Shawn | 
September 23, 2009 | 
“Which version of Need for Speed SHIFT shifts its way to victory lane?”
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EA | |||
| Slightly Mad | 1 | 1 |
Slightly Mad |
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| Racing | 3075 mb | n/a |
Racing | |||||||||
| Release: 09/15/09 | 33 sec | 38 sec | Release: 09/15/09 | |||||||||
| ESRB: E |
Low | Low | ESRB: E | |||||||||
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Head2Head – Need for Speed SHIFT We go Head2Head with Need for Speed SHIFT. Click the video to see which version SHIFTS its way to victory lane. |
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This week’s exciting Head2Head is brought to you by our exclusive video game retailer Play N Trade Oviedo. The Lens of Truth would like to take a moment to thank all the Play N Trade’s that continue to support us and enable these Head2Head to exist, and most importantly, we thank them for giving us the opportunity to show the gamer the definitive version.
This week we sit down with the recently released Need for Speed SHIFT for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Need for Speed SHIFT ushers in another franchise reboot, similar to how the Underground redefined the original Need for Speed formula. This time around EA has gone light on the arcade feel and taken more of a simulation approach. So which version of Need for Speed SHIFT, shifts its way to victory lane? Keep on reading to find out.
First, let me say that Need for Speed SHIFT looks and plays great and if you’re a fan of the racing simulation genre, you won’t be disappointed. But if you were a fan of what the previous installments of NFS offered, such as Underground, then you may be disappointed with the new direction. But, there is one thing that I need to get off my chest before I continue on with this Head2Head. Lately there has been an abundant amount of commercials floating around TV showing off this games graphical capabilities. Most recently this commercial appeared on Monday Night Football (Colts vs Dolphins game), and on the bottom of the screen throughout the commercial you see the words “Actual Gameplay Footage”. Yeah, we’re going to have to say BULL! Please don’t mistake us here, the game looks really great, but by no means did the graphics ever look as good as the commercial made it out to be. There were so many post processing effects added to that video it was ridiculous. I just wanted to throw that out there before you drop 60 beans based on the how awesome the commercial look.
Now on with this Head2Head, shall we? While both versions looked really close to one another in terms with graphics and performance, there were a few differences worth mentioning. Both versions of NFS SHIFT appear to be rendering at a native 720p resolution with antialiasing, however the PlayStation 3 version is considerably blurrier due to quincunx antialiasing. Even though the PlayStation 3 version was slightly blurry, it did support a more defined HDR/Bloom effect which I personally liked. Light seemed to wrap around trees and cars more realistically. However that exaggerated effect alone wasn’t enough to steal the lead from the Xbox 360 and its sharper looking visuals throughout.
Next up is performance. Both versions of NFS SHIFT performed neck and neck with one another. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 both had a consistent frame rate of about 30fps and had very little screen tearing overall. The game runs really nice and Slightly Mad got both consoles to perform well. However it is worth noting that the PlayStation 3 version sported slightly more screen tearing. Typically the tearing would happen during transitions as well as in the cockpit view. Check out the 54 second mark in the video when the car crashes into a wall to see the screen tearing on the PlayStation 3 version clearly.
Finally in terms of loading, the PlayStation 3 version starts to hit the accelerator to make up for some lost time, having almost 10 seconds less loading times than the Xbox 360 version. However this extra speed boost comes at a price. The PlayStation 3 version has a mandatory 15 minute/3gb install. It wouldn’t have been so bad if EA would have played some music or shown a slideshow, but no. They decided to use the generic PlayStation 3 install screen. It’s hard to say which is preferred, a 15 minute wait, or 10 seconds extra per race.
Roll over to see the differences. Here we compare the different HDMI settings between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Roll over to see the differences.
Roll over to see the differences.
Roll over to see the differences.
Roll over to see the differences.
Overall Need for Speed SHIFT is a great franchise reboot and could have a very bright future. So which one should you buy? Well, with all this back and forth, we have to come down to a photo finish to declare the winner. By a nose, the Xbox 360 wins this Head2Head for Need for Speed SHIFT.
| G R A P H I C S | ||
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Although both versions of Need for Speed SHIFT look quite nice, the PlayStation 3 version was blurrier due to it’s antialiasing method. |
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| P E R F O R M A N C E | ||
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The Xbox 360 wins the performance category with less screen tearing throughout. | |
| L O A D I N G | ||
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Even though the PlayStation 3 had a mandatory 15 minute install, a speed increase of 7 seconds (sometimes more) average is a nice advantage. |
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| O U T C O M E | ||
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While both versions of Need for Speed SHIFT are very close, we felt that the sharper graphics and a slight performance edge of the Xbox 360 was enough to take the win. Regardless of what console you own, if you like racing simulators Need for Speed SHIFT is one to take a closer look at. | |
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I own the Ps3 since the very first one, but I have to admit that the Xbox 360 looks sharper even though both look fantastic. I am not a fanboy and I believe that as long as you enjoy the games then the gaming industry is going strong.
