About these comparisions, great job Gamespot, once again. Personally i don't care which version is better, i'm just glad Gamespot and other sites do these comparision, because as an owner of both consoles, i'm going with the version that usually looks better.(if it's sp that is, if it's mp i go with the 360 version) . If anyone here is so much of a fanboy to not enjoy great exclusives like Mass Effect1&2, Killzone 2, Left4Dead1&2, Uncharted 1&2, Halo3/ODST/Reach..ect, Mag, GTA:IV DLC's...ect, then you guys are just hurting yourself. With AAA exclusives like Mass Effect2, Mag, SC:Conviction, Heavy Rain, Halo Reach, God of War3, Alan Wake..ect all set for 2010', you missing out on a great year of gaming, if your a one console owner.(ie..fanboy). A true hardcore gamer ownes both consoles, plain and simple.

Here's the best comparision on the net: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-modern-warfare-2-face-off About the graphics comparisions in general: Look, i have both consoles and while the PS3 has some sweet exclusives(Uncharted2, Killzone, RFOM2..ect), when it comes to most cross platform games, i don't even hesitate to pick the 360 version, because for 3 yrs now it has become apparent, that the PS3 version's always have a bit lower texture resolution across the board, lesser draw distance, and an overall washed out look. And in almost ever case, the 360 has the better performance(ie frames per second) The major weakness of the 360 versions always continues to be it's weak shadow dithering. And about the PC version, with the GPU's available this year, which blow the covers off both consoles, it's amazing how lazy these developers always seem to get(ie..Rockstar did likewise with the GTA:IV pc port). The pc version should be leap and bounds ahead of both consoles, especially in terms of texture quality/fill rate/lighting..ect lol, you guys have seen this over and over, these comparisions are now commonplace, and it's always the pc version(although it should be by a larger margain), followed by the 360, and then the PS3 version. Sony's major mistake design of it's PS3 was to not have it's Ram unified..not to mention having more overall Ram(don't forget Sony had a one yr advantage here) and no EDram to speak of.

I have all three versions, the 360 and PS3 versions at launch and soon after the pc launch, i picked up that version as well. I hooked up all three platforms to a 34" Sony XBR HDTV(maybe the best ever under 40", to this day) via HDMI[switch box]. While these shots at Gamespot are not nearly what they look like in reality(they are much smaller, so take that into account), they are still a good representation of the quality of each platform for GTA:IV. The PS3 version does look the most blurry, due to a post filter effect, and it's only rendered in 640p(w/no FSAA), while the X360 version is rendered in 720p w/2X FSAA and is much sharper then the PS3 version. Also the lighting on the 360 version is more natural..the colors as well, while the PS3 version has this annoying yellow tint to it. The only fault of the 360 version(over the PS3) is an annoying shadow dithering problem, that does not exist in the PS3 version. However overall, the 360 version does almost everything better graphically, over the PS3 version..but still by a slim margain. My rig has a quad core, and i added a 1Gig Nvidia card as well and 6Gigs of Ram(homemade for under $1000), and it's clearly the best looking version, as i set it to the highest settings possible at 1280*768 to give a accurate comparsion. Having said that, while the draw distance is better on the pc, as well as a bit higher texture quality, and overall the graphics are a good deal sharper..ect, it's not nearly what a good pc rig should be able to render with these components. Really the biggest improvement is the trees actually as these are much more 3D looking with more detail on the pc, but for a rig this good, the difference from the pc to the console versions, should be by a great margain. And sadly it's not, and to be honest it does help that the X360 has some FSAA used(2S FSAA) while the PC lacks this.(amazingly). You see this is what is frustrating from the pc side, very few developers come close to maxing out the hardware, where on the console front, it's almost a given after a couple years since launch. If this continues, next generation i'm going consoles only, since you can expect 1920*1080p as a constant with good qualtiy FSAA and AF'ing., and really on the pc side you will not get much higher.(and if you do buy a top quality monitor and GPU that handles higher then 1080p, you putting alot of $$ into your rig). As far as gameplay goes, it's alot of a hassle to hook up any pc to a large HDTV, simply because you need to go from windows to using the mouse to a gamepad for say driving. I'm sorry but i don't prefer to go from mouse/keyboard while on foot, and then a X360 controller while in car. Then there is _the_ biggest reason why i'm now playing IV only on the 360, it's TLAD(DLC #1) that was just released and the upcoming DLC #2 to arrive this fall. Simply put, you are missing out on the full experience if you have not played TLAD, as it's adds so much more depth to GTA:IV(ie..parallel storylines), new vehicles, much more addicting gameplay, added activities, and a much improved soundtrack(especially rock/metal like Motley Crue, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden..ect). Overall, you do need a quad core to run GTA:IV without many problems..and it helps to have a 1Gig video card, but to be honest, (amazingly) the difference in graphics quality is not very large over the consoles. Sadly with exclusives like TLAD, Gears 2, Killzone 2, R:FOM 2, Fable 2..ect, there are alot more quality exclusives on the consoles, and really there are only a few exclusives on the pc i play anymore(ie..Crysis). And for GTA:IV, it's a no brainer, go with the console version, they just has more bang for the buck, especially the 360 version because of (DLC #1)-->TLAD and the upcoming exclusive DLC#2.

