BioWare's Greg Zeschuk talks Mass Effect, PS3 and X360 differences

In Eurogamer's latest interview BioWare president Greg Zeschuk talks more about Mass Effect's cinematic structure and combat system, explains why he believes it's a "true next-gen" title, and reveals his thoughts on the differences between PS3 and Xbox 360.

Eurogamer: About this rumoured PC version of Mass Effect...

Greg Zeschuk: We're not discussing anything about that at this point in time.

[TheMART]

This guy is making very wise comments there:

"Eurogamer: What about the argument that PlayStation 3 is technically the most powerful console? As you're trying to push these boundaries, do you wish you had that extra power to play with?

Greg Zeschuk: With power comes challenge. A lot of improvement in games doesn't come so much from raw power as it does from the tools at your disposal - so creating tools and technologies to make the act of creating better, which we focus on a lot. And secondly, pushing the performance; hitting the limit, then pushing and hitting it, then pushing more...

At the end of this cycle, I don't think there's going to be a big difference. If everyone's waiting for this huge difference, it's just not going to happen. By the end of this generation both PS3 and 360 will look awesome. Maybe 1 per cent of the population might be able to tell the difference between the two."

And that's the end to Sony's marketingblabla about their so lied 'overpowerfull' console. The 360 and the PS3 are about equal in power. It's all up to the devs to push the game on each platform as far as they can.

For the moment that results in the best multiplatform versions on the 360, in the future, the PS3 has to be pushed to reach the same level.

[nanometric]

Yes, ofcourse, Greg Zeschuk is the voice of god, everything he sais is an axiom... don't forget he is developing for M$/360 How about all those other devs that say PS3 is more powerfull?

P.S. Nothing against Greg Zeschuk, but marts gettin silly again

[S1D3 EFFEC7]

What developers? John Carmack? The rocket scientist who has said time and time again that architecture is more important than raw power?

I also remember when the Xbox first came out back in 2001 and blew the PS2 out of the water (graphically) from day one, and yet the PS3 has been out for almost a year and it has yet to prove itself to be the super computer Sony's marketing team told everyone it was. I admit, the PS3 is a powerful machine, but its not the beast Sony makes it out to be, and neither is the 360. Cell is just an over hyped processor that has nothing on Quads, nothing more.

Bottom line: Lets talk about games and lets forget all the specs wars, and leave that to the developers, since its them that have to work around each systems limitations, and believe me when I say they both have their shortcomings.

[Thugbot187]

This fanboy fights over which console is more powerful or has the most potential is getting very old very quick. Everyday you see a comment saying the PS3 is more powerful and from the other side you see the opposite saying the 360 is. Honestly who cares, it’s about the games that come out. Without games the console is worthless; I wish for once we can get along and enjoy that we both are getting a game that will be killer. For the PS3 side of the game the Dev’s took pride in making it so you can be happy for that and thankful that it’s not lazy port. Also please stop discrediting this developer for his profession opinion that comes from his experience of working on both systems. He didn’t put down any system which is common from many IPO’s these days. He did however say on each system they ran into problems and they sat and worked it out and ended up pushing each system to a new level and they didn’t stop there they did it again and again. That’s something all of us can be proud of developers wanting to bring us the best they can and not just make a buck off of us…

[BIadestarX]

And this is the reason why I hate Sony fanboys with passion... they don't want to hear the view from an non-bias developer that have experience in both platforms... they want to constantly be told by single minded developers that work only on the PS3 platform how the PS3 is the most powerful console. They don't want to hear "similar or equal in power" they want to hear, "the cell is so powerful.. bla bla bla".

Look at idontcare for example... typical lemming that does and say what he is told to say.. he even went as far as mentioning a freaken 5/10 rated game.. Lair.. infected with frame rate issues as something that can't be done on the xbox 360... wow thanks god it can't be done on the xbox 360!

I kind of understand why Sony fanboys will never settle for the PS3 and the xbox 360 to be both able to host Next Gen games... the key is Price, Game library and Online service... The xbox 360 due to is early release, ease of dev tools that makes game development very familiar to PC developers and the original xbox... have more games, Xbox live is better than PSN.. and to make matters worst... xbox 360 cost less... so if NOT better than the xbox 360.. then how can they justify their purchase?

[nasim]

not even a game like RR7 is supported by X360

http://www.pro-g.co.uk/ps3/...

Not one to blow his own trumpet, Teramoto also expressed his pleasure to offer RR7 in 1080p, at 60fps and in 5.1, something he claims is only possible on the PS3.

a DVD is enough?????????????

This is why LO takes up 4 DVDS and BLUE DRAGON took up 3 DVDS

[S1D3 EFFEC7]

Lets get exited about the games and lets forget about 20XAA, triple shader, super duper, 5 billion polys, 20 cores CPUs. Lets just play and enjoy the games themselves.

