Face-Off: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Wii U vs PS3 vs Xbox 360)

The Wii U version matches the look of the Xbox 360 game and thus gives it an edge visually over the PlayStation 3 release, but unfortunately it comes up well short in terms of performance - an aspect that is all-important to the playability of a COD title. The frame-rate variance is such that the PS3 game feels generally smoother, while the 360 release feels like an entirely different game in the more demanding levels. Bearing in mind the commonalities in hardware design between Wii U and Xbox 360, we can't help but feel somewhat disappointed that Black Ops 2 under-performs so noticeably.

[Shaman]

There are some serious bottlenecks when the game runs below 30fps when alot of characters or smoke fill the screen and other versions run at ~55fps. 360 is 7 years old for Christ sake, this is embarrassing.

And for you who are going to whine about "bad port, wait a year or two" you do realize that we are probably less than 6 month away from MS and Sony's next gen showcases? Does it matter if Wii U reaches parity when Durango and Orbis are already on the market?

[lilbroRx]

The two Wii U bottleknecks you speak of are the slower CPU and slower RAM. Problem with this is that the PS3 has faster RAM than the 360 and a much stronger/faster CPU, but it runs worse than the 360 and the Wii U version.

That has nothing to do with bottlenecks at all. That has to do with optimizations which clearly weren't made for the non-360 version. Hardware should never cause problem for a game when its optimized properly. Things that can't run are altered or recoded in an optimized game.

Its not that the Wii U and PS3 couldn't run Black Ops 2. Its just that the devs didn't try. They aren't going to spend extra millions to build 3 'from the ground' up versions of 1 game. They will make one version(the 360 in this case), then port that version to the other console while truncating anything that won't fit.

It will never run as good on different hardware than the one is was built for.

Code isn't magic. Its not going to magically take advantage of benefits in a system that it wasn't programmed to.

Its the same as taking an object out of a box, then putting it into a box that is overall larger but slightly thinner in shape, and just cramming it in or cutting pieces off the object that won't fit properly.

[Muerte2494]

as I mostly agree with you accept for one fact. The Xbox360 has slight advantage over ps3 as far as RAM is concerned. Ps3 version actually performs better than the Wii U version but the Wii U version has greater detail. But you're completely right about the devs, their were lazy and mainly focused on one console. That's the difference between Treyarch and Infinity Ward. http://www.eurogamer.net/vi...
It's not that the engine runs better on Xbox360 it's just Treyarch sucks at programming for ps3, unlike Infinity Ward. That's the only reason why BLack Ops 1&2 looks bad on the ps3. While Modern Warfare 3, released after BO1 but before BO2, is completely identical on both systems. Now why couldn't Treyarch match MW3 when it's the same engine.

[Bigpappy]

PS3 RAM is split, 256MB of it is faster that 360's the other half is the same. The problem is, there is no benefit when more than 256MB is required. In fact the PS3 RAM actually is more of a liability in those cases. The 360 also has 10 MB embedded in to the graphic processor which is used to cache some info to reduce reading request.

[violents]

Your right but I've noticed devs that seem to get it right on all platforms usually have the ps3 be the main platform. I'm no programmer but it seems pretty evident if you start with the ps3 porting to xbox and pc is much easier than starting with pc and then porting to ps3 and xbox. It always seems like ps3 gets lots of problems when you do it that way, but if they start with the ps3 and then do the rest they all come out really good. I'm not sure if the WiiU will work out in that equation but I'm sure someone will give it a try sooner or later.

[ProjectVulcan]

Wii U needs to be lead platform to make the most of it. Yes, we know this. Its pretty obvious.

The real question then is when will Wii U be used as lead platform, for what games?

The answer to that is key. However I can take a punt and say Wii U may never be lead platform for more than Nintendo titles and a handful of exclusives.

Not even right after next gen alternatives arrive, because there will still be 150 million plus 360/ps3s around.

This idea then is more damaging than anything else when you talk about extracting more performance from the machine.

[Denethor_II]

@Muerte2494
wow your really arguing about RAM, really. How about this. The PS3, XBOX and WIIU all have terrible RAM. Really, RAM.

