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Orange Box Dysfunctional on the PS3?

Posted by Zonk on from the so-close-and-yet-so-far dept.

Via Next Generation, a preview of the PS3 version of the Orange Box . 1up is the site running the piece, and it's notable because it's so incredibly negative. PS3 fans may have some frustrations in store when the game pack releases soon: "After spending a significant amount of time with a near final version of the PS3 game, it's apparent that this version suffers from a number of technical flaws, which at best merely hinder game play and at worst make the experience downright unplayable. Framerate is a consistent issue throughout the Half-Life series of games included in The Orange Box. One moment you'll be cruising through the game at 30 frames per second and the next you'll be enjoying a slideshow of series protagonist Gordon Freeman cruising down the river. "

7 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While the PC and Xbox 360 versions were handled by Valve, the PS3 port was handed off to an internal team at EA.

    Aha! There's the problem!

    1. Re:I wonder why... by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Specifically, EA UK. From Wikipedia, their resume:

      *Burnout Legends
      *Burnout Dominator
      *Catwoman
      *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
      *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
      *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
      *Untitled DICE Project
      *PS3 port of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
    2. Re:I wonder why... by ByOhTek · · Score: 4, Funny

      I was wondering why Gordon Freeman was carrying a football and wearing a Bulls helmet...

      --
      Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
  2. PRE-RELEASE by Zoidbot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What part of pre-release do they not understand.

    I get EA are funing today. I also expect 1UP to be precluded from ever seeing unfinished code again.. Talk about killing your buisness..

    Slate it, if it hits the shelves like this, but lets at least wait until then, before passing judgement!

    1. Re:PRE-RELEASE by seebs · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Er, no. The PS3 has 256MB of RAM -- VRAM doesn't count. However, the OS chews up about 72MB of that, leaving you with less, and you need extra space for SPE buffers. The 360's crappy unified architecture, in practice, gives you a lot closer to a real full 256MB of RAM -- with only about 32 taken away by the OS.

      The decision to cut back from 512MB of XDR to 256MB was a crappy decision.

      Yeah, lots of companies, developing specifically for PS3, are able to work around the memory limitations -- but some games are built around the assumption of at least 200MB available for the actual game engine.

      There's no defenders of the memory shortage who are actual PS3 programmers. There's some apologists who will admit that it's an issue, but argue that it can be worked around, but the people who claim it's not an issue are, curiously, never actually people who have developed for the target.

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
  3. Re:consoles are for kids ... and companies by Chris_Jefferson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, what platformers are there even close to Super Mario Galaxy for Linux?

    --
    Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
  4. Re:Depressing by Alphager · · Score: 4, Informative

    Meanwhile, Infinity Ward managed to put out a rock solid multi-platform FPS- COD4. If they can make it look and play so great on the PS3, why can't Valve? Because EA (and not Valve) is responsible for the PS3-port.