Update 8/19/2008

PS3 vs XBox 360: GTA Showdown

Which Next-Gen System is Best for GTA4?

Over at the glorious Kotaku, Michael McWhertor takes on a question that hasn't been addressed much yet: specifically, which next generation platform got the better version of the year's biggest game? The answers are mixed.

Rockstar Games has commented multiple times that both versions are identical, minus a few platform specific features and Xbox 360 exclusives. We've played both versions of GTA IV -- quite a bit, actually. We've noticed a handful of differences, some of which you know, some which you may not, many of them hair-splitting.

(The complete article is here, by the way.)

The gist of the difference seems to be thus: The 360 version, not surprisingly, is better integrated with the 360's superior online community, while the PS3 version is a smoother ride, since it loads every mission, scene and object from its built-in hard disk much more quickly than the DVD-laden XBox can handle. Other differences are more subtle.

Of course, the biggest future difference is supposed to be 'exclusive' downloadable content for the 360 in the form of expansion pack cities or additional mission/story chapters, but those won't be available until September 2008... and even then, Rockstar refuses to confirm that all downloadable content will be XBox-only. It seems likely that there will also be 'exclusive' PS3 content as well... but different content.

Other differences are indeed tiny (motion-sensor control for the PS3, as we reported earlier, and an integrated online leader board for the XBox Live users, for example) so it doesn't sound like there's a platform loser right now, so whichever version you're playing, you don't need to worry about missing anything significant.

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