I have a 360 and a Wii, and I hope MGS4 comes to 360. If it does not come out on MS's system, will I bash it till theres no tomorrow? Hell no. If its a good game id be happy for all PS3 fans. Enjoy the game and maybe some day I will get somebody to lend me a PS3 so I can experience it. If the game is awesome I don't care on which console it comes out, I want to enjoy it.

Fanboys, please stop the flame wars and enjoy your games. I'm happy to be a gamer right now, and you should be too.

[hazeblaze]

And this is why ppl hate Microsoft fanboys... Because a developer that only makes games for ONE system is NOT unbiased. The fact that multiparty devs such as Epic comment on the PS3 being more powerful & hardly having its power tapped so far is more credible as they've ACTUALLY worked on both systems.

Also, he did not state that the systems were EQUAL in power... he said there was more to making games than tapping extra power & he did not THINK that most ppl would notice the difference made by that extra power, period.

Bioware is one of my favorite devs on both pc & xbox but his response is obvious PR positioning. Especially since the differences are already becoming obvious @ the end of the PS3's first year... by the end of the cycle 99% of the population will tell the difference. The games speak for themselves. If you comapre the animation, character model designs, and environments of a game like Mass Effect to Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, or UT3 the difference is blatantly obvious. However, just because PS3 games will boast better gfx; games like Mass Effect will ALWAYS be fun to play. That's all that you all should care about anyway.

[unlimited]

Maybe 1 per cent of the population might be able to tell the difference between the two."

i thought there wasn't no difference at all?? there is plenty of games coming out the ps3 that is blowing out the 360..Most mulitplatform games is scoring the same..exclusive is what goin to set the ps3 and 360 apart and sony got that in the bag..

[poet215]

Why don't the so called "gamers", get back to playing games? I'm never gonna actually understand the so called "console war". In my late teens, I had both Snes & Genesis. I never particularly cared for sega's machine, except for a handful of classic titles. I did however have a Genesis just for the sports games. EA's & Sega's sports games where just that much better on Genesis. I did 85% of my rpg, action & adventure gaming on Snes. My point being, even though I clearly preffered Snes, I never bashed Genesis or wanted to see it fail. I kept my attention focused on Snes. If I discovered that I dug a certain Genesis game, I played it & that was that. To this day, Genesis probably has tons of good games, that I never heard of back then. I used that console & took whatever enjoyment I could take from it & left it at that. All this talk of wishing to see Sony blow up & cease to be a console maker is crazy. I bought PS3 & 360 on their respective launch dates. I sold the 360 the same day, because it kept freezing up & I didn't want to deal with the repair BS. It may upset many, but I currently enjoy my PS3 & Xbox 1. I will more than likely get a 360 again, but yes I'm very bias in Sony's favor. But that doesn't mean I hate 360. Perhaps folks that saw the Nintendo vs. Sega war firsthand will understand where I'm coming from with this.

[ip-student]

On average there isn't much difference between the PS3 and XBOX 360. So it is all about the games.

And looking at what is coming - there is no way anyone could play them all. I did a quick check - there are about 150 cross-platform games coming in the next two years (per IGN). Sony has about 65 exclusives and MS has about 93 exclusives (the list is larger but puzzle games do not count).

The exclusive titles - assuming they stay exclusive - look great for both platforms. And the cross-platform games also look great. So this whole pissing match is irrelevant - neither platform is going away and the prices are going to drop as both MS and Sony push each other. For example - if Sony comes out with a $399 PS3 then you can bet MS will drop the price of the XBOX 360 to $300.

I just wish I didn't have to work so much - I don't have time to play all the great games coming out. I think regardless of the platform you choose you have a lot to look forward to and more good games than you can possibly play.

Game on.

[Synex]

I honestly don't know which is more powerful, but I do know what games I enjoy. The 360 simply doesn't have the franchises I look forward to. And to the guy who talked about the xbox being more powerful than the PS2 and it lost, which we know your telling us you think the PS3 will lose because it's more powerful, but the reason the xbox didn't win because it didn't have an proven franchises and the Playstation family did and still does today.

[green_ghost5]

That is very true, the power between these two consoles are about the same.....and Mass Effect is a huge game, and they fit it all on one DVD.

[AngryTypingGuy]

Everyone keeps saying "keep waiting, the PS3 will blow the 360 away", or "in time, the PS3 will pull away from the 360". My question is, how long will we have to wait? Whenever I look at multiplatform games that are coming out in 2008 or 2009, it seems to me there's no difference. I also have yet to see any previews for PS3 exclusives that are coming out in the next couple of years that blow away anything the 360 can do.

What I do see are a bunch of kick ass exclusives coming out on the 360. What I do see are multiplatform games that look and run better on the 360.

