Speaking to
CVG in a new feature on id Software's new post-apocalyptic game,
Rage, John Carmack has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 version of the game will run noticeably slower that on the Xbox 360 or PC.
The game, which is projected for a 2010 release on all platforms, will be a free-roaming RPG and FPS hybrid with a heavy focus where players are able to compete in races through the wasteland in order to unlock car and weapon upgrades.
According to Edge magazine the game runs at a smooth and brisk 60 FPS on the Xbox 360 and comparable PCs, but struggles to keep things at 20 - 30 FPS on the PlayStation 3. In a series of candid comments about the capability of the PlayStation 3 hardware, Carmack squarely places the blame on the GPU.
"
The PS3 lags a little bit behind in terms of getting the performance out of it," Carmack admits. "
The rasteriser is just a little bit slower - no two ways about that. The RSX is slower than what we have in the 360."
Carmack also says that the architecture of the CPU is a bit of a hassle to design for too and, while the PS3 processor is "
about the same" as that in the Xbox 360, the Xbox 360 is just simpler to work with.
"
The 360 makes it easier to split things off, and that's what a lot of the work has been, splitting it all into jobs on the PS3," Carmack says.
This isn't the first time that developers have said the PlayStation 3 is difficult to work with either - a number of developers in the past have made such claims, though Sony hasn't issued a formal reply that we know of.
What's your opinion of the PlayStation 3? Let us know in
the forums.
UPDATE:
Further details have emerged from the article, with Carmack promising that the PlayStation 3 version of
Rage will be up to scratch before the game is released.
"
Everything is designed as a 60 hertz game. We expect this to be 60 hertz on every supported platform," said Carmack.
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