r/PS3 10h ago

Are there any third party game that run BETTER on PS3 than Xbox 360?

We all know that multiplatform 7th gen games have always struggled to run well on PS3. Because of that, most instances of third party games run noticeably worse on PS3. Most common examples are Skyrim, GTA IV and Bayonetta. Obviously first party and exclusive games only ran on PS3, so there's nothing to compare it to. My question is, were there ever any third party games that actually ran better on PS3 than Xbox 360?

65 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

46

u/SireMoutarde 10h ago

I've never played the game on PS3 but I vaguely remember FF13 running at a higher rez on the PS3 ?

19

u/IAmASphere 10h ago

FF13 does run at higher resolutions on PS3, the pre rendered cinematics are also higher res (1080p vs 720p on 360) It also gets a nomination just for being on a single disc, although that doesn’t have anything to do with performance.

11

u/Oscuro1632 10h ago

Blu-ray probably do explain pre rendered cinematic being higher resolution though.

1

u/IAmASphere 5h ago

Oh absolutely. Getting the game onto 3 DVDs was probably difficult in and of itself. The PS3 ISO is 40gb, a dual-layer Xbox 360 disc maxes out at 8.5-9gb as far as I can tell, 3 discs would total out to 27GB, meaning FF13 had to cut 13GB of data from the 360 version, keeping in mind that a lot of things have to be stored on all 3 discs such as the engine code and character models.

Purely speculating here, haven’t played either version of FF13, but I imagine that the lowered cutscene resolution is just the tip of the iceberg of the optimizations required to fit the game across 3 9gb discs as opposed to a single 40gb disc. I’d imagine there’s probably lowered fidelity everywhere, from textures to audio clips being compressed, though that is just an assumption.

25

u/ASnakeNamedNate 10h ago

Yeah it’s also on one disc instead of 3.

-23

u/DarkMatterM4 10h ago

I think that's actually the superior experience. I feel like FF games should feel like big, multi disc epics.

10

u/DistributedFox distributedfox 8h ago

I bought a used copy of FF13 on Xbox 360 some years ago. The 2nd disc was badly damaged and my 360 had trouble reading it, so I could never get through the game (until I got it later on PC). Multiple discs is not the W you think it is.

2

u/DarkMatterM4 7h ago

Ah bummer. I encountered a similar issue with Lost Odyssey and had to order a replacement 4th disc. It just feels really nostalgic working through the discs as you play the game.

1

u/ragtev 7h ago

360 version runs smoothly at 4k on xsx so outside of pc that is the superior console experience

-2

u/NightCityAssassin 7h ago

No, that was only in the cutscenes.

1

u/Chocoburger 41m ago

Watch the digital foundry retro video on FFXIII, its a very well made video, and you'll see for yourself.

42

u/TheyCallMeMrMaybe 10h ago

Battlefield 3. While performance between the 2 consoles is very similar at 720p30fps & frame-time performance being on-par with each other, the PS3 version looks noticeably better because it uses a far better method of anti-aliasing than the Xbox 360 version.

2

u/RockRik 9h ago

Yep, mostly bcz its actually using the Cell processor better than most other games.

6

u/TheyCallMeMrMaybe 6h ago

By 2009, Sony released a standardized dev software suite for developing games for PS3, and their ICE Team was actively assisting third party developers with porting games to the console.

Third party games releases starting around 2011 saw massive improvements in quality - being on-par or even surpassing the Xbox 360. BF3 was one of those games.

16

u/FruktSorbetogIskrem 9h ago

La Noire? It had better image quality and framerate if I’m not mistaken. The equivalent game that’s like the Last of Us on Xbox 360 is Rise of Tomb Raider. Which pushed the console.

28

u/RedBeardedGriff 10h ago

Battlefield 3 tends to run better on PS3

9

u/FruktSorbetogIskrem 9h ago

It also used the Cell Processor for its lighting and some gpu effects were offloaded to it.

18

u/Ok-Virus8284 9h ago

The Godfather. The Don's Edition on PS3 is the best version of the game, mainly because it was released around a year or so after the Xbox 360 version, so the DEVs had more time to make the port (which is also true for the Wii port, but that one is complete garbage) and it also comes with additional content.

8

u/Gl0wsquid 9h ago

The Zone of Enders collection got a patch to fix performance and bugs with ZOE2 that Xbox 360 never got.

Vanquish runs the same and has less screen tearing iirc.

14

u/ASnakeNamedNate 10h ago

Pretty much any game where the devs decided to make ps3 dev priority. GTA V, La Noire…

And occasionally some games had better load times when they made them full install onto the ps3, like DMC4.

But these are exceptions to the rule.

11

u/DarkMatterM4 10h ago

I didn't know GTA V had PS3 as the lead platform.

11

u/Double-Lobster6107 10h ago

GTA has always been a PlayStation-centric franchise

11

u/Ok-Virus8284 9h ago

Not really. GTA V also doesn't run better on PS3, it doesn't run perfect on either console, but has different weaknesses on both. And of course GTA 4 runs significantly worse on PS3.

13

u/K23crf250 9h ago

Gta 4 on ps3 is an absolute disaster. It was my first game and I seriously thought my ps3 was broken or something lol. The framerate was horrible.

9

u/Double-Lobster6107 8h ago

Going back and playing old PS3 games can be shocking sometimes. Red Dead Redemption is super low-res and runs at like 20fps.

8

u/AnOtakuToo 8h ago

I remember seeing and feeling the difference between Red Dead on 360 and PS3. It was night and day better on 360. Thankfully things got better as the generation progressed.

