As Hamza just noted, Haze hits this week, and the developers have been busy answering questions on the Ubi forum. To our surprise, the May 16 update reveals two ugly technical facts about the game: a rather large required install and no true 720p.
Time to delete your porn, kids! When developers were asked if we'd see a forced install (see previous Capcom debacle) they simply responded no, just a "minimal 4GB install". We'd like to offer that 1/10th of some people's hard drives barely qualifies as minimal and are hoping that we won't have to sit through a 20-minute install à la Devil May Cry (5GB install) on first play. Since the trend doesn't seem to be wavering, we dare ask the question again: Are forced installs on consoles here to stay?
The tubby footprint on the game is peculiar when accompanied with the second factoid: it missed the mark in HD to sustain smooth frame rates. Doh!
The game is not presented in true HD
An interview with Free Radical confirmed that Haze with be 300,000 pixels shy of true 720p resolution, marking another high-profile shooter that misses the spec (Halo 3 was 640p). At the very least the PS3 will pat you on the back and try its best to upscale. That's not to say the game won't look terrific, but if you've just filed for a second mortgage to buy a 1080p television then you're probably not thrilled to hear it.
We can only hope that what it lacks in technical specs are more than made up in gameplay and multiplayer replay value.
[Thanks, Justin]
Contest:
4:35 PM on 05.19.2008
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Haze is still on my list as the demo was kinda fun and it has a story line that interests me. There are reasons why the voices in the game are that way (knocking them down like skittles, LERRROY Jenkins...etc)
Plus, jump in and leave at anytime 4 player co-op sounds amazing with no need to exit your game to start up the co-op.
Glad I picked up a cheap 360 still anyway, if I want to watch an install bar for 20 mins I'll put something on my PC and reap the benefits in superior performance, instead of seeing issue after issue because of developers trying to shoehorn stuff in that the console isn't really capable of.
Full 720p - 1280×720 = 921,600 pixels
Some Sub-HD games:
Lair - 800×1080 = 864,000 pixels
MGS4 - 1024×768 = 786,432 pixels
Metal Gear Online - 1024×768 = 786,432 pixels
GTA4 (PS3) - 1152×640 = 737,280 pixels
Halo3 - 1152×640 = 737,280 pixels
Dark Sector (PS3) - 1152×640 = 737,280 pixels
Call of Duty 4 (PS3 , X360) - 1024×600 = 614,400 pixels
Haze (PS3) - 1024×576 = 589,824 pixels
Most people look to COD4 as the touchstone for graphics especially when it comes to FPS games. To see it running in such a low resolution with a relatively low pixel count really says alot.
Seeing this chart, you should realize that games can look great without a huge pixel count. Sure, it's preferable to have high resolution, but I'd rather have a solid framerate any day.
Just Lessen the install times & I'm good.
"The Club" took a 3.5GB install less than 4 min.
( While displaying the Opening Non-Skippable Cutscene. Dress it up a bit Devs. )
I think you completely missed the point
~Phil Harrison
"
PlayStation 3 system is technologically superior to anything out on the market. I think it's curious to read our competitors' comments on this now, versus a few months ago. A few months ago, we were reading things our competitors saying that 1080p of 60 frames per second is impossible, and they won't achieve in year five, let alone that launch software won't get close to it. I think you've probably seen some tentatively titles of running at 60 frames.
They're launch titles. So this notion of resing up, it strikes me as just a little bit disingenuous: what they're really offering consumers, what they said our system could do and couldn't do, and now how they're reacting to it. So, I think for a long time they wanted consumers to believe these systems were really on par with each other. Like, there's no graphical difference, that there's no gameplay difference, and, I think what consumers will see, in a very few short weeks is that nothing could be further from the truth. PlayStation 3 is technologically superior. You're gonna see it in the games. It's true HD. We can now put 1080p at 60 frames per second, and they can't. And that's something that they'll live with. They built their system, it was important to them to get it to market first, and so, based on that, I think they rushed a system to market that wasn't quite ready for prime time."
~ Peter Dille, Sony Computer Entertainment's SVP of Marketing - November 2006
Let me say this, I don't mind it's resolution. & I love my PS3 & 360. But this is just sweet in that Free Radical basically admitted their publisher was lying. & that it's running a low resolution because it couldn't achieve higher and a smooth framerate; which im sure tastes bitter to the 1080p 60fps launch title PR nonsense Sony execs were bragging about.