[Muerte2494]

How about you try reading my entire statement before you go on a rampage. The is all about lazy developers nothing else. Wii U and XBox360 have the same architecture so there not really an excuse. Instead of optimizing Black Ops for the WiiU they just did a straight port of the 360 version. PS3 has low resolution but in Modern Warfare 3, both Xbox and ps3 has identical resolution. They're using Infinity Wards engine but Treyarch can't achieve the same results.

[Gildarts]

So what you're saying is that with enough "optimization" i can play blackops on my calculator?

No.

Optimization only gets you so far, if it can't be done it can't be done.

[Gildarts]

Dude...Games are made on PC's.

[pixelsword]

When optimized, the PS3's ram is not an issue; the problem is that Sony tried to force a reverse GPUPU (having everything optimize through the cell processor instead of what GPUPU does by optimizing through the GPU) What could happen if they use the cell in the PS4 is after you optimize through the cell, you could probably double-optimize through the GPU and get some supernaturally good code (if you have the head to do something so innovative).

[Dms2012]

Off topic, but you were wrong from the start in saying the Ps3 has a "much faster cpu" than the 360. And furthermore, even without optimization games running on next gen hardware should look clearly better out of the gate.

[neogeo]

your own argument backfires on you. It's using a old engine with heavy work used on the CPU. So when next gen hits all systems will be more like the WiiU featuring a GPGPU style of programming so you will see WiiU look much better thanks to new hardware releasing and new graphics engines to support them. So other then first party Nintendo games we will be stuck with the old tec for a while.

[wishingW3L]

GPGPU is needed on the Wii U because its CPU is weak. If the CPU on the X720/PS4 are strong enough to hold their own then GPGPU coding would only be a waste of time.

[esemce]

Yeah the frames don't lie, when the 360 version dipped to 46fps the WiiU dipped to 26fps. Its really sad considering that it's the old non demanding COD engine thats not even 1080p.

So glad i cancelled my WiiU preorder my I7 and quite old HD6950 will probably be able to emulate the WiiU.

Let's see what MS and sony have to show us in 7 months at E3 2013.

[ChickeyCantor]

" So glad i cancelled my WiiU preorder my I7 and quite old HD6950 will probably be able to emulate the WiiU. "

HA!

You already need a decent pc to emulate the Wii( if you're going HD that is). What makes you think emulating the Wii U will do?

Emulation is heavy on the cpu because it needs to translate the instructions of the original code.
Now, Wii U games will use a triple core cpu, and perhaps some GPGPU instructions.

If it were so easy, I'm surprised 360 hasn't been emulated yet since the hardware is much closer to older PC's.

Also have fun emulating the gamepad, I bet that will play fun with a second screen next to your rendering window.

[pixelsword]

He needs a decent PC to emulate 26fps?

At any rate, there's probably some bugs to work out, but I say give Nintendo a few more months to work this out; they aren't known for putting out bad quality consoles, so I don't think that this is something that can't be worked out... although I must admit that if it is an issue about knowing how to program for the Wii U, they'd better learn from Sony's shortcomings and give the developers very good support.

[bicfitness]

Sidar, an i7 and a 6950, could do 1080p @ 60 FPS on medium settings, and look and play noticeably better than anything on the Wii U.

Out of all the console fanboys, Nintendo's really shouldn't be arguing tech because they don't know or care.

[n4f]

@bicfitness
i think they know well cause that why the won last gen money wise

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

I think next time ninty should get a pc gamer to layout what components will be used for the wiiME.

Also this feels like a pc gamer forum..
Console gamers are not about hardware?

[farhad2k8]

Of course the Wii-U is better, but there's just not enough improvement to justify a purchase. I can already tell the PS4/XBOX 720 will blow these 3 out of the water, so I'll be waiting until they come out.

[WiiUsauce]

it's not gonna matter when te nexbox and playstation 4 come out. even if those machines will have better graphics, the Wii U will still have unique and exclusive games that you will mot be able to get anywhere else.

