Are “Ports” a good thing?

Since the early days of development for multiple platforms, ports have been a gateway for for IPs to jump across to other consoles. This generally happens when a game has gained significant success on one platform and the developers or publishers want to expand it to a wider audience. This seems brilliant at first “a great game making its way to another machine so more people can enjoy it” but certain controversies have risen among porting recently.

[NYC_Gamer]

Yes,long as studios make sure all versions are polished.

[EVILDEAD360]

The truth is all ports arent equal, but to pretend that we should have ported games because you come up with a few isolated games compared to the hundreds and hundreds of ports out there, doesnt make any sense.

You arent Einstein becuaue you figured out the developers go multiplt because they want to sell as many copies of their games as possible. But, in many cases that task might not be the original developer or the differences of the systems alter the quality of the original.

That doesnt change that people want those franshises on the console they purchased.

Evil

[darthv72]

it used to be that ports werent made by the same teams. Meaning the team that programmed Mortal kombat for snes was different than the team that did the genesis version. They may have had a few members bounce back and forth but overall they were developed by different teams to take advantage of each platforms abilities.

but that was back when we didnt have so many 3rd party companies like we do now. Now its about cost effectiveness and time frames. The port situation we have now is really dependent on who goes first.

Its no surprise that when a game is made on the 360 first and then ported to ps3 there are some differences. Hell, just the architecture alone is enough to be a noticeable difference.

So it seems the trend now is to start with the ps3 first and then port to 360. That seems to give the appearance that both versions are as close as they can be without compromising the overall quality of the game.

I am still hearing about how gears is the 360 best looking game and uncharted is the best ps3 looking game. Honestly, if these teams were to switch side just for those game it would be something like, gears would look okay on the ps3 but uncharted would be hard to tell a difference on the 360.

Im no programmer but it has been admitted that the ps3 to 360 conversions are more true to the original than the other way around. It has to do with the memory and how the 360 can dynamically assign assets to various tasks where as the ps3 split memory has to use the spu's to assist in load balancing for lack of unified memory.

Like i said, im no developer but those words from various developers seem to make sense. And the games that go from ps3 to 360 are better than the games that go from 360 to ps3. It isnt lazy devs like people think. well, maybe not ALL lazy devs but you get the idea.

In the end, ports are a good thing but it all depends on the porter. Oh and to elaborate. I am referring to ports that are done with the same time frame of one another.

Obviously if a port is released a whole year later then there are expectations that the extra time would amount to something more than the original.

[iamnsuperman]

In theory having games developed for each platform and not porting them is the best option but that is just impractical. If ports are done right and some small level of attention is put on the game then the difference between the game and ports is nothing.

[Nevers]

"Any port in a storm"

Not so much then?

[SeekeroftheDawn]

I actually enjoy the ports. It's been nice having games available on a wider variety of systems.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

No, when you port something its basically a "copy and paste" technique with little dev time with the other platform(S). when games are fully optimized and worked separately they look identical to one another. Not one is worst than the other because each pltatform had proper dev time and attention. So no, ports are bad.

EDIT: I'm talking from a technical standpoint. And further broadening what @NYC said.

[SneeringImperialist]

Not if they come from Ubisoft.

[Karum]

Provided the work well to a robust enough technical standard then fine with me.

[SP3333D-O]

Dark Souls was certainly not a perfect port, but I am still very glad to have it (especially w/dsfix)!

[jetpacksheep]

I just got Dark Souls on PC and after the res fix and plugging a PS3 controller in, its the best version you can buy. I got it with all the extras (art book etc) retail then redeemed it on Steam so my £19.99 was very well spent.

[SP3333D-O]

Wow, you certainly got a bargain! I use a 360 controller, but same effect.

I was all about Skyrim until I played Dark Souls. I still love Skyrim (especially the music), but DS does so many things better.

[TongkatAli]

I love ports of good games.

[nihonlight]

I think porting is ok if it's OPTIMIZED for EACH system.
Skyrim was a sloppy port to ps3.
This is the worst port this gen.
Other ports lose a little in transition though but at least they were optimized and TESTED.

[jd666]

PS3 to 360 are good, 360 to PS3 are hit and miss!!

[DivineAssault]

ports suck.. I bet if there were none, more ppl would own multiple systems too.. Exclusive games built from the ground up on one console are always btr...

[jetpacksheep]

Interesting answers, thanks for the read and discussions :)

[Perjoss]

If there were no ports sailors would never be able to leave their ships :(

[Saryk]

And that would make the seamen build up and go boom!

[yokokoroma]

No, (this question is ridiculous, to say the least). Ports are not a good thing, nor will they ever be. A game specifically designed for a specific console, caters to it's strengths, and shows what that said console can do, power wise. The fact is, the majority of ports are derived from the Xbox360, and sent to PS3, thus leaving the PS3 version, looking and playing awkwardly. Regardless of what critics and supporters of Xbox360 say, DVD-9 is not on par with Blu-ray disc. You can argue frame rate, etc...but when put to the test, data and detail wise, Blu-ray destroys DVD-9. PS2 used DVD-9 for some of it's games, so what's that say about the medium? It's severely dated, and it's source code is weak on PS3. Thus you see exclusives flourish on PS3, such as Heavy Rain, Uncharted, God Of War III. As well as, upcoming games, like, Beyond: Two Souls, and The Last Of Us. The depth and detail seen in these games, will never be seen in a DVD-9 game. This is exactly why exclusives are needed, but that's another subject.

[nihonlight]

Very informative +

[3-4-5]

allows more people to play the game, and when it's on more than one platform it can also increase revenue for the dev's so they can have more money to put into new IP's.