If you want to see the PS3 totally outclass the 360, you're going to have to "PLAY B3YOND" the year 2010. Of course, I'm guessing that the day will never come, and a bunch of people are going to realize they could've been playing the 360 all along.

[mikeaka]

''Sony lied.the ps3 sucks...........xbox is better now and theres no difference at all.''Thats what you sound like TheMART,just think of it this way, an xbox developer berating the ps3 and sony praising it doesnt mean sony lied,its called marketing

[GaMr-]

Why even respond to guy with that avatar and who basically para phrased an entire interview around the few statements that tickled him pink. While in the end that statement and 1 dollar couldnt get you on the bus.

(Statement based on the bus costing ($1.25) : )

[felidae]

there are already games out that can't be done on the 360.

- Motorstorm

- Heavenly Sword

- Lair

if you look at games like Uncharted .. this on the 360? never!!

[AngryHippo]

.....don't bring Lair up as one of the games to prove a point about the ps3. The others are great especially HS, thats an awesome game.

[360Jamaican40GigFL]

OMG FU(K OFF

[P1MPDADDY]

Is whats wrong with this site. I dont believe for a second that any of the exclusive PS3 or 360 games out right now couldnt be ported to the other console. They are both powerful consoles. They are both limited by RAM. One has the better paper tech spec CPU (PS3), the other has the better paper tech spec GPU (360).

Stop calling out names of games already. You know why Motorstorm, Lair, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, etc... arent on the 360??? Its called Sony has exclusive rights to those games. Just like Bioshock, Halo 3, Gears of War, Mass Effect etc... arent out on the PS3 because they are exclusive to the 360.

[Mark 1]

You're so right. Lair really can't be done on 360. If lair was available on the 360 Two Worlds would be a masterpiece in comparison. I really hope I will never again play such an abomination. Lair is by far the worst title available on any platform.

[bluebrad1974]

I would dare to say that every single game you mentioned could not only be done on the 360, but actually improved on the 360.

[unlimited]

I have yet to see a game on the 360 that accomplish what lair can do on the ps3..Halo 3 dont have the graphics is basically halo 2 in HD..Mulitplayer is the best..Mass effect great lookin game but heavenly sword can match it..how long have the 360 been out? 2 years while the ps3 almost one year..

[mesh1]

gears of war and halo 3 look better than anything on th eps3 atm and in motion the play 1000times better than anything on the ps3 the ps3 cnt handle a.i and textures to well it has a cell cpu which sux for running games show me a game that looks better or put screeens of go on the lets see haha ps3 is crap

[Mark 1]

"I have yet to see a game on the 360 that accomplish what lair can do on the ps3"

Two Worlds

[Jinxstar]

Mark1

Huh? Two World was the worst game I have played this gen hands down... What are you talking about?

[green_ghost5]

Thats a bunch of BS, sony PR crap, all those games you've just listed can in fact be done on the 360, Your really dumb if you seriously believe it can't be done.

[tatotiburon]

@jinxstar

...and LAIR is also one of the worst games ever

[Richdad]

You are in big mistake all the games you said can be done 360 if they wannna make it. The best looking game on PS3 in a year or so will be Killzone 2 and I am sorry to say that crysis surpasses it, Done head to head video comparison. The minimum requirement for crysis P4 2.8Ghz,6800GT, 1GB ram and all this is much much lower than the 360's hardware. So if you are saying that those games cant be run on 360 you are kidding, think again, I cant just get the idea how games like such which are no way anything we have not seen before cant be run on 360. Yeah but if a developer want he can even make Super Mario of NES run with frame rate trouble on Ps3 or 360.What BioWare's Greg Zeschuk is saying is 100% correct.

[AngryTypingGuy]

Why can't they be done on the 360? Are they too mediocre?

[Douchebaggery]

they actually talk about Mass Effect in the article which imo is gonna be game of the year

[Azures]

i doubt it. too many contenders to throw that at mass effect.

I know I'm gonna be assaulted by disagrees, but we've seen neutral 3rd parties comment before that the ps3 is indeed more powerful just not achieved yet by developers. As long as we're pulling 3rd party developer statements as "fact", unless their is some hypocrite who would take this guy's word over another devs.

This is all crap anyway, whenever someone sees a bioware developer they need to be put into a headlock and abused until they admit what they're making in Austin.

[hazeblaze]

Exactly, that's the point. Now xbots want to act as if this dev's word discredits the countless others that have actually worked on both systems.

Heck, if we're going to go on the word of console exclusive devs... Let's at least choose the one with the best looking game. In which case Kojima is absolutely correct... The PS3 is the most powerful system, the only one fully capable of acheiving his vision. The director of FF XIII said something similar last week.

This is nothing more than devs playing their part in the PR game. But if I judge based off of what I see, I'm inclined to believe that the PS3 really does have the edge when it comes to the extra power.