of an old man whose face, he claims, contains more emotions in it than entire stories. Despite the ludicrousness of Cage's assertion, it goes without saying that the head on the right looks a lot more believable and doesn't suffer fall far into the uncanny valley the way Molina's head does.

Killzone 2 vs Killzone: Shadowfall

On the left, there's Killzone: Shadowfall rendered in real time and fully playable at Sony's event. On the right is Sony's infamous E3 2005 tech demo of Killzone 2, which was not rendered in real time and was instead pre-rendered for the event. It was, in other words, CGI. It's worth noting that the PS4 is capable of outputting superior visuals in real time.

InFamous Second Son vs Marvel Ultimate Alliance

infamous vs marvel

InFamous Second Son looks like CGI, but it isn't. It is in fact an in-game screenshot which depicts the game's protagonist as he takes on a soldier. In contrast, Marvel Ultimate Alliance looks like a plain old video game, with aliasing heavily apparent on every character in the scene.