[MercGH]

@bigpappy no, the 360 is main platform of development moreso than PS3. Check all of Eurogamers face-offs. There is also another side that tallys all of the multiplatform games and who won in the faceoffs, and the 360 does by a long shot

[metroid32]

Wait for Bayonetta2 and Aliens wiiu and project cars and games like that at the end of the day Fifa13 and SMBU are the only retail games really worth your time but every launch game is a slight improvement graphically in my opinion due to higher textures and better lighting and resolution ect but 95% of these games are just running off the cpu in the wiiu none are using the gpgpu as there ports off consoles that have weak gpu's and strong cpu's.

Lets look at the original games Rayman Origins th developer says they used movie quality textures and the wiiu still handled them no problem and even with sprites they can add shadows and light them up basically zero problems on ps3 and co he clearly says there were fillrate issues and this was on a game the 3ds and Vita can run no problem.

Aliens CM wiiu th best looking version,the wiiu is a nextgen console its just more modern tech its a powerful powerful console we wouldnt make Aliens on a nextgen console if it couldnt be a better experience than current gen.....enough said.

[Deku-Johnny]

It's not really that it's a bad port, it's more the fact that developers don't know how to work with the Wii U as of yet.

[kopicha]

surprise to see the game actually still run sub HD on Wii U. Exact same resolution with 360/PS3. omg... framerate aside but I was expecting it to at least run at native 720p.... and many can still assume it would run 1080p native before Wii U launch. so much for next gen.... gosh....

[lilbroRx]

What the Wii U can do and what devs put in the effort to make it do are 2 different things.

We know that it can run things better than the 360/PS3 from the few devs who have actually put in the needed effort. Insisting on faulting the Wii U for lazy/bad ports while not looking at any other factors is a clear sign of fanboyish console bias.

You don't look at any other options or aspects, because you want this to be true.

I guess since the 360 scored higher than the PS3 in this game with them, that means the PS3 is weaker than the 360...

[kopicha]

I understand those points more than you think about me. I do not specifically side any of the console. From my personal perspective thats the most worthless thing to do. I am not on purpose to fault anything or anyone. But just that we are talking about in reality a same game that is running on a system 6 years newer than it's counterpart and suffering from those issue is just quite unacceptable no matter how you look at it. Does not matter is dev or the system. It is almost like as if I bought a new PC 2 years later but it ran my games worst than my original PC that I bought 2 years ago that has more dated specs. Fact vs Myth. Fact is what we see and Myth is what people assume. In fact is that it does run worst. But in reality everyone just assume dev fault, optimization fault and etc. Why assumption? Because there are no evidences but just talks. Ok enough on this topic. Before I am being label a fanboy or whatever. Since this is how the internet is these days. Even when you are saying something right, you get disagree while people with nonsense also get disagree. No one ever knows what truly right or wrong.

[violents]

No nintendo finally caught up to this gen. Not trolling, just being realistic.

[WiiUsauce]

what the hell are you talking about??? do you not know what a console generation is?? lol, the first Wii is THIS GEN. The Wii U could've been weaker than a PS2, and it still would've been considered "next gen" because it would still be an 8th generation console.

[metroid32]

Ur trolling wait until they show Retros GameEngine and a few games and Beyonetta2 ect ie not ports the gpgu wasnt even used in any launch games except prob NSMBU and NLand simple as ports from 360 are cpu driven get a life the wiiu has a 3 core 3ghz cpu and it has much more modern tech and to be honest the gpgpu can run games without the cpu so when games get built with gpgpu in mind the games will be like zelda tech demo and even much better.

[violents]

damn guys calm down, I almost thought you had some personal investment into this with how defensive you got. It's just my opinion. I think nintendo is a step behind everyone else. Whereas PC is a step ahead of MS and SONY. Not saying its a bad console or something. But these are the facts.

[EffectO]

"Exact same resolution with 360/PS3."

PS3 has even lower resolution at some points(PS3 changes resolution on the fly).

[kopicha]

I know about that, I am just referring to the general resolution. So I dont think I need to specifically go into details of how other platform is running since the main concern is about Wii U's version.

[lilbroRx]

This is a crappy article. That game is a straight port with no optimizations where the basic console version was built around the 360.