What many here are not taking into consideration is that the pc has the fewest big name exclusives this generation, as really just Crysis and Spore were the major pc exclusives. The 360 has Gears 1 &2, Halo3, Dead Rising..ect, the PS3 had Resistance 1 &2 and MGS4 and LCP..ect If i had put $1000-$1200 for this generation, i'd put it towards a 360 and PS3 compared to just a decent pc rig, because you're getting all the major exclusives except Spore and Crysis and a bunch of 360 and PS3 exclusives. You're also getting GTA:IV DLC content for the 360 and other exclusive DLC's for other games as well. So while a decent-good pc rig has the graphical edge for cross-platform games like Fallout3/GTA:IV/COD.etc, you could put that extra money into a 360 and PS3, and have a bigger selection of games. And i have a good pc rig, however i prefer to play online over Live, simply because it's the best online service on any platform.

The pc has always had the superior edge graphically throughout the years(starting in the late 80's), however that edge has become smaller each generation. In the late 90's the pc's dominated over the PS1 and N64 and that gap was huge, graphically. In fact you could never run games like Quake 2 and Half Life 1 on the PS1 or N64, as they lacked the Ram/CPU needed to do so. In 2003', you could run GTAIII at say 1600*1200 with 4XFSAA on a good pc rig, compared to only 640*480 w/2XFSAA on the Xbox1, and 640*480i and no FSAA on the PS2. And now, you can run GTA:IV at 1920*1080p on the best pc rigs, compared to 1280*720p on the X360 and 1024*640p on the PS3. However the difference now, is not as huge as it was in say 2003' running Vice City at _four times_ the resolution on the pc and with better texture quality as well. Next generation both on the new Xbox and PS consoles you will see 1080p(1920*1080) as a norm with say 4XFSAA or 8XFSAA as well. Both consoles should have 4-5Gig's of total Ram, which should be more then enough for high quality textures in 1080p. Now you will see a bit higher resolution on the pc next generation the graphical quality will be near identicle because at the 19-24" range for pc monitors, you max out at 1920*1080p..the same as the 50-60" Plasma's/LCD's on the market. So yes, the pc version of Fallout 3 and GTA:IV looks a good deal better on the pc's with an up to date GPU, but the difference is not nearly as huge as it was last generation. I have all three platforms(a very good pc rig) and here's what GTA:IV run at fro each: pc-->1680*1200 no FSAA but at the higher res. it's not as needed (it also has higher quality textures in terms of trees..ect) Xbox360--> 1280*720 w/2XFSAA) PS3--> 1120*640p no/FSAA (with a more blurry look then the other versions)

I have both consoles(360 Elite and PS3-80Gig) and both conected via HDMI on one of the best HDTV's ever created(34" XBR 960-CRT). This Sony HDTV(bought in 05' for $1600) is still considered by the tech experts at the avsfourms as the best under 40" ever made. It's one of the top 3-4 HDTV's ever made, even though it's now 3 years old. Now this HDTV shows every tiny detail possible at 1080i, and blows the socks off any LCD and nearly every Plasma(the Kuro Plasma's are the exception) even 3 years later. I compared Fallout 3 using HDMI for both consoles, with identicle time of day settings, and the 360 was in every which way supperior in terms of texture quality, draw in, lighting, and water effects. It's image quality is crisp and sharp while the PS3's is blurry looking. The PS3 also has this annoying like yellow tint(also the case in GTA:IV) that makes the brightness far too bright. The texture quality is a good notch higher on the 360 on nearly every texture in Fallout 3's world. When you compare this game on both consoles on a real good HDTV will you really notice the difference that the 360 has the edge in almost every which way. The only PS3 advantage was the hair on the NPC's are more detailed. For Fallout 3 at least, the 360 version was the clear winner and it's obvious for me the 360 is easily the better gaming console, while the PS3 is the better all-in one unit. (BR player/media player/gaming console) For those looking for the better console, it depends on what your looking for, for a pure gaming console the 360 has the better looking exclusives/online..ect, and is easily the better gaming console, while the PS3 gives you more bang for the buck if you need all in one media center. - If your looking for strickly the better HD gaming console, the 360 is easily the better choice. -If your looking for all in one unit media center at a low cost, the PS3 is the better choice. Having said that both are nice consoles and you cannot go wrong eithier way, so just enjoy whichever console you choose this holiday season.