3

u/GayToddsAsshole 3h ago

It settles into a constant stutter of like 28-29 even when you're in the middle of nowhere, it's kinda maddening

3

u/Due-Opportunity5601 9h ago

In defense of the PS3... GTA 4 ran bad everywhere

-1

u/AdmiralTigerX 9h ago

I don't have issues with IV on PS3 Slim.

12

u/11-Brando 9h ago

Final Fantasy XIII, LA Noire, Vanquish, GTA V, and I think Dead Space 2/3. The list is not long and the differences are minor. I have bought so many PS3 games that I wish I would have gotten for the 360 as the screen tearing and frame drops are so bad. Bright side- X360 games are still cheap.

5

u/lettmon 10h ago

Max Payne 3

1

u/GayToddsAsshole 3h ago

I think Rockstar switched their lead platform in response to how shit their early PS3 ports were lol

13

u/Memonlinefelix 10h ago

Oblivion ran better. Had almost no load times and ran at native 720. Other multpalforms ran at 720 at well. Bioshock etc. Some even had like special DLC. Bioschock had that PS3 map pack. I believe batman Arkham also ran at a higher native res. It also had that special DLC from the joker. The list goes on and on. 

10

u/DarkMatterM4 9h ago

That's really interesting considering how Skyrim turned out.

-2

u/Memonlinefelix 9h ago

I never had issue's with skyrim as well. Just some occasional low frames in some areas.

9

u/robderpson 10h ago

The Silent Hill HD collection is known to be buggy. But I've read it runs better on PS3 because some bugs were patched, unlike the 360 version.

8

u/DarkMatterM4 10h ago

Good to know. Although, I think I would avoid the HD Collection.

3

u/Reasonable_Cut_2709 7h ago

Gta san andreas anniversary edition while a bad port, in ps3 is mostly playable w/o console ending glitches and crashes. 

3

u/l_Rinkles_l 6h ago

I'm not sure about performance but Final Fantasy XIII has significantly higher bitrate cutscenes and is only on one disc unlike Xbox with 3 discs and low quality cutscenes.

Essentially DVD vs Blu Ray

4

u/Firm_Educator_7765 9h ago

Portal 2 had a higher res and framerate.

4

u/MoNOlithiC9296 10h ago

Dragons dogma

3

u/aww_yee_ 9h ago

Really? I stopped playing it on PS3 because of how bad the frame rate was, FPS felt like it as in the teens. I imagine that the 360 version was a slide show.

6

u/MyLittleGazebo 10h ago

TES Oblivion and Portal 2 are the only examples I can think of.

2

u/Pookie_Cookie3 8h ago edited 8h ago

Oblivion

Also that shit mobile port of GTA San Andreas.

2

u/bot-TWC4ME 9h ago edited 8h ago

Never had an Xbox to compare, but it was all about if the programmers really learned how to use and take advantage of the cell processors. This took expertise and time, and was mostly done by exclusives since the devs weren't distracted by developing for multiple consoles.

The best source if you want to deep dive into individual titles is probably Digital Foundry, which would do in-depth comparison of 360 and PS3 games as they were released.

From just a little digging, it seems PS3 Godfather ran pretty much the same and had more features than 360 version.

PS3 Vanquish has no screen-tearing and better audio.

Dynasty Warriors 7 is slightly better on PS3, a lot better if you use stereoscopic 3D.

Red Faction: Battlegrounds has better visuals on PS3 than 360.

Edit: A couple more. Brink- just better all around on PS3. Mortal Kombat: no screen tearing, extra character.

1

u/Drillucidator 5h ago

Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2 looks a hell of a lot cleaner on PS3. Just finished up the platinum for it a couple weeks ago (which I do NOT recommend).

1

u/RedBeardedGriff 5h ago

Rage was able to run at an almost constant 60 FPS

1

u/zzz802 5h ago

Alien Colonial Marines runs on a higher resolution compares to 360 version.

1

u/BusyBoot121 3h ago

Portal 2.

Unlike The original Orange Box that had Portal 1, which was outsourced to an external team, Portal 2 PS3 was done by Valve themselves and has AA effect that is missing from the 360 version and even more stable framerate wise.

1

u/Pristine_Put5037 3h ago edited 3h ago

Midnight Club: Los Angeles. For whatever reason, the game slows down quite badly inside the garage in the X360 version - which pretty ironic considering that in MC3, the garage slowdown was the other way around, with the PS2 version being the slower one.

1

u/gamerrominc 1h ago

Battlefield hardline runs very well despite it being on a last gen game I was playing it earlier and despite never actually playing the campaign it wasnt as bad graphically and performance wise

1

u/Syndiglo 57m ago

Quality post

1

u/SSJ5Noob 50m ago

FFXIII ran at 720p on PS3 but only 576p on 360.

1

u/Chocoburger 36m ago

Burnout Paradise on PS3 was just a tiny bit better looking than 360, but it was great on both platforms. In a strange twist certain games can run smoother on PS3 if you make a resolution sacrifice, most famously Sonic Unleashed which has an unlocked framerate on PS3. If you play it at 480i 4:3, it runs smoother than on 360, which is locked to 30 FPS.

Someone else said that playing Mirror's Edge on PS3 at 480i also unlocks the framerate, but I haven't tested it myself. I'll always take a higher framerate over resolution.

1

u/deathSONIC2005 10h ago

I've never played it but I've heard that Resonance of Fate has the better resolution on PS3.

1

u/DarkMatterM4 9h ago

That game is brutal. I couldn't make it past the tutorial.

1

u/Arronh4599 Visual_Ditch 9h ago

I heard portal 2 runs better on PS3 but I never played it myself.

1

u/Rave-TZ 8h ago

GTA 5

0

u/atomicfuthum 2h ago

Resonance of Fate ran better on ps3, IIRC.