A year-long wait and very little change is sure to prevent a mass appeal for Bioware's latest release...

There’s a famous saying that most things improve over time; sure, it’s what Guinness built their marketing model on. From posh wines to acquired-taste cheeses, industries have built reputations and market-positions on the ideal that with time, comes quality. Never one to miss out on an opportunity, videogame developers worldwide have jumped on this ‘time equals improvement’ bandwagon, with many of the leading developers delaying releases of their titles on platforms such as the PS3 because of what they feel will result in ‘a better quality of both gameplay and visual effects’. A prime example of which is Mass Effect 2, a game that by its PS3 release date will have been available on the Xbox 360 for almost a year. So the question that is inevitably on everyone’s mind will be this - does the PS3  version look significantly better and as such justify its year's extra development time? From what I can see, no.

While it is clear to see the PS3’s superior graphic capabilities have somewhat improved the lighting and general environment within the game, it’s hard to see how exactly BioWare, the developers of Mass Effect 2, have built on the pre-existing version on the Xbox 360 (see link). Apparently, for the technical amongst you, the minimal changes are due to the game's reliance on its engine, Unreal Engine 3, one that has always functioned better on Microsoft software. While the PS3 version presents simple changes such as improved shadow depth and a better overall resolution, it actually means that important elements of the game such as normal-mapping, anti-aliasing and effects are downgraded, simply due to the fact that the PS3 is not as efficient with the Unreal Engine as the 360 is.

For the simple gamer this is neither here nor there, because the quality of the game is its saving grace, so overall experience and enjoyment remain consistent. However, for those gamers who are slightly more technical and own both consoles, it’s sure to be a disappointment; but with the Xbox 360 version being available on play.com for just £12.99 instead of the £38.99 pre-order price of its PS3 brethren, maybe this news is a blessing in disguise.

Kotaku

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