PS3 & 360 are both great consoles. I believe the PS3 does have more potential for growth mainly because it's architecture is so abstract that programmers have probably not experimented as much for new rendering methods. But I dont buy for a single solitary second the 1080p 60fps "True HD" nonsense Sony was bragging about during it's launch.
For example the only 3 1080p cross-console games.
NBA Street Home Court, Virtua Tennis 3, Fifa Street 3
they dont run any better on the ps3.
The only cross console game which was 1080p on ps3 but 720p on 360 is Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. And that game was a absolute slide-show on the PS3 and near 60fps on the 360. I have to wonder why they chose to go 1080p; whether it was pressure from management or if they believed sony, or if it was for marketing. As for the other 3, the detail is sparse & the framerates were comprimised. Take Eurogamer's comparisons for instance. They reccomend running 720p every time.
Xbox 360 vs. PS3 Face-Off: Round Nine FIFA Street 3
X360 v PS3 Multiformat Face-Off, Round Three Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Xbox 360 vs. PS3: Multiformat Face-off Virtua Tennis 3 / NBA Street Homecourt
Until then, BluRay is pretty.
HD system my ass.
for example, if MGS4 has a mandatory install i woulnd't mind..
now....
HAZE? WTF?
When I had my PS2 (or anything earlier) there were very few games that had significant bugs or slowdown. These two things are now commonplace in console gaming which is a shame, because to me my consoles were always a way to get into some instant, hassle free fun. Now it's looking like playing on the PC:
put in disc
wait 20 mins for install
start game
download latest patch
restart game
play
I see console gaming embarking on the slippery slope that PC gaming started down a while ago with all these problems, misrepresentations and lies.
either you didn't read my post completely or you didn't understand it. I wasn't criticizing HAZE. in fact i was siding w/ Free Radical's choice.
I was pointing out the irony of sony's early braggadocio concerning their assertion that 1080p 60fps will be so common on ps3 that it will be in launch titles. & how that has actually played out thus far.
and that Jump animation....LAWL. Seriously, it's bad enough Sony taunts everyone by promoting 1080p, but half of the games on the PS3 go as high as 720. It's bad enough they didn't even try.
I really see this game being another hyped up game that phails hard.
//agrees with MagesX
//nobody cares about Haze
Oh wait...
I've said it for months (and cheapy D and Wombat talked about it on the cagcast this last week), haze is an average shooter that is only getting hype because they went exclusive.
For a PS3 exclusive as well you would have thought that Free Radical would have optimized the game so that they wouldn't need an install or at least a really small one. I mean they managed it with Uncharted and that hardly had any load times. As for the sub HD resolution I can understand the preference for a solid frame rate but come on they should easily have been able to achieve both especially with an install.
Let's just hope that this is just a warm up for Time Splitters 4
so talking about anything negative related to a story is off limits? like it or not it is relevant. if this was a story about MS & MS spent a large amount of time touting something which was proven false over time; the same conclusion would be drawn. the proof is in the pudding, and this story is the pudding.
me thinks you doth protest too much. you are projecting maybe?
Why the hell don't they just release it on dvd on the ps3 anyway? It's not like it's gonna be that big, or bigger than COD4.
it's just that one giant quote from Peter Dille that made up most of it, my actual comment was average. i'm beginning to wonder why any of your comments haven't been in relation to my actual comment and more trying to insult me as a person. bah, im just taking more bait. no more!
Wake up retards, this isn't 1997. Make a decent game for once that's not Goldeneye.
The Timesplitters games were overrated, story-less crap. Every time you hear about Free Radical it's always "The guys who made Goldeneye!". Live in the now guys, live in the now.
Anyway, I suggest getting the extra large PS3 so you can handle all the excessive installs.
also screw Haze, GIVE ME TIMESPLITTERS 4!!!
I love Timesplitters...
I'm not saying that installs in general are a bad thing, I'm just saying don't make them mandatory.
Also, about Haze: I was wondering why the demo seemed a tiny bit blurry. But as it's been said, not every game is running at "full" HD and I don't mind as long as it still looks hi-res and plays well. Unfortunately after the demo, my fears were confirmed and the game felt very "blah" so I'm not buying that one.
But I never was a big fan of forced installs. On a good game I was excited for, like GTA4, I don't mind. But Haze really isn't worth deleting all of my dead hooker porn just to play it.
Meh, 4gb's of SD mediocrity. On the plus side i expect in a couple of weeks after release you'll be able to buy this game on clearance for a third the price.