Blog debate: PS3 to load games slower than the Xbox 360
From the "PS3 can't get a publicity break" file comes news that the system's Blu-ray load times will be slower than the DVD speeds of the Xbox 360.
Following our post regarding Resistance: Fall of Man's beefy 22GBs of data, Microsoft's Andre Vrignaud (aka Ozymandias) wrote about why storage capacity isn't as important as drive speed and -- wouldn'tcha know it? -- Blu-ray has bunches of the former and not so much of the latter.
Former Sony employee Mark DeLoura responded with a long, thoughtful response sticking up for the format that fanboys love to hate, talking textures, audio, and even read speed. Naturally, there's some guffawing from the other side of the aisle as Ozymandias takes umbrage with some of DeLoura's claims, notably that textures and other media will take up a sizable chunk of that Blu-ray disc. One area they are in agreement on is that Blu-ray's read speed isn't as fast as the Xbox 360's. Says DeLoura:
"Admittedly, Blu-Ray looks dicey from several non-capacity angles. Blu-Ray movies require a 1.5x Blu-Ray drive, or 54Mbits/second. Sony announced that PS3 uses a 2x BD drive, which is 72Mbits/second or 9MB/second. The Xbox 360 uses a 12x DVD, which should give it about 16MB/second. That is significantly faster for games and will result in shorter load times. And that 12x DVD drive should be a whole lot cheaper. (Note that the PS3 drive will do 8x DVD, and even that is faster than 2x BD.)"
Says Ozymandias in response: "This is pretty much what I've been saying regarding drive speeds. A good example of where we're pretty clearly agreeing."
So, they're in agreement. The PS3 will load slower than the Xbox 360, leading one to question whether bragging about 22GB discs is the most prudent course of action. Let's hope they use the compression technologies touched on in the debate to shrink the data down considerably, even if it obviates a key selling point of the console.
... but wait, it's not all settled. Be sure to read the comments on Ozymandias' last post to get a bunch of great feedback, including this gem on the finer differences between CAV and CLV drives ("a BD25 on PS3 fares better than a DVD9 on the 360"), or Kim Pallister's link back to his own feedback on the fight and the "innovator's dilemma."
[Thanks, Hank; via DigitalBattle]
Grist - Will Resistance: FoM justify the PS3 pricetag? [Joystiq]
Point - Drive Speed More Relevant to Games Than Capacity [Ozymandias]
Counterpoint - On PS3 and Blu-Ray [Mark DeLoura]
Counter-counterpoint - Oddly, We're in Violent Agreement [Ozymandias]