Fact, for a fact, is that we know that the Wii U has a stronger and more capable GPU. You can sight RAM speeds, CPU and anything else you want without knowing how the game uses them when its convenient to slam the console, but that doesn't translate into graphics. CPU's don't process graphics and the only aspect of RAM that affects graphics is...its "size".

The proof of this is, in case you didn'lt know, the PS3 has a faster RAM "and" a stronger CPU than the 360 but it runs worse than the Wii U version...

You can rest 100% assured that if any port has better "graphics" on the 360/PS3 than the Wii U then the developer put little effort into the Wii U version.

I'll let Trine 2 director's cut attest to this(dev stated directly that it couldn't run on the 360/PS3 now without downgrades) and Alien's Colonial Mars.

[kopicha]

so it is as good as saying PC version should not even be running at native 720 or 1080 then? Or are you saying that PC is not a port?

[PhantomT1412]

I don't understand what makes you think this is a "crappy article" when it just states the fact about how Black Ops 2 performs on the Wii U (objectively) and do not give their opinion about the console itself.

[ChickeyCantor]

I think what lilbro means is that people who aren't tech savvy will gulp all this information as if it couldn't run better.

While the website is just comparing framerate and what not. It still goes with headers like " Wii-U struggles"

Mind you, I don't care much for all of this. I really just need a new F-zero. F'n Nintendo.

[sjaakiejj]

"CPU's don't process graphics and the only aspect of RAM that affects graphics is...its "size"."

Without going into detail, I'd be very careful when saying that. It's actually incorrect - the CPU deals with quite a bit of graphics, and there are many factors in RAM that determine how well the graphical pipeline works.

Interesting fact about RAM is that the larger it gets, the slower it becomes.

[XboxInnovation]

I've never seen the campaign but its not surprising it has framerate issues because a weaker CPU will do that when a lot is going on in screen. However the Wii u hardware just like the ps3 hardware is not optimized with cod it's ported. But I've played the Wii u version online and it looks better and performs just as well as Xbox version.

The wiiu will struggle with games that have hundreds of enemies on screen with explosions until devs learn how to optimize hardware, mostly within that monster GPU

[Muerte2494]

instead of blaming the developer, people are accepting the excuse "the cpu is slow". That's bull and you know it. Look at all the Modern Warfare's done by Infinity Ward, they are identical on both systems. This is because they don't focus solely on one console. They develop for both system at the same time. Hardware limitation and consoles go hand and hand, this is nothing new to developers. What the WiiU got was a straight port from the Xbox360 without any kind of optimization. If you own a ps3 or a WiiU, I don't suggest you give anymore money to this developer. They've proven time and time again that they only focus on one console. If you're going to buy a COD then just get MW from Infinity Ward who has a proven record. Since Treyarch cares about the 360 so much, let it be it's only fanbase.

[PopRocks359]

Because developers understood the PS3's hardware when they first started making games for it.

Oh wait. *waits for fanboy disagrees*

[Muerte2494]

own both Xbox360 and ps3. But Treyarch only care about how the game runs on xbox360 and that's it.

[majiebeast]

Who the hell cares at this point cod runs on a modified quake engine the last thing to care about in a cod game is graphics. Im so glad i havent bought MW3 nor flops 2.

[ambientFLIER]

Um, yeah, that's how it works. Lots of game engines can be traced back to a decade ago, even though at this point there is 0 old code in them...

[stone_cold]

Ps3 looks awesome

[TopDudeMan]

The Wii U is just out. Are you really expecting great-looking wii u games right now? The developers need to get used to developing for it and that takes time.

[V0LT]

Who cares are you going to play all 3 at the same time?

[Cyb3r]

I dunno guys I think the Wii U version looks pretty damn good in that comparison video.

[Amsterdamsters]

I agree with you. We bought it for the Wii U and my sons friend brought over his 360 version. We played both and they are extremely similar except, my son prefers playing the Wii U version online as when two people play, they each get their own screen. He actually prefers to use the Game Pad over the Pro Controller on our 60" TV as he likes having the screen close. For the record, he is going to be 16 in a month and a half and also has a 360 in his bedroom along with about 40 games. We own pretty much every system made and do not "favor" one company over another. I just get tired of the idiots on here that trash a system that they don't own and have not played.