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you know im the opposite. i admit i do like the 360 more than the ps3 but visually i think that the ps3 version has that subtle realism because of the QAA especially in the cockpit. from a technical point of view the 360 version is better. (i feel they short changed the xbox textures just to have consistency between versions)
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What about installing the game onto the 360’s Hard Drive does that speed up the load time on the 360. If so is it comparable to PS3 install or still slower load times.
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@Luiz Ortiz
I second that. Would be nice to check out – especially now when the Elite with 120 GB HDD is becoming the standard HDD version of the Xbox360 – meaning that most people with HDD can easily install games like NFS:Shift
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they only do comparisons on how it plays out of box, no special options.
Nice comparison, I have both, I can’t notice any difference when I’m far away from screen, but upon closer inspection, it seems like the 360 has a sexy finish ontop of it.
Multiplatforms
when will they learn.
oh well, uncharted 2 can’t wait!!!!
ODST was a major let down for me:( bought the special edition and returned the game only today beat it in 5:30 hours.
LOT amazing comparison! THanks again, bring on dirt 2!!!!!!!!
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huh, ive come to except more equality from EA, but xbox clearly has the better version.
lol @ all the people voting for ps3 as the winner. stop lying to yourselves, fanboys. its not that big of a deal anyways, no need to overcompensate for it by pretending like its not the truth.
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Wow. Fanboyism at its worst. I dont even have a 360 and I voted for XBox. It just looks better. Should re really expect anything else from EA? Sure, they did a good job with fightnight round 4, but that has a lot fewer items onscreen and most of them arent moving. The moving objects arent moving that fast. Outside of that game, they always do better work for the 360. I havent yet bought an XBox because Im not much of a 1st person shooter fan (most Xbox exclusives fit that bill) and my friends all have PS3. I almost feel obligated to get a 360 for multiplats because I dont like paying the same price for an inferior product. For now Im just going to stick to buying PS3 exclusives and using gamefly for everything else….pitty.
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That PS3 version looks like it has urine smeared across the screen when compared to the XBOX version. Exclusives only for my PS3, EXCLUSIVES ONLY! Put your 60 bucks in the right direction!
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I second that !!! xD
This once again proves my theory get the Ps3 for exclusives and x box 360 for the multi-platforms.
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Are you using HDMI for these? Just that I recently got a component cable and it’s noticably duller/blurred compared to HDMI, and I think you cant capture from HDMI signal. It looks like 360 has twice the resolution and more AA than ps3 version. Why didnt they put more memory in the ps3? It’s so cheap, you can get 6gb on PC while ps3 only has 256…
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they just got an hdmi capture unit so yes it is HDMI, and the The PlayStation 3 has 256 MB of XDR main memory and 256 MB of GDDR3 video memory for the RSX, that xdr memory is very expensive
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u can’t compare the 2, I think ps3 has 256 x’s 2, both used for different functions, not like 360 which has 512 video.
I’m not sure but from what I remember.
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its 512MB shared memory beteen the cpu and gpu so that devlopers can choose how much ram they need for video and system memory
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The PS3 has a split memory configuration(256MB Main and 256MB Video), but developers are able to allocate main memory for graphics and vice versa. In reality both the 360 and PS3 have access to the same amount of memory.
I believe the main reason the 360 USUALLY has slightly better graphics and antialiasing is because of the 360’s GPU. The GPU has a more efficient architecture and also has an extra 10MB of RAM that helps with the antialiasing.
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exacly, 10mb eDRAM with almost unlimited bandwidth. ATI did a great job.
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I think PS3 won graphically, I mean it’s A RACING GAME it’s supposed to be blurry, things blur when you drives fast! Ahahaha jk, I voted xbox : /
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Hmmm EA made the PS3 version blurry and bad graphics compared with the 360 version, also screen tearing on the PS3 i’ve noticed but I havent really noticed screen tearing on the 360 version…
I voted for 360 also cause it is how it is, even tho I like PS3 more then 360.
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You know what you can change the colour contrast with your TV remote.
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The PS3 version is technically superior since it has true HDR (better lighting) which is far more taxing for the GPU and also offers better alising (less jaggies) at a price of a slightly blurrier image compared to the Xbox 360 rendition. Overall it is a good work from EA compared to other multi platform titles, if you get the PS3 version you will get a great looking port.
