What is the Difference Between XBox 360's & PS3's "Final Fantasy XIII"?

The PlayStation 3 version of "Final Fantasy XIII" is technically superior to the Xbox 360 version.

"Final Fantasy XIII" was originally slated to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Then, midway through its development, Microsoft paid for the game to come to the Xbox 360 as well. This meant that the entire game had to be ported over to the Xbox 360 platform, resulting in a game that runs very differently on each console.

Discs

Since the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game systems use two different disc formats, the game was released on two different disc formats. The PlayStation 3 version of the game was released on a single Bluray disc. Because of the storage limitations of DVDs, however, the Xbox 360 version of the game was released on a total of three DVDs, requiring players to switch discs while playing through the game.

Resolution

Both versions of the game claim to run at 720p resolution, but only the PlayStation 3 version of the game actually does. Again, because of the storage limitations of DVDs and the ported nature of the Xbox 360 version of the game, "Final Fantasy XIII" for the Xbox 360 actually runs at a sub-HD resolution of 1024x576.

Character Rendering

The lower resolution of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not without its benefits. Because of its higher resolution, the PS3 version of the game has difficulty rendering characters when there are multiple characters on the screen. The Xbox 360 version of the game does not have this problem.

Framerate

Also because of its higher resolution, the minimum frame rate of the PS3 version of the game is lower than the Xbox 360 version. The minimum frame rate of the PS3 version is 20 frames per second, while the minimum frame rate of the Xbox 360 version is 26 frames per second.

References

• EuroGamer: Face-Off: Final Fantasy XIII