[Thokyo]

WiiU version looks decent but come on...It HAS too, right?
Would be quite unacceptable if it couldn't run PS3/360 multiplatform titles. Interesting to see what the 2nd launch of games will show in comparison with PS3/360

[metroidfusion2]

Stop bitching and wait for what the wii u can truly do

[corrus]

Treyarch sucks

[Yomaster]

Framerate issues aside, the game's graphics look bad on all three platforms.

[jack who]

my 360 was a great investment

[Drainage]

yup the xbox360 with all those golds a great $1000 dollar investment

[andibandit]

Well it`s better than having some guy from nigeria shooåing using my cc

[SDF Repellent]

All this talk about power will be forgotten once a new Zelda, Metroid and a Mario Galaxy sequels are out. Come on people, you buy a Wii for the great Nintendo exclusives and not COD.

[StrongMan]

I thought exclusives don't matter.

[Slyfamous]

The Wii U can do well, there is no reason for it not to, for instance Black-ops seems to be graphically on par with the PS3 and the the 360 and the more the devs get to know the system the better the games will look but there are reasons it wont do well. In places like here in South Africa the Wii U will die a quick and painful death for two reasons, SA has been a PS dominated region ever since the days of the PS1 and will be long after the PS4, the second reason, and dont get me wrong, allot of people want to buy the Wii U but at almost R5000 a unit which is equivalent to +- $700, its just not going to happen.

[taquito]

from article;

"All of this means that the new version gets the same 880x720 native resolution, with the same sharp upscaling filter employed on the Xbox 360 release. There's even 2x multi-sampling anti-aliasing (MSAA) - the first time we've seen hardware AA deployed in-game on a Wii U title (admittedly, it's early days there"

880x720 and still cannot even get 60 frames on all console versions, please, PLEASE make a ps4 and nextbox NOW!

the wii u is a neat distraction, but ultimately the same last gen, 8 year old outdated tech as ps3/360

my iphone has more horsepower than all those relics

at least the pc version doesnt look like vomit, it looks old by pc standards but the pc version of blops 2 makes uncharted 3/killzone 3 look last gen

pc ftw!

[t3rrorc3ll]

Your iPhone is a piece of crap. They are the worst phones.

[CalvinKlein]

The fact that you said your Iphone has more horse power shows you dont know anything bro.

[stragomccloud]

I think he's just trolling.

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

I know with the next COD the game gonna run better I just think that developers haven't figure out the Wii u yet

[MercGH]

Wii:U will be 5 yrs behind 720 just like the Wii was with 360. Everyone knows this even developers

[ninjahunter]

Ok, heres the thing with "Launch games being unoptimized". This is usually from a massive jump in power and the developers aren't very familiar with the whole suite of graphical capabilities this unlocks. Like, lets use FEAR as an example. Fear 1 was technically superior to Fear 3 in a lot of ways, like shadows, lighting, physics and particles. The developers then realize that there are low quality alternatives too all these cool graphics, and the common gamer wont notice the difference. So they take out all the high quality effects and throw in 10x the amount of crappy graphics, and that's console "optimization" in a nut shell.
This might seem a bit off topic, but im sure a clever person will get my point.

[stragomccloud]

It's funny how people think that this means the Wii U is underpowered.

Think about this for a second...

Considering how much more powerful the PS3 is than PS2... probably about 20X, then why don't all last gen ports run at 1080p or 1080p in 3D at 60fps, or even close to that????

Well I'll tell you. It has everything to do with how the game was optimized to balance CPU/GPU/RAM.

The fact that Wii U is running last gen ports at with such a short development time is really quite incredible considering that the new generation isn't nearly the power jump that the PS2 to PS3 jump was.

[chukamachine]

I thought the WII U had it's exclusive launch title, built from the ground up.

Zombie U.

Is it 1080p 60fps.

No?

Not enough power then is there.