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Why are developers still using quincunx antialiasing on the ps3? It almost always ends up looking like crap. I know its easier then implementing true MSAA, but it makes a huge difference. Ghostbusters and Bioshock for ps3 had patches that switched from QAA to MSAA, so obviously some developers understand that QAA is unacceptable.
Any game that uses QAA should at least have an option to turn it off. I would rather have no AA then QAA.
I think this is probably the biggest issue with ports to the ps3, and sony needs to address this by releasing better developer tools to help more developers use MSAA in their games.
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For the ps3 version, they just lunch a patch. I want to know if that parch help a little bit the ps3 graphical performance.
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No its only with crashes and stuff. nothing too big.
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Disagre.
For me it’s a tie.
PS3 With better loading and 360 with graphics.
Played both versions,but didn’t notice a big frame tearing in the PS3 or in the 360.
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I definitely agree with you, Grizzly Force! I gave up playing multiplats on the PS3 a long time ago. Now the only time I play multiplats on the PS3 is whenever a certain game like Batman: AA & Tales Of Vesperia (it’s out in Japan) gets a whole extra amount of DLC & goodies.
Almost 3 years since the PS3 has been out, & it is still gettting creamed by the 360 in the multiplatform category.
Teh power of Da Cell…what a bunch of hogwash!
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Nobody seems to realise that HDR effect seems to be better on the PS3.
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“Even though the PlayStation 3 had a mandatory 15 minute install, a speed increase of 7 seconds (sometimes more) average is a nice advantage.”
Is the 360 version running from disc or is the game fully installed to the hard drive?
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The Xbox 360 version is directly from the disc, whereas the PlayStation 3 version is a disc/hard drive mix (due to the mandatory installation).
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Did anyone else feel that the shadows from the chain link fence in the first screenshot are much better in the PS3 version? The 360 version has just one shade of shadowing and looks terrible. The PS3 one has noticeably lighter shadowing where the small links in the fence are. I gave the PS3 the one up based alone on that. What do you guys think?
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“Shade of shadowing” so the SHADOW OF THE SHADOW looked better on the ps3…
Awesome xD
Mike I knew you where a moron but stupid too tehehe xD
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I’m not sure what you mean by “Shadow of a shadow”. I’m just saying that to me in a real world case the small links in a chain fence would probably produce a lighter shadow than the thicker part of the fence. I.e. not all shadows produce a uniform effect/shade. Seriously does it not look better to you?
Blurriness aside, I find the shadows far more realistic in the PS3 screenshots. I’m sorry you don’t have the capacity to accept that other people have opinions different from yours without resorting to name calling!
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Now i saw one thing.
The PS3 Version just use more Blur effect,that’s why it looks worse.
No Way.
TIE.
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It’s not a blur mate it’s called low-resolution textures
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Sadly you’re right
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Ive just rented the ps3 version and its really great… seriously, i see a tie here. The ps3 is slightly blurrier and the xbox wins? They are virtually identical, to me, a slight blur is not enough to lose. This head2head should of been a TIE…
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Why dont you install the 360 version? i think that would be fair because the PS3 version is installed too!
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If they do that then the xbox 360 version of the game won’t have jaggies anymore and that would put the ps3 too far behind…
Like I said sometimes the ps3 “needs” to “win” to please the fanboys.
Go check Star Wars The Force Unleashed you’ll get my point
And for the fratboys blame Sony not me!!!
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i know this test, and its realy stupid! the 360 version of SW:TFU looks 1000times better (i played both demos on the same TV at the same time with “Picture in Picture” mode) that was a big Fail!
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I can’t believe that this game isn’t Vsynch …
I have the PC version and the game runs better on my old 8800 GTX than my HD4870 … Nvidia are making some tricky business with their physX engine .
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Hi,
Don’t buy any version of this game. Sound is bad and track layout outdated. Eg Spa still has the old chicane at the end……..GRID has the new layout.
Graphics are not that well, what’s up with the blur at high speed……….damage model is also bad…….sorry but this game disappoints.
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These guys are crazy. I bought both games to review myself, and the game saves in less than 2 seconds on the Xbox 360 version, and it takes 10 whole seconds to save on my PS3. I have them both installed to the hard drive of both systems, this game loads faster on the XBox 360 also. Start up is 10 seconds on Xbox, and 20 on PS3. I counted the arrow bounce when the save icon comes on, and Xbox 360 takes 1 bounce, vs. PS3, 7 bounces! Xbox not only looks better, it loads and saves faster.
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Played both, and the PS3 version looked much better to me. Plus that’s a load of crap about a 15 minute install. Took 6-7 minutes for me.
Also, I have to say LOL at the 360 version trying to access the Playstation Store during online transactions. What an embarassment.
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